If you want your marriage to stay afloat, why not start off at sea? Folks who want their wedding, reception, or honeymoon on a cruise ship have a number of options, according to Ginger Kemp, owner of Four Seasons Travel in Bayonne. They can have the wedding on land and then take off on their honeymoon cruise, or guests can join in a pre-cruise onboard reception and then get off.
“But no one wants to get off,” says Kemp. And it’s easy to understand why given that all the perks of cruise ship travel are available to honeymooners or wedding parties: art auctions, seminars, cultural events, dance lessons, ice skating, swimming, and about any other sport or activity you can imagine, as well as excursions in port.
Still, it is a ship and Kemp says, “You have to be flexible.” If the ship comes in late, your noon wedding may be pushed back. Size also matters. Four hundred people can be accommodated at a shipboard wedding, but 50 to 100 is more like it.
One advantage of shipboard weddings is rarely mentioned out loud: Maybe you don’t want to invite some family members, and cruise weddings are sure to be too expensive or time-consuming for a lot of people. Cruises usually last three, four, five, or nine nights. But those who do choose to go don’t have to be together all the time. Says Kemp, “I took over 20 of my own family on a cruise, and the only time we saw each other was at dinner.”
If you have your wedding and honeymoon aboard, it’s called a “weddingmoon.” Some couples choose to go the air/sea route, flying to a port of their choice or disembarking at a port for a “destination wedding.”
Gay couples, rest assured, you and your wedding party will be welcome. Cruise companies, Kemp says, are “happy to see everybody. There are a lot of options for gay marriage.”
But cruise weddings and honeymoons aren’t for everybody. “I advise against it for the nervous traveler,” says Kemp. “Getting married is nerve-wracking enough.” She cites one woman’s fear that she was too tall and might fall over the balconies. Another common misgiving is that there will be too much food. “Nobody force feeds you,” Kemp points out. “You have to have self control.”
Remember, cruise ships have wedding planners, and you’ll need to go with the flow. “You can’t bring on your own band,” says Kemp. “Just show up, wear your white dress, and they’ll take care of the rest.”—Kate Rounds
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Ports of Call
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New York City Passenger Ship Terminal, Manhattan
Norwegian Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines
Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, Red Hook
Princess Cruise Lines
Cunard Cruise Lines
Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
Four Seasons Travel
923 Broadway, Bayonne 07002, P.O. Box 767
(201) 436-3434
(800) 875-0444
4seasons@optonline.net