oh..I feel your pain!
Unfortunately, the way
DCL does the DFTW is VERY different from the land planning.
Cathy does very little planning in the beginning. She will contact you about the contract about 120 days before..you can book PALO 105 days before you sail as a part of the concierge package. She booked the private Palo for us at 100 odd days..she really kicks in about 45 to 30 days before..due to changes with staffing on the ship, planning something with the pastry chef now may not be the pastry chef when you cruise (the staff have rotating contracts)
My family is waiting for me to come to the table..I will be back
The wait is the most horrible thing ever. You want answers and you want them now!
Don't take it personally. For one thing, she is the only planner for cruise line events and is extremely busy. For another, because there is so little that Disney needs to do for the cruise events (and, as Betsy said, the onboard staff changes so frequently), they don't really even start looking at your file until 60 days before you sail.
I know this seems unbelievable, when we as brides begin planning a year or more in advance, but that's the procedure. And things like the ceremony time cannot be set until closer to departure. On top of that, the day and the time are both at the discretion of the captain and could change once you get on the ship (usually due to weather). This is why they tell you not to engrave anything with your wedding date before the cruise.
The best way to get answers to questions like the ones you have is to ask them here and read the trip reports of past DCL brides - we've had a bunch of them recently, and they are all sooo helpful.
She isn't as busy as she is vacationing...ALL THE TIME she is out of the office and it is sooo frusterating. It isn't her fault it is Disney's for not having a back up or 2nd cruise planner. I found the best way to get answers was to call and talk to her. She had a bad habit of not answering all of the questions you put in an email.
ok..ate dinner and I am back
Carrie explained it better than I could..they told me two times for the VR 4:30 and 5:30 and at the time (I think March or April) it looked like it would be 5:30. She also explained that it is ultimately up to the captain as to the time.
I too felt the panic because I had so many people to notify and the whole Palo thing (there are only 2 times for the private room - 6:00pm and 8:30or 9..can't remember)
Cathy kinda came off as rude in the beginning, but rest assured, it is just because she is limited with the changes she can make until the end..she was AMAZING at the end..she and I emailed almost everyday the last month
I know she came through and helped me in the end, but I honestly don't feel like she cares that much. When I talked to her boss I explained to her that this may be Cathy's ever day job and she deals with 100's of wedding a year, but this is my ONLY wedding and I want it to be important to the person helping me plan it. Once I expressed all of my concerns with Disney my corespondence got much better.
It seems that maybe "Cathy" isn't a very friendly person (my opinion) but my daughter is getting Married on the ship we are cruising November 8-12, 2009. I have been telling DD the things I have read here about such things as Sand Ceremonies, having the Cake moved into Palo and a few other things. She has yet to get in here and read this so here I am again.
Anyway she sent an e-mail to Cathy with a few questions and here is what she was told.....
She asked where the "Receprion was held for a WEDDING...Responce it takes place the same place as the Ceremony.
She wanted to know if it was possible for the ceremony have have additional things added she said she knew it was odd but asked if they could do a Sand Ceremony, and I had found on (on here I believe) a pretty additono about the committment of athe engagement ring and what it stands for they wanted that incorporated into the ceremony also. She asked if she could type it and have the Captain read it....She was told this....you can add it if you will be saying it to eachother the Captain or the First Officer will not add any additional things to "their" ceremony for what they say. They will only preform "their" ceremony. You can do this after they finish with "their" ceremony.
Then she asked a couple questions about adding an hour of photography and filling out some of the paperwork but I thought that the answers to some of the questions were a bit rude. I know I have seen on here where people have had their cake moved to Palo, I now I saw pictures of a Sand Ceremony, and really who's ceremony is this??? The Captains or the Bride and Grooms?? I am not asking them to kiss their behinds but come on....You arn't allowed to ask the Captain to read a 1 paragraph message about a ring???
And really if you wanna get technical about all of this (if you think about it) since they are married in shorts and a tee shirt Before they leave port arn't all of these Vow Renewals?? So why the difference in cost unless you do the Castaway Ceremony.
So there is my rant like the previous poster I think that all that anyone wants who is doing this is a couple answers it is a BIG DAY to them and I don't see where the small things that they are asking have to be a big deal....all they want is a little information to put their minds at ease and a little reading or a little sand....Am I crazy here??????
You guys are getting on the ship the day we get off from our 3 day anniversary getaway!
I have found that Cathy has a list of rules she must follow, but once you get on board you can talk to the wedding coordinator and they do help. I did not have Ruffaro, I had a man named Lars, he was not great, but helped. YOu can email me goldeelox9 @ yahoo.com or PM me and I will answer any questions I have the answers too! The extra money covers the license filing and all and the cival ceremony. Not much for $1000 if you ask me, but what are you going to do.
The Private desk is really nice and I wouldn't have minded having my cake and dance there. The piano player will play music during this whole time.
So to have your cake and champaigne in Palo you have to book the private room am I reading this right???? Or did you book the private room for dinner when you had your guest eat at Palo with you???? If you have to book the private room for the cake can you please let me know the cost of this as it would be nice to have the cake cutting and first dance inside if that is at all possible. I know they told them they could bring music on a CD for the first dance and a Father/ Daughter dance so I am just looking for clarification. I know that this sounds horrable and I DO NOT MEAN IT TO...but someone posted that you can get answers on here and YES that is what I have been telling my daughter all along, but now she is getting totally different information from CATHY...so the frustration is there....sorry not at you gals but the situation.
Can you all tell me the names of the people you delt with ON Board the ship?? My daughter went to High School with a guy who was just in the Toy Story Show (I believe he just finished a contract) but she was going to get in touch with him and ask him what else he knew about it he had mentioned names before and she thought they both statred with an "R" and I thought I saw something like Rosario????
Ok Ok so another mini vent....sorry just trying to calm her down a bit and told her I would post away here and see what I could find out....thanks ladies.
Like I said on board people will be differant, they change every 6 months I think. So Lars will most likely not be there when you go. I think sometimes the Dis Boards make the planners angry. We all know so much information from past brides we don't take no for an answer. LOL I did take a CD for the first dance and the father daughter dance, I also had piano music played during the reception. Tell you daughter to email me any questions she has. I will help any way I can.
Palo private dining room was for dinner..It books first come, first serve for 12-14 people.
There isn't an additional charge for it, but you do pay $15 per person (not including drinks or special coffee)
I am sorry you are fustrated with DCL. It is a very different ceremony from a normal wedding..she is having a wedding, right? I thought a Bahamian minister performed the wedding? Maybe only on CC?
The wedding charge includes the cost of the doing the license and I think there are a few other things..Lisa could answer this better.
Patty had a sand ceremony..we stuck to the script that DCL has..I think I posted it sometime in June..it does have a part where you can ad lib, but we didn't do that
When I asked Cathy about things I had seen here on Dis, she told me that this is "more of a guideline than actual rules"
I was told by the onboard coordinator (Rufaro on the Wonder) that mine was the first "reception" they had in the Palo room with a cake..it was a struggle to get Cathy to ask the manager if he would do it, but I think it worked out great. Will they do it again??? I don't know. Was it a problem on their end?? I have no idea..they may never do it again, but it also could be a new trend.
There is no room to dance in Palo room..that I know..it was tight with the 13 I had..comfortable, but full
The Minister performs the ceromony onthe Island, but not on the ship. The captain does it on the ship. Like you said Betsy it is a struggle to get them to do something differant, but they will eventually. Also like I said have a list and once you get on board and have the legal ceremony you will meet with the on board planner and tell them what you want, not ask them. I know it sucks to be forcefull and "W"itchy, but you have to!
Sorry you are both so frustrated!! I've pretty much decided I only need to contact Cathy for something i can't figure out here, which isn't much! I must have sent Lisa 50 PM's today trying to figure things out.
When i booked my VR for CC, i asked about getting the VR over as early as possible, even 9am. She said 10am was the norm, but was ultimately decided by the captain. And my cake questions, she said to just wait until closer. I know it sucks so bad to not be able to do the planning we want this early. I DO plan on having a sand ceremony, and i WILL write out a ceremony i want read. If the "captain" or whoever does the ceremony for CC does not want to read it, then i will gladly relieve him of his duty and we will read it ourselves!! I"m not about to spend $2500 to have some stranger read a form standard ceremony!!
Jennifer, I didn't mind at all! I enjoy helping because god only knows I wish I had help. Before me there wasnt many active dis board members who had had DCL weddings, and even less who got married on
Castaway Cay. They have to do it at 10 because it takes time to get off the ship and set everything up. We still have plenty of time for picture in the island, the reception, pictures on the ship and a good 4 hours on Castaway Cay! I think the minister comes with the ceremony all ready to Castaway Cay. He comes from the main island an is not a cast member. A friend of mine, is getting married on the island in May and she was told that anyone could do the ceremony, it didn't need to be the minister. They just include the minister. I would just tell them that you need time in the middle of the ceremony to read what you want to. It wasn't standard, it was really nice. I wouldn't worry. Although it does talk about god.
Like I said I am open to answer any and all questions!
I'm so much "wiser" abuot things now, i want this to reflect me and dh as a couple, what we are now.
If I want to honor my deceased relatives with a rose ceremony, I should be able to do it DURING the ceremony, not afterwards!
I can understand if she only can handle certain things within a specific time frame. My issue with that is that she doesn't SAY that. She just gives short answers instead of saying, "Oh, I understand your concern. Let me give you a timeline of events so you better understand the process." KWIM?
