Disney Cruise Brides - Let's Chat about our Weddings/VR's!

[chepic]

Ok cool!!! Well i guess Brie got tired of dealing with me because i got a call from a group coordinator from DCL & after 3 phone calls we made Palo happen on sunday for 19 of us. Yes we are getting married @ 5:30 on Thursday. I hope to see you there it is always nice to meet fellow disers. Thanks

Glad you got what you wanted!

 

[poohbear111]

Thanks we are so HAPPY!!!!

Glad you got what you wanted!

 

[Goldeelox9]

YAY Nicole!!!

 

[Soon2beMrs.]

Hello all! After reading all of your posts it sounds like everything turned out great for your weddings or VRs on board. My wedding planning however has not been so good/easy. We sail on Sat 9/12 along w/ Poohbear111 and our wedding is actually @ 4pm on thursday the 19th. I feel as if I was not given all of the options as I would have wanted. This is my first and only wedding and I wanted something a little bit more special than completely simple. I was unaware that you could add color to your cake, change the flavor in your cake so that both layers are different. We have a party of 8 going and currently some of us are at different seatings for dinner. Also we are signed up for the Palo brunch but could only get half of our party in. I feel like our wedding has been placed on the backburner and honestly our wedding planner has fallen short of what was promised.
Another issue in my dress, our wedding planner swears that Disney can not hold it before our rooms are ready, which I think falls short of Disney's theme of where wishes come true. Honestly this planning has been a hassle. We are 4 days away from setting sail, since today is labor day they are mostly closed, and I am not sure who can help to get these changes done. I dont want to look back and think what if these chnages had been made. If anyone has any contact info for someone who can help us that would be great!

 

[BELLE16127]

Soon2beMrs., Sorry that you are having these issues. Our daughter is getting married on the November 8th Cruise and she started planning this last October. She doesn't get on these boards but I would ask questions and then give her the info I found out.

In the beginning she wanted "color" on her cake at first this was fine when Cathy was the one she was talking with...Then Brianna replaced her and things have changed!!

She was told she could have everyone in the Palo Private Room for dinner there are 15 of us total....change!!

She wanted Hydrengas for her floral and we found an outside florist who was going to do them and then it changed to it had to be a Disney Contracted Vendor or they wouldn't store the floral...Change.

She was told that we could all sit at the same table for dinners (she had everyone book the late seating when they booked and linked the reservations) Now they say we will be close but not at the same table...change

She got pretty upset with all of the changes, she finally ask to talk with Biannas Supervisor, and DD was basically told that with so many people making so many requests that they have NEW RULES for 2010, basically a now Contract if I am understanding this whole thing correctly. DD lives in Dallas and I am in Pennsylvania so we talk about all of this on the telephone, so I have NOT SEEN the contract.

It is also my understanding that now a Wedding and a Vow Reneal will be the same price because people having a Rewewal are asking for alot of things as well, really having a Wedding for the cost of a Renewal so they are going to price them the same??? Like I said I have not seen the contract but this is what DD has told me.

I believe at this point everything is set for DD's Wedding, she has all of her paperwork sent in, we leave Pennsylvania on November 7th and DD and her Fiancee are heading down a day or two before us, she seems happy with what she has now, she found another option to her flowers, she is allright with a WHITE CAKE, they have hired a Photographer to come on the cruise they are not using Disney Photographer, she said she will talk with the Wedding people as soon as she is onboard and make sure that what she has been told is all going to work, but she said she is not going to worry about it, I keep telling her it will all work out since her family and friends will be there with them and it will be beautiful!!

I am sure that everything will work out for you and you will have a wonderful Wedding...looking forward to seeing pictures when you get back.

 

[mickeyluv]

We did our 10th renewal in WDW, on the deck of the OKW condo with just a few friends and a captain of a ship that we knew. No one from disney knew, it was just us, and then we went to dinner in Epcot after. I did all the leg work and we had a wonderful time. I supposed you could do something like that on board the ship, if you did it in your stateroom. I don't think that Disney would stop that from happening....how would they even know? You just wouldn't be able to have the "Disney experience" with the renewal.

Ultimately remember that you are celebrating your marriage, and love for one another...and in this day and age, that is a beautiful thing. There are too many marriages that don't make it, that to celebrate your's is wonderful.

Have fun with what ever you choose.

cheryl

Thanks for the information on your past VR and I do agree with what you said about marriage!

 

[Soon2beMrs.]

In the beginning she wanted "color" on her cake at first this was fine when Cathy was the one she was talking with...Then Brianna replaced her and things have changed!!



I have read so many posts where everything was great until Cathy left. I was told that it was bc of lay offs, but why would you lay off someone that was getting the job done and making ppl happy and replace her w/ someone that had never done a wedding before. When I first spoke with Bre one of the first things she told me was that she was new and that it may take awhile to get things done. Why would you tell a bride that when I am placing my trust in you to make my day perfect.

 

[CinderelliT]

I don't always reply to everyone on here, but I do read everything!

First off, I am sorry to the brides that are having to go through this stress. I don't believe that the DCL weddings are being held up to the standards as they once were, and they are no where near the standards of a DFTW.

I understand that they were supposed to be simpler, but a bride should have some sort of control over her day, b/c it only happens once.

I agree, when I was dealing with Cathy, there were a lot of things that were fine, and Cathy said she would make sure it happened. It has not been so since the change of staff. I don't even get replies most of the time. It has been very frustrating, and on many occassions, I've considered not doing it at all and just changing to some other venue or an Escape option.

I have decided to try to make the best of it b/c for me it is a VR, and not the first time around. I have also decided to keep adding stuff onto my at home reception that keeps getting taken away from me on the ship. I would prefer not to do it this way since 1) it is costly and 2) I've already changed venues once and 3)it is like having 2 ceremonies. I wish that I could just combine everything into one location that would make me and my family happy.

At the end of the day however, it is about celebrating your love with your significant other! So I hope for all of us that we can relax and enjoy our days with our loves and family.

After that I think we should all ban together and complain to DFTW

 

[BELLE16127]

I DO NOT believe it is Brianna who is personally making the changes....like I said in the post, it seems that Disney Cruise Lines are making the changes....DD was told it is just new changes for 2010.....we have talked about it a bit on here and find it ODD that it is 2010 changes and they are allready doing it for those cruising in late 2009...but there is really no way around it I guess.

I just saw here where someone was able to book Palo for over the amount DD was told but so be it...DD has a total of 15 and coouldn't get Palo for that many?? She is good with it at this point, with so many changes from what she was originally told she is takin it all in stride.

I can send you a link to her planning blog she has started on Weddingbee if you would like to see what she has posted in there about a few things if you would like....Let me know....Keeping good thoughts for you and I am sure it will be WONDERFUL for you.....

 

[CinderelliT]

I agree that it is not Brianna making the changes. But why DFTW would make all these changes and enforce them now is beyond me! I think that Disney should know that they are falling short of the magical experience with the cruise options.

 

[Soon2beMrs.]

Hi All, We are having a SERIOUS problem going above and beyond our wedding planner. Does anyone have a contact phone number for a group coordinator where we can get some answers to our questions. Guest services is blaming everyone else and saying it is not their problem.
If you can help you would be a life saver! We have been and currently are on the phone w/ DCL for over 45 mins w/ no answers!

 

[BELLE16127]

Soon2b I will see if I can get ahold of DD and see if she has any additional numbers...I am so sorry you are having all these issues so close to your sailing.

CinderelliT...yeah you have been here through all the changes as well and we have been discussing them on and off since they began!! I do agree that it is a bit CRAZY that they are making these changes BEFORE 2010...I think they should have waitind until 2010....it wouldn't have been a big deal to have these changes in placefor people making arraingements for then as they could have had all of these things in order and KNOWN about them when they made that initial call to Disney to discuss at the VERY BEGINNING of their planning not like the ones who have had things change in the middle!!

Soon2b please keep us informed what you find out and I will see if I can get DD on the phone and ask about other numbers.....

 

[chepic]

Hi All, We are having a SERIOUS problem going above and beyond our wedding planner. Does anyone have a contact phone number for a group coordinator where we can get some answers to our questions. Guest services is blaming everyone else and saying it is not their problem.
If you can help you would be a life saver! We have been and currently are on the phone w/ DCL for over 45 mins w/ no answers!

Just to let you know, I did not read this board (weddings) until after my VR, so I really flew blind, and just did what I could. My cake was white, and my flowers were from Disney. I used their on-board photographer. Everything turned out well. There were some glitches before we sailed...couldn't line everything up with everyone until they all paid, had to change times at Palo to suit the kids club and our seating are just a few.

But to put your mind at ease, once you are on board, go there with a notebook with all your requests in hand. See your coordinator there, she is the one that will see to your every need. I had Florencia, and she was a doll. She smoothed the few issues I had, and made certain everything was great, including getting me flowers for my hair. And as for coloring the cake, just ask once on board; they don't make the cake until the ship sails, so you never know what they can do once you are there. One of my fellow disers' on that cruise had a backstage tour of the kitchen, and took pictures of the cake being made!!

As for your dress, are you shipping it there? I brought mine with me, and once we set sail, Florencia took it to have it steamed, along with the boys suits, and it was perfect.

Hope this helps....don't stress, you will get wrinkles.

cheryl

 

[tinkerbelle77]

Ok cool!!! Well i guess Brie got tired of dealing with me because i got a call from a group coordinator from DCL & after 3 phone calls we made Palo happen on sunday for 19 of us. Yes we are getting married @ 5:30 on Thursday. I hope to see you there it is always nice to meet fellow disers. Thanks

I'm glad it all worked out for, and yes we will come and watch the ceremony...Don't want to intrude, so we will watch from the upper decks...Unless you don't mind...Congrats!!!

 

[tinkerbelle77]

Hello all! After reading all of your posts it sounds like everything turned out great for your weddings or VRs on board. My wedding planning however has not been so good/easy. We sail on Sat 9/12 along w/ Poohbear111 and our wedding is actually @ 4pm on thursday the 19th. I feel as if I was not given all of the options as I would have wanted. This is my first and only wedding and I wanted something a little bit more special than completely simple. I was unaware that you could add color to your cake, change the flavor in your cake so that both layers are different. We have a party of 8 going and currently some of us are at different seatings for dinner. Also we are signed up for the Palo brunch but could only get half of our party in. I feel like our wedding has been placed on the backburner and honestly our wedding planner has fallen short of what was promised.
Another issue in my dress, our wedding planner swears that Disney can not hold it before our rooms are ready, which I think falls short of Disney's theme of where wishes come true. Honestly this planning has been a hassle. We are 4 days away from setting sail, since today is labor day they are mostly closed, and I am not sure who can help to get these changes done. I dont want to look back and think what if these chnages had been made. If anyone has any contact info for someone who can help us that would be great!

Take your dress to guest services on deck 3 mid ship and ask them to hold it...they will take it and it magically re-appear back in your room steamed on the day of the ceremony...Congrats! Who is your on board coordinator?? We had Jonathon Andrews and he was wonderful...Seen to every detail for us, and then some...I was on blood thinners at the time and couldnt drink, so he arranged for extra sparkling juice and soda to be brought on deck 7 with no extra cost...It was really nice!!!

 

[BELLE16127]

When do you find out who your on board coordinator is??? DD has all of her paperwork in but she has never mentioned a name yet. We are about 60 days out now should she know that now??

 

[chepic]

When do you find out who your on board coordinator is??? DD has all of her paperwork in but she has never mentioned a name yet. We are about 60 days out now should she know that now??

You find out when you walk into your room, and there will be a note from them stating when your first meeting time is. We couldn't make that time, so once the ship was under way, we went to the front desk and they paged her and we met her and rescheduled our appt. I gave her my list of on-board requests when we met her at the front desk that first day.

Cheryl

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

We got our onboard coordinator (Rufaro) about 30 days before we sailed..

I was feeling so guilty over the weekend about the changes we made to the cake and flowers as being "too much" and causing DCL to stop do it. Honestly, I was never given the impression that changing the color of the roses or the cake was a big deal..it was always Cathy saying "let me check" and then "ok" or "sorry".

I also didn't ask them to store my extra flowers..they were suppose to be delivered to the room on the day of sailing by Perfect Gift and I even panicked a little when they didn't come by 5pm. That is when Rufaro told me they would keep them with the rest of the floral for me..

Palo is a completely different thing..I asked for the cake to be set up there and I think that was a Palo Management decision. They hadn't done it before and Marco told me how much he loved having it set up in there..I assumed that it would be a new offering after what Cathy said after our return...

I feel really bad...

 

[tinkerbelle77]

When do you find out who your on board coordinator is??? DD has all of her paperwork in but she has never mentioned a name yet. We are about 60 days out now should she know that now??

We got ours about a month prior to sailing with our DFTW package...There was a letter with the name and all the details of the wedding

 

[disneygirlsx3]

I was feeling so guilty over the weekend about the changes we made to the cake and flowers as being "too much" and causing DCL to stop do it. Honestly, I was never given the impression that changing the color of the roses or the cake was a big deal..it was always Cathy saying "let me check" and then "ok" or "sorry".

I also didn't ask them to store my extra flowers..they were suppose to be delivered to the room on the day of sailing by Perfect Gift and I even panicked a little when they didn't come by 5pm. That is when Rufaro told me they would keep them with the rest of the floral for me..

Palo is a completely different thing..I asked for the cake to be set up there and I think that was a Palo Management decision. They hadn't done it before and Marco told me how much he loved having it set up in there..I assumed that it would be a new offering after what Cathy said after our return...

I feel really bad...

Please do not feel bad. You were in the right place at the right time. Your wedding was beautiful as will my wedding. I kinda understand the problem that DFTW is having (don't things at the screen yet.) All of a sudden it is a popular thing to do and the cruise line/DFTW is trying to figure it out right in the middle of my/everyone's wedding.

We just need to keep the ball rolling for future brides and keep asking for this stuff because then they might eventually change the way they do business. maybe.

I'm just gonna wait until I get onboard and see what I can change because it seems they might be a little more accommodating.

All the brides/grooms here are beautiful so no matter how plain your wedding may seem our smiles make it shine. I wish you all the best and some