Joe and Jennifer's DCL Vow Renewal PJ/TR~ CEREMONY FINALLY!!!

[keenercam]

Jen -- I hope all of your dreams come true!! I am so glad we finally got to meet. You are even lovelier in person and deserve all of life's blessings!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

happy vr day!!!!

 

[pinkcow]

Happy VR day!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Hope you're having a fantastic day!!!

 

[CinderelliT]

Happy VR Day! Hope you are having an awesome trip!​

 

[kaysmommie]

Hope you are having an awesome trip and congrats on your vow renewal!! Looking forward to reading all about your trip and the cruise. It stinks I never got to meet up with you.

Nichole

 

[chepic]

Welcome back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[29apr00]

Hi ladies!! We're home....it's been a rough return. Jackie started getting sick at breakfast yesterday morning and was puking by the time we got off the ship....Joey started puking on the car ride to the airport.....at one point in teh ride i had both kids puking at teh same time.....they puked on the plane and both airports, Orlando and Indy, and on the car ride home. Jackie has been good since 4pm but Joey puked right before bed time. My brother's 3 kids are sick too and as well as my sister's daughter who was in the kids club. they were all 6 in the same room so something is in that room that's missing the hand washing and sanitizing. oh well....atleast it was the end and not the begining.

the week long trip was exhausting but fun....we booked a bounceback for WL for this week next year....great price! but we had so much fun on the cruise we want to look at that too. BUT it definately won't be with DCL....i was so not impressed with the services, staff, food, and just general attitude of the ship. I've sailed with RCCL and CCL over 10 times and was expected to be blown away by the service on DCL and was extremely disappointed with it.....they couldn't even come close to the service on RCCL and i can't figure out why the hell we paid so much for such service. totally not sold on DCL at all. And even before all the kids got sick i was SO DISAPPOINTED in the kids clubs!! I could not believe how little interaction they actually had with the kids!! My kids were screaming at us during life boat drill to go down to the club....we finally drop them off and get a page 15 minutes later to go get them!! Are you kidding me!?!!?!? My kids both have been in day care/school their entire life....they have no problems at all with that kind of environment. neither of them wanted to go back again. I don't know what those counselors did....but they certainly didn't win over my kids. We were able to convince them to go back the next night while we were in Palo after the VR Ceremony, but we still got paged 2x by them....even AFTER WE TOLD THEM WE WERE IN PALO!!! just so disappointed in the whole experinece.

As for the VR....well we did get rained out and had to be moved into the lounge....i was bummed but what can you do? the lounge was actually really nice and very pretty so it fit well....my aisle runner looked good and the petal cones were a big hit with the kids and we had smashed rose petals all over the lounge by the time wewere done. feel sorry for the person who had to clean that up. we do have a few things we need to work out right now as things aren't quite what they said....but overall i'm happy with what happened. my flowers were PERFECT!! AND i did get the cake i wanted!! my kids were behaved and the captain had no issues at all with saying my ceremony, my guests were pleased and all was good.

Now.....i left my camera sitting on the table yesterday morning at breakfast....i was worried about my puking kid and forgot to pick it up. DCL lost and found said it was not turned in yesterday so now we wait and see if it gets turned in thursday. everyone must hope for the best right now!!!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Welcome back! Sorry your kids are sick--my dd woke up with a stomach bug this morning too -- no fun!

Looking forward to hearing more. Here are some more that your camera gets back to you soon!

 

[pinkcow]

I'm so sorry there were bumps and some disappointment. I really hope the VR was a wonderful moment for you to share with your hubby and children.

Can't wait to read all about it! I know we'll be here with bells on!

 

[Chilly]

Sorry your kids were sick and that you had a few issues. Can't wait to see some photos.

 

[kaysmommie]

Jennifer,
First off what a rough return for you and the kids. Sorry that got so sick. Also glad the vow renewal went great even if it was moved inside. That stinks the kids didn't like the kids club. We were going to book the Dream for 2011 but now I'm wondering if I should go with RCCL instead. Hopefully your camera turns up. on booking the bounceback. I just know you will love WL during the holidays. Looking forward to reading your TR and seeing your pictures.

Nichole

 

[malibustacey]

Hi Jen!

Glad youre back ... hey... cant believe the problems you had ... but its best to just smile! I hope you had a wonderful VR... Cant wait to hear all about it and see LOADS of photos! ...

(eeek... did you have more than one camera on board? or will you have to wait to get your pro pics back!?!? come on DCL... Bring back Jens cam so she can send us pics!)

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Aww Jen..I am sorry about the kids club. I am dreading our next cruise because Kate will be 13 and will not be so willing to go to the clubs! I am not happy about her running around the ship.

I am really happy about the Captain saying your ceremony..which Captain was it?

 

[mommyarewegoingback]

First, congratulations! I'm so happy that you were able to say your own vows. Looking forward to your TR.

Second, we are right there with you about DCL and the kid's club. We had to really convince our kids to go after the VR. They just were not that into it.

I hope you get your camera back. Disney does some amazing things sometimes.

-Virginia

 

[29apr00]

Welcome back! Sorry your kids are sick--my dd woke up with a stomach bug this morning too -- no fun!

Looking forward to hearing more. Here are some more that your camera gets back to you soon!

I'm so sorry there were bumps and some disappointment. I really hope the VR was a wonderful moment for you to share with your hubby and children.

Can't wait to read all about it! I know we'll be here with bells on!

Sorry your kids were sick and that you had a few issues. Can't wait to see some photos.

thanks girls!! Hopefully i get a call from DCL on thursday about the camera...then i'll be able to post pics soon!

Jennifer,
First off what a rough return for you and the kids. Sorry that got so sick. Also glad the vow renewal went great even if it was moved inside. That stinks the kids didn't like the kids club. We were going to book the Dream for 2011 but now I'm wondering if I should go with RCCL instead. Hopefully your camera turns up. on booking the bounceback. I just know you will love WL during the holidays. Looking forward to reading your TR and seeing your pictures.

Nichole

we are looking at booking RCCL for Dec next year instead of WL.

Hi Jen!

Glad youre back ... hey... cant believe the problems you had ... but its best to just smile! I hope you had a wonderful VR... Cant wait to hear all about it and see LOADS of photos! ...

(eeek... did you have more than one camera on board? or will you have to wait to get your pro pics back!?!? come on DCL... Bring back Jens cam so she can send us pics!)

nope, just the 1 camera....so hoping it's found!!

Aww Jen..I am sorry about the kids club. I am dreading our next cruise because Kate will be 13 and will not be so willing to go to the clubs! I am not happy about her running around the ship.

I am really happy about the Captain saying your ceremony..which Captain was it?

We had Captain Henry...and he spoke perfect english and had no problems at all with my ceremony!

First, congratulations! I'm so happy that you were able to say your own vows. Looking forward to your TR.

Second, we are right there with you about DCL and the kid's club. We had to really convince our kids to go after the VR. They just were not that into it.

I hope you get your camera back. Disney does some amazing things sometimes.

-Virginia

I don't know what happened!! They were so looking forward to it.......Joey said his favorite part of the cruise was riding the elevators.

 

[CinderelliT]

Glad you are back! It sounds like you were on a totally different cruise than us! We had amazing service the entire time!

The kids loved the kids club too. We had some excellent counselors that played all sorts of activities with them. We all got really sick though too!

Kids were puking by Sun, Dan on Monday, and me late Tues night - right before our photoshoot the next morning.

We also got paged in Palo's! Ugggh!

 

[29apr00]

well....i have a feeling i'm going to have a TR with no pictures.....so i guess i might as well start with what i can.

Vendor Reviews:

I didn't have a lot of vendors but i'll post what i did use just to make my report more interesting.

Shavon's Wedding Silks - A+ http://www.shavonsweddingsilks.com/index.html

I found Shavon on a web search for tropical bouquets......her Plumeria bouquet caught my attention as very pretty and tropical, yet simple. i loved it!! And as Natural Touch flowers....they were a very good quality and I was very pleased with the price. I got the bouquet, hair flower (that was rather cheesy, i didn't use it) and a boutineer for Joe for $80. The bouquet was just like pictured and was just beautiful....it was perfect for my Epcot Bridal Shoot....very light! The only downside was that the ribbon kept slidding up the stems as the Shoot wore on. It wasn't a big deal as it's not like it was going to get me dirty or anything like that....just something to mention.

DPS - Mike Strickland - A+ just on his behavaior....haven't seen the pics yet.

Mike was WONDERFUL!!! I had seen some shots other brides posted that he did and I was totally OK with his style of work. I am not into the weird angles and "new" style of photography that everyone is so into now. When i get pictures taken...I want to be sure that I am the focus of the pictures! not faded into the background somewhere! Mike was so nice and easy to work with...and he totally set Joe at ease. Joe HATES to get his pictures taken and really hates to be the center of attention too! I only convinced him to do the shoot by telling him there wouldn't be anyone else in the park at the time! I told Mike what we were looking for and he knew exactly what we were talking about. The few pictures that he showed me were amazing!! I can't wait to see the proofs when the come in!!

Beaute Special -

I'm giving them 2 grades......1 for the stylist who came to my room to do my hair and makeup, and 1 for the business itself.

C- for the business itself....soley on the attitude/behaviour of the "receptionist" who handled my calls and emails. 1st she never responded to my initial email inquiry about availability for my date....i had to call her back about it. Then about a week before we were set to leave I called her again about making the final payment as I didn't want to have to worry about cash the morning of. She never called me back. So I called on Friday the 4th before we left....again....she didn't call back. I finally got a hold of her Monday morning, less than 24 hours before my appointment time. I called before we went into DHS for the day...it was like 815am. I thought that was a normal time for a business....i guess it wasn't as i swear she was still asleep when she answered the phone!! I told her i wanted to pay for my services, and she's all like "umm....i'm not anywhere i can write it down now, can you call me back?" WHA?T?!?!?! I'm trying to pay you money and you want me to call back!??!?! I told her we were heading into the parks soon and I didn't know when i could try her again. She said to just try later. Luckily i got a chance before watching the Beauty and Beast show.

A+ for my Stylist Lane!! She was so nice and really got my hair and makeup to be exactly like i wanted it to be!! She showed up a few minutes early, we went over my hair inspiration pics and what my trial looked like and what i did and didn't like about it.....then i showed her the makeup i wanted. Basically i wanted my hair soft and curly, down but off my face, and not have the sides just fully swept up like a normal day hair. i wanted it to look special. She did a great job! I loved it! For my makeup, i wanted LIGHT and NATURAL! I don't normally wear a lot of make up (any makeup for that matter) and I wanted to look back at my pictures in a few years and say "wow I look beautiful" and not have it be because of the make up. I specifically didn't want that hollywood look with all the eyeliner under my eyes. She did it PERFECTLY. (these pics were taken from my phone, but you get the idea)

my hair and makeup held up the whole day....ever with park touring and playing in the pool!!

and a quick sneak peak

Vista Spa on DCL - B-

I wasn't very impressed with my hair on the ship. She basically did exactly what my hair trial did, which was grab the sides and pull it all up.....like a normal everyday do. Plus....my curls didn't go all the way down to the end of my hair!!! 1st, she used a flat iron to curl it. I was so confused until i saw that it really was curling it! I've never seen someone CURL hair using a flat iron. anyway, so yes it did curl, but the ends of my hair had that typical boxy look to it after using a flat iron. and it never went away! So i had this head of big fluffy curls...the ended with boxy tips. And it didn't stay very well either....even with having the ceremony inside, my hair was rather flat by the time we got to Palo. You can see in this pic, my hair looks pretty flat.

And i paid MORE for the Vista Spa hair that i didn't like, than i did to have Beaute Special come to ME and do it! But they did also sneak Jackie in to get her hair done too which i was happy about...i didn't want to have to do it myself. But I didn't like her's either! Her hair was to be just like mine. But she still has little girl bangs that we are desperatly trying to grow out. He didn't do anything with her bangs other than to slick them over to the side of her head!! Seriously, like imagine 80's greaseball serial killer look! Not happy!!

The Perfect Gift - floral delivery to the ship

It wasn't Shirley that i dealt with, I think it was Sherry, but she was very nice and easy to work with. I told her what i wanted and gave her a budget to work with and she did great! I got 2 vases of flowers for Palo, with Pink Roses and White Calla Lily's. I also got a Rose Wand for Jackie. Both were delivered to the ship and stored in the cooler with my bouquet until Imran delivered them to us. I know Tory got great shots of Jackie and her wand....hopefully she got some shots of the bouquet in Palo too. I know i did...but whether or not we'll ever see those pics is unknown.

Disney Floral -

I have to say that i was 100% totally inlove with my bouquet!! IT was EXACTLY how I pictured it to look! It was full and had 3 different colors of roses....and the mickey crystals!! YAY! I did get the extra ribbon to fully wrap the stems, but in the end I didn't think it needed it. there was such a small amount of water in the vase, it wasn't like the stems were dripping wet. I just wipped them off and we were all set! I brought the bouquet back home and now it is sitting....waiting to dry out. I want to keep it forever!!

(another phone picture)

DFTW Cruise Line Divison.

wow....where to start........I have to be fair and say that in the end the Vow Renewal really was nice and everythind did run smoothly. But the entire planning process was a nightmare! Communication SUCKS in regards to the Cruise division and all the changes that they made in the middle of the process were totally uncalled for! 1st, they said we couldn't use an outside vendor for any floral as DCL didn't have any place to store them. Well we know that wasn't true as they stored 2 flower vases and a rose wand for me with no problems at all! then we had the issue with what i wanted said in my ceremony. I'm sure the standard ceremony that they have said for every single other bride that has sailed with DCL in the past 10 years is very lovely...but you know what....it doesn't have squat to do with my and my husband and our family! And that it 100% what this VR was about....US! And i wanted the ceremoyn to reflect that. According to the wedding manager, the captain speaks not-so-good-English and couldn't vary away from the ceremony they normally use. I told her i didn't care if she had to find an english speaking garbage collecter to read it, but my ceremony would be what was read. They could keep their officer and we're read it to ourselves if we had to! Finally about 1 month before saililng i got notice that "a senior officer" would read the ceremony as I had written it! Of course by that time i coudln't have backed out if she said no. In the end, it WAS the captain who read my ceremony and he did a wonderful job IN PERFECT ENGLISH without missing a step! (Joe on the other hand had to have his vows repeated to him 3x because he couldn't remember what he was supposed to say! ) Not know if the ceremony was going to be about us was the most stressful part of the planning. Then we had the whole Cake issue. I will admit that i may have had a bit higher expectations that a normal bride simply because i do cakes myself....but i also TEACH people how to do cakes and know that what i was asking for was not hard at all! Then to have an option ripped away from us 1/2 way into planning (the fresh floral topper) just totally ruined it even more. And the cake options were horrible! Plain white on white! UGH!

All in all, i'm going to give DFTW DCL Division a big fat F!!! If I knew 18 months ago the stress and anger that planning with them would involve....i would never have booked. Yes it came out fine....not perfect, but fine.....but I dont' feel it was worth what i had to go thru. I'd take the $1500 for the VR and the cost of the cruise and done an Escape for the same price....or Swan and Dolphin for cheaper!! I totally do NOT recommend the DCL weddings to anyone.

Wedding Planner/Coordinator - Brie - D

I know that 90% of the problems that i had with DFTW were not Brie's fault...she doesn't make the rules. BUT her communication with me was horrible!! IT would take weeks to get a response from her! I can understand that she normally has to check with the ship before she can answer me...but a simple "I'm checking with the ship...give me a few days to get back with you" would have made me much happier tham wondering if she ever even got the email in the 1st place!!

Imran - Onboard Wedding Coordinator - C

I loved Imran....he seriously worked his butt off for us! We got so many cute little notes from him....and lots of bottles of the cheap nasty champagne and he really did work to make the Cadillac lounge work for my "tropical" look. And really....I was totally fine with the lounge!! I am actually really proud of how well i held it together when he called and said we had to move! And he got the Chef to make my cake for me!!! He was able to change the plain dots into Mickey Dots! And he got them to write Happily Ever After on my cake and they did an awesome job with my cake toppers. And he worked SOOO HARD to make sure that there were no strawberries anywhere near me. He told me in our initial meeting that he told EVERYONE on the ship that i was not to have any strawberries at all! And our waiter at the dinnig room knew it, our Palo waiter knew it, they even mentioned in the spa that it was coconut spray not strawberry. And he assured me that we would have chocolate covered bananas and pineapple, as disucssed with Brie, instead of the strawberries. So you can imagine my suprise when we come back from Palo to a tray FULL of strawberries. It was no big deal to me, Joe and the kids devoured them in like 2 minutes! And the next day we did have our pineapple and bananas...OMG now THAT's some good stuff!! I don't know why i mentioned it to him when called, but i did. And he was angry. And understandably he should be....he gave pretty explicit instructions to everyone about the strawberries and someone didn't get that memo to housekeeping. So i can understand why he was upset....but he didn't have to send us a MUCH BETTER bottle of Champagne to our table that evening. So he really did go out of his way to make sure we were happy.

Which was why i was completely and totally blown away when i came home and discoverd he bold faced LIED to me!! At our 1st meeting, we were going over the ceremony and I told him about the sand ceremony. He told me in no uncertain terms that it was absolutely NOT allowed...could not be done. Customs and environalmental agents and it was just too dangerous to attempt...whatever...no big deal. it wasn't That imprortant to me. So i come home and look at Tanya's pics,.....she did her VR just 1 week before us....and damn if she doesn't have pics of her sand ceremony right there on deck 7. And the stupid thing is that he knew i knew Tanya as we were talking about her and i wanted to know all about how her ceremoyn went! So he had to have known i'd see her pictures! I don't know what happened in the 7 days from when she got on until i got on....but he wouldn't allow the Sand Ceremony. So that gives him a C.


ummmmmmmmmmm..............I think that's it for now........ hopefully i can get some pictures....sometime.

One more thing.....chairs for the ceremony. They only provide 12 chairs for deck 7......2 rows of 3 chairs on each side. Imran assured me it would be no big deal to have my guests stand. ***!?!?!? WHY would you have a maximum guest count of 18 but only provide chairs for 12??? I can assure you that if we actually HAD had the ceremony ondeck 12, my family would have drug chairs down from Deck 8 to sit on!! If i get a comment card (HA! That'll never happen) you can be sure i'll be mentioning that stupid little fact!! I had to pay $100 more for those guests and you're going to make them stand?!?!?!?!? I DON"T THINK SO!!!!

 

[Chilly]

Oh dear you did have a few issues didn't you. You looked lovely though.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I'm sorry that not everything went smoothly. Thank you for the honest reviews, as someone who's still hoping to do a DFTVR (even though it won't be for our 10th next year), I really appreciate getting the real scoop. That's very strange about the sand ceremony -- maybe he found out after Tanya's that he wasn't supposed to do that?