Travel Agent Recommendation

We are booking a wedding cruise....it is getting bigger faster than I expected and although we are dealing directly with the cruise line I am starting to feel like I really wish we had a travel agent to handle and coordinate a lot of these details.

Unfortunately my point of contact at Carnival doesn't handle GROUPS....and she tells me that Carnival doesn't assign specific group coordinators or points of contact that you can call or email whenever you want.

I really like the idea of a specific point of contact.

So now I am wondering if anyone knows of a great GROUP cruise travel agent they would recommend?

I hate that the website CruiseCritic doesn't allow you to personally contact other posters.....love the site but I HATE not being able to follow up with people specifically to ask questions off the "board"....if there's a way to do that....maybe I'm missing something (not the first time).....can someone clue me in!

THANKS

I can't help you about putting together a group cruise. What I can say though, is while researching our destination wedding, we found that 'cruise ship weddings' are not legally recognized weddings. The lucky couple will have to have another ceremony on land somewhere with a recognized officiant and a marriage license. It can be done at their courthouse or wherever they want, but cruise ships (and the Captain) are purely legal for only 'renewing vows' for people already married. Here: http://marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/ht/marriedatsea.htm

I asked my DW- she's the expert on Cruise Critic, and she tells me there is no way to privately contact other users. As for a cruise travel agent, we use Donald (last name escapes me) at Vacationstogo. He's been most helpful on 5-6 cruises, keeping an eye on various discounts and even cancelling/rebooking at lower rates.

Jim

Paumavista said:

So now I am wondering if anyone knows of a great GROUP cruise travel agent they would recommend?

Click to expand...

I've got one for you - Linda used to be working at Princess but went independent a year or so ago. I'm sure she would do a great job for you. PM if still interested and I'll send you her contact info directly.


Sent from my iPad

I am not from your area so will not recommend a specific TA. I will say, though, that I worked as one (my sister is specifically a cruise TA) previously. You definitely SHOULD use a TA. Groups get discounts, sometimes a free cabin, and "give backs" from the cruise line.

Sandy VDH is a TUGger who I believe coordinated a couple of the TUG cruises.
I wasn't able to join any of them, but you may want to reach out to her.

Don't many ships have clergy on board?

What a coincidence! Got a call this evening from a buddy (on other business) who said he just got back from a cruise where some friends got married on the ship. He says they brought their own officiator.

As a Travel Agent and long time Tug Member, I can add that Princess Cruises does offer legal weddings at sea. The Captain is licensed as a wedding officiant in Bermuda where the ship is registered. Several weeks after the cruise, the bridal couple will receive their marriage license in the mail. They will still need to have the marriage recorded locally.

The following is information from Princess Cruises...

"When Princess launched its seagoing weddings program in 1998, the line made maritime and marriage history -- and turned cruising lore into reality -- by having the captain join couples in marriage. Until that point, there had been a common misconception that any ship captain was empowered to join couples in matrimony, but in truth, no such ceremony was ever conducted aboard a major cruise ship...The program is available fleet wide with marriages performed by the captain under the legal authority of the ship’s Bermuda registry. Princess’ wedding program assists with all required paperwork associated with Bermuda regulations."

If in CA anyone can marry you.

Just send $50 to,the State and the names of those you are marrying,fill out the form and you can marry anyone. I have a friend who has done this for several friends he knows.