Weather Check

Well, weather forecasts are now available out until the wedding day.

The good news is it didn't look like any issues in the departing cities (TX, RI, WA). We'll cross our fingers that this doesn't change.

On a less than good note... the forecast is saying rain on Thursday in St Thomas. Let's hope this changes. I've been told that in the case of rain, the wedding can be held onboard... but I'm foreseeing a *big* hassle if that happens and of course, no decorations or anything, so not an ideal location. The wedding coordinator told me that in case of rain, they would always try to just delay the wedding because showers tend to come and go, however as opposed to every day preceding the 8th, which say "scattered showers", the 8th actually just says "showers". :-(

Oh well, weather forecasts are never accurate this far in advance, right? (wishful thinking anyway).

Wedding Day 4:30-6:00

I've gotten a couple questions about what our plans are for 4:30-6:00 time period, since you may have noticed we have a gap between the hors d'oeuvres reception and our dinner reservations.

Here's my thoughts:

As I mentioned in my email to the folks on the cruise today, I found where someone posted the daily activity schedules from a previous cruise. Based on the "normal" timing of things from those schedules, I think the lounge we are in for the reception (Wheelhouse lounge) usually has live music starting around 5:15, so we can probably hang out there prior to dinner. (However, I'm not sure if it will "close" between our reception and opening to the public).

Second thought: Gary and I will probably try to take some photos around the ship. We're crossing our fingers that this will be one of the evenings the cruise photographers are doing portraits and we can take advantage of that. Since we didn't hire a photographer for the reception, being able to take a portrait would be a nice addition to our photos. However, I'm not sure of the timeframe that they take these photos.

In regards to photos: From previous experience, the cruise photographers usually come around and take photos during dinner. Again, we are hoping this is the case on this evening, so that we can get a group photo at dinner. With that said, we (Gary and Rachelle) are definitely planning on staying in our wedding attire through dinner. Since I was hoping to get a group photo, I'd really appreciate if you all stayed "dressed up", but it's certainly up to you. The dining rooms don't allow jeans or shorts anyway, so it's not like you can get very casual. :-)

You are certainly welcome to do whatever you'd like during this time period, these were just my thoughts. Thanks!

Three Weeks to Go

Wow - time does fly! I can't believe we'll be en route to St Maarten in 3 weeks.

I hope everyone has received their cruise packet from Princess (includes luggage tags and a Bahamas form) and filled out their immigration forms online (Cruise Personalizer on priness.com).

I think we are just about done wrapping things up. I finally found shoes for myself... we bought wedding rings two weekends ago... and this past weekend we got Gary a suit and accesories. Although we are still going to look around for a tie. My dress is currently getting alterations, as is Gary's suit, but we should be all set. Yay!

St Maarten Shore Excursion

Well, the most popular choice for a shore excursion in St. Maarten, was the "Delightfully Dutch, Fantastically French Island Tour". Unfortunately, when I went to book it, it is showing to be in a waitlist status. :-( Sorry about that!!

The next most popular choice was the "St. Maarten See & Sea". So... we are booked for that one. It is 8:00-11:30. Here's the description:

Experience St. Maarten’s scenic wonders above and below the water on an excursion that combines a semi-submarine tour with a scenic island drive — plus there is time for shopping.

WHAT YOU VISIT
Board your air-conditioned transportation and drive to Grand Case, a quaint fishing village and popular destination on the French side. Board the Seaworld Explorer and descend into the air-conditioned comfort of the underwater observatory located six feet below the waterline. The large viewing ports offer a close-up look at coral reefs and schools of tropical fish during your 45-minute narrated tour of the marine ecosystem at Creole Rock. After your cruiseenjoy a complimentary beverage on deck as you take in the view of Grand Case Bay. Then drive to Marigot, the island’s French capital, where you have free time to enjoy the city’s European flair and visit the quaint shops, chic boutiques, sidewalk cafés, and open-air market. The scenic return drive to the ship stops for photos at Cole BayLookout. The view encompasses magnificent Simpson Bay Lagoon and possibly the neighboring islands of Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis.

I hope everyone will be happy with that one. I will watch to see if the other one changes status or anything. I was surprised to see a tour fill up... I assumed they would just add another bus or something. Oh well.

Busy Port

I think we're in for a crowded island... I found the other ships that are scheduled to be in port on the 8th. There are 6 of them, including ours. (Explorer of the Seas, Carnival Victory, Norwegian Jewel, Millenium, and Veendam).

Just for kicks, I looked up the total capacity of all ships... it is 15, 078. The population of St. Thomas is 51, 181 (2000 census).

According to the schedule I found, it looked like they average 3-4 per day. I saw as many as 7 in port.

Wedding Location Pictures

As some of you have heard, it was *quite* an ordeal trying to get photos of the wedding location that was described as the "Garden Terrace" location. This is what took us so long to decide on a location. The wedding coordinator was finally able to provide me a link to this website, which shows some pictures of Blackbeard's Castle (where the garden terrace is).

You'll notice that the pictures are of the location, but they don't show where the ceremony actually takes place.

At the bottom of the page they have a link to "View our Gallery of images to our venues". However, when you go through that gallery, there is no description to tell which venue is which.

When going through that gallery, I *believe* the following numbers are from the garden terrace: 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40. I know that the couple pictured in shot #4 got married at the garden terrace, based on the fact that I got some of their pictures emailed directly stating that it was the garden terrace.

Although I would think that would be an easy thing for the wedding coordinator to identify, it was not... so I guess we will see when we get there if my assumptions are right.

The beach locations are pretty, however the arch and aisle are very expensive and I just couldn't justify spending the money for 15-20 minutes... therefore, we decided the garden terrace should be pretty enough without having to spend money on decorations/flowers. An undecorated beach was also an option, but in the end we just decided to take a chance on the garden terrace. Hopefully it will work out :-)

Time Zone

All of the islands we will be visiting on our cruise are in Atlantic Time Zone (one hour later than Eastern).

I've been told by the wedding coordinator and confirmed with Princess customer service that when the ship leaves port from Fort Lauderdale at 5pm Eastern time, they will set their clocks ahead one hour for the duration of our trip.

Therefore, the itinerary for our stops and all wedding timeline times below are in Atlantic time.

Wedding Day Timeline

Here's our tentative timeline for the wedding day. Bold/Italics times are now confirmed.

This is obviously my timeline... you are certainly free to form your own timeline for the day based on the confirmed times below. You probably have some time to go out and explore St. Thomas prior to the wedding... just be ready to depart the ship at 1pm for the wedding.

7:00 - Ship arrives in St. Thomas
8:00 - Breakfast (approximate)
10:00 - Rachelle's hair appointment
11:00 - Lunch (approximate)
11:30 - Get dressed / ready (approximate)
12:45 - Rachelle and Gary depart for court appearance
1:00 - Guests depart for Blackbeard's Castle location
2:00 - Ceremony begins
2:20 - Photos - Garden Terrace @ Blackbeard's Castle (approximate)
3:00 - Return to ship (approximate)
3:30 - Hors d'oeuvres reception on ship
4:30 - Non-sailing guests must depart ship
6:00 - Ship departs St. Thomas / Dinner reservations at Sabatini's

One confirmed time on Wednesday (St Maarten evening)...
6:30 - Dinner reservations at Sterling Steakhouse