Some Wedding Details

I talked to the wedding coordinator yesterday and got some of my questions answered. I thought I’d pass on what I learned so everyone will know what to expect.

Location – Still up in the air. They have not been able to provide me pictures of the ceremony location/setup at the “garden terrace”. He’s looking for some pictures now. The garden terrace is located at Blackbeard's Castle. The other option is the beach and he said the beach location is usually Bolongo Bay Beach.

Ceremony – We’ll be at the ceremony location for about an hour. This includes 15-20 minutes for the actual ceremony and then pictures. He also sent me sample vows but said they would vary depending on what officiant shows up.

Reception – We’re thinking of doing an hors d’oeuvres reception between the ceremony and dinner. Our non-sailing guests will have to be off the ship 1-1.5 hours before we depart at 6p. For everyone sailing, we’ll arrange to have dinner at one of the specialty restaurants that evening. I’ll request our dinner reservations for 6p.

Flowers – My bouquet of “tropical flowers” is included in the package, as is a matching boutonniere for Gary. Bridesmaids’ bouquets are very pricey (especially considering ceremony and therefore “use” is 15-20 minutes), therefore I’m thinking of the other alternatives - a single flower or corsage.

Photography – 1 hour at the ceremony location is included in the package. A vendor on the island does the photos. He/she will cover the ceremony and the pictures at the site. There is an option to get a ship photographer to cover the reception, but not sure if we will do that or not.

Transportation to Ceremony – Transportation for the bride and groom to the court house and then to the ceremony location is provided. The guests will leave 15-20 minutes later than us and go directly to the ceremony site. We’ll be purchasing transportation for you.

That's it for now. More to come.

St Maarten

St Maarten / St Martin is the smallest piece of land anywhere to be shared by two governments. Dutch St. Maarten is part of the Netherlands Antilles and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while French St. Martin is a commune of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France.

English is spoken island-wide, but you will also hear Papiamento, a blend of French, Creole, African, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch, reflecting the island's "visitors." On the French side, you'll hear a great deal of Creole.

The boundary between the island's two parts was created as the result of a walking contest between a Dutchman and a Frenchman in 1648 (the Frenchman walked 21 miles and the Dutchman wound up with a mere 16). But despite separate administrations, the two sides coexist peacefully without border crossings or customs inspections. Locals and visitors alike can cross back and forth with no problems.

Cruise Documents

Gary and I got a bunch of paperwork in the mail from Princess this weekend. Hopefully everyone else got theirs or will soon.

St Thomas Dock Locations

St. Thomas has two main cruise ship docks. The West Indian Company Dock (WICO) at Havensight and the Crown Bay Dock at Crown Bay. Some ships also anchor either inside Charlotte Amalie Harbor or just outside of it, and then run their own smaller vessels to Charlotte Amalie.

I'm reading online that Princess docks at Crown Bay and I've read that there is "really nothing there, but plenty of taxis to take you where you want to go". :-(

Click here for a map of St Thomas. Crown Bay is located in grid F9.

Laundry Issues

I found this information online and thought others might be interested:

All Princess ships have self service laundromat facilities containing washers, dryers, irons and ironing boards. Cost: $1 per load for wash, $1 per load for dry.

Travel Irons for in cabin use are not allowed
Travel Steamers are allowed

Movies

I found this online in a review of the Caribbean Princess:

The best new idea in cruising entertainment is "Movie Under the Stars" which is a creative way to use deck space that normally is totally unused after the sun goes down. The Calypso Reef Pool is transformed into a "drive-in movie" type viewing area. All the lounge chairs are angled toward the giant LED screen located high over the pool while the latest movies play overhead. The loungers are covered with canvas drapes and each has a wool blanket for those cool breezy evenings. Freshly popped popcorn is available, the bar is open and the Horizon Court Buffet is close by, making it convenient to have a snack or a complete meal while enjoying the show. Dining tables are available around the perimeter of the pool area, but the screen is not visible due to the deck above. Reservations will be necessary to use the loungers, since space is so limited and the passenger count so high. During the day, the screen will be used to display pool games with the cruise staff and various other activities.

I'm reading on the cruise message boards that they will likely put the Superbowl up on the screen Sunday. This could make watching the Superbowl tolerable to even me - lol. I'm sure it will be packed though so I'll probably allow space for the real football fans and steer clear.

Guest Count

We're up to 10 guests for the ceremony. :-)

Gary's dad and aunt are going to fly to St. Thomas to be there for the ceremony. They'll be able to join us for the reception on the ship also.

Honeymoon

I'm not sure if I've mentioned to everyone... following the cruise, Gary and I are going to stick around in Florida and head to Disney World for a bit more of a honeymoon. We'll be staying there until Wednesday.

We got that booked yesterday so I'm excited about that. I have been wanting to go there for quite some time.

We have just one minor detail to figure out... how to get from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando. We have a flight from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale going and from Orlando to Dallas leaving. We should be able to get some sort of shuttle either through the cruise line or through Disney. We know they both have some sort of transportation, but we haven't checked the cost yet. So, that one last thing and we can check that off our list.

Robes

Princess provides robes for your use on the ship, however they don't automatically put them in your cabin, you have to request them.

You can request them ahead of time in the "Cruise Personalizer" on their website.

Go to:
- Prepare for your cruise
- Select "Visit Cruise Personalizer"
- Enter your name and booking number
- Go under "Cruise Preferences"
- It's the first question under "Onboard Preferences"
- Be sure to hit "Save" at the bottom

I have read that this doesn't always happen, so if you don't get them in your room, just ask your room steward.

Ceremony Information

Some guidelines I've received on the ceremony:

• Weddings in St Thomas are performed by a non-denominational Minister.
• The ceremony is approximately 15-20 minutes in duration.
• If the weather does not permit the ceremony to take place outside, it will take place onboard the ship.
• Restrooms are available at the ceremony location.
• Bridal parties must arrive dressed for the ceremony, there are no changing rooms available.

St Thomas History

St. Thomas was home to pirates long before European powers ever decided to form their colonies. The Danes colonized St. Thomas in 1666. In 1917 St. Thomas lowered the Danish flag and residents saluted the stars and stripes of The United States Of America. St. Thomas is only 12 miles long and 3 miles wide. The average summer temperature is 83°F, and the average winter temperature is 79°F.

Tips for Princess Cays

Here's some tips I found online about Princess Cays

• They have cabanas available for rent that are shade large enough for two people... however I read they get hot and there are actually lots of other places for shade, so don't waste your money
• One person wrote that when leaving the ship, they try to sell bottled water, which may make you think that there isn't any on the beach - not true. There are "water containers all over the place and it's the same water you drink on the ship"

Got My Dress!!

I found my dress last weekend at David's Bridal, but it was discontinued and therefore they couldn't order one in the right size and color. They found one for me in New Mexico, so I bought it from that store and they shipped it to me. It arrived today and looks perfect. Yay!

Princess Cruise Personalizer

If you've booked your cruise and have a confirmation number, you can login to the Princess website and fill out your immigration forms, book shore excursions and as of yesterday, spa appointments are available to pre-book also.

Click on the Princess Cruise Line link on the bottom, right hand side. Once on their site, click on "Prepare for Your Cruise", then "Cruise Personalizer". You'll be asked for your name and confirmation number.

This is also where we will be able to get our boarding passes. However, they aren't available yet. I read that Princess is the first cruiseline to go to electronic ticketing and I believe it's pretty new.

Another interesting area to check out is under Downloads (bottom right). There is lots of good information in there.

Updates Here

Since there wasn't a place for updates on the wedding website, I'll post updates to our plans here so that everyone coming to the wedding can stay up to date and/or anyone interested can see how our plans are coming along.