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Cruised with 30 family members and friends to the Western Caribbean, with a stop on Grand Cayman for our daughter's wedding. First issue arose because we booked through a travel agent. The travel agent was very, very nice and did her job well, but the problem is that once you book with a travel agent, you cannot make ANY arrangements with Royal Caribbean without the assistance of that agent. When you're trying to plan a family event like a wedding, this can become a problem.
Here's what I liked about RC:
--Fabulous service in the dining room
--Delicious desserts
--Good entertainment most evenings
--Good day-time onboard activities
--BEAUTIFUL ship (loved it)
Here's what I did not like:
--Ultra expensive wedding options...least expensive option costs as much as a balcony cabin for two people.
--Customer service staff struggled to understand English. Called down to ask where to locate a hair dryer and was told there were no hair dryers on board. I carefully asked the CS agent if I understood her correctly -- that NO ONE on board had access to hair dryers and she said that no one did, that they are a safety concern, and there were no hair dryers on board. Two days later I asked a family member how she made her hair look so great without a hair dryer...she told me the hair dryers were in the stateroom vanity drawers.
--Second English language problem with customer service, this time with a broken item for the wedding party's flower girl. CS agent said the ship's carpenter could help us fix it, took the item, and promptly lost it. Five hours later, WE found it (not the CS agent)...still sitting on the CS desk after the CS agent had argued with us twice and said it couldn't be located.
--The CS desk manager made up for all the problems by giving us personal assistance with the wedding...and it was a good thing she did. We discovered from her that it would have been impossible to get the things we needed off the ship without special clearance. We discovered this after having talked to three or four RC phone agents about the wedding plans as much as six weeks before sailing. It was almost a disaster.
RC's best suggestion when I was searching for alternatives for the wedding ceremony was to have the kids get married state-side and have a commemorative wedding on board for $500. I understand now why they suggested it. Ultimately, though, the beach wedding that we enjoyed on Grand Cayman Island was fabulous and it's sad that RC can't come up with an option for this that doesn't cost $2,500. As it was, I paid a total of $1,500 for the island-based wedding planner, all legal documents, the ceremony and minister, one-way transportation for all wedding guests, and five bottles of champagne to enjoy at dinner. It was worth every penny. Still, I would have gone through much less stress if RC had offered a ship-based wedding planner. For this mother-of-the-bride, it was a stress-filled trip.
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