What’s More Romantic than Getting Hitched at Sea?

A cruise ship wedding can be very romantic but there are a number of other reasons why more and more couples are getting married at sea. In the last decade, cruise weddings have become more and more popular. Luckily for marine-minded brides, more cruise lines are able to offer weddings at sea which of course will be combined with a romantic cruise honeymoon.

Photo courtesy of MSC Cruises

Planning a wedding on a cruise can be very easy. Talk to the ship’s wedding coordinators and they will begin organizing the ceremony, the flowers, the menu, the music, and the wedding cake. They will even help you customize your event down to the smallest detail, within reason.

Couples appreciate the opportunity to have their event in spectacular destinations whether it’s on a beautiful tropical beach, on a spectacular glacier in Alaska, or on the top deck of the ship as the sun sets at sea. Couples who want something different find a ship-board wedding appealing.

An on-board wedding can be a great value too.  A basic package starts at about $2.000 and includes three hours of planning with a consultant, priority check-in, non-denominational official, ceremony, recorded music, bridal bouquet, marriage certificate, photographer (but not photos: they’re purchased separately) and more.  The average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception with RCCL costs about $10,000 for a 100-person event, excluding the cruise cost and the airfare for sailing guests.

At least three months advance notice is required for getting the marriage licence and other information. Most couples allow six to nine months advance notice to get the necessary licenses.

Captains on some cruise lines can perform the wedding ceremony, but most cruise lines book an official from the port –of-call. Permission is based on where the ship is registered and what the government allows.
Four cruise ship lines including Celebrity, Princess, Disney, and Carnival Cruises allow marriages at sea.

Photo courtesy of MSC Cruises

However, Princess is the prime choice because, of all the lines offering ship-board wedding options, it offers the best combination of features, services and facilities. Princess' Weddings at Sea packages are available on all ships, but only Caribbean Princess, Crown Princess, Coral Princess, Diamond Princess, Emerald Princess, Golden Princess, Grand Princess, Sapphire Princess and Ruby Princess have dedicated wedding chapels. Princess offers three wedding packages starting at $1,800 plus a $450 license fees and goes up from there. Receptions, photography packages, and enhanced ceremony options are available at extra cost. Not only can your ceremony be conducted at sea by the captain, but the line has also installed state-of-the-art technology that allows you to broadcast the ceremony live, via Web cam, to friends and family on land.

Photo coutesy of MSC Cruises

So if you’re thinking of getting married, set sail on a magical getaway, and enjoy the wedding of your dreams!

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Muriel MacRae, owner of Del Sol Travel and Del Sol Destination Weddings, is a travel consultant and wedding planner who specializes in destination weddings and romantic getaways to tropical areas such as Hawaii, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. Located in Calgary, Alberta, she plans destination weddings and honeymoons for couples in and around the Calgary area and throughout North America. For more information about planning your destination wedding, honeymoon, or romantic getaway, please contact her at travelinfo@delsoltravel.ca or phone 403-477-0643.

Planning Your Wedding in the Riviera Maya

A very popular location for destination weddings is the Riviera Maya. This fascinating region is home to Tulum's ancient Mayan Ruin, the second largest barrier reef in the world, numerous luxury brand hotels, "eco-archeological theme parks", and miles of white sandy beaches.

Attempting to find the "right" location can be a time-consuming and confusing task if you are not familiar with the location.

Playa del Carmen, roughly in the center of the area between Cancun and Tulum, has evolved from a sleepy fishing village to a place to get away from the crowds of Cancun while travelling on a passenger ferry to Cozumel, an island across the Cozumel Channel.

Today it has turned into a vacation mecca with beautiful beaches and lovely turquoise waters.

Playa has become a stop for several cruise ships which dock at the nearby Calica quarry docks, about six miles south of the city. The Xcaret Eco Park, a Mexican-themed "eco-archaeological park", is a popular tourist destination located just south of the town in Xcaret (pronounced "esh-caret"). Fifth Avenue, stretching from Calle 1 norte until Calle 34 in Playa del Carmen, is a pedestrian walkway located just one or two blocks inland from the beach, which is lined with boutique hotels, shops, bars, and restaurants.

When planning a destination wedding, the Rivieria Maya has a number of advantages. First, it is an easy place to travel to as there are frequent flights to Cancun which are direct from most North American cities. No one wants to take long flights up to 24 hours to get to the destination wedding location!Second, there are a wide variety of excellent hotels in gorgeous settings located on the shores of the pictureque blue Caribbean which appeal to a variety of budgets. One of the biggest problems is to decide which one to choose! The entire area has a building restriction height of three storeys so many of the hotels are huge as they include serveral buildings spread out over the property.

Third, most of the superior hotels provide a variety of services and activities which will appeal to most of their guests. Lazy rivers, swim-up suites, water sports such as snorkelling, aquacycle, kayaking, sailing and scuba diving lessons in the pool, or simply enjoying the beach attract vacationers of all ages who want to escape "winter".

Finally, most of the resorts offer a variety of wedding packages and free honeymoon packages with an on-site wedding planner making the planning of a destination wedding much easier than arranging the entire wedding yourself.

If you are not sure where to start, get advice from a destination wedding consultant who can advise you about the requirements for getting married in Mexico and is familiar with resorts in the area. You can save yourself hours of searching on the internet and ensure that you find a destination wedding location which is just right for the two of you.

For more information, call Toll Free 1-866-653-4055 or e-mail travelinfo@delsoltravel.ca.

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Muriel MacRae, owner of Del Sol Travel and Del Sol Destination Weddings, is a travel consultant who specializes in destination weddings and romantic getaways to tropical areas. Located in Calgary, Alberta, she plans destination weddings for couples in and around the Calgary area and throughout North America. For more information about planning your destination wedding or romantic getaway, please contact her at travelinfo@delsoltravel.ca

Five Things to Consider When Choosing the Location for Your Destination Wedding

Destination weddings are becoming more popular every year. Many brides dream of having the perfect setting in a beautiful tropical location with the turquoise blue waters of the ocean lapping on the white, sandy beach! How do you decide from the multitude of choices exactly where you will tie the knot?

Many couples want to choose their wedding destination based on some significance to them. It may have been a place that they have visited in the past and have wonderful memories from their holiday there. It may be where he proposed! On the other hand, it may be a locale that couple have never visited but have always dreamed of seeing.

One of the first things to consider is how many guests will be attending and where will they be coming from? Find places that have easy to access from all parts of North America. The Riviera Maya, just south of Cancun, has daily flights throughout the year from all over North America. Try to avoid out of the way places which require numerous connecting flights to get there or have only one flight arriving and departing that week. Hawaii, a very popular place for destination weddings, may be quite far for your guests and family who live on the east coast. Also consider whether or not your wedding is a family affair or for adults only. Some resorts will not allow children onsite even for a wedding. Many times a couple may want to take their children with them to the destination wedding as that will be their vacation time together for the year.



Third, be sure to consider the type of resort that your guests will want to attend. You and you fiancée may love adventure and decide on an isolated eco-resort in a rustic setting with no electricity, screens on the windows, or modern conveniences. However, your guests may not share your enthusiasm and be upset with the accommodations that you have chosen which might be just as expensive as a luxury hotel but without the benefits. Think about what your guest want to do when they are not attending wedding-related activities. Are there golfers in the crowd? Do people want to hang out at the beach? Are there folks who like to visit the casinos? You might want to make a list of the “must haves” as well as a list of the “nice to haves” so that your destination wedding consultant can help you narrow down your decision.


Consider the timing of your wedding. Lots of brides think they will get a better deal if they and their guests travel in off season. Remember that these times are often off season due to poorer or rainy weather, hurricanes season, high humidity and other factors. In addition, many of the resort services including some of the restaurants will be closed at that time. Also consider that some resorts advertise special rates to the locales during off season which can result in an overcrowding of the amenities on the resort. Some couples think of Valentine’s Day as a date for their wedding. I have been in Las Vegas on February 14th and have seen brides and grooms in long lines in the hotels waiting to get into the chapel to get married. How unromantic! Be careful! You do not want to have your wedding at a resort where 20 or 30 weddings are taking place on the same day as yours.

Finally, let the dream begin. Close your eyes and let your imagination take over. What does your wedding look like? Where is it located? Maybe a tropical garden on a beautifully landscaped resort in Hawaii, or is it in a pretty wedding gazebo overlooking the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean? Or perhaps you always wanted to become man and wife in a quaint white stucco chapel in Greece, or dreamed about getting married by the captain aboard a cruise ship sailing to exotic places? There are so many exciting possibilities. Don’t settle for second best! With a little time, creativity, and planning, your destination wedding can become the dream that you have always been thinking about!

For more information about destination weddings, call 1-866-653-4055 or visit www.delsoltravel.ca.

Caribbean Popular Cruise Destination This Winter Season

The Caribbean continues to be a popular cruise destination for Canadians. Beautiful crystal blue, waters, pristine, white sandy beaches, and a kaleidoscope of cultures beckon us to the tropics. Even this past summer, the Caribbean was one of the most popular destinations for cruise lines.

The Caribbean is a favourite destination for many reasons. It has warm weather compared to Canada’s frigid winter temperatures. There are lots of interesting ports with each one being unique and exciting. In addition, the Caribbean is a perfect place for the beginner cruiser to be introduced to cruising.

There are more choices of ports of embarkation for the cruisers heading south this year. Passengers will be able to depart from New York City, Baltimore, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, San Juan, Barbados, Colon, Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston. More ports, mean a huge saving on flight costs, especially if you are travelling as a family or group.

Numerous cruise lines sail the Caribbean such as MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Carnival, Celebrity, Disney , Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Cruises can be as short as three nights or over two weeks long. The most difficult decision is deciding which cruise to take! Right now there are still some great deals. Check http://www.delsoltravel.ca/ or call 1-866-653-4055 for more cruise information.

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Muriel MacRae, owner of Del Sol Travel and Del Sol Destination Weddings, is a travel consultant who specializes in destination weddings and romantic getaways to tropical areas. Located in Calgary, Alberta, she plans destination weddings for couples in and around the Calgary area and throughout North America. For more information about planning your destination wedding or romantic getaway, please contact her at travelinfo@delsoltravel.ca

Shorter Cruises Are the Way to Go!

Would you like to take a cruise this summer but don’t have the time or money to slip away on a 10-day Caribbean cruise? Think about taking a quick sailing , from overnight to a four-night getaway, which gives you a taste of cruise living and a wonderful respite from your daily routine. Once you are onboard the ship you won’t have a single worry, because everything will be taken care of for you. Your biggest dilemma will be deciding what to do next: laze in the sun on a deck chair and catch up on your reading, go for a stroll around the deck, or nap, dress for dinner and then go to the evening entertainment. See - you still can enjoy sailing the high seas even if you are short on vacation time or the recession is cutting into you travel funds.

Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean offer most of the weekend or short cruises. After the events of September 11, 2001, these cruise lines started offering shorter cruises to appeal to travellers avoiding air travel. They established more cruise-ship ports so that more people could drive within a day to board cruise ships. The prime destinations are The Bahamas, Key West, Florida, Cozumel, and Ensenada, Mexico. In addition, a shortened cruise schedule allows more people the ability to take a weekend cruise or take fewer days off work. These cruise packages allow people to spend some leisurely time with friends and families. As well, many businesses are using short cruises as a way to reward their employees.

This year, there are many specials for shorter cruises with great rates. In the past, tickets started around $500 per person (assuming double occupancy). Royal Caribbean has just advertised a 4 Night Western Caribbean Cruise sailing on July 16 to July 20, 2009 starting at $340.00 CAD on Enchantment of the Seas. This deal can only be booked on Tuesday, June 23, 2009. For more information, call Del Sol Travel at Toll Free #1-866-653-4055 or e-mail travelinfo@delsoltravel.ca. Call to find out what other fantastic cruise deals are available.