There’s something magical about setting sail on a cruise.
New people, new surroundings - and in many ways, as your ship sails away from port, you leave the world you know behind. And anything can happen.
Though marriage equality has only been legal in the United States since 2015 (a few years longer in other parts of the world — happening every day in new countries), cruise lines like Royal Caribbean have been performing weddings at sea for same-sex couples for years. And not just weddings — from anniversaries to birthdays, family reunions to spur-of-the-moment elopements, a cruise is the perfect place to celebrate life’s big moments.
After all, you want to remember milestones — and let’s face facts. Though people’s birthdays may slip your mind and anniversaries come and go, you’ll never forget a major moment celebrated on the open seas. If you’re one of the many considering getting married, celebrating an anniversary or any other milestone on a cruise ship, we have several reasons we think it’s the only way to go.
On a Cruise, You’re Nowhere and Everywhere: The amazing thing about vacationing on a cruise ship is that every morning you wake up, you’re in a different place. So that age-old dispute that couples and families have had year after year after year — “Where should we go on vacation?” “Where should we honeymoon?” “Destination wedding? Good, where?” — suddenly becomes a bit easier to navigate. As long as you can agree on a region of the world, you can celebrate in multiple destinations at once.
Endless Options for Even “Spur-of-the-Moment” Events: Say you decide to elope. Maybe you’ve planned it out a bit before and decide you want to go on a cruise and tie the knot there? Maybe the romance of the open water leads you to make a spontaneous decision? Whatever the plan, there’s something amazing about being able to say, "I do" and immediately at your fingertips have fine dining, a dance for celebrating, endless photo opportunities and a built-in honeymoon all in one place without any extra planning. Just because you’re going to do something spur of the moment doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get all the benefits of an unforgettable wedding day at the same time.
It’s Easy: Preparing for any sort of vacation can be difficult. Packing, unpacking, packing up again, and then be faced to do it all over when you arrive at the next destination. When you add to that an entire wedding party or having guests in tow to help you celebrate an anniversary, it just compounds things. On a cruise ship, you unpack once and you’re good to go for the entire vacation. It’s called a vacation for a reason — why not do as little work as possible while you kick back, relax and enjoy?
You Don’t Have to Worry About a Thing: It’s amazing how many people and things you have to coordinate to pull off a big celebration. Wedding planners, caterers, videographers, wait staff — the list goes on. When you plan a wedding, anniversary or any sort of milestone celebration on a cruise ship, you select your package and the cruise line takes care of everything. Your only job is to show up. And beyond that, anyone who has ever planned a big to-do knows there’s a certain amount of stress that everyone will arrive on time — from the guests to the bridesmaids and groomsmen, if one person gets stuck in traffic or forgets to leave the house on time, it’s a pinball effect. On a cruise ship, your guests loose track of time because they’re engrossed in a show or enjoying conversation with new or existing friends, chances are everyone will be exactly where they need to be when they need to be there.
What Transportation Home?: A major concern after any big celebration is getting your guests home safely. If you’ve had an open bar, you always want to make sure everyone has a designated driver or car service to get them home safely. But when push comes to shove, unless you plan to babysit every single guest, you’re never really confident everyone will make it home safely. There’s no driving on a cruise ship — sure, if you’ve partied late into the night, it might be a long walk back to your stateroom, but the concern of friends and loved ones getting behind a wheel are whisked away — and you’ll sleep better at night knowing everyone is tucked-in, safe and sound in their staterooms.
You Have Days to Relive the Memories: The hard part about a major celebration is saying goodbye. Once they announce last call and everyone takes one last trip around the dance floor, everyone goes their separate ways — minus the people who flew in from out of town — and wakes up the next day to relive the memories through photos on Facebook. When you celebrate as a group on a cruise, you have an entire vacation ahead of you — and instead of having to spread your attention among a huge group of people, you can actually spend quality time and build lasting memories in small groups or even one on one. Cruise vacations allow you to collect memories from your vacation… it’s not about the souvenirs.
The Ocean is Romantic: And that’s really pretty self-explanatory. If you’ve ever stepped out onto the deck of a cruise ship at sunset or sunrise or even in the dead of night, you know there’s something calming and peaceful and romantic about life at sea. What better way to celebrate an incredible moment than in the middle of the ocean — without question, it’s a memory you’ll never forget.
