Getting married on a cruise ship?

Sorry dont know anything about cruise ships. Kelly29 might have know a bit if she is about.

But I wanted to say welcome back and so pleased to hear that you have things back on track.

I did read in a wedding mag where a couple got married on a yaucht. That looked pretty cool.

Hello we are going on a crfuise for our honeymoon the ship looks amazing and i have been told the food is fantastic, i bet it would be a great place to get married!

Fab idea, but I think you will have to be docked when you actually marry as you have to obtain a licence for a specifc country

When we went to obtain our licence in Barbados there were a number of people there who had come off the ships to get married

A captain of a ship can marry anyone on there ship (thats if the captian did the ceremony)...so a license may not be required or you could sort it out in the uk before going.

They can also prenounce someone dead..... i do know some useless information lol

This is actually a complete and utter myth.

The company I work for doesn't do weddings, but P&O do and they have full details on their website.

THis is not a myth my fiance is a captain....he could indeed marry someone on board a ship as he is captain. He did offer to get one of his captain friends to marry us on one of the boats...but getting married on a dirty cargo vessle....erm no thanks lol

You might find this useful http://ezinearticles.com/?Cruise-Ship-Wedding-Packages:-Where-to-Tie-the-Knot&id=413207

Part of it says 'The Captain of the ship usually cannot do the marriage ceremony. Sometimes a notary or a non-denominational minister performs the ceremony.'

Yes it does say usually but they can do it....not all would as i would imagine they would get overun with requests. Would be quite nice to get married on a cruise...tho my fiance says it would be like a busmans holiday for him being on a boat so there is no way i will ever get a holiday on a boat/cruise ship

I went on a cruise last year and someone got married on board- it was absolutely beautiful!

Ive just read these few things onine, dont know if they are any help...

Princess Cruises offers weddings aboard its ships (except Pacific Princess, Royal Princess, Tahitian Princess) The ceremonies are performed by the captain, and are legal because of the ships’ registry, Bermuda.


Captains were granted the power so in case one of the crew members died & were buried at sea they can preside over it. This grant also allows them to marry people.

But then ive also read a few times.....
If he is also a minister or justice of the peace, then yes he can marry you....

I would checkwhoever you are going to book the cruise with as im sure they would know someone to ask???

Good Luck x x x

Thanks for your help guys. We have found out the Princess, P and O cruises, Celebrity cruises all sail from Southampton and offer wedding ceremonies abourd the ship. Im liking the P and O or Celebrity to be honest. We are looking at doing a 3 or 4 day cruise to make it affordable for those family who want to join us - and they all seem to be to Ireland or party cruises to Amsterdam or Bruges - so Ireland is winning as I've never been there.

Apparently any captain can marry you in a legal ceremony as long as you meet the legal requirements the country the ship belongs to has - so to marry on board Princess cruise ships you have to met legal requirements of ceremonies in Bermuda.

Hi there

I know it's a bit late to join this thread but hopefully I can help anyone out there who is wondering about getting married at sea! For weddings at sea on P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises the marriage is legal with the licences etc all being obtained in Bermuda by teams shoreside prior to the cruise. The ship's captain usually performs the actual ceremony (on the very rare occasions where this might not be possible, his deputy- the staff captain- will do it instead) and the ship has to be 12 miles out to sea under Bermudan law for the marriage to be valid.

I am sure ships' captains everywhere can marry people but the validity of the marriages in the UK may vary depending on where the ship is flagged. I can't comment for any other cruise lines but the above is certainly true for P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises (I work for the company so I should know!). I am actually getting married myself next year and unfortunately we're having about 150 guests so doing it on board just isn't practical. If the wedding were smaller and our guests could travel, we'd certainly do it on board! It is good value and cruising is fun. Brides and grooms also feel very special on the day, with passengers all over the ship often congratulating them and breaking out into spontaneous applause as they pass by.

P&O Cruises is easier to deal with than Princess Cruises as the Wedding Planners are all employed by P&O Cruises and based in Southampton whereas the Princess ones work for an external company and are all in the US, so they can sometimes be more difficult to get hold of as they are several hours behind GMT.

I hope this helps anyway- and for anyone out there considering a wedding at sea, good luck! I am sure it will be a wonderful experience.

Our friends are getting married on P&O's Ventura later this year and around 20 of us have booked to join them and we're all so excited! Sorry I can't tell you if it's good or not as haven't been yet but I imagine it will be fabulous!