MSC Cruise Weddings Guide

 MSC wedding packages include a specified number of participants, and additional guests may be added according to MSC’s current package rules, capacity, and applicable fees.

For larger wedding groups, the number of ceremony guests is only one part of the planning. You also need to consider cruise accommodations, dining, group activities, guest communication, reception plans, transportation, and wedding-day logistics.

This is one of the areas where our combination of wedding planning and professional group travel coordination becomes especially valuable.

For Ocean Cay Wedding Pavilion weddings the maximum is 60 guests. On board weddings are less restrictive. 

 MSC offers symbolic wedding experiences across its fleet, but specific wedding availability, venues, packages, and ceremony dates can vary by ship and sailing.

If you are dreaming of an Ocean Cay wedding, your itinerary must include Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

We recommend choosing your sailing based on more than just the ship. We help couples consider wedding availability, itinerary, embarkation port, cruise length, guest budget, cabin choices, Yacht Club availability, family needs, dining, entertainment, and the overall wedding experience they want to create.

You do not have to figure out the best ship by yourself. That is part of what we help you determine.

 Absolutely—and you should not have to become everyone’s travel agent while planning your wedding.

Sun Coast Travel can assist your wedding guests with cruise reservations, cabin selection, available group arrangements, deposits and payments, important deadlines, guest registration, cruise documentation, online check-in guidance, pre-cruise hotels, transportation, dining requests, and general cruise questions.

Instead of every guest contacting the bride or groom with travel questions, your guests have an experienced travel team available to help.

Your job is to get married. Let us help manage the journey.

 MSC Cruises manages the services and elements included in the wedding package you purchase from MSC. Depending on your package, that may include the ceremony venue, MSC wedding coordination, ceremony setup, floral elements, cake, toast, photography, spa or salon services, and other listed package inclusions.

MSC also establishes its wedding policies, availability, timing, venues, ship operations, and Ocean Cay procedures.

 Events by Sun Coast Travel works for you. 

Depending on the services you select, our team can assist with wedding planning, timelines, wedding details, communication, cruise-line coordination, group travel, guest reservations, hotels, transportation, reception planning, décor guidance, guest experience, and onboard wedding-day coordination.

Our goal is to help connect the wedding, cruise, and guest experience so you are not trying to manage each one separately.

 SEE OUR WEDDING PLANNING SERVICES 

SEE OUR TRAVEL PLANNING SERVICES  

 You are not required to hire an independent wedding planner simply because you purchase an MSC wedding package.

However, there is an important difference between the cruise line’s wedding coordinator and your personal wedding planner.

MSC’s coordinator manages the services MSC provides.

Your personal wedding planner works for you.

Depending on the planning service selected, Events by Sun Coast can assist with your overall wedding vision, timeline, guest experience, communication, reception, décor considerations, group logistics, and the many questions that arise between booking your wedding and walking down the aisle.

For couples who want additional support, organization, personalized attention, and someone helping them look at the entire experience, professional cruise wedding planning can be incredibly valuable.

 As early as reasonably possible.

A cruise wedding involves both wedding availability and cruise availability. Even when cabins remain available on a particular sailing, the wedding availability you want may not.

Booking earlier also gives your guests more time to budget, make payments, request vacation time, arrange flights, obtain necessary travel documents, and select preferred cabin categories.

If you already know the year or approximate month you want to marry, contact us early so we can begin exploring your options.

 Cruise itineraries and port calls can change because of weather, sea conditions, operational requirements, or other circumstances. An Ocean Cay wedding depends on the ship being able to call at Ocean Cay and on conditions permitting the planned activities.

MSC makes operational decisions regarding its ships, ports, island operations, and wedding services.

Because circumstances and procedures can vary, couples should understand the current contingency procedures for their specific wedding rather than assume a particular backup arrangement.

Our approach is simple: plan beautifully while understanding the realities of getting married at sea.

 Depending on your sailing, group size, venue availability, and MSC’s current policies, you may have opportunities to keep celebrating after the ceremony.

Your celebration could include dining, cake and Champagne, a group gathering, or other arrangements available for your sailing.

Larger private receptions or special group events require additional planning and confirmation.

Events by Sun Coast can help explore the available possibilities and coordinate requests with the appropriate cruise-line departments.

Because circumstances and procedures can vary, couples should understand the current contingency procedures for their specific wedding rather than assume a particular backup arrangement.

Our approach is simple: plan beautifully while understanding the realities of getting married at sea.

MSC wedding packages include certain floral and decorative elements, depending on the package selected.

Cruise ships also have rules about what you can bring onboard, what you can use at ceremony locations, and which outside professional services are permitted. Please know that no real flowers are permitted on board. 

Before purchasing flowers, decorations, arches, candles, professional equipment, or other wedding items, always confirm the current rules.

Never assume that something permitted at a traditional land-based wedding venue will automatically be permitted on a cruise ship or at Ocean Cay.

Our planning team can help you work within the current guidelines while still creating a celebration that feels like you.

 Your dress code should reflect your wedding style, ceremony location, weather, and the experience you want for your guests.

Ocean Cay weddings often work beautifully with tropical formal, beach elegant, cocktail, resort formal, or light coastal attire.

Lightweight fabrics and comfortable shoes can be especially helpful in The Bahamas.

For onboard weddings, cocktail, semi-formal, or formal attire may be appropriate depending on the venue and your wedding style.

Communicate your dress code to guests early and remember to consider heat, humidity, wind, sun exposure, and walking surfaces when planning an island wedding.

Here is a link to a blog I wrote on the topic  CARIBBEAN DESTINATION WEDDING DRESS CODE 

 Photography is included with MSC’s symbolic wedding packages according to the inclusions of the package selected.

Couples interested in photography upgrades or bringing outside professional photography equipment should always verify MSC’s current policies and any applicable fees before entering into outside contracts.

And remember—the ceremony is only one part of your wedding story. An MSC cruise creates beautiful opportunities for photographs around the ship, during your sailing, and at Ocean Cay. 

 Absolutely.

MSC symbolic wedding experiences can also create beautiful opportunities for couples celebrating vow renewals and milestone anniversaries.

A cruise vow renewal can be wonderful for couples celebrating 10, 20, 25, 30, 40, or 50 years together, couples who never had the wedding celebration they wanted, couples celebrating with children and grandchildren, or anyone who simply wants to say “I still do.”

A vow renewal at sea can become much more than a ceremony—it can become an unforgettable family vacation and anniversary celebration.

 MSC cruise weddings are personal to us.

Our family's Ocean Cay wedding experience in June 2022 helped inspire the creation of Events by Sun Coast and our focus on destination cruise weddings.

We combined that firsthand experience with Certified Wedding Planning and decades of professional travel-industry expertise.

Today, we help couples navigate something that is difficult to learn from a brochure alone: the complete cruise wedding experience.

We understand the cruise.
We understand group travel.
We understand weddings.

And we understand how important this experience is to you and the people you love.

 Link “our family's story” to: About Events by Sun Coast 

There are also several blogs on this topic  Travel Blog - Events by Sun Coast Travel