The Norwegian Breakaway's First Bride

A Direct Line Cruises' staff member was the first bride to be married aboard the  Norwegian Breakaway! And regardless of how beautiful the new ship is, it couldn't outshine Lisa, the lovely bride.  Here's her story, and who knows; it may inspire someone you know to get married onboard a cruise ship.

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to post a simple and short review of our wedding on the Norwegian Breakaway on June 2nd, 2013. We were the very first wedding on the Breakaway so it was a little scary not knowing what to expect. The reason we chose Breakaway is simply because it was the best option in the NY/NJ area. I love RCCL and Celebrity and have been on both of those ships, but the pier in NJ is not ideal. We thought it would be exciting to have our wedding on a brand new ship docked in Manhattan

We started planning back in November 2011, a few months after we got engaged. Wedding Experience advised me that the first date of the weddings on the new ship was June 2nd, 2013. I was a little apprehensive about being on of the first, but the date was perfect so we booked it. We knew our closest friends and family would cruise with us afterwards so instead of calling it our honeymoon, it was our week-long wedding cruise. (Our real honeymoon is in September).

One reason that I am happy we had our wedding on a cruise is because it was just so easy! We didn't have to worry about numerous vendors and such because everything was handled by one office. Ozzy, from Royal Ocean Events was the person who helped me through the last months of confirming everything. She was fantastic and really made me feel at ease. She would respond to my emails within 24 hours and would call me at a specific time if I requested her to. I still can't believe how easy everything was and how smoothly things went because of Royal Ocean Events.

Like I said earlier our wedding took place Sunday June 2nd, 2013 on the ship docked in Manhattan. We had a total of 107 guests at the reception with 22 of them cruising with us afterwards. We chose a sit-down lunch reception which took place in the Manhattan Room right after the ceremony in the same location. When we arrived Sunday morning I met with our main coordinator Tammi, and four other coordinators. They quickly took me and my sailing guests through security and check in. Our non-sailing guests checked in before going through security so I did not get to see most of them until the ceremony. At around 11am, as we were check in in, Tammi told me we got cleared for boarding! I was ecstatic that I would have almost an hour to get dressed and relax before the ceremony which was scheduled for 12:15pm.

When we boarded we entered right by the Manhattan Room which was perfect. Tammi, my mother, sister and I headed up to my stateroom to get dressed. I booked a category S7 suite which was a penthouse. I highly recommend booking a suite if you are planning a wedding in port as it allows you enough room to get ready. I had a separate living area and bedroom and a huge bathroom. My mom and sister were able to stay in the living room, while I had the whole bedroom to get dressed. If I booked a standard room it would have been extremely difficult and stressful to have my mom and sister help me get ready.

Around 11:45 my photographer, Carly, stopped by to introduce herself and ask what kind of photos I preferred. She was so sweet and helpful and our pictures came out amazing! So by 12:00pm we were heading back down to the Manhattan Room for the ceremony. Our officiate was Captain Arnold who delivered a beautiful ceremony.

Right after the ceremony Carly asked if I wanted to have some pictures taken around the ship and of course I said yes! Tammi said we had fifteen minutes, but we were probably gone for about a half an hour. We were already on deck 7 so I told Carly I wanted pictures by the chandelier and in O'Sheehans. She also suggested Shakers and Spice H20 (outside) The outside pictures were definitely my favorite and I am so happy she suggested it. I am so happy the way our pictures turned out. We have about 30 from around the ship and there really aren’t any bad ones. By the way, we added on the high resolution DVD of all images taken by our photographer. She took about 170 pictures in 2 hours so I am very happy we decided to do that.

I did not have time to eat anything but our guests seemed to enjoy the luncheon. We also had a DJ who played background and dance music. We didn't have much time to dance, but it was fun nevertheless. So, am I happy I chose a cruise wedding? ABSOLUTELY! It was an incredible day and I was beyond happy with the way it turned out. The Breakaway is an amazing ship and we had a great week with friends and family following the wedding.

By the way, I kept my dress on throughout sailaway and dinner. I am happy I did, but we got soooo much attention."