Equality Rules for Weddings at Sea

Getting married is one of the most special days of anyone life whether it be male and female marriages or same sex marriages. Same sex marriages have only recently become legal which I think is great, after all, we cant help who we fall in love with. Cruising has always been a popular holiday choice  for same sex couples and now they are no longer going to discriminated against if they want to get married at Sea. P&O and Cunard have both announced that same sex marriages will be allowed from 2018 on their ships with P&O’s first ceremony to be held in January 2018 in the Caribbean. As 6 of the 7 P&O fleet were registered in Bermuda these will be allowed to host the Weddings but as Britannia was registered in Southampton Weddings will not be allowed. Weddings will be allowed on all of the Cunard ships and the first one will be in November 2018.

Booking a wedding at sea with P&O and Cunard is also made easy for you as there is a wedding co-ordinator who will look after everything for you. They offer lots of things to enhance the experience and the choice is yours to decide how much you want to put into it. The standard things that are included are listed below. The Captain will normally conduct the service but if he is not available then one of the Senior Officers will do this in his place. If you want just an intimate wedding for 2 then 2 of the ships company will act as witnesses or if you have a party of people with you then 2 of the party can act as witnesses as long as they are 18 or over.

• A romantic ceremony at sea conducted by the Captain*
• Wedding ceremony venue with floral arrangements
• Traditional wedding music
• Services of the on board Wedding Coordinator
• The attendance of a professional photographer at the ceremony
• Commemorative wedding certificate
• An official copy of your Marriage Certificate (You can, of course, order additional copies.)
• The cost of the licence fees
• A bottle of Champagne in your cabin on arrival
• Champagne for a toast after the ceremony
• Invitations and thank you notes
• An additional 5kg luggage allowance each for the wedding couple if travelling on a P&O Cruises fly-cruise holiday**
• Pressing services of the wedding couple outfits***

Floral Bouquet and Button Holes for the party can also be arranged at an extra cost and also a Wedding Cake. If you are travelling with a Wedding Party then dependent on the time of the ceremony different receptions can be organised. A Buffet reception can be organised in one of the function rooms although this is not available for the afternoon ceremonies at 3.30pm. After the 3.30pm ceremonies a wedding luncheon can be arranged in one of the Specialty Restaurants, subject to the party size. This will carry the normal specialty charge but these are very reasonable and would rival any menu for a land based wedding both in quality and cost.

For those who are already married you can also have a renewal of vows ceremony on board. These are popular for milestone anniversaries like Silver, Ruby or Gold and at £350.00 is great value with all this included:

• A romantic ceremony conducted by the Captain*
• An elegant ceremony venue with floral arrangements
• Traditional ceremony music
• Services of the on board Ceremony Coordinator
• The attendance of a professional photographer at the ceremony
• Commemorative ceremony certificate
• Champagne toast for up to four guests
• A bouquet and matching buttonhole (or two of either on request)
• A single-tier iced celebration cake
• Your chosen portrait photograph of the ceremony