Cruise weddings are big business

With thousands of couples tying the knot on cruise ships or during port calls every year, wedding packages are a boon for agents and cruise lines alike.

Retailers booking group space for the happy couples’ family and friends can earn big commissions, while the lines rake in revenue from ceremonies, receptions and other events related to the nuptials.

Carnival Cruise Lines spokesman Vance Gulliksen said that 2,400 weddings are held each year across the line’s fleet, and he added that several enhancements to Carnival’s wedding programs are in the works.

Norwegian Cruise Line typically hosts some 300 weddings each year, according to AnneMarie Matthews, vice president for public relations, who said the line plans to ramp up its marketing of wedding options in 2012.

Royal Caribbean International sells 800 weddings each year, and it also plans to boost marketing efforts.

There is little mystery about why the cruise lines are enthusiastic about at-sea nuptials. Even an arguably low-frills wedding package that Travel Weekly created on paper for a group of 25, based on one line’s amenity choices, totaled nearly $6,000 (see sidebar).

Beyond the Big Three, other cruise lines are also getting in on the act. Cunard, eager to make its foray into this lucrative niche, decided earlier this fall to pull the registry of its three ships from England, where a law prohibits marriage ceremonies at sea, and reflag the vessels in Bermuda, where no such law exists.

Cunard President Peter Shanks said the line decided to reflag because it was “missing out on the big business of weddings.” Cunard’s ships will offer wedding packages starting next spring; details about the program are expected before the end of the year.

The vendor strategy

The big mass-market and premium cruise lines outsource their wedding-planning services to specialist vendors. Among the largest providers is the Wedding Experience, a Miami-based company that markets a wide array of wedding packages for most of the major lines. According to Wedding Experience, it is the exclusive vendor to Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Norwegian Cruise Line and Azamara Club Cruises.

Other vendors in the weddings market include Royal Ocean Events, which handles all of Holland America Line’s packages; A Wedding for You; and Island Dream Weddings. Carnival Cruise Lines said it uses a combination of vendors, based on the location of the wedding.

There’s no commission for agents on any of the wedding packages. In fact, the purchase of a package is handled separately from the booking of the cruise. In most cases, onboard accommodations for the bridal couple and any guests sailing with them must be booked and deposited before the wedding planning can begin.

And agent Loris Fusco, of Montrose Travel in Montrose, Calif., said that none of the cruise lines will reserve a wedding date until the full cost of the event has been paid for.

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Source : Travel Weekly, By Donna Tunney