Today something pretty devastating happened to us. Some background info, my fiancé and I are 23 days out from our wedding day. We have been engaged for 4 years and tirelessly saving and planning our wedding for quite some time now. We sent out our wedding invites to a small group of friends and family over one year ago. We chose to get married in a very non-traditional setting, on a cruise ship! We decided to do a harbor side wedding so that our friends and family who could not travel with us could still be with us for our marriage and a short reception. We have 75 guests coming to our wedding on the Norwegian Gem on March 6, 2020 in manhattan. 25 of those guests will be sailing with us after the wedding on a 10 day cruise to the southern Caribbean and 50 of those guests will be attending the ceremony only at the port in NYC.
Throughout this entire wedding planning process we have been on top of everything . We knew there would be increased security to get our guests on the ship for the day and we planned accordingly. We were in contact with our NCL wedding planner as much as possible to ensure we covered our bases. In the first week of January we sent over a list of all of our guests and their ID numbers (passport or valid drivers license, for children we can provide birth certificate) all forms of documentation pre-approved by Norwegian.
Yesterday evening 24 days before our wedding we received an email that NCL has changed their policies and all non-sailing guests are required to have a passport. Any guests that can not provide a valid passport will not be permitted on the ship. This morning and throughout the day we have been in Contact with Norwegian and our NCL wedding planner and there will be no exceptions made. (Due to corona virus security). How can I ask my guests, who are not even going on the trip, to go and have passports expedited still with no guarantee they’ll get a passport in time ? This is a huge expense and nearly impossible.Our family and friends who do not have passports are elderly grandparents, aunts and uncles, and young children. All people who wouldn’t sacrifice having at our wedding. Norwegian then told us they would refund us for the guests who could no longer make it to the event. At this point I am in tears thinking of my only living grandparent not attending my wedding. Thinking of my future sister-in-law and my niece at home while we walk down the isle without them.
I understand the virus outbreak is serious and that security measures must be taken. What I don’t understand is if my guests don’t have passports they clearly have not traveled anywhere and can not be a threat. Also, I don’t understand how it can be expected that wedding guests get a passport in less than 30 days.
I asked Norwegian if they could refund our money so we can plan an alternate wedding elsewhere so our guests can attend. Norwegian has decided they will not issue us a full refund. I can’t fathom spending this kind of money and not having my family at my wedding. I would rather try to have it elsewhere. Now, we are faced with an even smaller budget and the loss of nearly 4 thousand dollars because we will not be given a full refund.
We have always had a strict budget. We made the sacrifice to have a smaller, intimate, non-traditional wedding as a way to celebrate within our means. We have planned this day for so long. We have dreamed about this day for so long. We have put our entire hearts and savings into this wedding. As a same sex couple we have faced so many obstacles in our relationship and have overcome so much to be together. We have really worked our asses off to put together this wedding. With 23 days to go, I really thought we were safe! Everything was planned, booked, and paid... we were in the home stretch. Now, I am so lost and so heartbroken. Mourning the loss of our dream wedding we so deserved. What should we do now?
