Can A Cruise Ship Captain Perform Weddings
They cant perform marriages at sea or on dry land by virtue of their maritime license alone and no state has enacted a statute explicitly authorizing ships captains to officiate marriages.
Can a cruise ship captain perform weddings. Earning the position of ships captain does not automatically give you the right and responsibility to serve as a wedding minister. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the shipincluding its seaworthiness safety and security cargo operations navigation crew management and legal complianceand for the persons. Celebrity captains can perform both legal and symbolic ceremonies at sea except on Xpedition.
For all other cases where the captain has no legal authority here the individuals getting married will typically just go get married officially in front of a judge or minister somewhere else either before or after their wedding at sea. Through Bermuda law and because the captains have Bermuda licenses to perform weddings captains aboard Princess Cruises Golden Princess and the Grand Princess can perform weddings aboard ship and at sea. Not all captains can perform weddings.
Check with your local governmental authorities to see if they will also recognize your marriage. As of October 2017 they can also perform legal same-sex weddings at sea. Check with your local governmental authorities to see if they will also recognize your marriage.
If youre an older couple looking to tie the knot then Holland America could be the line for you. In order for a Captain of a ship to perform a marriage at sea he must be a judge a justice of the peace a minister or an officially recognize officiant such as a Notary Public. The Captain can perform your ceremony once the ship is in international waters.
A ships captain generally does NOT have the legal right to officiate a wedding at sea. The simple answer is yes as long as he or she is legally ordained by a church or religious organization. A sea captain ships captain captain master or shipmaster is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.
The Navy sought to define a captains powers at sea in its 1913 Code of Regulations which states. The commanding officer shall not perform a marriage ceremony on board his ship or aircraft. In some instances the ships captains can perform the functions of a justice of the peace.
