KiraLynn's reviews

My husband and I were referred to Adventures At Sea which is in the building right next to Pacific Avalon. We wanted to keep our options open after checking into Adventures at Sea. So we walked over to Pacific Avalon and spoke with Ali (Alexandra). She seemed really cool and nice. She told us she would be our wedding planner and she would be with us the whole time. We wouldnt have to worry on the day of our wedding because there would be someone right there to take care of us and tell us where to be. We were also told we would be able to taste the food before we chose it. Well, when it came down to it, she was very inconsistent with email responses and when she did respond to an email, she wouldnt fully answer all my questions. We 'corresponded' in August 2009 and then once in Jan. 2010, twice in Feb. 2010 and 3 times in March 2010! When I asked about the food tasting that she had promised us her response was: "We don’t usually do tastings as people pretty much know what they like in terms of chicken , Beef, fish, etc...pretty basic. We have owned our catering company for 35 years and it is excellent. If you MUST do a tasting we can work with you, normally they are on the weekends around our event schedule only." Well, there went that idea. :/ Suddenly I get an email from a 'Christine' (who happens to have the same last name as Alexandra) in JUNE 2010 conveniently asking for the rest of my payment to them! She also didn't respond to every email in detail and answer all of my questions. She was very consistent, though, with collecting my money for additional guests I thought would show up. She had mentioned in the email to give them our credit card number or bring a check for the additional amount owed. When I showed up with a check, in front of Terry she said "Oh, just so you know, we don't accept checks." I reminded her that in the email she said I could pay by check. Terry told her to accept my check and she did. Also, another thing that they had failed to mention to us is that we and all our guests must pay $10.00 to park on the day of the wedding. I had to send out a last minute email to all of my guests letting them know about this. When I had my rehearsal, Christine completely rushed us through it. She wasn't very friendly with me or my family. Alexandra (our PLANNER) was nowhere to be seen.
On the day of the wedding, things were very stressful. There was hardly any parking in their parking garage! Once on the yacht, we were first told that our DJ was stuck in traffic and would be late. Then it evolved to our DJ was in a car accident and couldn't make it and that a fill-in DJ was on her way. I was not a "bride-zilla" so I told Terry I was sorry to hear about it. Terry told me that he wasn't sorry about the DJ one bit and he should have been on time. Well, we were running about 30 minutes late and the DJ still wasn't there. I ended up having to use my Ipod for the processional and recessional songs. No songs were played while guests were being seated. When the ceremony ended, the DJ arrived about 15 minutes later. However, I lost a very important part of my ceremony...My father passed away last year and to include him in my special day, I planned to have a slideshow of my dad and me during the Father/Daughter dance. Since the assigned DJ (Dave) was in a 'car accident', it was completely lost. Also, the DJ (Catherine ?) who filled in was terrible!!! There was only one song played that I had actually requested (besides the 1st dance & parent dances). She was horrible with announcing to my guests (and even to us, the Bride and Groom) what was to be done next, such as the cake cutting and when the cake was served. Luckily I was upstairs when the cake was set out at the seats. I grabbed a microphone and made my own announcement. She saw me do this and made her announcement after the fact. She also played music that I did NOT want played, and then argued with my husband when he said something about it. There was no one there to help guide us through, as I was told there would be. The photographer was the only one to help us, and he wasn’t even through Pacific Avalon! Everything felt very rushed and I can’t imagine how it would have been, had I not purchased the extra hour!! I may have remained calm on that day, but when it was all said and done, I ended up being very unhappy with the majority of it. Don’t get me wrong, the Captain and crew were great! But it doesn’t make up for lost time and memories. JJ (the DJ I had originally corresponded with) has stepped up and compensated me for the cost of the slide show that I didn’t get as well as offer his personal DJ services at my choice of event. I want to know what Pacific Avalon will do for my husband and me to make up for this inconvenience. Also, because we ran late, our photographer had to charge us additional. I believe PA should pay for this, not us. I emailed PA on Tuesday, 7/19/10. It is now a week later and I haven't heard back from them at all. Hopefully I can get a hold of them and they can rectify this situation. I would hate to have to take them to court...