Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) for 2015

Has anyone here done a BVE in Seattle? I have family members interested in touring Emerald Princess or Ruby Princess and I had some questions particular to this location:

 

- where do you park, and is there a charge for parking if you're not cruising

 

- can they as newbies skip the MDR lunch and just tour the ship on their own, then eat in the buffet

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

:D

Never gone to Seattle, our home port is LA...everyone has to pay for parking.

They can do anything they want. The Future Cruise Consultant is usually the person who greets you and takes you onto the ship. He/she will give a brief talk about the ship and then invite you to tour or go on your own. Your choice.

Lunch anywhere you want. Eat as much as you want. We took our son on a BVE the last time we sailed and he kept asking "what on the menu can I order?" Answer: if you want all of it, order all of it. Ask for one or 2 or 3 of everything, if you want.

Go swimming, if you want.

Take a nap, if you want.

It is just like being a passenger, until 3PM.;)

Thanks! They've never been on Princess Cruises, only RCI and Carnival, and live about an hour from the port in Seattle. I thought this would be a nice experience for them.

:D

Does anyone know if you have to be invited by a passenger to do the BVE? I have been trying to get my sister's family on a cruise with us, but haven't managed to convince them. I thought maybe if they toured a ship while they were visiting us, it would be enough to convince them. We're south of San Francisco and could take them up there for a BVE, unless you need to be the guest of someone sailing. Thanks!

You do not have to know someone cruising to do a BVE. I'm doing one on June 11th in San Francisco with people that are traveling with me in August to Alaska. Since I've been on this ship before I can show them some things. For the $39 it's a fun day. The only downside is having to get off the ship at 3 pm. If you're going on a cruise and you have friends doing a BVE you can board early with them around 11 am. Be sure to have all of your reservations linked together.

Tom:)

Thanks, Tom! It should be easier to get them to agree to just tour the ship. After I get them on one, I think I will be able to hook them! :D

Thanks, Tom! It should be easier to get them to agree to just tour the ship. After I get them on one, I think I will be able to hook them! :D

Glad to be of help. That's what CC is all about.

Remember to explain to them that if they think that they might want to take a cruise they and yourself can both buy a Future Cruise Certificate while doing the BVE.

Tom:)

Another bit of info. Unless things have changed since last fall BVE guests that come onboard with you can each carry on one bottle of wine and leave it with you.

This was told to me by Princess when I booked my daughter and her boyfriends BVE for our sailing last October. They each brought a bottle on, and them it in our cabin. :)

The list has not been helpful for me. I just got off the phone with Princess and they do not have any BVEs from New York for either the summer or fall of 2015. :(

The list that someone so kindly posted was in error or just not current. The list shows seven BVEs.

Anyone know of a BVE leaving NYC this year?

The list has not been helpful for me. I just got off the phone with Princess and they do not have any BVEs from New York for either the summer or fall of 2015. :(

 

The list that someone so kindly posted was in error or just not current. The list shows seven BVEs.

 

Anyone know of a BVE leaving NYC this year?

Are you sure the rep is not at fault? Did you call back again. :p

So frustrating. :(

- can they as newbies skip the MDR lunch and just tour the ship on their own, then eat in the buffet?

Yes! You can skip the tour and the MDR lunch if you'd like, and simply tour the ship at your own pace and enjoy the other dining options onboard. It can work out well actually, because since you are one of the first Guests onboard, you can sometimes be the first to the International Cafe or up to the lido and buffet before it gets super busy.

I love the BVEs - they are a great Princess offering. I don't understand why the other lines don't offer something similar to add a little additional revenue.

Yes! You can skip the tour and the MDR lunch if you'd like, and simply tour the ship at your own pace and enjoy the other dining options onboard. It can work out well actually, because since you are one of the first Guests onboard, you can sometimes be the first to the International Cafe or up to the lido and buffet before it gets super busy.

 

I love the BVEs - they are a great Princess offering. I don't understand why the other lines don't offer something similar to add a little additional revenue.

Thanks! I'll call Princess Cruises and inquire about availability of the Seattle BVE's.

:D

Are you sure the rep is not at fault? Did you call back again. :p

 

So frustrating. :(

I thought of that. I called last night and will try again this morning. I'll let you all know....

I said I'd get back.

Well, three different calls led to three different answers:

1. There are none available out of NYC

2. Call back tomorrow, the pricing will be ready

3. Call back in five days, the BVE department isn't taking reservations now

To be continued....

Thanks kendon, I am on Long Island too and would love to do one this fall. I enjoy them and it gives me even more of an excuse to book a cruise ;)

I believe this is only available in the USA.

Well isn't that just stupid! At least short-sighted of them.

Well isn't that just stupid! At least short-sighted of them.

Not really. Security and immigration is different in other countries and having to comply with regulations in other ports can be quite daunting.

I just called to see if the BVE is available in Honolulu...

NOPE :(

Not really. Security and immigration is different in other countries and having to comply with regulations in other ports can be quite daunting.

Security and immigration are not an issue in Vancouver. All the cruise lines allow travel agents and their guests to go on ship tours, though not every turnaround. Princess doesn't do BVE in every port - probably more of a hassle than anything else but nothing to do with immigration here. I'd jump at the chance if it were offered but not holding my breath.

Security and immigration are not an issue in Vancouver. All the cruise lines allow travel agents and their guests to go on ship tours, though not every turnaround. Princess doesn't do BVE in every port - probably more of a hassle than anything else but nothing to do with immigration here. I'd jump at the chance if it were offered but not holding my breath.

Immigration is an issue in Vancouver.

You must go through US immigration before boarding the ship and must go through Canadian immigration when you leave the ship.

Its been a while since the last post here, but I need to chime in.

I booked the BVE for the Regal, last Nov when it was in port for the first time and the festivities. For me booking was no problem...the person at Princess was very helpful. We had just done the repositioning from NYC on the Royal, so we knew what to look for when the Regal was built after tweeking things people didn't like on the Royal.

So, we have our boarding passes, and get into this line that literally wrapped around the terminal in Ft Lauderdale.

The boarding pass says board by 11:00 I am asking everyone I see to find out where we need to be...stand here, stand there, now the ship is "boarding". Finally I find a guy and asked him, he says "oh, right here" So we finally get into the terminal, get through security, get checked in, go stand over there. HUH...I was told that I got two of the last six places open....so where are the other 44 people? We sat and watched, everyone is being ushered into different areas and allowed to board....whats with that. Finally I stood up and told some big shot looking person that I was part of the BVE and where was everybody else....he just looked at me and said "wait right here" WHAT!! finally some other guy comes over and gets us on board and by passes the photographer...HUH, we get onboard and this guy is looking for some woman to give us the "guided" tour...We just got OFF the Royal. So, ok, we go with this woman, trying to tell her we don't need a "tour" Finally..got rid of her, now its noon and want to sit in the dining room for our lunch with FREE glass of wine. Get seated waiter comes over show him the BVE letter, takes it, meanwhile, we greeted our table mates and were chatting, the waiter comes back and tells us to leave, we were not REAL guests, told us to go to this other dining room, now its 12:30, go to the other dining room, the table mates were embarrassed for us. We get to the other dining room and this guy in a white jacket comes over, again we show him the BVE letter and told him what happened, he goes NO NO takes us BACK to the other dining room where we had been and were again seated, now we are pushing 1, wait for our lunch, finally its almost two and we need to debark by 2:30....WHAT A JOKE....

Oh, and IF we wanted the photo, we had to get off the ship, get the photo taken and get back on.

Thank goodness for this and these boards....without the knowledge I obtained from fellow cruisers, I would have not known what to expect and accepted their incompetence, but would have never sailed with Princess again.

So when I got home....boy did they get a PHONE call from me.....BTW.....never did find the rest of that BVE group

Sorry to hear about your experience!

We are planning on having at least two BVE'ers join us in January on the Regal. Sure hope they get things organized much better before then!

Its been a while since the last post here, but I need to chime in.

 

I booked the BVE for the Regal, last Nov when it was in port for the first time and the festivities. For me booking was no problem...the person at Princess was very helpful. We had just done the repositioning from NYC on the Royal, so we knew what to look for when the Regal was built after tweeking things people didn't like on the Royal.

 

So, we have our boarding passes, and get into this line that literally wrapped around the terminal in Ft Lauderdale.

 

The boarding pass says board by 11:00 I am asking everyone I see to find out where we need to be...stand here, stand there, now the ship is "boarding". Finally I find a guy and asked him, he says "oh, right here" So we finally get into the terminal, get through security, get checked in, go stand over there. HUH...I was told that I got two of the last six places open....so where are the other 44 people? We sat and watched, everyone is being ushered into different areas and allowed to board....whats with that. Finally I stood up and told some big shot looking person that I was part of the BVE and where was everybody else....he just looked at me and said "wait right here" WHAT!! finally some other guy comes over and gets us on board and by passes the photographer...HUH, we get onboard and this guy is looking for some woman to give us the "guided" tour...We just got OFF the Royal. So, ok, we go with this woman, trying to tell her we don't need a "tour" Finally..got rid of her, now its noon and want to sit in the dining room for our lunch with FREE glass of wine. Get seated waiter comes over show him the BVE letter, takes it, meanwhile, we greeted our table mates and were chatting, the waiter comes back and tells us to leave, we were not REAL guests, told us to go to this other dining room, now its 12:30, go to the other dining room, the table mates were embarrassed for us. We get to the other dining room and this guy in a white jacket comes over, again we show him the BVE letter and told him what happened, he goes NO NO takes us BACK to the other dining room where we had been and were again seated, now we are pushing 1, wait for our lunch, finally its almost two and we need to debark by 2:30....WHAT A JOKE....

 

Oh, and IF we wanted the photo, we had to get off the ship, get the photo taken and get back on.

 

Thank goodness for this and these boards....without the knowledge I obtained from fellow cruisers, I would have not known what to expect and accepted their incompetence, but would have never sailed with Princess again.

 

So when I got home....boy did they get a PHONE call from me.....BTW.....never did find the rest of that BVE group

Yikes thats terrible!! :mad:

My Husband and I are sailing on the Crown the day after tomorrow out of Seattle. We live just outside of Seattle so it is an easy process to get to the terminal and board the ship. My mother is 86 years old and has never cruised before because she is scared to death of being out on the water. She has been curious about our passion for cruising so we treated her to the BVE last Saturday so she could see the ship. We decided to do it a week before our cruise because of needing someone to take her back home if we stayed on board.

We had a wonderful experience. We were asked to arrive at 11:00 am. We checked in and were directed to the preferred seating area. After a brief wait a very nice employee came over and checked us off her list of BVE participants and said it would be just a few more minutes until we board. (they were waiting for a stay passenger to disembark) Once cleared for boarding we were escorted on to the ship and as far as I could tell we were the only 3 people doing this. We got our pictures taken right away and they said we could pick them up between 1:30 and 2:00. We then set out on our own to tour the ship which was nice because we could take our time and my mother tires easily so it worked well for us. At 12:00 we went to the dining room and were seated by a window where we could see the passengers boarding. We had a nice lunch with our complimentary glass of wine. Our pictures were ready before 2:00 so we picked them up and decided to leave since mom was getting tired. We got some very interesting looks as the three of us made our way opposite the rest of the passengers trying to board. My husband was tempted to tell them we got kicked off the ship :)

Can't wait until Saturday when we get to sail for real!

I said I'd get back.

 

Well, three different calls led to three different answers:

1. There are none available out of NYC

2. Call back tomorrow, the pricing will be ready

3. Call back in five days, the BVE department isn't taking reservations now

 

To be continued....

You never came back with your results for NYC BVEs.

If anyone still wants the information here is the link to a list of 2015 BVEs: http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk//showthread.php?t=2125034. The list is on post #5. There are 4 scheduled in October on the Regal.

Enjoy!!

.....

 

So, we have our boarding passes, and get into this line that literally wrapped around the terminal in Ft Lauderdale. ......

 

...... Thank goodness for this and these boards....without the knowledge I obtained from fellow cruisers, I would have not known what to expect and accepted their incompetence, but would have never sailed with Princess again.

 

So when I got home....boy did they get a PHONE call from me.....BTW.....never did find the rest of that BVE group

What an absolute mess! It is sad that you really do need to be assertive, and know how the system works, when doing the BVE. It should be a great program, but Princess really needs to make it easier for people to book and also very clear and easy to board. The program will turn more people off than generate new customers unless they become better organized.