Bon Voyage Experience mishaps: Golden Princess 3/27/13

[paul929207]

While boarding and the BVE did not go as planned. I would just be thrilled that your wife got on the ship. She could very easily and probably should have been denied boarding.

[trbarton]

By the time we left the dining room it was after 2 pm, with less than an hour remaining to explore the ship with Matthew and David before their BVE time expired at 3. We had been given cards for the "treasure hunt," so we decided to try to visit the various locations of the ship necessary to collect all of the stamps on the cards. It only took us about 30 minutes to visit all of the locations listed on the card, and it served as a good checklist to help us make sure Matthew and David got to see various areas of the ship.

 

I hadn't recalled such a treasure hunt during our Sapphire Princess BVE (but we had plenty to do without it).

 

As we walked across the Lido Deck, David and Matthew decided to sample the ice cream. (They seemed pleased with it.) Terri and I skipped the ice cream this time, figuring that we would have time for it on another day. They also considered trying the pizza, but didn't have enough time.

 

Our son took this photo of the two of us as we walked across the Sun Deck. (We're holding our treasure hunt cards and other BVE paperwork.)

 

Before Matthew and David had to leave the ship, we took them up to Skywalker's to get the view from the top of the ship. Then they wanted to see our room, so we went down to the Baja Deck, heading all the way aft to B744, the room with the extra triangular-sized balcony extension (which some dub "the cave" due to the way it is shrouded by the structure which supports Skywalkers).

 

It was almost time for our visitors to leave the ship, and for us to go to the muster drill. After leaving our stateroom, we went downstairs to Deck 7, stopping at the Photo Gallery in hopes that we could pick up our embarkation photo. It wasn't ready yet, even though it is supposed to be part of the BVE package. If this had happened on our Sapphire Princess BVE we would have been disappointed, but in this case we knew that we would have a chance later in the cruise to pick up the photo.

 

We continued on to the Piazza, with David stopping at the International Cafe for a final cup of coffee. We said our goodbyes to David and Matthew, who seemed to be appropriately in awe of the size and amenities of the Golden Princess throughout their brief time on the ship. They had never even seen the Future Cruise Consultant (which is supposed to be part of the BVE), but neither of them intended to book a cruise, so it wasn't a problem.

 

Soon we would be waving to them from the top deck as the ship sailed away. (I tell the rest of that story on another thread, where I will review the cruise.)

 

For my wife and myself, the embarkation problems we experienced significantly marred our first impressions of the Golden Princess. But our enthusiasm for Princess Cruises in general never waned. I doubt that it ever will. In spite of our frustrations, we realized that any opportunity to be on a Princess ship, even for just a few hours, is a beautiful blessing.

 

More details of our BVE and sailaway can be found at the following link:

 

Sorry about your problems. As A backup I always have zerox copies of everything including any ID's. Too bad you didn't have copies. Thanks for your review and the tine to write it. I was on the BVE on the Grand in March and will go again in a few weeks.

 

Tom:)

[pris993]

We always travel with passports and drivers licenses and extra photo copies of each. Having proper IDs is the passengers responsibility. Agree they are lucky they got to board!

 

Ref BVE -- we have done several. On the last one, we arrived late because the ship was due in late, it actually arrived early, so when we got there boarding had begun. This was in San Francisco which is a nightmare anyway, we went to the front of the line, got in and just kept moving forward of the line, after we had everything, one rep directed us in one direction that I knew would delay us further, so I simply went the way I knew was best and we were persistent that we were late, part of a BVE... we got on board around 1pm, went directly to the diningroom and had a nice relaxing lunch. We have boarded in San Francisco many times, so we know the drill. Sometimes one does run in to reps who know less... we are pleasant and clear about what we want and need. That generally works.

 

Based upon the story, I don't think the OP is entitled to any compensation. They got on board, had lunch, saw as much as I would expect on a typical BVE... so what is missing, a tour? We always skip the tour anyway, feel it is a waste of our time to enjoy our friends.

 

I am sure the stress of a missing wallet took its toll on their enjoyment, it would if it happened to me but that is not Princess' fault.

[terrific_surprise]

While I have been around CC long enough to become accustomed to some gratuitous snarkiness, I was a bit shocked to be accused of exaggerating the delay we experienced (which was completely unrelated to issue of the missing ID). This isn't a matter of fuzzy memory four months later. On the contrary, just 2 days after it happened I posted the essence of this same story on the other long thread I had been writing on CC. In addition, my report here mentions specific times, which I found through photo time stamps and phone call records.

 

I also didn't post this to "whine" about Princess. I have said all along that we are fans of Princess and we don't expect that to change.

 

I didn't post this for my own benefit, but I wanted those who book BVEs to be aware that they may need to be prepared to assert their right to priority boarding, that they can't assume that the port reps will handle this correctly, and that if all else fails a call to 1-800-PRINCESS may cut through the blockade.

 

Regarding the question of whether or not my wife should have been allowed to board, I think the suggestion of any real homeland security risk in our case is ridiculous. I don't know exactly why they eventually allowed her to board (and I wasn't inclined to question), but I have a theory. Less than two months earlier, my wife had presented her driver's license for our February 16 BVE. They probably had a copy of it in their computer. (I know for a fact that other places that needed her ID before it was replaced were able to satisfy their requirements from their own computer copies of her ID.). In any case, we had several official documents which clearly showed that she was who she said she was.

 

Nevertheless, the suggestion of photocopies is a good one (though I don't think such copies could assure anyone that they could board).

 

Certainly I am not in any way opposed to homeland security requirements and agree that a government-issued ID should be required to board a cruise ship. Had Princess denied my wife boarding, the fault would have certainly been our own.

 

Nevertheless, the two others who accompanied us for the BVE (and who had all of the required documents) should not have been subjected to delayed boarding.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The OP was extremely lucky that his wife was allowed to board without the ID. At least if she had a passport (and wasn't planning to use a rental card in any port), she wouldn't have needed her DL and could work on getting it replaced right after getting home (and in the meantime, her passport could be use as ID). Something worth thinking about obtaining.

 

I'm a bit confused amid all the details the OP was giving that had nothing to do with the BVE (the type of water, etc) -- did they have any paperwork about the BVE? And if they had, did they attempt to show it to someone in charge. And what's the scheduled time to arrive for the BVE and when are people normally allowed to board for it?

 

I've never done one, but about seven years ago was on a ship's tour that some TA's were offering (on a Celebrity ship). We were told to arrive by a certain time and had to surrender our passports (I think that was a requirement -- and we had to provide our ID info ahead of time in order to be signed up for it) before boarding. That way, we were all together and went on the tour of the ship and had lunch together

 

I would have definitely had cancelled the credit card if your wife couldn't find it. If you had waited two weeks and cancelled after you'd returned, it may be harder to get any unofficial charges cancelled that you can't account for. You wouldn't be able to use the card, but you would have peace of mind during your trip.

 

And lastly, (assuming you haven't written a letter to Princess after all this time), if you do write to the cruiseline, make it short and simple, and all about the confusion of trying to board. Any details (again, things like the water, your meal and maybe even the ID) takes away from the message you want to pass along. But it could be possible that your son and friend were on the ship long enough to count as a full experience, tour or no tour. And if there was a requirement to be there by a specific time and be at a specific location so as to meet the rep, then that could be an explanation of why you had to wait. Again, I haven't been on this kind of tour so I really don't know the details.

[Liz54]

We have done the BVE several times from Fort Lauderdale. They have had a special BVE host in the terminal. They will not let you board till everyone in your group is present. The only time we have been delayed was when there was extra cleaning following a noro cruise. The first time they were a bit confused but since then they all seem to "get it". I think staff in Ft. L are more accustomed to BVEs than some other ports where it is newer.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Where the OP did the BVE, I think Princess is the only cruiseline, so the onshore personnel only need to be familiar with Princess rules.

 

On ports (such as San Francisco and Galveston) where several cruise lines use the facilities, the same contract personnel may be used with the different cruise lines and must be trained in each one's individual rules.

 

OP did the BVE at Los Angeles, which is actually San Pedro. Princess is not the only cruise line using this port.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Regarding the question of whether or not my wife should have been allowed to board, I think the suggestion of any real homeland security risk in our case is ridiculous.

 

 

Homeland security is NOT ridiculous in any case. With that careless attitude, I hope you never experience trouble. It is often what appears to be the "cool, calm, and collected" people that are the problems. Because they are so focused on carrying out their agendas, they are calm as to not attract attention to themselves.

 

Whatever reasons your wife got on board is NOT the concern. It is that the rules were broken. Or do you believe that the rules do not apply to you?

[Cruisin' Chick]

OP did the BVE at Los Angeles, which is actually San Pedro. Princess is not the only cruise line using this port.

 

That's certainly true. And not all of the workers there at the terminal are with Princess. Some are with the Port of Los Angeles.

[laplabs]

Yes mine was a closed loop cruise and it was a copy. I knew going in a copy might not be good enough so we did catch a break. My point was anytime you catch a break, feel blessed, not upset cuz you might not have gotten something. Waiting for something was a small price to pay instead of what could have been...

And i was thinking the same thing you were. I hope his letter or post did not result in someone that did him a favor (even though they shouldnt have) losing their job. all the cruise line regularly check message boards for information, opinions & ideas

Edited August 10, 2013 by laplabs

[DrivesLikeMario]

We did a BVE on the Golden in January and I can assure you that if Sandy was still the Future Cruise Consultant on this ship when you did your BVE, she would've been there at the bridge entrance waiting for you at the appropriate time.

 

I would put the blame on the ground crew, not her. We had a similar problem with the ground crew in the terminal not being aware of what to do with BVE passengers. I had to get a little insistent with them that we shouldn't be sitting off to the side, but that we should be checking in ASAP.

 

The Golden's crew had just had a rather rough experience with the Mexican government about a late arrival into Ensenada due to a storm at sea and the poor crew had really been put through the wringer by the passengers. Then, once they arrived in LA, the Port Authorities delayed boarding by about an hour, which of course, made the passengers incorrectly mad at the crew again. :(

 

The Future Cruise Consultant, Sandy, was fantastic! :) She personally walked us onboard and once she overheard me talking to my parents about purchasing an FCC, she took the time to open up her office FOR JUST US so my parents could get their FCCs and actually book their next cruise EVEN THOUGH it was not during her normal office hours. She went over and above her normal duties just to make sure they had a terrific time on the BVE.

 

I encourage you and others to give it a try again with the Golden and hopefully, your next experience will be smooth sailing. :)

[ContemporaryTraveler]

Out of curiosity, what happened at the end of the cruise when you disembarked without the government issued ID?

 

I'm surprised the pier agent did not go to a supervisor about the drivers license. With Royal Caribbean this would have been immediately escalated to a pier coordinator.

[notentirelynormal]

Out of curiosity, what happened at the end of the cruise when you disembarked without the government issued ID?

 

I'm surprised the pier agent did not go to a supervisor about the drivers license. With Royal Caribbean this would have been immediately escalated to a pier coordinator.

 

Long before 9/11... we took a cruise out of San Juan. My mother's passport disappeared somewhere between checking in at the pier and getting off the ship. We think it was taken while she was boarding. Anyway, all my mother had for a picture ID when we returned to San Juan was her driver's license. We explained to the immigration guy what happened. He asked if we were sure she didn't have a second piece of ID with her picture. Well, yes, we had her Costco card. Yup, they accepted that. We also had to report her passport stolen.

[alreadypacked]

While I have been around CC long enough to become accustomed to some gratuitous snarkiness, I was a bit shocked to be accused of exaggerating the delay we experienced (which was completely unrelated to issue of the missing ID). This isn't a matter of fuzzy memory four months later. On the contrary, just 2 days after it happened I posted the essence of this same story on the other long thread I had been writing on CC. In addition, my report here mentions specific times, which I found through photo time stamps and phone call records.

 

I also didn't post this to "whine" about Princess. I have said all along that we are fans of Princess and we don't expect that to change.

 

I didn't post this for my own benefit, but I wanted those who book BVEs to be aware that they may need to be prepared to assert their right to priority boarding, that they can't assume that the port reps will handle this correctly, and that if all else fails a call to 1-800-PRINCESS may cut through the blockade.

 

Regarding the question of whether or not my wife should have been allowed to board, I think the suggestion of any real homeland security risk in our case is ridiculous. I don't know exactly why they eventually allowed her to board (and I wasn't inclined to question), but I have a theory. Less than two months earlier, my wife had presented her driver's license for our February 16 BVE. They probably had a copy of it in their computer. (I know for a fact that other places that needed her ID before it was replaced were able to satisfy their requirements from their own computer copies of her ID.). In any case, we had several official documents which clearly showed that she was who she said she was.

 

Nevertheless, the suggestion of photocopies is a good one (though I don't think such copies could assure anyone that they could board).

 

Certainly I am not in any way opposed to homeland security requirements and agree that a government-issued ID should be required to board a cruise ship. Had Princess denied my wife boarding, the fault would have certainly been our own.

 

Nevertheless, the two others who accompanied us for the BVE (and who had all of the required documents) should not have been subjected to delayed boarding.

 

Your son was present with his ID and birth certificate (which indicates that Terri is his mother). This may have been a factor in allowing your wife to board. This article on Fodor's states that there are other ways authorities can verify someone's identity.

 

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5647.html

 

Article excerpt:

Show any unofficial ID. If you're traveling with family who share your last name, their presence is a form of proof, along with credit cards, business cards, family photos. The Transportation Security Administration website states that passengers are required to show a U.S. federal or state-issued photo ID in order to pass through the checkpoint and onto their flight.

 

As does this page from the TSA website:

 

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/acceptable-ids

Edited August 21, 2013 by alreadypacked

[terrific_surprise]

Your son was present with his ID and birth certificate (which indicates that Terri is his mother). This may have been a factor in allowing your wife to board. This article on Fodor's states that there are other ways authorities can verify someone's identity.

 

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5647.html

 

Article excerpt:

Show any unofficial ID. If you're traveling with family who share your last name, their presence is a form of proof, along with credit cards, business cards, family photos. The Transportation Security Administration website states that passengers are required to show a U.S. federal or state-issued photo ID in order to pass through the checkpoint and onto their flight.

 

As does this page from the TSA website:

 

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/acceptable-ids

 

 

Thanks for those informative links, alreadypacked. I noticed that both sites referred to the fact that they may also choose to verify someone's identify "using publicly available databases."

[ContemporaryTraveler]

Your son was present with his ID and birth certificate (which indicates that Terri is his mother). This may have been a factor in allowing your wife to board. This article on Fodor's states that there are other ways authorities can verify someone's identity.

 

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5647.html

 

Article excerpt:

Show any unofficial ID. If you're traveling with family who share your last name, their presence is a form of proof, along with credit cards, business cards, family photos. The Transportation Security Administration website states that passengers are required to show a U.S. federal or state-issued photo ID in order to pass through the checkpoint and onto their flight.

 

As does this page from the TSA website:

 

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/acceptable-ids

 

I really wonder how customs handled this at the end of the cruise during disembarkation. Since the son was not at the end of the cruise, then his ID and birth certificate does not count. From my experience another person vouching for someone does not count for embarking on a cruise. Each individual has to have their own documentation. For example, Royal Caribbean wants to avoid fines and as employees we are always carefully checking ID's. Identification is a large focus of the training as well for a pier agent, so I presume Princess would be the exact same way. The biggest issue I have noticed is wrong birth certificate type or a one-entry visa. Usually in those circumstances the guest is always denied, unless they can get a correct birth certificate in time for sailing (One-entry visa is automatic denial). I have yet to see a missing ID or hear about one at the port I work at, which is why I am curious as to how CBP handled this at disembarkation.

[terrific_surprise]

I really wonder how customs handled this at the end of the cruise during disembarkation. Since the son was not at the end of the cruise, then his ID and birth certificate does not count. From my experience another person vouching for someone does not count for embarking on a cruise. Each individual has to have their own documentation. For example, Royal Caribbean wants to avoid fines and as employees we are always carefully checking ID's. Identification is a large focus of the training as well for a pier agent, so I presume Princess would be the exact same way. The biggest issue I have noticed is wrong birth certificate type or a one-entry visa. Usually in those circumstances the guest is always denied, unless they can get a correct birth certificate in time for sailing (One-entry visa is automatic denial). I have yet to see a missing ID or hear about one at the port I work at, which is why I am curious as to how CBP handled this at disembarkation.

 

While my wife had some issues getting back on the ship in some ports, I believe that disembarkation went pretty smoothly. I do recall that before we first boarded at the beginning of the cruise that we were told that it was possible that she might not be allowed off the ship at the end. (In practical reality I don't know what that could have meant, because clearly they would have needed to get her off the ship so that the next group could board.) If there was a problem at all at the end, I think it probably only lasted a minute or two at most.

 

Our son was actually there to pick us up, and I still had his birth certificate (I think I had it with me, planning to show it to the port officials if there was a problem, but I'm not sure if I actually showed it to them). I remember thinking that in case a problem arose we might need to have our son come in and provide his identification, but that never became necessary.

Edited August 21, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[Smokeyham]

Regarding the question of whether or not my wife should have been allowed to board, I think the suggestion of any real homeland security risk in our case is ridiculous.

 

Certainly I am not in any way opposed to homeland security requirements and agree that a government-issued ID should be required to board a cruise ship. Had Princess denied my wife boarding, the fault would have certainly been our own.

 

 

I share the concerns raised by others that your wife was allowed to board without valid, government issued, ID in her possession.

 

Most of those who seriously want to do harm will be smart enough to know that they need to look like innocent people going on a holiday so it is incumbent upon Princess to ensure that people boarding the ship have been checked to ensure they are not a security risk.

 

I really appreciate your statement that you understand that the responsibility would have been your own if you had been denied boarding, so please understand that this post is not a criticism of you, but a concern about Princess' security procedures.

[sheba2008]

Our first Princess Bon Voyage Experience was a wonderful memory we will cherish for the rest of our lives, as a small taste of the surprise cruise I had been planning for my wife Terri for over a year. But just a few weeks later we encountered some serious problems with a second Bon Voyage Experience which left us disappointed (even though it was on embarkation day for the big cruise we had anticipated for so long, which I will be reviewing in a separate thread).

 

As I reported previously here on CC, on February 16 we learned firsthand how the Bon Voyage Experience program is supposed to work when we boarded the Sapphire Princess for three and a half hours (reasonably close to the advertised four hours). Then we booked another Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) so that we could have a couple of visitors with us before we sailed away on the Golden Princess on March 27. After our first BVE, we knew what to expect. Or were our expectations too high?

 

Our son Matthew had agreed to be responsible for the family van during our cruise, so our friend David agreed to drive him to the port to pick up the van. To thank them for their help, we had booked a BVE for Matthew and David. We were also well aware that we ourselves would benefit by this arrangement: being accompanied by BVE participants meant that we would get to board the Golden Princess early with them, and we eagerly anticipated the opportunity to board the ship at the earliest possible moment.

 

Because of our eagerness to be on the ship, we arrived in San Pedro the night before our cruise, getting up early that morning to enjoy the experience of watching the Golden Princess sail into port (as we had enjoyed greeting the Sapphire Princess with the sunrise before our first BVE).

 

 

But before we would experience some unfortunate glitches in the BVE program, our own efforts to be well-prepared for the cruise resulted in a serious glitch: Terri realized that her wallet was lost, and it contained the driver's license she needed to board the ship (we have no passports, but for a cruise to Hawaii, driver's licenses coupled with birth certificates would suffice).

 

When Terri realized that her wallet was missing, we of course focused on looking through things trying to locate it, becoming more and more frantic the longer we looked. We arranged to meet David and Matthew at the parking lot near San Pedro's Fanfare Fountains, about a block from the Port of Los Angeles' World Cruise Center, but when they arrived at about 9:30 we were still trying to locate Terri's wallet.

 

By about 10:30, we decided to give up on looking for her wallet, hoping that somehow we would later find it somewhere in the luggage. Even if Terri couldn't get on the ship yet, we didn't want Matthew and David to miss out on any of their Bon Voyage Experience time. (I told myself that if the port staff wouldn't let Terri board, we might still have time to somehow figure out a way to get her an emergency ID.) I asked Terri to put on a couple of kukui nut leis which had been given to us by a friend who lives in Hawaii. Then, gathering our overwhelming array of luggage with the assistance of Matthew and David, we walked a block or so to Berth 93 of the World Cruise Center. (As one example of our obsession, one suitcase was filled with bottles of Hawaiian water, as we boarded a ship with an excellent drinking water system.)

 

At about 10:45 am, we turned our luggage over to the porters, in faith that somehow we would later join it on the ship in spite of Terri's missing ID. We then walked down a little further to the doorway where we showed our boarding passes to enter the building. After the four of us filled out the health forms (confirming that we were not sick -- at least physically), we proceeded up the escalator.

 

Terri later confessed that at this point she felt kind of a sick feeling in her stomach, lamenting "I couldn't believe that this would happen after we had planned everything so perfectly!"

 

With our February 16 BVE still fresh in our minds, we knew exactly where to go, so we headed to the nearby "Bon Voyage" sign, where there was no line. But a Princess representative standing near the sign insisted instead that we sit down on the far side of the huge room, even when we told her that two of the people in our party were on the Bon Voyage Experience. Trying as always to be obedient, we found a place to sit, among the hundreds of others waiting anxiously to board the Golden Princess. I used this extra time to call our bank, informing them of our cruise so that they would not block our card transactions from Hawaii out of concern that they might be fraudulent. (It would have been prudent to inform the bank here that Terri's card was lost, but I didn't do so because I still hoped that we would somehow find it, and I didn't want it to be blocked.)

 

In 20 minutes or so, the Princess representatives began calling people, deck by deck, to get in line. Several times we approached Princess representatives to explain again that they should let us get in line because of our BVE participants, but we were repeatedly (and rudely) told "Bon Voyage boards last!"

 

Eventually almost everybody in the room was standing in line. Only a few people (maybe five or so besides us) were still seated. Were it not for the fact that we knew from our previous BVE that we should have already been on the ship, we probably would have continued to wait for another hour or more. Matthew and David were missing out on being on the ship, and we were missing out on time we might have needed to figure out what to do about Terri's ID problem. So I picked up my phone and called 1-800-PRINCESS and explained our situation. After about 10 minutes on the phone, I was eventually told that Princess had just sent an email to their representatives at the port explaining that they should allow us to board immediately. (I didn't mention my wife's ID problem on the phone, not wanting to give them any excuse to delay.) I also used this phone call as an opportunity to order a 240 minute Internet package for use during our cruise.

 

After my phone call ended, we again approached the port representatives who repeated their "Bon Voyage boards last" mantra. But this time we wouldn't accept that answer, walking on toward the Bon Voyage signs as we told them about the email from Princess headquarters. Within less than five minutes we were at the counter having our boarding passes checked. By this time it was about 11:50. (To be continued...)

 

i love the revieuw