Bon Voyage Experience Check-In

[SeymourKopath]

In Ft. Lauderdale, what time do they begin to let Bon Voyage Experience guests into the terminal building to begin the check-in process? I know boarding can't begin until the ship is cleared by the authorities. I just want to know what time we should be at the terminal to begin checking in. The boarding pass says 12:30-3:00pm, but I know this is wrong. Naturally, we want to spend as much time as possible enjoying the BVE. Information from CC members who have actually done the BVE in Ft. Lauderdale would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Steelers36]

In Ft. Lauderdale, what time do they begin to let Bon Voyage Experience guests into the terminal building to begin the check-in process? I know boarding can't begin until the ship is cleared by the authorities. I just want to know what time we should be at the terminal to begin checking in. The boarding pass says 12:30-3:00pm, but I know this is wrong. Naturally, we want to spend as much time as possible enjoying the BVE. Information from CC members who have actually done the BVE in Ft. Lauderdale would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

BVE participants line-up and enter the terminal same as sailing passengers. You go through scanners and present self at the check-in counter. You will board just ahead of Suites and Elites. No exact time but plan on around 11:30 more or less ... usually before noon. Just think of your experiences when taking a cruise if you have done so. Princess works to get people on board ASAP, but it all depends on when the ship is ready to receive a new gang.

[easyboy]

You can go to the terminal at 10am to be ahead of the line.

 

 

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[Tedferg]

We did BVE in SFO and I believe there was a Princess Rep with a sign for BVE guests. We had expedited boarding. As suggested, get there at 10:00 or so. Remember guests must have ID etc. just as if they were taking the cruise.

[JF - retired RRT]

We did BVE in SFO and I believe there was a Princess Rep with a sign for BVE guests. We had expedited boarding. As suggested, get there at 10:00 or so. Remember guests must have ID etc. just as if they were taking the cruise.

That's nice!! You wouldn't believe the cluster @#!k we experienced in San Pedro on one of our BVEs.

We were boarding at one of the secondary terminals that's only used when more than one ship is in port. No one knew what they were doing.

Ended up not getting on board until just before general boarding started. :mad: It was really frustrating. I kept telling the port personnel, "that's not right" and they'd send us off on another wild goose chase.

[missymerv]

Did BVE yesterday in Brooklyn. We got there at 11am which was a little later than we wanted to due to traffic and a missed turn. There was no huge line up to get into the terminal building as I often see in PE. Got up to check in desk and the rep could not find BVE envelopes. I wish the reps were better informed to make this smoother. Once we got checked in we walked right on and spent 4 hours on the beautiful Regal Princess. We dined al fresco outside Horizon Court with lower Manhatten as our backdrop. Beautiful day in NYC. Doesn't get better than that kids. Just an fyi I brought my coffee cards to get ice coffee & gelato but the person at the gelato place said it could not be used there. A gal came by later wanting to sell us a coffee card and said that we could have used for gelato and I told her what the other person said. She walked away embarrassed. Again people who did not get the memo. All in all still had a great time.

[habita]

That's nice!! You wouldn't believe the cluster @#!k we experienced in San Pedro on one of our BVEs.

We were boarding at one of the secondary terminals that's only used when more than one ship is in port. No one knew what they were doing.

Ended up not getting on board until just before general boarding started. :mad: It was really frustrating. I kept telling the port personnel, "that's not right" and they'd send us off on another wild goose chase.

s

Has anyone had a good experience with the BVE in SAN Pedro? I was thinking of inviting my friends on my next cruise.

[jennybenny]

s

 

Has anyone had a good experience with the BVE in SAN Pedro? I was thinking of inviting my friends on my next cruise.

 

 

 

Yes, we did BVE there on the Crown Princess in April 2016. Check in went smoothly and we got on and enjoyed as much time me as we could together. The photo was not available when we checked so those of us sailing got it later.

It was great!

 

 

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[JF - retired RRT]

Has anyone had a good experience with the BVE in SAN Pedro? I was thinking of inviting my friends on my next cruise.

We've done 3 BVEs in San Pedro with one bad experience. You shouldn't have a problem is your ship is at the main dock (I can never remember what # that is). The people who staff the secondary docks are the ones who are clueless.

[habita]

Where did your guests park?

[Steelers36]

IMO, the terminal staff are PT workers only there on embarkation days and don't know all the ins-and-outs of Princess. So I would look for or ask for a "real" Princess employee from the ship if getting the run-around.

[SeymourKopath]

Just to follow up on my OP. We invited our daughter and son-in-law to join us on a BVE before we sailed on the Royal out of Ft. Lauderdale. Since the Regal was also in port that day at Terminal 2, we had to go to the alternate Terminal (I think #26). By the time we parked and walked to the entrance, it was probably 10:15-10:30 and the doors to the terminal were already open. We showed our Preferred boarding passes and got right in. After going through security and filling out the health forms (BVE passengers also have to fill out the health forms), we went to check in. There was some confusion at the check-in desk and the first agent ended up having a supervisor show her how to handle BVE check-ins. It took a little longer than it could have, but we were quite early, so no big deal. Once we were checked-in, we were shown to the Platinum/Elite/Suite waiting area, where they had pastries and beverages set out for us. On the way to the waiting area our BVE guests stopped to have their complimentary photo taken. There was a bit of delay in clearing the ship for boarding, but we were the first 4 guests to board the ship at about 11:45. Our BVE guests picked up their included photos at the photo gallery, and left the ship at around 2:30, a bit before they were required to leave at 3:00. A very pleasant time was had by all.

[pablo222]

Ended up not getting on board until just before general boarding started. .

 

That's how it works.

 

Once boarding starts ... wedding parties, BVE, etc.

 

Then Suite/Elite...