MTJSR

Thanks for the heads up! Headed there in December.

I am waiting to hear something as well. It was the DaVinci dining room head waiter that told me the 15 new food items were starting that next day.

They treat the BVE participant just like a regular cruiser. Everyone has a pre-authorized amount sent to their credit card as pending. Princess does this so they know charges you make while on the ship will go through. For example, you could have made a beverage purchase or gelato at the IC.

 

So as an above post said, do not worry about it. It will disappear in a few days. If you had made any purchases, only the actual amount of those purchases would end up being posted to your credit card account.

 

I see no need to call Princess about it.

Very good, that explains it well. Thanks!

Yes, it happens to me every time I do a BVE and on different ships. It will drop off in a week, not to worry, but it is a pain.

Interesting...first time for me and good to know, thanks.

Sounds like pending and not a charge.

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Pending yes, but I'm interested in why. Princess initiated a very specific "swipe" on my account and like I said, a first for me after 8 previous BVE's. Just caught me off guard!

From Above: Quote: The last couple of cruises we have taken I've ordered from the children's menu on Embarkation day lunch. I wonder if I can still do that on next cruise in September? Children's menu?

I have never seen that before, so my guess is no?

After I went on this BVE, A charged of 100.00 showed up to my credit card. First thing I thought was Princess charged me for a Future Cruise Credit...but I did not fill out the form or buy one. I also didn't use my blue BVE boarding card for anything anywhere on the ship.

I called Princess on Saturday when I saw the charge and was told the help desk is closed on weekends.

This is a stray charge and of course I will dispute it thru Citibank if necessary, but does anyone have a clue or seen this before?

Thanks for the updates, Mark. (y)

You bet! Nice to hear from you. :D

Two other things I found out during this BVE.

#1 The health form usually required before approaching check-in was gone and no longer required.

#2 The Grand Princess and the San Francisco port has the most BVE's of any port and any ship. Most embarkation ports seldom have BVE's That was reported to me by the staff in the SF terminal

The op stated they went on board for the BVE (bon voyage experience). Could it be this menu was for those folks?

This menu was not just for us (BVE) but for everyone who entered the MDR. We boarded with 12 family members who were sailing on that cruise.

It was but it was the same menu I had a month ago on the Sapphire Princess for the first lunch. Identical, maybe a different font but same menu items. It hasn't changed in probably 15 years.

Hmmm, I have done 15 cruises and at least 8 BVE's and that menu yesterday was new. I did a BVE a month ago and it was the "old" menu with the Avocado and Shrimp salad, chicken and pasta dish, beef tenderloin, and one desert option was an apple tort.

Another persons comment was whether or not Elite and Platinum had to wait till 1pm to enter their rooms. I heard nobody challenge that so I am not totally sure.

MDR embankment lunch has always been limited, but for us, going to the MDR is how we start and officially means "we're here".

I agree and after 15 cruises on Princess I'm pretty conditioned to go to the MDR after embarkation for lunch. I really liked the Shrimp and Avocado salad on the old menu. In fact, thats what I was looking forward to today, so the new menu kinda caught me off guard.

We just did the BVE today on the Grand Princess in San Francisco and found out some interesting changes.

#1 Passengers were boarded on deck 7 forward and ushered all the way to the far aft entrance and encouraged to go straight up to Horizon Court for lunch.

#2 Passengers were NOT allowed to go to their staterooms until 1pm, when an announcement was made on the P.A.

#3 Menu changes start tomorrow and there are 15 new items being rolled out.

#4 The embarkation lunch menu has changed (pic attached)

FYI

I will answer your second question by saying yes! It is different, it's not the buffet and it is not the (my opinion) tired main dining room menu. The service is more personal, food better and it is a quiet setting. I think the surcharge is 29.00 (forgot what I paid) and people pay more than that to get a pizza at home. My two cents!

Thank you! It’s nice to see that the Americans that count still love Canada (and don’t think of us as a threat to national security ;) )

Gotta just love the media or whoever perpetuates the wrong ideas. Nobody speaks for me except for me and I like "nice people" regardless of where they were born. :)

Sailed to Mexico 4 times and about to sail my 5th time to Hawaii, on Princess. It's the cruising I like, locations are secondary.

The Canapés are gross!

I love how everyone jumps up to judge others.

I didn't:o

Unbelievable! The whining over a $2.33 cappuccino after spending $$thousands for a cruise.

Lol exactly the "Accept Anything" attitude they are hoping for.

When will Princess learn to charge what they want in the fare and don't nickel and dime once onboard.

This really Pixxes me off! We just paid nearly 8 thousand dollars to cruise on Princess again (16th time) and they act like "Brewed Coffee" is caviar and truffles and must be regulated and paid extra for. What next, a butter surcharge?

I am American too and I get that feeling we have to tip everything that moves, but I had a thought, do we tip each night in the MDR? So whats the difference?

The embarkation luncheon is very limited.Go to the horizon court.

We went to Alfredo's and got a custom pizza for lunch. However I really like the Shrimp/Avacado salad available in the MDR. The Sliced tenderloin, chicken and pasta is pretty darn good too. Heck it is all good!

As mentioned before but to clarify, there is an outlet behind the bed "But you will need the 2 two round prong adapter" I bought a cube style converter off amazon that has multi types all in one. No long extension cords (for the CPAP) required this way.

Hmmm funny thing, I'm one cruise away from elite and I have never received a Princess Circle Magazine.

How is the Carbonara sauce made, if you don't mind sharing?

I think (playing with this idea) Princess should uphold the formal dress requirement by having a "Formal Runway" as you enter the MDR. That would keep the jeans and tee's crowd from breaking up this tradition.

MTJSR, You mention meetings, and then the room steward(s). If they are who you met with, that was probably the problem.

Possibly, however I met with our Room Steward, Head Room Steward (white uniform) and talked to Passenger Services twice. Bottom line is, there should be no staff ladder a passenger needs to navigate to get the appropriate resolution to something like a cabin flood.

Since we are all sharing our “Grand” issue stories, on my Hawaiian cruise last year April/May our neighbors on Caribe deck flooded their bathroom and our balcony cabin. To make a long story short I am a kidney transplant recipient and should be very careful and avoid getting sick at all costs. Three phone calls and two in cabin meetings later, all we got was fans running for 4 days. The indifference by our room steward and head room steward was the most shocking aspect of the whole ordeal. In the end, Princess credited our folios one hundred each.

After 15 cruises on Princess, this was our first real problem like this, however the way it was handled was pretty low class even after paying nearly 8 thousand dollars to take the trip.

Like everyone else here, I have sailed to Hawaii several times with 2 cruises on the Star, 1 cruise on the Grand and 1 cruise on the Golden. The Golden was awesome with Cruise Director David Cole (ret) and Elua (hawaiian ambassadors) and the 2 Star cruises were just ok. Food was really off on one cruise and the crew was really off on the other. The Grand was amazing with the crew and food being as good as possible.

Here is a video I made from that cruise:

We are booked on the Emerald for the Christmas 2018 cruise and we live 40 minutes outside San Francisco so we will drive down the day before. Hoping the Emerald is just as great as our last Grand cruise.