BVE - Houston

[bellebaby]

We're on the December 14th sailing of the Caribbean Princess out of Houston and thought about driving down in November to scope out the "new" port by doing a BVE.

 

However, I don't see the Caribbean Fall 2013 (from Houston) sailings listed.

 

https://book.princess.com/BookingSystem/jsp/home/ship_visit/BonVoyageExperience.jsp

 

I wonder why it's not offered in Houston? I see it was offered on the Crown out of Galveston earlier in the year.

 

B

Edited June 8, 2013 by bellebaby

[EV2008]

We're on the December 14th sailing of the Caribbean Princess out of Houston and thought about driving down in November to scope out the "new" port by doing a BVE.

 

However, I don't see the Caribbean Fall 2013 (from Houston) sailings listed.

 

https://book.princess.com/BookingSystem/jsp/home/ship_visit/BonVoyageExperience.jsp

 

I wonder why it's not offered in Houston? I see it was offered on the Crown out of Galveston earlier in the year.

 

B

 

It was offered but not in the beginning, because I had wanted to have a BVE on the Crown and I finally was able to get a Reservation about 6-8 weeks after it arrived in Galveston. You may not be ablt to get a BVE before your sailing.

[jeanarch]

what's a BVE

[Pam in CA]

what's a BVE

"Bon Voyage Experience" https://book.princess.com/BookingSystem/jsp/home/ship_visit/BonVoyageExperience.jsp

 

For $39/pp, you get to board the ship first and stay until Muster. It includes lunch in the dining room with wine and a professional photo. If you book a cruise within (I think) three months, the $39 is applied as a credit towards your cruise cost. You have free reign to explore the ship, buy drinks (charged to the credit card # you give to complete check-in), sample the pizza, grill, International Cafe or whatever. You can purchase a Future Cruise Credit if you want. On one BVE that I did, I hung out in the Sanctuary for an hour or so. If you live near an embarkation port in the US, it's a fun thing to do. Hard to get off the ship, though, as you want to stay onboard.

[perfect match]

Thanks for the link to the BVE info We are thinking of booking this when our friends sail out of FLL in Dec, but I couldn't remember what it was called. That sure made it hard to find the info. Now, problem solved! I just have to convince DH that he wants to make the drive to FLL on the day our friends are sailing! Too bad for us Princess doesn't sail from Canaveral. That's much closer for us so doing BVE would be a no brainer!

[bellebaby]

It was offered but not in the beginning, because I had wanted to have a BVE on the Crown and I finally was able to get a Reservation about 6-8 weeks after it arrived in Galveston. You may not be ablt to get a BVE before your sailing.

 

Good Afternoon.

 

I decided to call Princess and ask. They told me the BVE was offered on the fall sailings, it's just not on the published list.

 

We may go for a test run in November.

 

Mary

[trbarton]

Since I live in San Francisco it's easy to do a BVE. Anybody done one just for fun and to see another Princess ship? I'm on the Grand Holiday Cruise in December and am considering a BVE on the Island and Star in September. Will both of these BVE's apply for my December 20th cruise?

 

I f I purchase a BVE for friends for my December cruise will I get credit because I paid for their reservations?

 

Tom:)

Edited June 15, 2013 by trbarton

[perfect match]

We did it! Booked a BVE for the date our friends are sailing the Royal our of FLL in Dec!

 

I was surprised we were able to book it this far out. The info in the link Pam so kindly posted with the info said you could only book at 120 days out or less, but the Princess BVE desk was happy to take my booking. :cool:

 

We are referring to our BVE as our Dec "Port Excursion". We are going to the port and getting on the ship for a few hours instead of disembarking the ship while it is in port, so it's kind of backwards. :D I know I'm not going to want to get off that ship when it comes time for us to disembark!

 

I'm sure that as time draws closer I'll be back on this forum with questions for those of you who have done BVE before.

[Pam in CA]

Since I live in San Francisco it's easy to do a BVE. Anybody done one just for fun and to see another Princess ship? I'm on the Grand Holiday Cruise in December and am considering a BVE on the Island and Star in September. Will both of these BVE's apply for my December 20th cruise?

 

I f I purchase a BVE for friends for my December cruise will I get credit because I paid for their reservations?

 

Tom:)

I've done a couple of BVE's "just for fun." Fortunately, I live near enough to San Pedro to be able to do it.

 

If you purchase two BVE's, the $39 is added to your Captain's Circle account as a credit. While I can't guarantee they would both be credited towards a new booking, I don't see why they wouldn't since they're there as credits.

 

No matter who pays for a cruise or a BVE, the credit and perks go to the booked person's Captain's Circle account. So, the answer to your question is, "No." Even if you pay for your friends' BVE, they will each get the cruise credit, not you. You could pay for fifty people and you still wouldn't get the cruise credit or benefit.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Pam in CA

[trbarton]

I'm considering doing 3 BVE's, 2 in September, and one in early October. Will I get credit for these 3 BVE's on my December 20th cruise?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom:)

[Pam in CA]

I'm considering doing 3 BVE's, 2 in September, and one in early October. Will I get credit for these 3 BVE's on my December 20th cruise?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom:)

If you've already booked it, I'm not sure. You should probably call your TA.

[mfanderso]

Do you have to have friends sailing on the date that you visit?

[sminfiddle]

Do you have to have friends sailing on the date that you visit?

No, you can just book the BVE. Doesn't have to be linked to sailing passengers.

 

Good Afternoon.

 

I decided to call Princess and ask. They told me the BVE was offered on the fall sailings, it's just not on the published list.

 

We may go for a test run in November.

 

Mary

Thanks for checking on that, Mary!

My kids (who sailed with us in March) told us last night they want to have a BVE next November when we sail from Houston without them.

Rick

[mfanderso]

Thanks. I didn't think so but my TA said you did. I will just call Princess directly.

[trbarton]

Thanks. I didn't think so but my TA said you did. I will just call Princess directly.

 

I did a BVE on the Grand in March by myself. I didn't know anybody on the ship but wanted to tour the ship prior to my May Alaska cruise. It's also a good way to check out other Princess ships.

 

Tom:)

[bellebaby]

No, you can just book the BVE. Doesn't have to be linked to sailing passengers.

 

 

Thanks for checking on that, Mary!

My kids (who sailed with us in March) told us last night they want to have a BVE next November when we sail from Houston without them.

Rick

 

November 30 is one of the dates we are considering for the BVE... we may see you there.

 

Mary

[sminfiddle]

November 30 is one of the dates we are considering for the BVE... we may see you there.

 

Mary

We'll be there nice and early! And the kids said they sepcifically want to have lunch in the MDR so that's where we'll be found sometime after 12.

 

Rick

[bellebaby]

I did a BVE on the Grand in March by myself. I didn't know anybody on the ship but wanted to tour the ship prior to my May Alaska cruise. It's also a good way to check out other Princess ships.

 

Tom:)

 

Hi, Tom

 

I see the Amsterdam is still on your signature... Have you decided if you are taking that sailing or switching to the Grand to Hawaii?

 

Mary

[bellebaby]

We'll be there nice and early! And the kids said they sepcifically want to have lunch in the MDR so that's where we'll be found sometime after 12.

 

Rick

 

Hi, Rick

 

We're out in Sugar Land.. we had a few extra hours on Saturday morning and drove out to the Bayport terminal. It took about an hour each way. I don't see how there will be enough parking with only 800 spaces. It's one of the reasons we want to do the BVE in November. To see what the parking/boarding reality is.

 

Nothing going on out there... very remote. The terminal is fenced and locked-up. Needs clean-up badly. Very convenient for us... don't know that I'd want to fly into Houston for it, though. IMO, a change of planes and on to FLL would be better.

 

I'm sure it will be great for us "Houstonians".

 

Mary

[trbarton]

Hi, Tom

 

I see the Amsterdam is still on your signature... Have you decided if you are taking that sailing or switching to the Grand to Hawaii?

 

Mary

 

Mary:

 

I switched to the Grand to Hawaii for a holiday cruise. The Princess is having a sale offering a Balcony for the price of an outside plus I was able to get the cabin that I wanted. I'm trying Aft instead of forward on the Caribe, deck 10. I used AAA and saved over $600 from the price on Princess web site plus I will have over $400 in OBC so I will have saved almost $1,100 plus I don't have to fly anywhere.

 

I'm also organizing a BVE on the Grand in August with other Bay Area folks as a pre meeting with people on the December cruise.

 

I'm considering doing a BVE on the Island, Star and Sapphire just to see other Princess ships. Wanting to find out that if I do several BVE'S can they be applied to my December cruise.

 

 

Tom:)

[bellebaby]

Mary:

 

I switched to the Grand to Hawaii for a holiday cruise. The Princess is having a sale offering a Balcony for the price of an outside plus I was able to get the cabin that I wanted. I'm trying Aft instead of forward on the Caribe, deck 10. I used AAA and saved over $600 from the price on Princess web site plus I will have over $400 in OBC so I will have saved almost $1,100 plus I don't have to fly anywhere.

 

I'm also organizing a BVE on the Grand in August with other Bay Area folks as a pre meeting with people on the December cruise.

 

I'm considering doing a BVE on the Island, Star and Sapphire just to see other Princess ships. Wanting to find out that if I do several BVE'S can they be applied to my December cruise.

 

 

Tom:)

 

Just so that I understand, the $39 cost of the BVE will be posted as a cruise credit on your Captains Circle account.

 

Can it be applied to an existing future sailing or does it have to be a new booking?

 

Anyone know?

 

Thanks.

[TexasDawg72]

We had a very enjoyable Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) today on the Caribbean Princess at the Bayport Cruise Terminal at Houston, Texas. We had originally booked last week (November 16th) to do the BVE on the Caribbean Princess but the ship was delayed 4+ hours due to fog and the BVE was delayed then eventually cancelled. We are booked on the Caribbean Princess for the November 30th Western Caribbean cruise and wanted to get an idea of the parking, check-in and boarding process at the new Bayport Terminal before we left on our cruise.

 

Overall, things went very smoothly and we were impressed with how the new terminal and Princess handled the "getting there and getting on board" process. We were told to arrive by 11:30 am for the BVE check-in and got to the port a bit before 11 am. The ship had arrived on time and looked very big looming over the blue colored terminal. Very little traffic on either Texas 146 or Port Road as we came to the terminal. We initially went to the normal cruise parking in front of the terminal and were told that BVE "day parker's" should park in the "day lot" which we assumed was for terminal employees. It's unpaved but right next to the regular parking and a short walk to the terminal. We found an empty space easily. The regular lot was maybe 10% full when we got there at 11 am.

 

The front of the terminal was busy with both disembarking and embarking passengers. Traffic seemed to be moving very well both dropping off and picking up passengers. They have separate lanes for private and public transport and lots of baggage handlers to help folks with their bags. Once inside the front door we were told to report to the BVE desk (on the far right of the terminal) where a security person checked our boarding passes then directed us to security. Very short lines at security then and we were through in less than five minutes.

 

Once through security, you enter into a large check-in room and we were directed to sit down in a BVE seating section and wait. Another BVE group of four came in about the same time and they were told to wait as well. Then another couple, with baggage, meet the other BVE group and were told to get in the check line. We asked if we were supposed to begin to check-in and were told to get in the check-in line as well. It took about 10-15 minutes to get to the check-in desk where we were asked for our boarding passes and photo ID's (we used our driver's licenses). We were given an envelope each containing a Greeting letter, a ship map, a blue Princess card and a BVE sticker and told to wear it. Then we were directed back to the BVE seating area again. The check-in lines were four rows deep by then (11:35 am) with maybe 300-400 people in the big room's check lines and seating area.

 

About 11:50 pm, a Princess rep came on the loudspeaker and announced they would begin boarding at noon and would board by groups:

 

1) BVE group (which included both the BVE folks plus their accompanying boarding companions. There 12 of us in all in the BVE group.

2) Special needs

3) Elite, platinum and full suite

4) Remaining passengers by group numbers (we would have been in group #2 had we not been in the BVE group).

 

Right at noon, they opened the boarding doors and off the BVE group went (woo-woo - it's fun to be the first group on!). We went through the photography stop and then went up the winding gangway and entered the ship on Deck 7. Security met us there and we presented our cruise cards and had our security photos taken. We were met by the ship's Future Cruise Desk rep, Veronica. She gave us a very nice tour of the ship starting at the SkyWalker Nightclub on the top deck and moving lower through all the major public areas of the ship. Very few other passengers were on board and we moved quickly from one area to the next. She took us to the Coral dining room where we had a very tasty lunch and then she delivered our complimentary boarding pictures.

 

We took about an hour for lunch and then we were on our to explore. We did a bit more touring, went by our cabin for next week's cruise (it was locked with baggage in front) and then headed back to Deck 7 to disembark about 2:30 am. Boarding was in full swing by then and the ship was getting full and baggage lined the stateroom decks' corridors. The security staff seemed surprised that we wanted to get OFF but one paused his inbound work to scan our cruise cards and off we went back down the gangway. It's funny to see the strange looks one gets as you swim upstream on the way out.

 

We went back through the big room (the check-in lines were all the way back to security then) then back by security and out the front door where it was almost empty in the drop off area. This was about 2:30 pm and there were dozens of baggage handlers with their carts lined up on the curb and very few passengers arriving. The parking lot seemed about 3/4 full but nothing on the auxiliary asphalt or grass parking areas. There was almost no traffic on Port Rd. by then.

 

So overall, we enjoyed the BVE time and were pleased with the way Princess got us on the ship today and treated us once on board. It will be interesting to see how the "staggered by deck" boarding works on the November 30th Caribbean Princess cruise next Saturday. We liked the BVE enough to invite my brother and sister-in-law to go through it with us as we board for real next Saturday.

 

PS - Also, a "tip o' the hat" to the Princess call center personnel that handled our BVE reservation calls. We called the 1-800-Princess number and their regular call staff took our basic info then passed us on to the BVE desk who finalized the details. Both groups did a very professional job of setting the BVE up for us all three times we've called to book. They also had sent e-mails and made phone calls to keep us updated when last week's BVE was delayed/cancelled.

 

I'll post a few pictures of the BVE today in my next post

[TexasDawg72]

Here's a few photos from the BVE today described above.

 

Happy cruisin' :)

[sminfiddle]

 

Happy cruisin' :)

I very much appreciate the thorough report.

Was there a charge for day parking?

 

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[TexasDawg72]

No - it was free...:)