Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) Review - Grand Princess - July 29, 2013 - SF

[Smokeyham]

Bon Voyage Experience Review – Grand Princess – San Francisco, July 29, 2013

 

Overview:

This is a review of our Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) aboard the Grand Princess in San Francisco, on Monday July 29, 2013. This experience was for two of us, who have cruised on Princess before. I am also organizing a group of 12 people who are going in August.

 

The program allows people who are not sailing on the ship to come aboard for about four hours and explore. The cost is $39. It includes a nice lunch, glass of wine and a souvenir photograph. Note: you do not need to know someone is going on the cruise in order to participate.

 

Registration

This is probably the most confusing part of the whole BVE. The registration process is the same as if you are actually sailing on the cruise, but there are some tricks to make the process easier.

 

· If you have never sailed with Princess before, you will need to get a “Captain’s Circle” number, and make an initial reservation for the BVE by calling Princess at 1-866-335-6379.

· They will then email you a booking number. However you are not registered yet. You must go to the Cruise Personalizer website, and provide passport and credit card information.

· If you do not have a passport, then just use the pull down choice for birth certificate, and fill in your driver’s license number.

· Your credit card information is required in case you want to charge anything on board to your “Sail and Sign” card.

 

If this all sounds way too complicated, then just call Princess during regular business hours, and ask to speak to someone in the Bon Voyage Experience department. You will be asked a couple of questions then be transferred to the BVE department. Once there, ask them to register you and provide them with information.

 

You will still need to go to the Cruise Personalizer website to print your boarding pass.

 

For our group in August, we have some unusual situations such as person with a passport name which does not match her driver’s license name, and also some minors who are not being accompanied by their parents, but by other responsible adults. For these type of issues, call Princess! Don’t try to explain them to the initial call taker, but insist on being transferred to the Bon Voyage Department. For an example of why to do this; during one call I had an initial call taker who insisted I must know someone who was going on the actual cruise to participate in BVE. I got past her to the BVE department, and everything was fine.

 

Parking

Several recommendations have been made on Cruise Critic to use the 80 Francisco Street garage. When we arrived this was full, unless you had pre-reserved a parking spot for the length of the cruise. We ended up parking below the Academy of Arts on Stockton between Beach and North Point. It was $20.00 till 3:00 PM. If that is full, there are other parking garages further west on Beach.

 

Check In

We arrived shortly after 11:00 AM, and other passengers had started to board. I would recommend you try to be at the entrance to the pier at 10:45 AM.

 

Boarding was a bit confused. A Princess staff member had a clipboard which said “Bon Voyage Experience,” on the back of it, but she seemed confused about the process. She directed us to fill out the health questionnaire, then tried to direct us to the regular passenger check in. We spotted a special table for BVE check-ins and headed there instead. Since we had our printed boarding passes and ID (driver’s licenses) in hand the process was simple. Although we had used our passport numbers on the website we only brought our driver's licenses for ID. There was no problem with this.

They gave us a helpful letter and brochure about the ship which includes Princess’ cruise schedule.

 

Do make sure they give you a BVE sticker! They almost forgot that, and a supervisor noticed the error and said it would have caused us problems if we did not have them.

 

Boarding

We were directed to stand and wait at a wall, but saw no one else there so just went ahead and boarded. Glad we did because most of the BVE group were already on board.

 

A staff member suggested we join the rest of BVE group who were gathering one deck above in the Art Gallery. Since we were familiar with the layout of the ship we had decided in advance to skip the formal tour, so we went our own way. The only downside to this was dealing with Future Cruise Credits. More on that below.

 

Initial Things to Do

Our first stop was the Purser’s (Passenger Services) desk to get a small folding deck plan. If you want to take a quick peak at the cabins, I suggest doing that immediately when you board, since many of the doors will be propped open as the crew finishes cleaning them. Not perhaps the most elegant of views, but it gives you an idea of the layout. My understanding is that the formal ship’s tour does not include a look at cabins, but if someone else has done that please feel free to correct me.

 

Lunch

Served lunch was available from 12:00 till 1:30 PM in the Da Vinci dining room. We very much enjoyed that, along with the included glass of wine. If you decide to skip on the “served” lunch and just go to the Horizon Court buffet, then I suggest doing that sooner rather than later. By about 1:30 PM Horizon Court was packed.

 

Future Cruise Credits

I wanted to buy a Future Cruise Credit. On CruiseCritic I had read that you just went to the Future Cruise office, and picked up a form, then dropped it in the mail slot. The office was closed, and no forms were available. I went to the Purser’s/Passenger Services desk and gave me a form. I filled that out, and left it in the slot. Hopefully it will be processed! I should have asked more questions about that when I first boarded.

 

Photograph Pickup

There was an area in the photography display for BVE pictures. Unfortunately, ours were not there. We were able to find a staff member who was able to reprint them for us. She said she thought she remembered printing them, and someone else may have taken them. Strange, but still….

 

Disembarkation

On the welcome letter it had asked that we leave the ship at 2:50 PM. We actually left around 3:00 due to the delay in getting our pictures printed. Not a big deal. Strange incident on the way out though; Security Officer said that they keep the Sail and Sign Cards for BVE participants. My friend asked if she could keep hers as a souvenir. He said to her “for you, yes.” I asked if I could keep mine. He said “no.” Not a huge deal since I was not sailing (in which case it would have been important to me), but still strange to treat two people standing side by side differently.

 

Final Thoughts

Overall we very much enjoyed our Bon Voyage Experience. It would be great if Princess created a webpage dedicated to this, with complete information and a simpler registration process. Also, be prepared for a bit of confusion when boarding. If the instructions you receive from one crew member don’t make sense, then ask another or try to find a course of action which does make sense.

 

We wondered if we would feel rushed with only four hours on board. Even with the served lunch, we found that to be more than enough time to explore all of the public areas and enjoy the ship. We made a pledge not to take elevators (to burn off our lunch and several cookies we picked up on our travels). My pedometer says we climbed the equivalent of 33 stories and walked over 10,000 steps - so wear comfortable shoes!

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the review. I've done the BVE twice and both times, it was advised that we be at the pier and ready to check in by 10:30AM. The instructions on my boarding pass said 1PM so ignore whatever the pass says.

 

Both times I did the BVE, they held up the group from boarding until all (or as many) of the BVE people are checked in and ready to board so arriving late could hold up the others. :(

 

We got the map and sticker at check-in. Maybe they're more organized or experienced in San Pedro.

 

A suggestion for anyone filling out the FCC form, take a picture so you have a record. Even better if your camera or phone dates it.

 

OK, I know this is tacky but both times, I brought ZipLoc bags, went to the IC and got some chicken salad to take home for dinner. Mea culpa. :)

[trbarton]

Good review especially for people that don't know the process for the BVE.

 

I did the BVE in March and will go again next month with people from my December 20th holiday cruise. My suggestion is to arrive around 10:30 am which my group next month is doing. I was surprised when we had to wait 20 minutes for late people. My take was that people that don't arrive on time should be on their own especially since you have to be off the ship by 3 pm.:( When I left the ship the security at the gangway asked me if I was returning which I thought was strange. They never asked for my cruise card so I'm surprised when peoples cards are kept. The tour of the ship is short and good and we got to see a suite, something you don't always have the time to do. Plan to take plenty of photos as you will have photos without a lot of people in them.

 

Tom:)

Edited July 30, 2013 by trbarton

[Pam in CA]

They never asked for my cruise card so I'm surprised when peoples cards are kept.

I think it's a Grand Princess thing. Out of all my Princess cruises, the only one that asked for my cruise card at disembarkation was the Grand. Edited July 30, 2013 by Pam in CA

[Smokeyham]

Thanks for the review. I've done the BVE twice and both times, it was advised that we be at the pier and ready to check in by 10:30AM. The instructions on my boarding pass said 1PM so ignore whatever the pass says.

 

Both times I did the BVE, they held up the group from boarding until all (or as many) of the BVE people are checked in and ready to board so arriving late could hold up the others. :(

 

We got the map and sticker at check-in. Maybe they're more organized or experienced in San Pedro.

 

A suggestion for anyone filling out the FCC form, take a picture so you have a record. Even better if your camera or phone dates it.

 

OK, I know this is tacky but both times, I brought ZipLoc bags, went to the IC and got some chicken salad to take home for dinner. Mea culpa. :)

 

Great idea about taking a copy (picture) of the Future Cruise Credit form!

 

It seems that they were just boarding BVE people as they arrived, or it could be that we were late and the others had boarded as a group. :( For our upcoming BVE I am going to try and get our group to meet promptly out front, so we don't hold people up.

 

The sticker we got at check in (after the supervisor noticed we had not been given them). The map I had to ask for on board. Thankfully, we knew to ask for them. They might have given those out if we had participated in the formal tour.

 

We joked about trying to take some of the delicious cookies with us! :)

Edited July 30, 2013 by Smokeyham

[casavaha]

Smokeyham: What date is your group doing the BVE?

[ofthesea]

I did the BVE experience on the Grand Princess exactly a month ago. I'm planning to book again soon! I love the luncheons onboard but wish I had more time.

 

Thanks for the awesome review! It was very thorough! :))

 

The booking process for BVE is very tedious. They don't have a direct department to contact so you have to call as you book a cruise then the worker on the phone has to keep going back and forth to the dept. I think there should be some easier way.

 

Also for parking, you can park in the Pier 39 parking garage. It seems expensive, it's 8 dollars an hour and if you're there for more than 4 hours the flat rate is basically 48 bucks. When you leave the ship there will be Pier 39 coupon books and in the coupon book there is a coupon that says Free 2 hour parking. In the end, you pay 24 bucks for however long parking you want for that day! So that's another option and I normally just do that one!

 

You're so lucky you found someone for the photo gallery! Last time I went no one was around and they only printed one picture per group. I thought it was one picture per person and couldn't find anyone to talk this out. BVE on the Sea Princess in SF last year there was always someone at the booth and they gave a photo per BVE passenger.

 

AND they took my card away too. I really like keeping those cards so I was super bummed that I couldn't keep that as one of my souvenirs. I asked if I could keep it and he said no. But that doesn't mean I won't try asking the next time.

[Smokeyham]

Just a quick update that my Future Cruise Credit confirmation email arrived today via email, so it did work just to drop the completed form in the box at the Future Cruise Consultants office. There is not a place on the form for email addresses, but I wrote mine on there, and it seems to have worked.

 

OfTheSea.... Thanks for the hint about the Pier 39 parking and the coupon books. I saw a table with coupons and other tourist information on my way off the ship, but did not stop to look at them.

 

They had printed enough copies of each photograph so that everyone who was in the picture should be able to have their own copy. To get hold of a person who actually worked at the photo area we had to stop another crew member, who called for a photography person to come and help us.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the review. I've done the BVE twice and both times, it was advised that we be at the pier and ready to check in by 10:30AM. The instructions on my boarding pass said 1PM so ignore whatever the pass says.

 

Both times I did the BVE, they held up the group from boarding until all (or as many) of the BVE people are checked in and ready to board so arriving late could hold up the others. :(

 

We got the map and sticker at check-in. Maybe they're more organized or experienced in San Pedro.

 

A suggestion for anyone filling out the FCC form, take a picture so you have a record. Even better if your camera or phone dates it.

 

OK, I know this is tacky but both times, I brought ZipLoc bags, went to the IC and got some chicken salad to take home for dinner. Mea culpa. :)

 

And I took home some shrimp salad. It was so tasty!

 

Just a quick update that my Future Cruise Credit confirmation email arrived today via email, so it did work just to drop the completed form in the box at the Future Cruise Consultants office. There is not a place on the form for email addresses, but I wrote mine on there, and it seems to have worked.

 

OfTheSea.... Thanks for the hint about the Pier 39 parking and the coupon books. I saw a table with coupons and other tourist information on my way off the ship, but did not stop to look at them.

 

They had printed enough copies of each photograph so that everyone who was in the picture should be able to have their own copy. To get hold of a person who actually worked at the photo area we had to stop another crew member, who called for a photography person to come and help us.

 

Good to know your FCC's were confirmed. I'm looking into a BVE this fall as I have two friends who have never cruised Princess and they want to give a BVE a try. I need some FCC's so it will be a great opportunity to get them.

[Treven]

... AND they took my card away too. I really like keeping those cards so I was super bummed that I couldn't keep that as one of my souvenirs. I asked if I could keep it and he said no. But that doesn't mean I won't try asking the next time.

I think I would have said, "I lost mine". I doubt he'd call you a liar - to your face anyway.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Treven

[Smokeyham]

One the Grand, does anyone know if they keep your Sail and Sign card if you are a "regular" passenger (as opposed to a BVE customer)?

 

I know they didn't on Sapphire and Coral.

[Treven]

One the Grand, does anyone know if they keep your Sail and Sign card if you are a "regular" passenger (as opposed to a BVE customer)?

 

I know they didn't on Sapphire and Coral.

In the past I've always kept mine. I'll be on the Grand for the first time, next April. If it appears the cards are collected, I'll conveniently lose mine.

[Smokeyham]

In the past I've always kept mine. I'll be on the Grand for the first time, next April. If it appears the cards are collected, I'll conveniently lose mine.

 

 

If I was an actual passenger on board I would definitely not be happy if they wanted to keep my Sail and Sign card at the end of a cruise!

 

Also, for people who are doing the BVE, and this is their first time stepping on board a cruise ship, that could be a very much-wanted souvenir for them!

[Treven]

If I was an actual passenger on board I would definitely not be happy if they wanted to keep my Sail and Sign card at the end of a cruise!

 

Also, for people who are doing the BVE, and this is their first time stepping on board a cruise ship, that could be a very much-wanted souvenir for them!

Oops, I must have inadvertently dropped mine in my main luggage when I was packing last night; sorry. Of course the BVE folks couldn't use that excuse.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Treven

[perfect match]

This review was really helpful! We are doing our first BVE in Dec on the Royal and I now have a much better idea what to expect.

 

I especially appreciate the info about filling out the form to buy our FCC's that we didn't know we wanted when we cruised in April. I was expecting we would be meeting with someone who would be trying to sell us a cruise, or at the very least a FCC. I was concerned about that taking up too much of our time on board. I am really glad to hear that is not the case.

 

Lots of other good info here, too. I may just print it out so I can put it with our boarding passes so I will have it for easy reference.

 

Pam, loved your idea for dinner after your BVE! :p

[Smokeyham]

This review was really helpful! We are doing our first BVE in Dec on the Royal and I now have a much better idea what to expect.

 

I especially appreciate the info about filling out the form to buy our FCC's that we didn't know we wanted when we cruised in April. I was expecting we would be meeting with someone who would be trying to sell us a cruise, or at the very least a FCC. I was concerned about that taking up too much of our time on board. I am really glad to hear that is not the case.

 

Lots of other good info here, too. I may just print it out so I can put it with our boarding passes so I will have it for easy reference.

 

Pam, loved your idea for dinner after your BVE! :p

 

Perfect Match,

 

You are most welcome. I have got so much good information from CruiseCritic over the years, and it is a pleasure to be able to give back!

 

They gave me two copies of the FCC form. I've still got the blank one so I will try to scan that and attach it in the next day or so. That way you can print it, and just drop it off when you are on board.

[USNUZULOOSE]

When we did our BVE we ate in the dining room, and saved our dessert for the buffet. Thanks for the review.:)

[NavyVeteran]

OK, I know this is tacky but both times, I brought ZipLoc bags, went to the IC and got some chicken salad to take home for dinner. Mea culpa. :)

 

You were taking a real risk with the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It is against the law in the United States and in most other countries to take any food (except for prepackaged items) on shore from a ship. If they had found the chicken salad, they could have fined you. This is not like taking food home from a restaurant - it is importing food from a foreign country.

 

I would recommend against anyone else trying this.

[Pam in CA]

I'm looking into a BVE this fall as I have two friends who have never cruised Princess and they want to give a BVE a try. I need some FCC's so it will be a great opportunity to get them.

Oh, let me know when! :)

 

As for taking food off the ship, ordinarily I would agree with you 100% and I usually point that out when it comes to taking food off the ship in port. I would never bring uncooked food, fruit or flowers off the ship.

[ofthesea]

I splurged. I booked another BVE for the Grand Princess.

 

This time I'll be looking into the parking garage that you recommended! Sounds much cheaper! And I will for sure wave down a crew worker in the photo gallery!

 

Thanks! :)

[pablo222]

Oops, I must have inadvertently dropped mine in my main luggage when I was packing last night; sorry. Of course the BVE folks couldn't use that excuse.

 

You seem obsessed with this. You will get to enjoy

stepping out of line, producing some photo id, which

some security staff look you up, and pull up your a-pass

picture.

[Smokeyham]

In case you would like to print one to take on board with you, attached is a blank Future Cruise Credit Form. As I mentioned earlier, there wasn't a rack of them available at the Future Cruise Consultant's office on the Grand. I was able to get the form at the Purser's desk, but that involved a trip down one deck (not a huge deal).

 

 

The form also gives you information about the program.

Future Cruise Credit Blank Form Princess 7-2013.pdf

[bdjam]

One the Grand, does anyone know if they keep your Sail and Sign card if you are a "regular" passenger (as opposed to a BVE customer)?

 

I sailed on Grand Princess back in June, disembarking in San Francisco. My card was not taken from me. But note that "losing" the card isn't necessarily the best thing to do - the final scan of the card removes you from the security database (they won't find you in the database if you use the card to get back on the ship). If you've "lost" the card it may be an extensive process to get through security to get off the ship.

[Thrak]

I've looked but can't seem to locate a listing of when / where the BVE is available. I know they don't do it on all sailings. Can someone point me to a site where this info can be located?

[Suzy'Q]

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