Bon Voyage Experience - please share

[LaraTiara]

Hi all!

 

We are taking a short 4-Day cruise out of LA next month, and we have planned to meet up with friends before sail away. Then I recalled the BVE, and thought perhaps we could just all meet on the ship.

So I called Princess. BVE is not offered on Star that day, sadly! Too bad, since we rarely visit hometown LA anymore! Will plan original venue.

 

But my question to you all is - is BVE only offered on longer cruises? Would you share your BVE tips here for us, please. Thanks [emoji41]

[JF - retired RRT]

Here is a link to a thread about the BVE: http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk//showthread.php?t=2125034

Post #5 has the schedule for 2015. Not too many of them left for this year:confused:.

Princess is limited by Homeland Security (?) to allow 50 BVE participants per cruise. Once they have 50 signed up, they won't accept any more.

If you do one, be sure you know exactly what to expect and how it should function. Frequently, the shore personnel have no idea what is going on. If you don't know your rights, you will miss out on things you should have, i.e. the boarding photo (if you want one), the MDR lunch, or boarding before almost EVERYONE else.

 

The BVE is a great way to share the ship/cruise experience with your friends or relatives, it is too bad Princess doesn't do more with it.

[Ronnieslady]

Hi all!

 

We are taking a short 4-Day cruise out of LA next month, and we have planned to meet up with friends before sail away. Then I recalled the BVE, and thought perhaps we could just all meet on the ship.

So I called Princess. BVE is not offered on Star that day, sadly! Too bad, since we rarely visit hometown LA anymore! Will plan original venue.

 

But my question to you all is - is BVE only offered on longer cruises? Would you share your BVE tips here for us, please. Thanks [emoji41]

 

Absolutely do not do a BVE on a short cruise out of LA. We just did one on the Ruby out of LA, on Sept. 29, 2015. We were doing a b to b & the 1st leg was a 4 day coastal cruise & the next was 15 day Hawaii. We paid for the person that took us to the port & back for this BVE & we were totally embarrassed @ the limited items on the MDR menu. The fish dish , of the 2 main course choices, that was offered, was not good & my DH & friend took a few bites & that was it. One choice for appitizer & one for dessert . We ordered neither. They did not sound very good. We were offered a glass of wine, but turned it down. There was no salad offered. This is just a warning. It was a total waste of $. It was not a good example for people that have not cruised with Princess. I guess it would have been better to go to the buffet or the IC. But we usually love to go to the MDR on embarcation day for lunch. This was our 1st short cruise, so I think this was the problem, because on the next leg to Hawaii on embarcation day the MDR menu was not @ all the same & was way better.

 

There might have been some kind of misunderstanding about the sticker that we received @ the port that AM. Because the lady in charge of BVE people @ the port, was the future cruise person from the Ruby & she did not want the people that were cruising to wear the sticker, even though we were given one to wear. She said only the people that were not cruising were to wear the sticker. And I thought, well how would the dining room staff know we were there for the BVE & get offered the wine???, since we were not all together with the few other people that were doing the BVE also. So I wore my sticker anyway. And one nice thing that came out of it, was that we got offered a nice window table that day in the MDR, for just the 3 of us.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Ronnieslady

[cruiselvr1]

Absolutely do not do a BVE on a short cruise out of LA. We just did one on the Ruby out of LA, on Sept. 29, 2015. We were doing a b to b & the 1st leg was a 4 day coastal cruise & the next was 15 day Hawaii. We paid for the person that took us to the port & back for this BVE & we were totally embarrassed @ the limited items on the MDR menu. The fish dish , of the 2 main course choices, that was offered, was not good & my DH & friend took a few bites & that was it. One choice for appitizer & one for dessert . We ordered neither. They did not sound very good. We were offered a glass of wine, but turned it down. There was no salad offered. This is just a warning. It was a total waste of $. It was not a good example for people that have not cruised with Princess. I guess it would have been better to go to the buffet or the IC. But we usually love to go to the MDR on embarcation day for lunch. This was our 1st short cruise, so I think this was the problem, because on the next leg to Hawaii on embarcation day the MDR menu was not @ all the same & was way better.

 

There might have been some kind of misunderstanding about the sticker that we received @ the port that AM. Because the lady in charge of BVE people @ the port, was the future cruise person from the Ruby & she did not want the people that were cruising to wear the sticker, even though we were given one to wear. She said only the people that were not cruising were to wear the sticker. And I thought, well how would the dining room staff know we were there for the BVE & get offered the wine???, since we were not all together with the few other people that were doing the BVE also. So I wore my sticker anyway. And one nice thing that came out of it, was that we got offered a nice window table that day in the MDR, for just the 3 of us.

My DW and I did a BVE on the Golden earlier in the year, before she went on a 7 day cruise and loved it. Yes, MDR didn't have a full offering, but that didn't bother us. We did the Golden because we have never been on her before. The only problem was getting off, we didn't want to.

[JF - retired RRT]

The fish dish , of the 2 main course choices, that was offered, was not good & my DH & friend took a few bites & that was it. One choice for appitizer & one for dessert . We ordered neither. They did not sound very good.

We did a BVE in March on the Pacific when she was going to go to Tahiti (I think, one of the long ones anyway). And the lunch in the MDR as you just mentioned on that cruise.

The waiter told us this is now the embarkation day lunch menu:eek:

There has been at least one other thread where people were complaining about the skimpy menu on several other ships.

 

My personal opinion is that they are trying to "herd" us to the buffet whether we want to go there or not.

Plus, maybe it is a lot of work for the wait staff/kitchen staff for doing the full menu on embarkation day.:confused:

 

I hope they go back to the way it was, if this is indeed an actual change.

[Thrak]

There might have been some kind of misunderstanding about the sticker that we received @ the port that AM. Because the lady in charge of BVE people @ the port, was the future cruise person from the Ruby & she did not want the people that were cruising to wear the sticker, even though we were given one to wear. She said only the people that were not cruising were to wear the sticker. And I thought, well how would the dining room staff know we were there for the BVE & get offered the wine???, since we were not all together with the few other people that were doing the BVE also. So I wore my sticker anyway. And one nice thing that came out of it, was that we got offered a nice window table that day in the MDR, for just the 3 of us.

 

ONLY the people on the BVE - NOT the cruisers - are supposed to wear the sticker and get the wine. If you are signed up on the cruise and want wine you need to pay for it just like you do for the rest of the cruise. The "free" glass of wine is part of the BVE package and the people who are actually cruising aren't part of the BVE. They are just allowed to board early with their guests. You do get lunch because all cruisers get lunch.

[JF - retired RRT]

ONLY the people on the BVE - NOT the cruisers - are supposed to wear the sticker and get the wine. If you are signed up on the cruise and want wine you need to pay for it just like you do for the rest of the cruise. The "free" glass of wine is part of the BVE package and the people who are actually cruising aren't part of the BVE. They are just allowed to board early with their guests. You do get lunch because all cruisers get lunch.

I don't know Thrak...we were given BVE stickers when we were the passengers and our son was the BVEer (is that a word?). The Future Cruise lady didn't tell us not to wear the sticker.

Just sayin'

[Thrak]

I don't know Thrak...we were given BVE stickers when we were the passengers and our son was the BVEer (is that a word?). The Future Cruise lady didn't tell us not to wear the sticker.

Just sayin'

 

The sticker shows that you are with someone on a BVE and makes it easier for staff to know you get the early boarding. The wine is part of the $49 cost of the BVE. Unless you have paid for the BVE in addition to the cruise (which would be nuts!) you aren't entitled to the "free" glass of wine. You are simply a cruiser and, like all cruisers, you have to pay for wine.

[JF - retired RRT]

The sticker shows that you are with someone on a BVE and makes it easier for staff to know you get the early boarding. The wine is part of the $49 cost of the BVE. Unless you have paid for the BVE in addition to the cruise (which would be nuts!) you aren't entitled to the "free" glass of wine. You are simply a cruiser and, like all cruisers, you have to pay for wine.

A small correction: it is $39.

[Ronnieslady]

ONLY the people on the BVE - NOT the cruisers - are supposed to wear the sticker and get the wine. If you are signed up on the cruise and want wine you need to pay for it just like you do for the rest of the cruise. The "free" glass of wine is part of the BVE package and the people who are actually cruising aren't part of the BVE. They are just allowed to board early with their guests. You do get lunch because all cruisers get lunch.

 

Thanks Thrak, I did not know this. We did not want the wine anyway. I was just using it as an example. Then why were we given a sticker??? A mistake??

 

As to one of the other answers, I was on a 7 dayer not too long ago & the embarcation lunch menu was not the skimpy menu that was offered on the 4 dayer on the Ruby. So I guess 7 or 4 dayers do make a difference.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Ronnieslady

[caribill]

Thanks Thrak, I did not know this. We did not want the wine anyway. I was just using it as an example. Then why were we given a sticker??? A mistake??

 

 

Others have posted that the sticker is needed so you can board with your BVE friends. Otherwise those controlling the boarding order have no way to know you can board at that time.

[janetz]

When our daughter and her friend did the BVE, as my DH and I were sailing, none of us had stickers at check in. We were brought to the area for BVE passengers and realized we had not be given any. No one seemed to notice or care :)

[trbarton]

Others have posted that the sticker is needed so you can board with your BVE friends. Otherwise those controlling the boarding order have no way to know you can board at that time.

 

If you're bording with other BVE friends you are given a card that says "Friends of BVE" that you turn in when leaving the terminal to board the ship. That's what's happened to me in San Francisco every time I boarded with BVE friends.

 

Tom:)

[LaraTiara]

Thanks for the helpful explanations and sharing experiences. It's a cool option. [emoji572]️[emoji568]

[azdmelani]

I know this isnt an option on all ships, but on the Regal last weekend during our BVE we opted to eat at Alfredos instead (delicious) and then grabbed dessert at the buffet.