BVE (Bon Voyage Experience) - Calendar for 2020?

[Smokeyham]

Does anyone know if a calendar of the dates when the Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) will be offered in 2020 has been published?

Princess does not provide this to the public, but in past years members of the travel industry have sometimes published this, and then it has been shared around.  

If anyone has this, could you post it here, or provide a link to a website?

 

Many thanks.

[jennybenny]

I had heard it was discontinued.  I would love to be wrong!

[Smokeyham]

In case you are not familiar with the BVE  program, here is a short write up I did from one that I attended in 2018:
 

Just thought I would post a recap of our Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) today in San Francisco aboard the Grand Princess.

 

For those who are not familiar with it, the Bon Voyage Experience is a program where people not going on the cruise can go on board the ship for about four hours. The cost is $39 which includes lunch, a glass of wine, an optional tour of the ship, and a souvenir photo.

 

We parked nearby (pier 19.5) for $22 (booked online in advance).

 

We were able to board ahead of regular passengers. We arrived at the cruise terminal at about 10:30 am and boarded about 20 minutes later. My friends wanted to see some of the cabins, but the accommodations decks had the fire doors closed - but we were able to peek in to see some cabins on deck 15.

 

Lunch in the Da Vinci Dining Room was very nice. I've sailed on that class of ship before and so was able to provide a tour of the ship to my friends.

 

Photos are now picked up from the Purser's desk (Passenger Services desk).

 

HINTS.....

When you call Princess to make the booking try to get put through to the BVE desk as quickly as possible. The original call taker may well not be familiar with the program and will try to sign you up for a regular cruise.

 

Your BVE cost can be applied to a future cruise if you book within 90 days of doing the BVE. Note - for this to be true you have to book your cruise after you complete your BVE.

 

You can buy a Future Cruise Credit while on board. This can be used as a deposit for booking a future cruise, and you get some on board credit for doing so (the amount depends on the type of cabin you book).

 

When you get your eBoarding pass it will likely say that you board at 1:00 pm.... Ignore that! You have to leave ship around 3:00 pm, and you can arrive around 10:30 am.

 

If you are going on a cruise and a BVE is offered for your cruise, then try to get a friend, who is not going on the cruise, to sign up for the BVE.  Link your reservation to their BVE and you can go on early with them, and they can also bring a bottle of wine on board (to leave with you!).  

 

The program is a great way to see the ship, and to introduce friends to the possibilities of cruising.

 

Post back here if you have any questions.

[Smokeyham]

Just now, jennybenny said:

I had heard it was discontinued.  I would love to be wrong!

I saw an old thread about it being discontinued, but they had reinstated it, at least it was still going as of last year.

[jennybenny]

1 minute ago, Smokeyham said:

I saw an old thread about it being discontinued, but they had reinstated it, at least it was still going as of last year.

I had heard that it discontinued 2019, June or July, maybe?

[Smokeyham]

13 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

I had heard that it discontinued 2019, June or July, maybe?

That is too bad!  I have been away from the world of cruising for a bit and so had not heard that.  After I read your post  I searched again and found this from May, 2019.  😞  
End of Bon Voyage Experience

 

Hopefully Princess does bring that back soon.   

 

If they do bring it back then I hope they create a webpage dedicated just to the program, and make it easier for people to register for it.  I had friends that wanted to do it, but became frustrated with the hoops they had to jump through to get registered.

[jennybenny]

I hope they do bring it back 

[Cruise Raider]

As of earlier this month, it has definitely been discontinued in all ports.  They did mention they were thinking of possibly bringing it back in the future, but I don't really see that happening.  Too bad .... it was a great way of saying thank you for our driver for our ride to the pier over in San Francisco.  I had really wanted to stay onboard after my last cruise out of SF as it was fleet week and there was an airshow planned for noon.  Watching from the top deck would have been the best seats in the house ... definitely worth the price of admission (BVE).  Alas, the BVE was canceled months before this sailing ... 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

We had 3 BVEs in our "cruise history" and Princess has removed them. The only thing in our history now are actual cruises taken or booked.

[Smokeyham]

55 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

As of earlier this month, it has definitely been discontinued in all ports.  They did mention they were thinking of possibly bringing it back in the future, but I don't really see that happening.  Too bad .... it was a great way of saying thank you for our driver for our ride to the pier over in San Francisco.  I had really wanted to stay onboard after my last cruise out of SF as it was fleet week and there was an airshow planned for noon.  Watching from the top deck would have been the best seats in the house ... definitely worth the price of admission (BVE).  Alas, the BVE was canceled months before this sailing ... 

 

We were able to be on board for a BVE when they were holding the America's Cup sailing races.  With the stern facing out to San Francisco Bay it was the best seats in the house!  We had a great time on board.  Really sad that they have done away with this program.  I introduced several friends to cruising through this, including one couple that has now booked an Alaska cruise.

[jennybenny]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

We had 3 BVEs in our "cruise history" and Princess has removed them. The only thing in our history now are actual cruises taken or booked.

That's interesting.  We never had ours in our cruise history! Weird. Really hope they bring them back. The BVE, not the history 🙂

Edited October 24, 2019 by jennybenny

[pris993]

may we should start requesting they bring back in our critiques.  Would not hurt, my son grandson -- started their cruising life as a result of BVE... prior to that they were not interested..   So good marketing tool. 

[Smokeyham]

I agree; mentioning the BVE program whenever possible in feedback to Princess would be worthwhile.

[Roatanfans]

We have some friends we are trying to introduce to cruising and I thought a BVE would be a great way to show them around.  I too had heard that the program had been cancelled so I called to confirm it a few weeks ago.  Yes, I was told that it was cancelled but was also told that if enough people wrote letters and requested it that they might reinstate it.

[Smokeyham]

41 minutes ago, Roatanfans said:

We have some friends we are trying to introduce to cruising and I thought a BVE would be a great way to show them around.  I too had heard that the program had been cancelled so I called to confirm it a few weeks ago.  Yes, I was told that it was cancelled but was also told that if enough people wrote letters and requested it that they might reinstate it.

Here is the link to the page where we can file a comment with Princess.   I did not find a specific email address, only this online form.  https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/customerCare.page.  To use this you will need to input a booking number.  I just used one from a prior cruise.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Smokeyham

[jeeper2]

I just discovered that the Bon Voyage Experience was cancelled shortly after we took friends on one last year.  It was a wonderful opportunity to introduce friends to cruising, visit a ship new to us, and add to our Future Cruise Deposit bank. We were looking forward to bringing some more folks on board when we depart in May.  To say I am disappointed is an understatement! 

[Smokeyham]

9 minutes ago, jeeper2 said:

I just discovered that the Bon Voyage Experience was cancelled shortly after we took friends on one last year.  It was a wonderful opportunity to introduce friends to cruising, visit a ship new to us, and add to our Future Cruise Deposit bank. We were looking forward to bringing some more folks on board when we depart in May.  To say I am disappointed is an understatement! 

Please contact Princess through their online forum or other methods to express your support for the BVE experience!  I was just talking with a friend today who has never been on a cruise, and this would have been a great way to provide an introduction to the wonderful world of cruising.

I did submit an online comment and received a generic "we saw your comment" response, but I hope that if enough of us submit comments then they will have an impact.

Here is the link to the page where we can file a comment with Princess.   I did not find a specific email address, only this online form.  https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/customerCare.page.  To use this you will need to input a booking number.  I just used one from a prior cruise.

[Thrak]

Send your concerns to customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

 

 

[Smokeyham]

9 hours ago, Thrak said:

Send your concerns to customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting that email address!   I agree, we need to provide lots of feedback that we want to see the BVE return.

[Steelers36]

I'm not sure how anyone had a BVE last year because I thought they were discontinued in 2018.

[Thrak]

We did a BVE twice. The first time was because we "cleverly" ran out of FCD and wanted to purchase more. The second time was as a thank you to our son for driving us to the port in SF. We took him aboard to show him the ship, have lunch, etc. It was nice.

[jeeper2]

On 1/31/2020 at 9:25 PM, Smokeyham said:

Please contact Princess through their online forum or other methods to express your support for the BVE experience!  I was just talking with a friend today who has never been on a cruise, and this would have been a great way to provide an introduction to the wonderful world of cruising.

I did submit an online comment and received a generic "we saw your comment" response, but I hope that if enough of us submit comments then they will have an impact.

Here is the link to the page where we can file a comment with Princess.   I did not find a specific email address, only this online form.  https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/customerCare.page.  To use this you will need to input a booking number.  I just used one from a prior cruise.

Thank you! I will do that!  Lois😊
 

[jeeper2]

On 1/31/2020 at 11:27 PM, Thrak said:

Send your concerns to customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Thrak!  I’ll go that route, too! Lois

[jeeper2]

On 2/1/2020 at 9:56 AM, Steelers36 said:

I'm not sure how anyone had a BVE last year because I thought they were discontinued in 2018.

I read somewhere...not sure if it was on Cruise Critic...that is was being discontinued December 2019. 

[Coral]

From these boards - it sounds like it wasn't heavily used for the purpose of bringing new cruisers to Princess.