Bon Voyage Experience (BVE) for 2014

[Smokeyham]

Does anyone know if you can apply the $39 fee for a BVE to a future cruise, if you have already booked the cruise?

[Thrak]

I'm going to be signing up for a BVE and have friends who will actually be doing the cruise. I've done a couple of BVEs before, and so am familiar with the procedure BUT this is the first time I will be hooking up with friends who are actually doing the cruise.

 

When I make my BVE reservation can I just tell Princess staff my friends' names, and ask that they link up our reservations so that my friends can board when I do (i.e. early) for the BVE, or is there some other procedure I need to know about?

 

Excited to be getting a cruise ship fix!!

 

I booked a BVE for my son and the linked it to my cruise so we all board early. It shouldn't be a problem. Just call Princess and speak with them.

[Thrak]

Does anyone know if you can apply the $39 fee for a BVE to a future cruise, if you have already booked the cruise?

 

Pretty sure that isn't allowed. It has to be a new cruise that you book after the BVE.

[Smokeyham]

I booked a BVE for my son and the linked it to my cruise so we all board early. It shouldn't be a problem. Just call Princess and speak with them.

 

Pretty sure that isn't allowed. It has to be a new cruise that you book after the BVE.

 

 

Thrak,

 

Thanks for both of the responses. I was suspecting that the $39 could only be applied to a cruise which is booked in the future. Of course, I will ask and let everyone know if I hear anything different.

[cibaygirls]

Thrak,

 

Thanks for both of the responses. I was suspecting that the $39 could only be applied to a cruise which is booked in the future. Of course, I will ask and let everyone know if I hear anything different.

 

I had a cruise that I had recently booked before doing a BVE and my travel agent was able to have the $39 credit towards the existing reservation. It doesn't hurt to try.

 

Dana

[Smokeyham]

I had a cruise that I had recently booked before doing a BVE and my travel agent was able to have the $39 credit towards the existing reservation. It doesn't hurt to try.

 

Dana

 

Ahhhh.... Good news that! I will certainly ask the question.

[Smokeyham]

I just got off a BVE on the Grand Princess, and wrote up a review of the experience. If you are interested, please feel free to check it out at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2033951

[JJ2sail]

Does anyone know if you can apply the $39 fee for a BVE to a future cruise, if you have already booked the cruise?

 

I had a cruise that I had recently booked before doing a BVE and my travel agent was able to have the $39 credit towards the existing reservation. It doesn't hurt to try.

 

Dana

 

I just tried to do this, and first they said yes, and to call back in a couple days, then they said no! And I am a the TA. :mad:

[AE_Collector]

Need to clarify if BVE was booked but not yet done, then cruise booked using scheduled BVE to obtain $39 credit and finally BVE completed. I could see this being allowed since BVE is paid for already (presumably) but have heard that booking a BVE after booking a cruise will NOT work.

 

Terry

[likeadisguise]

The credit for the BVE isn't applied to your Captain's Circle account until after you have completed the BVE.

[MarKay525]

Hi - this is great information about the BVE and I hope I didn't miss the answers to these questions in my reading of the thread.

 

DH & I are sailing the Regal in November and would like to invite two friends to the BVE. How can we pay for them? Do we register them and fill out all the information, or would they have to do that.

 

How far in advance can reservations be made or does it depend on the ship capacity?

 

Thanks and apologies if this has already been asked and answered. Kay

[Thrak]

Hi - this is great information about the BVE and I hope I didn't miss the answers to these questions in my reading of the thread.

 

DH & I are sailing the Regal in November and would like to invite two friends to the BVE. How can we pay for them? Do we register them and fill out all the information, or would they have to do that.

 

How far in advance can reservations be made or does it depend on the ship capacity?

 

Thanks and apologies if this has already been asked and answered. Kay

 

They will need to create a Princess account. It's easiest if they do it themselves as you will need their birth dates, passport info, etc. If they don't have passports they can use a valid drivers license when they board but won't be able to fully complete the booking and therefore can't print out a boarding pass in advance. They will get a boarding pass when they arrive and present their drivers license as ID.

 

This "can" be done via a travel agent but they don't make squat on it and it's easy to just do it yourself. We're treating our son to a BVE next week as he's driving us to SF and dropping us off for out cruise. I simply called Princess and made the booking for him and then logged on and created his account (after asking him if he wanted me to do it or wanted to do it himself). He doesn't have a passport but, when I called Princess back about being unable to fully complete the account info, they said it's not an issue and he can just present his DL at arrival and they will issue the boarding pass at that time.

 

As a bonus, we get to board early with him. :) (Be sure you ask Princess to link your booking to the BVE people so you can board with them.)

[MarKay525]

Thank you Thrak - this is so helpful.:)

[bachcruise]

I did a Bon Voyage on the Crown this past weekend and it was great. We only had a couple hours onboard because boarding was delayed until 1 but our lunch was fantastic. Ship is very pretty but felt crowded. A couple things surprised me.. the lack of hand sanitizers in public areas and dirty plates everywhere. The vibe was different compared to other Princess ships I've been on but I definitely enjoyed the experience.

 

 

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[sfo2008]

How far in advance can reservations be made or does it depend on the ship capacity?

 

I've repeatedly recently been told 120 days when trying of late.

[GrammyGrampy]

We are sailing with another couple and want to invite a friend & wife for BVE. Can all 6 of us be linked for BVE boarding or would each couple invite one of the friends?

 

 

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[Smokeyham]

We are sailing with another couple and want to invite a friend & wife for BVE. Can all 6 of us be linked for BVE boarding or would each couple invite one of the friends?

 

Yes.... all six of you should be able to be linked for the BVE. I did this the other week, where I booked the BVE for myself and then had the reservations for five friends (two families) who were actually sailing linked to my BVE, so they could all go on early.

 

Reminder for anyone who is helping people set up a BVE for friends who have not sailed on Princess before..... BEFORE they set up their Princess/Captain's Circle account you should "refer" them on the Princess website. That way they (and you) will each get an on board credit for $25 when they book a cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

We are sailing with another couple and want to invite a friend & wife for BVE. Can all 6 of us be linked for BVE boarding or would each couple invite one of the friends?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Make sure its available for your sailing.

[MarKay525]

I've repeatedly recently been told 120 days when trying of late.

 

.... Reminder for anyone who is helping people set up a BVE for friends who have not sailed on Princess before..... BEFORE they set up their Princess/Captain's Circle account you should "refer" them on the Princess website. That way they (and you) will each get an on board credit for $25 when they book a cruise......

 

Thank you sfo2008 and Smokeyham - I'm adding all these great tidbits of information to my "Cruising Notes."

 

Now if Princess would just start sailing out of Boston so DH & I could do BVEs without leaving home.:D

[Smokeyham]

I did a Bon Voyage on the Crown this past weekend and it was great. We only had a couple hours onboard because boarding was delayed until 1 but our lunch was fantastic. Ship is very pretty but felt crowded. A couple things surprised me.. the lack of hand sanitizers in public areas and dirty plates everywhere. The vibe was different compared to other Princess ships I've been on but I definitely enjoyed the experience.

 

Was the Grand moored beside you in SF? If so, I was on a BVE on the same day as you were! Small world! :)

[Smokeyham]

Does anyone know if you can apply the $39 fee for a BVE to a future cruise, if you have already booked the cruise?

 

Pretty sure that isn't allowed. It has to be a new cruise that you book after the BVE.

 

I looked at my Circle Savings Account and saw my recently completed BVE credit, but it was not applied to the cruise I had booked prior to doe the BVE. I called Princess and spoke with a helpful staff member who had to do some checking. She said she had never been asked the question before as to whether a BVE credit could be applied to an existing booking.

 

Final decision was that the BVE cannot be applied to a cruise which you had booked before you did the BVE.

 

The staff member explained that the credit only becomes active after the date on which you do the BVE, and cannot be applied to a booking made prior to that date.

 

Worth a try....

[tedbearz]

Do any of the other lines have similar programs?

[janetz]

Do any of the other lines have similar programs?

 

No :)

[Jadn13]

As anyone heard about 2015 dates?

[Heartfelttraveler]

Does anyone know if you can do a BVE in Vancouver? I am guessing NO because of customs, but is would be great if you could.