Princess Cruises will revive an old tradition with a new program allowing passengers' friends and family to board their ship on embarkation day.
Set to debut in March, the Bon Voyage Experience will enable passengers to bring guests onboard during embarkation for a four-course lunch with wine, a ship tour and a souvenir photo. The $39 per-guest cost can be applied towards a future Princess cruise.
Princess said the program is a throwback to an old tradition, when friends and family would routinely board ships to say goodbye to passengers. The tradition died out two decades ago due to increasingly tighter security procedures, Princess said.
Passengers wishing to bring guests onboard can arrange it up to six days prior to the cruise. There will be no more than 50 guests allowed onboard on any embarkation day and all guests must supply the required security information and identification.
The program will debut in March in the ports of Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale, and then roll out to New York, San Francisco and Seattle.