Question About Embarkation Day, Coolers and FTTF on Magic

I will be travelling with my family on the Magic out of Miami and we plan to carry a couple of 12 packs of Soda and Tea with us on board. I know that our cabin will not be available when we board unless we purchase FTTF but if we packed our 12 packs in a carry on suitcase could we leave that suitcase with a luggage tag outside our cabin when we board and then head up to the pool deck? I really don't want to lug two or three 12 packs of soda around the ship while we wait for our cabin to be ready. Has anyone ever left a bag outside their room prior to it being ready? Is this a big "No-No" in cruise etiquette? Also, I have read coolers need to be no bigger than 12x12x12 but is that just for hard side coolers? I have a 16x14x14 soft sided cooler that folds up and would be packed in my luggage. Is it acceptable to bring that along? One last question about FTTF.....Because of our carry on situation I am considering FTTF but am debating whether it is worth $70.00 All of our ports are at docks and not tenders and we are doing your time dining so it seems the only value is early boarding. How much earlier would you get on the ship with this? An hour, Two hours? This is our first Carnival Cruise since they started FTTF so I am not sure if it is worth it. Any advice or feedback would be appreciated! THANKS!

I will be travelling with my family on the Magic out of Miami and we plan to carry a couple of 12 packs of Soda and Tea with us on board. I know that our cabin will not be available when we board unless we purchase FTTF but if we packed our 12 packs in a carry on suitcase could we leave that suitcase with a luggage tag outside our cabin when we board and then head up to the pool deck? I really don't want to lug two or three 12 packs of soda around the ship while we wait for our cabin to be ready. Has anyone ever left a bag outside their room prior to it being ready? Is this a big "No-No" in cruise etiquette? Also, I have read coolers need to be no bigger than 12x12x12 but is that just for hard side coolers? I have a 16x14x14 soft sided cooler that folds up and would be packed in my luggage. Is it acceptable to bring that along? One last question about FTTF.....Because of our carry on situation I am considering FTTF but am debating whether it is worth $70.00 All of our ports are at docks and not tenders and we are doing your time dining so it seems the only value is early boarding. How much earlier would you get on the ship with this? An hour, Two hours? This is our first Carnival Cruise since they started FTTF so I am not sure if it is worth it. Any advice or feedback would be appreciated! THANKS!

Please don't leave your luggage outside your room. You really aren't even supposed to enter the hallways until the rooms are opened, unless you have priority. This would really get in the steward's way and slow everything down.

As far as the cooler is concerned, I can only tell you what Carnival's rule is ... 12x12x12 for all coolers. Can you take this one on? Probably. Should you?

FTTF is always worth it to us just for the priority access to our room. Here are the benefits, so that you can decide if it is worth the cost for you:

• Priority Security, Check-in and Boarding -- There is a priority line for security and check-in, bypassing the long cattle runs. You can check-in at any time and are not restricted to your arrival appointment time.
  
• First Access to Stateroom - Your room is ready when you board.
  
• Priority Luggage -- hit or miss here
  
• Priority Guest Services Line
  
• Priority Dining Reservations
  
• Tender Priority - as you said, doesn't apply to you.
  
• Priority Debarkation Choices
  

Good luck finding a 12"x12" cooler. The best I could do was a 12"x13" and was turned away with it. The next time I purchased a soft side cooler that attached to a small hand truck type rig. Packed the cooler part in the checked luggage and used the hand truck rig to carry the 12 packs of soda and the wine. No problems this way the last four cruises.

I echo everything Schoifmom said. Can you imagine if everyone went in and left their luggage outside of their doors, with cabins on both sides of the hallway? You need to stay out of the hallway until your room becomes available.

Personally for us, we always have FTTF until we become diamond. I love walking past 9837498237492837 people in line at the terminal to the front of the line. Then the lines are typically long at GS close to the end of the cruise, so I love having priority and not having a wait in the GS line. I also love having my room ready when I board because we to take 4 12pks of soda on with us, and I don't want to lug them around, nor my luggage until 1:30. I want to drop things off in our room then enjoy our cruise.

Good luck finding a 12"x12" cooler. The best I could do was a 12"x13" and was turned away with it. The next time I purchased a soft side cooler that attached to a small hand truck type rig. Packed the cooler part in the checked luggage and used the hand truck rig to carry the 12 packs of soda and the wine. No problems this way the last four cruises.

Good to know you were able to pack the soft side without any problem. Those 12x12 coolers are not easy to find. I have a bunch of decent coolers here at home and go figure, none of them are 12x12x12. I did see a cheap one at walmart today that was 12x12x12. (Said so on the tag) I am thinking of going back to get it and leaving the tag with dimensions right on it right on it! :D

If you have the $$$$$$$ go with FTTF....

if we packed our 12 packs in a carry on suitcase could we leave that suitcase with a luggage tag outside our cabin when we board and then head up to the pool deck?

One last question about FTTF.....Because of our carry on situation I am considering FTTF but am debating whether it is worth $70.00

We never buy FTTF. We use a rolling tote bag and if I were bringing drinks I'd bungee cord the box to the tote. When we board we go to the Lido Deck for a leisurely lunch and then find a place by a window or out on deck for an "umbrella drink". By the time we're done the cabin is ready - we drop the rolling tote bag there and head out to explore the ship until the suitcases arrive and we can unpack.:D

I will be travelling with my family on the Magic out of Miami and we plan to carry a couple of 12 packs of Soda and Tea with us on board. I know that our cabin will not be available when we board unless we purchase FTTF but if we packed our 12 packs in a carry on suitcase could we leave that suitcase with a luggage tag outside our cabin when we board and then head up to the pool deck? I really don't want to lug two or three 12 packs of soda around the ship while we wait for our cabin to be ready. Has anyone ever left a bag outside their room prior to it being ready? Is this a big "No-No" in cruise etiquette? Also, I have read coolers need to be no bigger than 12x12x12 but is that just for hard side coolers? I have a 16x14x14 soft sided cooler that folds up and would be packed in my luggage. Is it acceptable to bring that along? One last question about FTTF.....Because of our carry on situation I am considering FTTF but am debating whether it is worth $70.00 All of our ports are at docks and not tenders and we are doing your time dining so it seems the only value is early boarding. How much earlier would you get on the ship with this? An hour, Two hours? This is our first Carnival Cruise since they started FTTF so I am not sure if it is worth it. Any advice or feedback would be appreciated! THANKS!

I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Olympia-2-Piece-Rolling-Shopper-Cooler/dp/B074P3VWQR/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1516376965&sr=8-8&keywords=rolling%2Btote%2Bbag&th=1&psc=1

Since it's an insulated tote bag on wheels, you might get away with using it as a carry on bag (it's larger than a 12"x12"x12" cooler) to put a 12-pack in, and you could add in a couple of other carry on items that wouldn't be in your checked baggage. And, it's less than half the cost of FTTF, if the only reason you're considering FTTF is to be able to drop off your carry on bags.

So I definitely wont be trying to drop my bag outside my room. I was thinking it would not be a big deal since that is what Carnival does with your bags but that is much later in the day. Thanks for the tips on coolers and the easiest way to carry on drinks. FTTF (even though we may not use all its perks) is still pretty tempting. Vacation starts the minute we walk on the ship so maybe early boarding and being able to drop stuff right in our room would be worth it. Anyone who has done FTTF....How early were you able to board the ship?

I say yes to FTTF but get it right away as it sells out. I am platinum but my sister got it last cruise and it saved so much time. We got on the ship at 11am in thanksgiving day. About an hour before my other family who didn't have it. It was worth it to be able to go right to your room and drop your stuff off. Also guest service was crowded all day and night but we were able to skip the line. We didn't use it to debark even though that was really why we got it but that was our fault because we stayed in our cabin instead of going to wait in the lounge, we ended up leaving an hour later than the priority people and were stuck right in the crowds. As for your drinks, I have a small rolling cooler that I use but if not you can carry it in in a rolling suitcase or duffle as long as it fits through scanners. It's not too bad to carry around if you have it in a bag or rolling cooler. You could get a seat on lido and take turns watching it. This last time we dropped all of our bags off and took our family members carry on bags to our room until their room was ready. We ended up taking a small folding dolly and stacked several 12 packs on that. I also had two packs and my wine in my little cooler. We had 10 people total. Also we ordered cases of bottled water and each had coolers to split our drinks and snacks in each room. We Also bring on packaged snacks, Pringles, goldfish, cookies, chocolates, etc in our carry on bags.

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So I definitely wont be trying to drop my bag outside my room. I was thinking it would not be a big deal since that is what Carnival does with your bags but that is much later in the day. Thanks for the tips on coolers and the easiest way to carry on drinks. FTTF (even though we may not use all its perks) is still pretty tempting. Vacation starts the minute we walk on the ship so maybe early boarding and being able to drop stuff right in our room would be worth it. Anyone who has done FTTF....How early were you able to board the ship?

I believe the earliest we've ever been able to board the ship, with FTTF, was about 11:10 - 11:15 a.m. On the other hand, on one of our cruises, boarding didn't begin until about 11:50 a.m. It all depends on how long it takes for the ship to clear customs and for all debarking passengers to get off of the ship.

So I definitely wont be trying to drop my bag outside my room. I was thinking it would not be a big deal since that is what Carnival does with your bags but that is much later in the day. Thanks for the tips on coolers and the easiest way to carry on drinks. FTTF (even though we may not use all its perks) is still pretty tempting. Vacation starts the minute we walk on the ship so maybe early boarding and being able to drop stuff right in our room would be worth it. Anyone who has done FTTF....How early were you able to board the ship?

We got FTTF on our last Carnival cruise (2013) and I personally found it to be worth its weight in gold. At the time, our daughter was 2 1/2, so it REALLY came in handy to not have to lug our carry on around, plus a stroller. We got to the port at 10:30 ish (pulled in to park at the garage) and I think we were on the ship by 10:50. My timing may be off, but I for sure remember that we never waited at all. We also bought it on our upcoming cruise and I plan to be at the port at 10:30 again.

I enjoy cruising just as much as the other..... But I can't sail the ship earlier than the time for it to leave. FTTF is for some if you can't wait or just have that many things to carry on..... As a few said PLAN AHEAD.....

I looked last night and apparently first to the fun is already sold out. (I am still 10 months away from sailing). I have seen others say it has become available last minute so I guess I have plenty of time to decide whether it is worth it for us.

Thank You Everyone for all the helpful tips and advice!!

I looked last night and apparently first to the fun is already sold out. (I am still 10 months away from sailing). I have seen others say it has become available last minute so I guess I have plenty of time to decide whether it is worth it for us.

Thank You Everyone for all the helpful tips and advice!!

Our family will be on the Magic in March. I booked 5 cabins in July and started watching for FTTF as soon as I booked. I checked at least once a day (but usually 3-4 times daily). I was able to get it for the first cabin around Thanksgiving. By Christmas I had been able to get it for the remaining 4 cabins (not all at the same time). I haven't checked for availability since then but the last 2 cruises were booked 2 & 4 months out and I was able to get FTTF both of those by diligently (ok obsessively) checking twice a day. My best luck has been late at night and very early in the morning but I also found one in the middle of the afternoon. For me, it is worth the money. My husband would have been happy to arrive later and save the money,

Sure it's worth it. Carnival gets $70.00 and gives you free stuff that cost them nothing. But the poster said, they did not want to lug around soda. So if they are buying soda, they obviously want to save money. So why would you save money so that you don't need to lug your soda around and than turnaround and give it to Carnival? Kind of makes no sense to me. Now on the other hand, the simple solution is don't board at 11:00, but do it at 1:00 and you get a free solution. No FTTF to add to Carnivals profit at 100%, and you won't need to carry your stuff around.

There are other perks. I try to get it every time, To me it is well worth it.