FTTF - confessions of a skeptic

[mbalmr71]

Just off the Conquest after a fantastic spring break cruise, full review later. However, I did want to talk a bit about the first round of FTTF on this ship.

 

I have always been more than skeptical of the value of purchasing FTTF as I have typically arrived to embark after all the rooms were ready and the crowds moved through (1:30pm usually). I was checking other excursions about a week out and I saw that more FTTF had been added and there were only 2 left so I caved and decided to give it a try. Bear in mind that this was the first week they offered the program in New Orleans so they may or may not still have some getting used to.

 

Embarkation: Easiest port ever. Arrived at 11:15 Dropped bags with the porter, parked, went inside through 2 quick secrity checks and were shown to the VIP lounge. No one else waiting and were checked in in 10 minutes. Sent to board at about 11:40 and they were on zone 11 already. There was some minor confusion at the boarding line as they initially handed us a zone 12 card but a little sifting throught the line and a show of our boarding pass got us moving to the gangway. The first of the picture snipers and the stop and get your security picture created a medium sized back up and resulted in the longest wait of the cruise but we were on and headed up the staits about 15 minutes later and in our room just before noon.

 

Room Ready early: Our room was ready when we got there just before noon as promised. However, we experienced no closed doors or blocked passageways or signs directing VIPs to go ahead. In fact it appeared that all of the rooms were ready and we never heard an announcement later that they were ready and did not see anyone lugging carry on's on the lido. No complaints here at all but it will be interesting to see if people on future sailings get delayed getting to their rooms. Up to lido for a guys burger.

 

Luggage Delivery: After the first of many guy's burgers, all the luggage had arrived. Not sure when but it was there when we were at 12:45 or so. We had early seating dinner and did not see any bags in the hall or being moved around when we went at 6pm.

 

Guest services: Used it about 5 times and never a wait.

 

Priority Tender: We were late getting to Grand Cayman due to weather and alternate anchorage. We did not have an excursion and decided to wait a bit still to head down. We went down about an hour after the tenders started moving and the lobby was still a mess of people. Went to the guest services desk and was escorted down and sitting on the tender within 10 minutes of leaving our cabin. This alone made it worth the fee twice over.

 

Priority Disembark: Had kids and a ton of luggage so we opted for Zone 1. Got to relax in the dining room while waiting. There seemed to be a ton of self assist people. They started calling self assist about 7am and they were still piling off when they came to get us from the dining room at 8:30am. They did not wait untill the self assist was finished. It appeared that they just waited until the luggage was cleared then they shut down a self assist line and escorted us off.

 

 

I have always been a go with the flow person and waiting never really bothers me so I did not see much value in FTTF. Now that I have done it, I would say it was more than worth it. If you have a tender port it is worth 3x what you pay for it for sure. All of the other priority services were nice and a convenience for sure but skipping the wait for the tender was a life saver.

 

If you have a chance to get it I would recommend it.

[okgirl]

I'm Platinum so I don't need to purchase FTTF for my Conquest cruise in 20 days, but I am happy to have my cabin available as soon as we board.

 

I am interested to see just how the VIP lounge is handled. NOLA has one of the smallest lounges anywhere and if there are very many Platinum/Diamond guests I would be upset to have the few agents in that area also checking in FTTF.

 

I typically get to the pier around 10:30, and there are usually already 15 or 20 VIPs being checked in. I was pleased last fall that they were at least taking our name at the podium outside the lounge then calling us to checkin in the order that we arrived at the pier.

[J and J]

Just off the Conquest after a fantastic spring break cruise, full review later. However, I did want to talk a bit about the first round of FTTF on this ship.

 

I have always been more than skeptical of the value of purchasing FTTF as I have typically arrived to embark after all the rooms were ready and the crowds moved through (1:30pm usually). I was checking other excursions about a week out and I saw that more FTTF had been added and there were only 2 left so I caved and decided to give it a try. Bear in mind that this was the first week they offered the program in New Orleans so they may or may not still have some getting used to.

 

Embarkation: Easiest port ever. Arrived at 11:15 Dropped bags with the porter, parked, went inside through 2 quick secrity checks and were shown to the VIP lounge. No one else waiting and were checked in in 10 minutes. Sent to board at about 11:40 and they were on zone 11 already. There was some minor confusion at the boarding line as they initially handed us a zone 12 card but a little sifting throught the line and a show of our boarding pass got us moving to the gangway. The first of the picture snipers and the stop and get your security picture created a medium sized back up and resulted in the longest wait of the cruise but we were on and headed up the staits about 15 minutes later and in our room just before noon.

 

Room Ready early: Our room was ready when we got there just before noon as promised. However, we experienced no closed doors or blocked passageways or signs directing VIPs to go ahead. In fact it appeared that all of the rooms were ready and we never heard an announcement later that they were ready and did not see anyone lugging carry on's on the lido. No complaints here at all but it will be interesting to see if people on future sailings get delayed getting to their rooms. Up to lido for a guys burger.

 

Luggage Delivery: After the first of many guy's burgers, all the luggage had arrived. Not sure when but it was there when we were at 12:45 or so. We had early seating dinner and did not see any bags in the hall or being moved around when we went at 6pm.

 

Guest services: Used it about 5 times and never a wait.

 

Priority Tender: We were late getting to Grand Cayman due to weather and alternate anchorage. We did not have an excursion and decided to wait a bit still to head down. We went down about an hour after the tenders started moving and the lobby was still a mess of people. Went to the guest services desk and was escorted down and sitting on the tender within 10 minutes of leaving our cabin. This alone made it worth the fee twice over.

 

Priority Disembark: Had kids and a ton of luggage so we opted for Zone 1. Got to relax in the dining room while waiting. There seemed to be a ton of self assist people. They started calling self assist about 7am and they were still piling off when they came to get us from the dining room at 8:30am. They did not wait untill the self assist was finished. It appeared that they just waited until the luggage was cleared then they shut down a self assist line and escorted us off.

 

 

I have always been a go with the flow person and waiting never really bothers me so I did not see much value in FTTF. Now that I have done it, I would say it was more than worth it. If you have a tender port it is worth 3x what you pay for it for sure. All of the other priority services were nice and a convenience for sure but skipping the wait for the tender was a life saver.

 

If you have a chance to get it I would recommend it.

 

Thank you for your FTTF response for the Conquest....sounds pretty smooth considering it was the first round. Looking forward to it!

[jjdshoe]

We have FTTF coming up on our Conquest cruise, how soon do you think we could get to port and board ship?

[mbalmr71]

It was my first sailing from NOLA. I must say that both the crew of the Conquest and the folks at the port really do have their act togeather. At 11:30 there was not a sizeable line anywhere in the terminal until the gangway. The lounge there is small and they only had 2 people doing the VIP check in and one at the podium but we did not see anyone else waiting. I was amazed that they were on zone 12 already.

 

With the small size of the lounge and the fact that they not only use it for FTTF, Platinum and up but for all the suite passengers I could see where it might get crowded. For me it made little difference in getting on the ship but getting on a tender is a whole different ballgame.

[larkz]

Excellent post! Thank you so much, this answered all my questions.