With FTTF will you really board the ship faster?

[seamusdad]

I have cruised Carnival since 2004 about to take my 13th cruise with them in October. I am a gold and have purchased fttf since it became available. I have done 4, 5 and 7 day cruises with fttf. All in Galveston. My experience I always arrive at port by 10:30 breeze through the not long lines. I immediately go to my room and drop off my carry on because I paid for it ( now for why I am commenting ) if you do not board after1:30 and you go to your cabin, you are in essence stealing. Why do I say this? You didn't pay for that service, you're not platinum or diamond so you haven't earned it. It gets a little tiresome to hear people say " well I checked and the room steward didn't say anything so I just dropped off my bags" Really? A person who depends on your tips and good reviews is going to tell you how much of a selfish weenie you're being? RANT OVER

Now to answer your question. Yes it is worth it to me to get on and go to my cabin to get my luggage before muster. To skip the line at tender ports and to have a shorter line at guest service. Heck is worth 50 bucks even on a 4 day trip to Cozumel.

[berrieh]

Withthe exception of priority tender,I did the exact same without fttf. just saying.

 

Sometimes you can have great, swift embarkation/luggage/room experiences without FTTF, but you are guaranteed one with FTTF. Besides cutting in front at the customer service line and tender ports, the other things are all things you might experience without FTTF (or platinum, etc which get these perks too), sure. BUT the peace of mind of the guaranteed "fast" everything is part of what you're paying for with FTTF. It's not a maybe; you don't have to "think" about the best times/ways to do it.

[PortSideCruzan]

 

Hi Mcatmcat :)

 

My wife & I have had quite a few positive experiences on sailings with the FTTF program. One thing is for certain, FTTF has far more benefits than merely boarding faster. (Priority boarding)

 

We enjoyed the (priority security/check-in) benefit, along with the (priority boarding) benefit.

 

The (access to your stateroom) after you board benefit & the (expedited luggage delivery) benefit was extremely terrific!! Receiving our luggage ('HOURS BEFORE') the muster drill is a tremendous benefit!!

 

Was nice to have our luggage delivered to our stateroom approximately between 11:30am to 12:30pm, rather than 2pm, 3pm, 4pm or sometimes even later, or in the evening, that would often occur to us without FTTF.

 

(Expedited luggage delivery) in regards to my wife & I is a huge, huge, huge, helpful benefit.

 

The (dedicated 4-digit phone line) benefit to guest services is a nice touch too! Often eliminating the (FTTF priority line) benefit at guest services, unless of course we need to do a transaction in person.

 

The (priority tender) benefit is wonderful. We simply go to guest services & are escorted to the front of the line & placed onto the next awaiting tender.

 

We haven't used the (priority dining reservations) benefit yet, because we typically use your time dining.

 

The (early 'OR' late debarkation choices) benefit has been very helpful. We either visit guest services or use the dedicated 4-digit phone line the day prior to disembarking and request new luggage tags with a zone number (of our choice).

 

-For example:

During our last voyage we had a 4 hour airport wait time, we requested luggage tags with a high zone number, so that our luggage was not sitting in a luggage pick up area for a long period of time unattended, and we also could be in one of the very last groups of passengers to disembark the ship. It was nice to spend much of the wait time on the ship rather than in the airport.

 

Of course FTTF being beneficial to somone & their sailing is very individual.

 

However, as I said above, FTTF has far more benefits than merely boarding the ship faster with the priority boarding benefit.

 

All in all, so far, in regards to my wife and I, FTTF has been money well spent and very beneficial.

 

FTTF info located @:

https://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/FastertotheFunPackage.htm

 

Have a wonderful day!

 

 

 

 

:)

 

[ObstructedView2]

 

PortSideCruzan,

 

Wow! That was a thorough helpful reply!

I had no idea that with fttf that there was a late debarkation choice. I always thought it was just early debarkation with fttf. Thank you for that information! We like to debark leisurely, along with the last couple hundred passengers onboard the ship. Excellent advice concerning luggage tags. I would not want our luggage left alone for too many hours either.

 

Hi Mcatmcat :)

 

My wife & I have had quite a few positive experiences on sailings with the FTTF program. One thing is for certain, FTTF has far more benefits than merely boarding faster. (Priority boarding)

 

We enjoyed the (priority security/check-in) benefit, along with the (priority boarding) benefit.

 

The (access to your stateroom) after you board benefit & the (expedited luggage delivery) benefit was extremely terrific!! Receiving our luggage ('HOURS BEFORE') the muster drill is a tremendous benefit!!

 

Was nice to have our luggage delivered to our stateroom approximately between 11:30am to 12:30pm, rather than 2pm, 3pm, 4pm or sometimes even later, or in the evening, that would often occur to us without FTTF.

 

(Expedited luggage delivery) in regards to my wife & I is a huge, huge, huge, helpful benefit.

 

The (dedicated 4-digit phone line) benefit to guest services is a nice touch too! Often eliminating the (FTTF priority line) benefit at guest services, unless of course we need to do a transaction in person.

 

The (priority tender) benefit is wonderful. We simply go to guest services & are escorted to the front of the line & placed onto the next awaiting tender.

 

We haven't used the (priority dining reservations) benefit yet, because we typically use your time dining.

 

The (early 'OR' late debarkation choices) benefit has been very helpful. We either visit guest services or use the dedicated 4-digit phone line the day prior to disembarking and request new luggage tags with a zone number (of our choice).

 

-For example:

During our last voyage we had a 4 hour airport wait time, we requested luggage tags with a high zone number, so that our luggage was not sitting in a luggage pick up area for a long period of time unattended, and we also could be in one of the very last groups of passengers to disembark the ship. It was nice to spend much of the wait time on the ship rather than in the airport.

 

Of course FTTF being beneficial to somone & their sailing is very individual.

 

However, as I said above, FTTF has far more benefits than merely boarding the ship faster with the priority boarding benefit.

 

All in all, so far, in regards to my wife and I, FTTF has been money well spent and very beneficial.

 

FTTF info located @:

https://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/FastertotheFunPackage.htm

 

Have a wonderful day!

 

 

 

 

:)

 

Edited October 1, 2015 by ObstructedView2

[sprite.4]

We've purchased FTTF twice. Once was in Baltimore, which was driving distance for us. We got there early, so no lines. We had a cabana at HMC, so we already had priority tender. If you don't have a cabana, you definitely want to have FTTF because HMC is so awesome you want every possible minute there. We used Guest Services only once. Debarking with FTTF was awesome. Whenever we were ready (no special time), we went to the designated area and were instantly escorted to the front of the line and right off the ship.

 

When we flew to Ft. Lauderdale, we were escorted right through the lines at the port. The special line at Guest Services was truly fantastic on the last night of the cruise when we needed to have airline check in and boarding passes printed and were able to bypass at least 25 people waiting in line. We had a late flight, so were in no hurry to get off the ship, and just stayed as long as possible to kill time.

 

In both instances, being able to drop your luggage in your room right away was a huge plus for us.

[Schoifmom]

Withthe exception of priority tender,I did the exact same without fttf. just saying.

 

So you got into your room before they were announced as "ready" at 1:30 or so? hmmm

[mousey]

I thought about getting FTTF for our upcoming Christmas cruise but decided against it as it would have cost us $120 extra (we have two cabins). As seasoned cruisers we are in no hurry to get on the ship and don't mind carrying our personal stuff around with us. I don't care what time our checked luggage gets to our room as long as it all eventually shows up before embarkation day is over. On this particular trip we will be going on a Carnival excursion in the one tender port and in the other port there is no tendering so it's not a problem. We won't be in any hurry to get off the ship on debarkation day and I doubt we'll have any need for guest services as we've rarely used it before on our many cruises.

 

Maybe if we were to go on a cruise that had more than one tender port and we weren't going on a ship sponsored excursion, we might consider buying it. But at this time...we just can't justify spending money to be the first to anything! LOL!

[katiel53]

On our cruise on Dream in July, my son and his wife had FTTF. My granddaughter and I were in the cabin next to them. They dropped me and GD off with all the luggage and returned the rental car. I had priority boarding for me and GD because of being Platinum, so we were on the ship very quickly as they were about ready for Platinums to board when we got on the ship.

 

My son and daughter-in-law returned about 30 minutes later and there was a huge line for boarding, but showing their FTTF boarding pass, they were sent right to the front of the line and onto the ship.

 

We all met at the cabins so they could check out their cabin and drop off the carryons they had. Both cabins were ready so we went from the cabins to lunch.

 

They had a private tour arranged for Belize and I wasn't going on it. FTTF was very useful for them as they were able to board the first tender. It was also easy for them to use the special line at Guest Services when they were charged for something that wasn't their charge.

 

When it came time to debark, we were all given zone 1. We went to breakfast and weren't in a big rush to get off the ship as we were staying in NOLA for a few days and knew the hotel wouldn't allow us to check in at 9AM. After breakfast we took our time getting off the ship and our luggage was the only luggage in the zone 1 area. I loved that part!

 

For us, FTTF was definitely worth the price. I don't know if we didn't have a tender port or were all at the port early if it would be worth it again, but it sure was last time.