Later embarkation time and FTTF

[kgteach]

We are sailing on the Victory is two weeks. We purchased FTTF and had planned to board as early as possible. We have received notice that embarkation will not begin until 1:30 for everyone. Do you thing FTTF will be useful as we have no tender ports? Our reason was for early embarkation and the room being ready when we boarded. Thanks.

[Velvetwater]

We are sailing on the Victory is two weeks. We purchased FTTF and had planned to board as early as possible. We have received notice that embarkation will not begin until 1:30 for everyone. Do you thing FTTF will be useful as we have no tender ports? Our reason was for early embarkation and the room being ready when we boarded. Thanks.

 

We purchased FTTF for Tampa boarding 2 years ago and due to ship cleaning no-one boarded til 12.30-1pm. Everyone with FTTF were not allowed any refund or a reduced price.

 

Lucky for us we had air con probs so our room was a little late and they refunded our FTTF but we kept the perks.

[RuthlessBoss]

We purchased FTTF for Tampa boarding 2 years ago and due to ship cleaning no-one boarded til 12.30-1pm. Everyone with FTTF were not allowed any refund or a reduced price.

 

Lucky for us we had air con probs so our room was a little late and they refunded our FTTF but we kept the perks.

 

How could there be no refund if they didn't allow the early boarding feature?

[dsotm73]

Isn't that a standard message sent out before every cruise, that embarkation will not begin until 1:30 for everyone?

[kgteach]

The message states:

 

Itinerary change Carnival Victory

 

4/24/16, 4/28/16, 5/01/16, 5/05/16,5/09/16, 5/14/16

 

Carnival Victory will be undergoing a beautification project to enhance our staterooms. Since we will need extra time to load supplies, we will now be departing from Port Canaveral at 6:00 PM. Check in for your cruise will begin at 1:30 PM and end at 4:30 PM. In addition, we will return to Port Canaveral 6 AM. Our Itinerary will remain as scheduled .

 

To me, this did not seem to be the usual message sent about embarking times since it noted specific dates. Just wondering if it is worth keeping it. 🚢

[hotsauce126]

Same thing happened here on the Victory last year, had FTTF but didn't end up getting to board until almost 2 because of a wedding. Still worth it for mine though because of the tenders in Grand Cayman.

[StolidCruiser]

Doesnt FTTF provide priority boarding before the general masses which one would still get regardless of when boarding actually starts? The only seemingly compromised benefit is cabin readiness before the masses are permitted access.

[sharse]

My experience last month on Sunshine with FTTF.

 

When checking in online, our boarding documents said boarding at 12:30. I ignored that and we got to port about 11:00am. Walked right up the "preferred" line and checked in without a wait. The ship was already boarding, but only the suite guests and priority guests (which included us since we had FTTF) were boarding. We walked right on the ship, right past a ton of people who had already checked in but did not have priority boarding. It was wonderful!

 

Our room, however, was not quite ready. We dropped off our carry on luggage but they were still vacuuming, so we left and got lunch. Not a big deal.

 

When it came to baggage, we did receive ours before dinner, but I noticed a lot of other folks in rooms near us got their bags before we did. That said, friends on board didn't get theirs until HOURS after we got ours.

 

There were no tender ports on our cruise so I can't comment on how that would work, but I would 100% do FTTF again. Walking right on the ship was fantastic.

 

That said, on our return to Canaveral, the ship was late debarking due to problems inside the port. Anyone on the cruise after us who had expectations that day that they'd be on the ship by 11:00 were disappointed, I'm sure. Even with FTTF you can't get on the ship until everyone else is off first! You just never know what's going to happen.

Edited April 17, 2016 by sharse

[tilliebob1919]

We got the same message relating to changes in getting on board and since that another one that stated the new times as being 12:30 - 3:30pm. Did anyone else? My next question is seeing that we all are getting on later than usual, I wonder if the buffet will remain open later than it usually does to accommodate us going on later? It's usually the only eating choice when you first board. I can just visualize almost 3,000 people in line trying to get on board at more or less the same time and hopefully it will not be a fiasco. Been there, done that...in the rain last November and it was a horrible, disorganized experience to go thru and not the best way to start fun times.

 

 

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Edited April 17, 2016 by tilliebob1919