FTTF and Cheers.. worth it?

[poblead]

I did just book FTTF for our Pride trip out of Baltimore next June.. I hope it's worth it?? we have four cabins crusing together and got FTTF for all of us..

 

Thoughts???

 

Also what about cheers? It will be me, hubby and our 10year old in the cabin.. I am wondering if cheers is worth $804!? for hubby and I..

Can someone rationalize it.. how many drinks a day would we have to have to make it worth it???

[Schoifmom]

I did just book FTTF for our Pride trip out of Baltimore next June.. I hope it's worth it?? we have four cabins crusing together and got FTTF for all of us..

 

Thoughts???

 

Also what about cheers? It will be me, hubby and our 10year old in the cabin.. I am wondering if cheers is worth $804!? for hubby and I..

Can someone rationalize it.. how many drinks a day would we have to have to make it worth it???

 

 

You will hear a lot of dissension here regarding if FTTF is worth it or not. It really depends on (1) your reasons for purchasing it (the benefits you hope to gain) and (2) if those benefits are worth $50 to you. For me, just getting into my room when we board is worth it.

 

With Cheers, it again depends on you. If you are only getting (for example) frozen cocktails, you would need around 6 per day each to break even. I believe that if you search the boards, there is a lot of information out there regarding the break-even point for Cheers. Don't forget, they have increased the dollar limit per drink to $50 and have included specialty coffees, bottled water, and shakes to the plan.

[originalgeek]

I don't feel it's worth it for me and my wife on our upcoming 7 day cruise. Maybe a 3 or 4 day but I'd really prefer they just dropped the "everyone over 21 in cabin has to buy it" policy. If I could buy it for myself I almost certainly would but she just won't drink that much.

 

From reading here I gather that beers are generally 6~7 bucks each. Cheers has a hard limit of 15 drinks a day. I imagine if I had Cheers I would force myself to drink all 15 of my allotted drinks "to get my money's worth" even though it would be pretty unusual for me to drink that much in a day.

 

Regular cocktails are around 10~15 bucks a throw (? I think that's what I've read here) so, again, while I would be spending more of Carnival's money I would really be forcing myself to drink more than I usually do.

 

One good thing about Cheers though is it would allow me to try more expensive drinks that I might not ordinarily consider. I love single malt scotch and there are a couple decent ones listed on menus I've seen posted here although nothing magical like a Bruichladdich DNA or even an 18yo Laphroaig. But I would definitely use Cheers to sample some of those they do have and I also hear that the Alchemy bar makes some really cool drinks that I wouldn't buy if I was just hanging out at a bar.

 

but still, 700 bucks for both of us and she would drink 3 or 4 margaritas and be done for a couple days.

 

I imagine we will take advantage of bringing canned fruit juices aboard and buy a ridiculously over-priced liter of hootch from the Funshops for our room and mix our own drinks and I'll have a couple beers here and there at dinner. I'll also look into some of the all-inclusive excursions that include beer and rum punch.

 

I REALLY don't think I'll get home and think "Rats. I shoulda drank more."

[watermelonqueen99]

Yes, FTTF is worth every penny. We cruised for the first time without it on the Splendor in April because we booked last minute and it was sold out. We definitely missed having it. We had to wait forever for a tender boat into HMC. The line at guest services was always forever long. Those are just a couple of reasons we missed it. As for Cheers, that totally depends on you. It's an incredible value for us because when we are on vacation, we drink it up. LOL I break even right around 5-6 martinis. We think it's one of the best values on the ship.

[bkerber]

We just returned from Alaska on the Legend. We purchased FTTF and I have mixed feelings. We tendered in Juneau and met before debarkation at a location just for us. HOWEVER, Carnival screwed up and after being an hour late to port they also forgot about us. This was confirmed by the carnival girls instructing us. So we ended up missing part of our excursion. It wasnt a huge deal but just letting you know its not a total guarantee. The service desk was a huge plus. Never had to wait in a line. I would buy it again.

[luvsviola]

IMO, it is worth it. I like having our room ready when we get on. On the Dream, the guest services line is always pretty long, but there is a special window for FTTF, so several times I didn't wait at all.

 

Priority debarkation is awesome too.

 

Priority tender is a bonus.

 

I travel with 3 elementary age children, so we always get it.

 

 

Cheers--for our last cruise it was $700. We don't drink $700 worth.

Edited June 1, 2016 by luvsviola

[asalligo]

FTTF is an easy choice for me. Is getting on the boat earlier than 1500 other people and getting to your room as soon as you board worth $60. For me it is and I do not regret purchasing it.

 

Cheers is easy also. You must drink 7 drinks a day and 49 drinks for the week for this plan to break even. Anything less and Carnival made the better bet. I know that I would have to work hard to drink 7 drinks a day on a sea day even with non alcoholic drinks included. On a port day forget it.

[yaddayaddayadda]

To me, both are worth it.

 

Our last cruise out of charleston, we got both. With FTTF, we were put first in line in front of about 300+ people at the checkin line. That alone was worth $50.

 

Ours was a 4-day cruise, and while CHEERS was ~$450, our itemized bill showed we would have paid > $900 for drinks a la carte.

 

It's easy to hit 7 drinks a day if you start early enough ;)

[First and Ten]

Yes, FTTF is worth every penny. We cruised for the first time without it on the Splendor in April because we booked last minute and it was sold out. We definitely missed having it. We had to wait forever for a tender boat into HMC. The line at guest services was always forever long. Those are just a couple of reasons we missed it. As for Cheers, that totally depends on you. It's an incredible value for us because when we are on vacation, we drink it up. LOL I break even right around 5-6 martinis. We think it's one of the best values on the ship.

 

I guess they treat FTTF differently on different ships. For example, on our recent cruise there was a tender to HMC. I didn't see a separate line for FTTF/Diamond/Platinum, nor did anyone try to cut up front. When we debarked, the self-assist passengers were called by deck, no mention was made of Diamond/Platinum/FTTF passengers. I was having a cocktail in the Atrium Bar, right next to guest services, there must have been about 6 or 7 people in line at GS. This woman basically walks to the front of the line and interrupts the Carnival employee that was in the middle of helping another passenger with "Can you help me"....the guy looked at her with a look of are you serious and very nicely told her "there is a line"....She answered "Well I have FTTF" . He gave his best patient smile and said "I understand, there is a line". The only time I saw FTTF help out was when we were embarking and going thru the Que to get to the xray machines, FTTF had their own separate line to get thru the scanners, but had to stand in the regular line to get the S&S cards and get on board

Edited June 1, 2016 by First and Ten

[Schoifmom]

I guess they treat FTTF differently on different ships. For example, on our recent cruise there was a tender to HMC. I didn't see a separate line for FTTF/Diamond/Platinum, nor did anyone try to cut up front. When we debarked, the self-assist passengers were called by deck, no mention was made of Diamond/Platinum/FTTF passengers. I was having a cocktail in the Atrium Bar, right next to guest services, there must have been about 6 or 7 people in line at GS. This woman basically walks to the front of the line and interrupts the Carnival employee that was in the middle of helping another passenger with "Can you help me"....the guy looked at her with a look of are you serious and very nicely told her "there is a line"....She answered "Well I have FTTF" . He gave his best patient smile and said "I understand, there is a line". The only time I saw FTTF help out was when we were embarking and going thru the Que to get to the xray machines, FTTF had their own separate line to get thru the scanners, but had to stand in the regular line to get the S&S cards and get on board

 

Did you have FTTF? I'm guessing not, but were simply observing.

 

FTTF does not have a special "line" for tendering. They normally will report to a specific location and then be escorted as a group to the first tender.

 

During debarkation, FTTF customers are given zone numbers just like everyone else, except theirs are guaranteed to be early zones (I have had 1 and 2).

 

There should have been a separate Diamond/Platinum/FTTF line at GS. Perhaps the person that you saw didn't know where to go?

 

Not knowing where you embarked from, I can't answer regarding embarkation; however, I have always had a separate line for checking in in the ports. It is normally the VIP line (the same used by Diamond/Platinum).

[First and Ten]

Did you have FTTF? I'm guessing not, but were simply observing.

 

FTTF does not have a special "line" for tendering. They normally will report to a specific location and then be escorted as a group to the first tender.

 

During debarkation, FTTF customers are given zone numbers just like everyone else, except theirs are guaranteed to be early zones (I have had 1 and 2).

 

There should have been a separate Diamond/Platinum/FTTF line at GS. Perhaps the person that you saw didn't know where to go?

 

Not knowing where you embarked from, I can't answer regarding embarkation; however, I have always had a separate line for checking in in the ports. It is normally the VIP line (the same used by Diamond/Platinum).

 

I did not have it, I was observing. Concerning the tender, it was for HMC. I was on the first tender and if I had to guess, I would say the line was about 70-80 people. I was about 1/2 way in that line. There wasn't a separate tender for FTTF and no separate line for Diamond/Platinum/FTTF and there wasn't a separate tender at another spot. At guest services, the other end of the counter from the regular line had a sign that said Diamond/Platinum. When I was there, there was only 1 agent manning the desk. It wasn't like this woman came walking up and another agent came out. He told her "there is a line" (when she stormed off, a few of us gave him a round of applause, lol). As far as debarkation went, the "zones" were used for the relaxed debarkation, so they would call your zone after all the self assist passengers got off and then the relaxed debarking passengers would be called by zone. So that may be so, but if you were zone 1 or 2, you weren't getting off the ship until after all the self assist passengers got off. Which would probably have been around 9:30 or so

Edited June 1, 2016 by First and Ten

[Schoifmom]

I did not have it, I was observing. Concerning the tender, it was for HMC. I was on the first tender and if I had to guess, I would say the line was about 70-80 people. I was about 1/2 way in that line. There wasn't a separate tender for FTTF and no separate line for Diamond/Platinum/FTTF and there wasn't a separate tender at another spot. At guest services, the other end of the counter from the regular line had a sign that said Diamond/Platinum. When I was there, there was only 1 agent manning the desk. It wasn't like this woman came walking up and another agent came out. He told her "there is a line" (when she stormed off, a few of us gave him a round of applause, lol). As far as debarkation went, the "zones" were used for the relaxed debarkation, so they would call your zone after all the self assist passengers got off and then the relaxed debarking passengers would be called by zone. So that may be so, but if you were zone 1 or 2, you weren't getting off the ship until after all the self assist passengers got off. Which would probably have been around 9:30 or so

 

Yeah. She should have been in the Diamond/Platinum line at GS. If you look at the sign closely, it also has a FTTF logo on it. She should NOT have been trying to cut in line ... some people!

 

If you are FTTF, you get a letter in your stateroom with your tags. If you choose self-debarkation (we never have), you are told to go "at your leisure" without having to wait for your floor to be called.

 

So, often the benefits aren't obvious to observers, but I still say that just getting into my room when I board is enough for me (DH has mobility issues, so lugging around our carry-on's all falls to me).

 

Everyone has to decide for themselves if their expected benefit is worth the cost :)

Edited June 1, 2016 by Schoifmom

[BlazinSunsets]

Cheers for frozen drinks is worth it. Most of them cost $9, so over $10 with auto gratuity. Cheers is 57 per day with the gratuity added. So if you drink 5 of them and add anything else you pretty much pay for it that day.

 

For beer its a little less worth it. Beers are 6.50ish with the gratuity. So you have to drink almost 9 of them. Easy for me to do on vacation but to each their own.

[poobears]

For cheers look at the total weekly price and then look at your drinking habits. Will you typically consume $800 worth of beverages in a week? If not then don't waste your money on the program. I know a lot of people buy it and then drink more (alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks) just to get their moneys worth. To me that's a waste of money. If you normally would spend more than that buy it, if not just pay per drink and save your money.

 

My drink tab is literally $10 or so a week because I have a couple of hot chocolates and I'm good LOL Now I will need to order 2 cases of water so I'm up to maybe $20. Obviously Cheers is not for me, cheaper for me to buy my bottled water out right.

 

For FTTF you just have to decide what benefits are worth to you. I have one carry on I don't want to keep up with. It will have my meds, our passports etc in it. When I get on I want to be able to go to my room and lock it up. To me being able to lock up that bag and being able to grab lunch and sit on our balcony while everyone else boards, meaning we start our vacation immediately is worth the $59.95 cost of FTTF even if we get no other benefits from it.

[EBONI325]

I did not have it, I was observing. Concerning the tender, it was for HMC. I was on the first tender and if I had to guess, I would say the line was about 70-80 people. I was about 1/2 way in that line. There wasn't a separate tender for FTTF and no separate line for Diamond/Platinum/FTTF and there wasn't a separate tender at another spot. At guest services, the other end of the counter from the regular line had a sign that said Diamond/Platinum. When I was there, there was only 1 agent manning the desk. It wasn't like this woman came walking up and another agent came out. He told her "there is a line" (when she stormed off, a few of us gave him a round of applause, lol). As far as debarkation went, the "zones" were used for the relaxed debarkation, so they would call your zone after all the self assist passengers got off and then the relaxed debarking passengers would be called by zone. So that may be so, but if you were zone 1 or 2, you weren't getting off the ship until after all the self assist passengers got off. Which would probably have been around 9:30 or so

 

Whenever I had FTTF and had to tender we always met at another location, usually in the theater, and were taken thru some back door as a group, we didn't even see any other people.

 

As for debarkation, we rec'd a notice in our cabin the night before, telling us to meet in one of the MR's or theater.

We were then taken on a separate elevator to debark, maybe you didn't see the group because they were already gone when you were allowed to debark,,,.IJS

[EBONI325]

FTTF is a must for me, just being able to go to my cabin straight away and dropping off my carry on, is worth it for me, and if I have an early flight I want to be off first. Last time leaving from San Juan, we had to meet at 7am and I was at the airport at 8am.

 

Cheers, not so much for me, I could never drink any where near 7 drinks a day, and I don't drink soda.

But if you can drink that much, then go for it.

[crzndeb]

It looks like the biggest plus that people buy FTTF, is get to room when they board, and tenders. If you don't want to spend the extra money, board after 1:30 and make friends on your roll call with diamonds and platinums. They can take extra people on the tenders with them. But since you already got FTTF, whether it's worth it is a moot point.

 

As for Cheers, it's a personal choice. Though I tend to drink a bit more on vacation, I still try to be healthy, so a martini in the evening before dinner and maybe a beer in port is about my consumption for a day. So Cheers would never be an option for me, even now that all the other stuff has been added.

 

But for those that drink several specialty coffees, power drinks, sodas, and cocktails, it's a good deal for them.

Edited June 3, 2016 by crzndeb

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

I did just book FTTF for our Pride trip out of Baltimore next June.. I hope it's worth it?? we have four cabins crusing together and got FTTF for all of us..

 

Thoughts???

 

Also what about cheers? It will be me, hubby and our 10year old in the cabin.. I am wondering if cheers is worth $804!? for hubby and I..

Can someone rationalize it.. how many drinks a day would we have to have to make it worth it???

 

Both are subjective so, in the end, you'll still wind up having to make the decision yourself.

 

For myself, neither are worth it. I couldn't care less about getting on the ship early because my wife and I love to sleep in at the hotel and then gingerly stroll toward the port a little past 1 pm. We also aren't concerned about getting to the stateroom once boarding so there really isn't a draw for FTTF.

 

As for the Cheers program, I couldn't make the math work out two years ago. I understand there has been additions to the list of approved beverages but the main showstopper is that my wife simply doesn't drink much at all. While I may pound down 4 frozen drinks in a day, she'd likely limit out at 2. In addition, if I were to hit 6-7 drinks, I'd probably not drink much the next day. I'm generally engaged in a physical activity on the ship (such as basketball) and have found that having a high blood alcohol level mixed with Caribbean heat mixed with sweating from high activity mixed with not enough water intake equals trouble. Therefore, I'd likely not even reach the breakeven point on a daily basis. There's no way I'd even attempt to hit the 15 daily drink limit because that is more alcohol in a day than I'd normally drink in a month. So, for me, it's just not worth it.

[katiel53]

Last July my son and his wife purchased FTTF for their cruise on Dream. They had a rental car and dropped me and my granddaughter off and went to return the car. I am Platinum, so I didn't need FTTF. My grand and I went to our cabin and we waited for my son and his wife to get onboard.

 

It appeared that the line to board was quite long so we thought we would be waiting a while for my son to get to their cabin. A short time later, there was a knock on our door and it was my son and his wife. When they got to the port, they were escorted to the front of the line and they were onboard within a few minutes.

 

They also had an excursion booked independently in Belize and were on the first tender. They loved having FTTF and for our next cruise on Magic, they have again purchased FTTF. My daughter-in-law's parents are also going on the Magic with us and they will be driving from Upstate NY to Pt Canaveral and have purchased FTTF.

 

I think they will get a great deal of value from it in that they will be able to board early and drop off their things in the cabin. Additionally, they will be able to debark early and get on the road for their trip home. In the event that any of them need to use guest services, they will use the "short line."

 

As far as Cheers is concerned, my husband and I bought it once. It was when we were on Liberty and the price for a 7 day cruise was $37. 50 a day. We averaged 6-8 drinks daily. My drinks were almost all umbrella drinks with the exception of wine at dinner. We didn't feel we had to drink 15 drinks a day even though we stayed on the ship the entire week. We did no excursions as my DH had a problem walking and used a walker

 

I don't usually drink more than a couple of drinks a day, so it's not worth it to me to buy it. I do have to say that on my last few cruises I have ended up with the Drinks on Us card from the casino albeit not on day 1 or early in the cruise.

[mikechass]

Sooo after watching every day since Jan 1 of this year, I actually missed the release of the excursions, which makes me CRAZY frustrated just cause it was always part of my morning routine.

BUT seeing that I have missed it, and we are on a B2B I only needed it for the first part of our cruise.

I have seen several people say if you go around 1 or 1:30 pm it isn't that busy and you can usually get onto the ship.

Since we are on for two weeks I can't think of why I would need to rush there etc.

Perhaps getting a late check out and heading there later would stop us from standing in the blazing sun with the masses of people.

I get priority on Royal so I haven't have to wait for several years.

I am diabetic and my meds react poorly to the sun as well as coming early will interfere with my lunch time meal/insulin.

I just wanna try to get there and get in relatively quick.

So those of you in the know suggest going around 1??

Thanks for any help.

Chass

[Buckett]

 

One good thing about Cheers though is it would allow me to try more expensive drinks that I might not ordinarily consider. I love single malt scotch and there are a couple decent ones listed on menus I've seen posted here although nothing magical like a Bruichladdich DNA or even an 18yo Laphroaig. But I would definitely use Cheers to sample some of those they do have and I also hear that the Alchemy bar makes some really cool drinks that I wouldn't buy if I was just hanging out at a bar.

 

 

I've never done Cheers, but am probably going to try it for the first time on the Inspiration in January. I totally agree with your quote above, and this is part of why I'm going to give it a go. I also like that it now includes specialty coffees, etc. Normally I don't like to spring for those very often but now I plan on having a double shot vanilla latte every morning! :D

 

FTTF is not attractive to me, although I do see why others might want/need it. If I have GS issues I will go to the desk at an off time. If we tender, I get in line early to get a ticket so I don't mind that either. I always end up making new friends in line. I do self assist when debarking. So again, for me there is no value.

[riclop]

I did just book FTTF for our Pride trip out of Baltimore next June.. I hope it's worth it?? we have four cabins crusing together and got FTTF for all of us..

 

Thoughts???

 

Also what about cheers? It will be me, hubby and our 10year old in the cabin.. I am wondering if cheers is worth $804!? for hubby and I..

Can someone rationalize it.. how many drinks a day would we have to have to make it worth it???

 

Carnival thanks you for your $240 . It's a waste of $$$.