Faster to the Fun unavailable, am I in trouble?

[Captain Possumcatcher]

I got a Carnival Cruise for my birthday this year and this will be my first time cruising with Carnival, but it's a Carnival Journeys Edition cruise and when I called Carnival to purchase a Faster to the fun pass for my cabin, I was told that they are unavailable for my cruise because Carnival doesn't sell Faster to the fun passes on Journeys cruises.

 

No problem and I don't mind waiting a bit longer to get on the ship, or for the ship steward to get my cabin ready, unless things change there aren't any ports that require tendering and everyone going with me can wait a while for me to get off the ship on disembarkation day. I don't even have a problem waiting to get the luggage I checked on day 2, much less ten or eleven o'clock at night on embarkation day.

 

 

I guess the biggest thing I'm curious about is has anyone who has cruised with Carnival ever been stuck having to bring the backpack they wore on the ship and their rolling carry on bag to muster drill because you got locked out of your cabin? Does Carnival generally do a good job of at least letting you put whatever you carried onto the ship and setting up your safe in your stateroom before muster drill if you are unable to get a faster to the fun pass?

[NikkiJ1983]

In 8 cruises I have always been able to get into my room well before muster drill. I think the average is 1pm. You may not get your bags till later but your room will def be ready!! Have a great time!!

 

 

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[poz222]

Room will be ready at 1:30 so you will have time to put bags in cabin!

[naxer]

Rest assured you'll have access to your stateroom well before muster. Enjoy your cruise. I'd recommend carrying as little onto the ship as possible--there's simply no need. Most bags are delivered to the staterooms at a reasonable time. The exceptions to the rule get a lot more publicity than what normally happens.

[HawkIVette]

Yes, you can relax.

With FTTF, most times you will be on the ship by 11:00 am.

Without, provided you are at the port early, you will be on the ship by 1:00 pm.

All of the staterooms will be ready for entry by 2:00 pm, with muster not starting till closer to 3:30 pm.

[dmdiver]

No problem at all - we cruised many years before they invented FTTF. Always went to lunch, then to the cabin. Sometimes we checked luggage, sometimes we just carried it all on & hauled it with us to lunch. Fortunately, we don't have more than 1 suitcase each.

[luv2trvlnow]

Like everyone else has said you will be able to get to your cabin well before muster. One thing about Journey cruises is that they usually have a larger number of Platinum or Diamond passengers. It could be that half of the passengers will be these levels. That means the line to check in might be shorter for passengers not at these levels than you would normally have on a non-Journey cruise.

[maryred]

I've been on 2 Journeys cruises, one a 14 day on the Pride and one 11 day on the Vista. I can attest to what the previous poster has said that there will be up to over 1/3 of the passengers at the Platinum + level making for a priority nightmare. The first Journeys had 924 platinum+ and another 200-300 special invite & suite priority passengers on a ship that has a double occupancy of 2,680. While the Vista Journeys cruise, a ship with a base capacity of 3,934, had nearly 1,400 platinum + passengers and perhaps another 600 or so special invite and suite passengers that were also granted priority.

You may even find, once at the terminal, that the check-in appointment time you pick has less general boarding passengers than those in the priority line, since priority can ignore whatever time is picked and tend to show up early. You may want to aim to pick a check-in time between 12:30 and 1:30 that way less time is spent waiting for cabins to open.

[Brooke71991]

I've been on 2 Journeys cruises, one a 14 day on the Pride and one 11 day on the Vista. I can attest to what the previous poster has said that there will be up to over 1/3 of the passengers at the Platinum + level making for a priority nightmare. The first Journeys had 924 platinum+ and another 200-300 special invite & suite priority passengers on a ship that has a double occupancy of 2,680. While the Vista Journeys cruise, a ship with a base capacity of 3,934, had nearly 1,400 platinum + passengers and perhaps another 600 or so special invite and suite passengers that were also granted priority.

You may even find, once at the terminal, that the check-in appointment time you pick has less general boarding passengers than those in the priority line, since priority can ignore whatever time is picked and tend to show up early. You may want to aim to pick a check-in time between 12:30 and 1:30 that way less time is spent waiting for cabins to open.

 

This is what I plan to do. I do not have to check out of my hotel until noon. I plan to pick a check in time after that, so that I can spend as little time as possible hauling around luggage. I suspect by the time I get checked in and on board, it will be very close to my room being opened. I tend to have lunch before I board even, just to avoid the madhouse dash of having that first lunch on board that everyone seems to do. I am grabbing a drink and retreating to my room until muster. Good luck on your cruise and hope you have an awesome time!!

[coevan]

I don't understand you post's title, in trouble for what? were you a bad boy

[katiel53]

Are you sailing from a port where you need to sign up for a scheduled time to board? If so, unless your time is 12:00, you might not be able to get onboard at that time.

 

I do realize there may be many Platinum and Diamonds and they will get boarded right after wedding parties, but you could run into problems if the time you get to board is 2PM or so. You probably won't get on at 12 if that is the case.

[HectorAchilleus]

You are probably better off without FTTF on a Journey's cruise. There will be so many Plats and Diamonds that the benefits will be greatly diluted. I have even seen GS lines shorter in the normal line that the priority line.

[watermelonqueen99]

You'll be fine. With the new staggered check-in, it lost some of it's value anyway. Especially since the price skyrocketed.

[LMaxwell]

I got a Carnival Cruise for my birthday this year and this will be my first time cruising with Carnival, but it's a Carnival Journeys Edition cruise and when I called Carnival to purchase a Faster to the fun pass for my cabin, I was told that they are unavailable for my cruise because Carnival doesn't sell Faster to the fun passes on Journeys cruises.

 

No problem and I don't mind waiting a bit longer to get on the ship, or for the ship steward to get my cabin ready, unless things change there aren't any ports that require tendering and everyone going with me can wait a while for me to get off the ship on disembarkation day. I don't even have a problem waiting to get the luggage I checked on day 2, much less ten or eleven o'clock at night on embarkation day.

 

 

I guess the biggest thing I'm curious about is has anyone who has cruised with Carnival ever been stuck having to bring the backpack they wore on the ship and their rolling carry on bag to muster drill because you got locked out of your cabin? Does Carnival generally do a good job of at least letting you put whatever you carried onto the ship and setting up your safe in your stateroom before muster drill if you are unable to get a faster to the fun pass?

 

You will be fine without it

[vamartha]

That does not make sense. I have been on a Journeys cruise and I most definitely had FTTF on that particular cruise. I bet if you call back, you will get a different answer.

[Honeybear]

Okay, "what" is a Journey's Cruise? I have never heard of this before.

[Captain Possumcatcher]

This is what I plan to do. I do not have to check out of my hotel until noon. I plan to pick a check in time after that, so that I can spend as little time as possible hauling around luggage. I suspect by the time I get checked in and on board, it will be very close to my room being opened. I tend to have lunch before I board even, just to avoid the madhouse dash of having that first lunch on board that everyone seems to do. I am grabbing a drink and retreating to my room until muster. Good luck on your cruise and hope you have an awesome time!!

 

Thanks for that idea! I'm going to try that. The ship schedule says it's supposed to leave the port at 6pm though we all know cruises can change at the drop of a hat because of a million different factors. And we are sailing out of Galveston, Texas so Pier 21 is next door to the port so I can plot to eat a hearty lunch in a restaurant there before boarding.

 

That ship is going to have over 2,000 passengers on it and they will all be crowding onto the Lido Deck and lining up for Blue Iguana burritos and Guys Burgers and even the buffet before Muster Drill so I do want to avoid that area until the next day. There's going to be two full sea days until we arrive at our first port of call anyways. So going to my cabin until Muster if possible makes sense to me. I don't want to live out of a suitcase for two weeks. :D

[coevan]

That does not make sense. I have been on a Journeys cruise and I most definitely had FTTF on that particular cruise. I bet if you call back, you will get a different answer.

 

 

Unfortunately it is true, they do not sell FTTF on Journeys cruises. A Journeys cruise is more than 10 days. We did a B2B 10 & 11 days, 21 days, our longest cruise.

[Captain Possumcatcher]

Okay, "what" is a Journey's Cruise? I have never heard of this before.

 

From what I read, it's a limited edition Carnival cruise that lasts 9 days or more. Mine is going to be 14 days long. They are supposed to offer more and different activities than normal and they go to some different ports of call than normal.

 

When my mom found out I was going on this cruise I'm talking about, she got puzzled when I told her I was going on a Panama Canal partial transit because she's sailed with Carnival on the same ship a few times and never ever saw a Panama Canal partial transit being offered for that ship when she was looking to book rooms for her and my sister and my sister's family.

[riclop]

I got a Carnival Cruise for my birthday this year and this will be my first time cruising with Carnival, but it's a Carnival Journeys Edition cruise and when I called Carnival to purchase a Faster to the fun pass for my cabin, I was told that they are unavailable for my cruise because Carnival doesn't sell Faster to the fun passes on Journeys cruises.

 

No problem and I don't mind waiting a bit longer to get on the ship, or for the ship steward to get my cabin ready, unless things change there aren't any ports that require tendering and everyone going with me can wait a while for me to get off the ship on disembarkation day. I don't even have a problem waiting to get the luggage I checked on day 2, much less ten or eleven o'clock at night on embarkation day.

 

 

I guess the biggest thing I'm curious about is has anyone who has cruised with Carnival ever been stuck having to bring the backpack they wore on the ship and their rolling carry on bag to muster drill because you got locked out of your cabin? Does Carnival generally do a good job of at least letting you put whatever you carried onto the ship and setting up your safe in your stateroom before muster drill if you are unable to get a faster to the fun pass?

You will get into your cabin before muster drill.

[Gypsywych]

That does not make sense. I have been on a Journeys cruise and I most definitely had FTTF on that particular cruise. I bet if you call back, you will get a different answer.

 

Carnival changed that policy a few months back and announced that they would no longer be selling FTTF for Journey cruises since they are very popular with Diamond and Platinum cruisers.

[summersigh]

We never buy FTTF. :)

We board with our small rolling tote bags after checking our big bags. In the totes we carry any valuables, medicines, our bottle of wine and a change of clothes.

We have a leisurely lunch and an umbrella drink :tropical-drink:. By that time it's 1:30 and cabins are ready for we "regular folks" :D Muster is not for another couple of hours.

It's rare if the bags are not delivered before muster drill. We've never had checked bags arrive after 5pm. Normally we're unpacked by the time we leave for muster.

[Cruzingtoo]

Unfortunately it is true, they do not sell FTTF on Journeys cruises. A Journeys cruise is more than 10 days. We did a B2B 10 & 11 days, 21 days, our longest cruise.

 

This information is not correct. I leave for a 15 Hawaii journeys cruise on Oct 14th 2017 and I was able to get FTTF. It all depends on how many platinum and diamond are on the cruise.

[Cruzingtoo]

Carnival changed that policy a few months back and announced that they would no longer be selling FTTF for Journey cruises since they are very popular with Diamond and Platinum cruisers.

 

 

Leave on journey cruise 10/14/17 and have FTTF. Depends on number of diamond and platinum on cruise.

[luv2trvlnow]

This information is not correct. I leave for a 15 Hawaii journeys cruise on Oct 14th 2017 and I was able to get FTTF. It all depends on how many platinum and diamond are on the cruise.

I find that interesting because right on the Carnival site under FAQ's for Faster to the Fun it says this:

 

Faster to the Fun is not offered on Carnival Journeys departures, nor on cruises from the following home ports: Honolulu, Norfolk, Vancouver and Europe.

 

I guess they make exceptions. It could be because they have offered Hawaii cruises all along and just relabeled them as Journeys Cruises. And so far on our Journeys Cruise next year they have not offered any FTTF.