carnival FTTF

[PhillyFan33579]

10 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

 

I cruised out of Miami last January (on a different cruise line) and waited in line about an hour and a half. It was a literal cluster f****. So, for my Breeze cruise this March, I was able to get FTTF, and I am so psyched! It will be my first time using it. I have read comments about “now that there are assigned arrival times, there is no need for it”. Bologna! I had an arrival time with that cruise last January, as I have for every cruise I’ve taken since 2014 (two other cruise lines than Carnival), and I ALWAYS still had to wait in lines! I purchased this mostly as a surprise Anniversary gift to my hubby who hates embarkation due to lines. And I will continue to purchase it for any upcoming cruises, as long as it gives me what is promised, priority check in, boarding, and cabin access. 👍

 

What does check-in on.another cruise line have to do with Carnival?  If you pick the 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM check-in time, you will have little to no wait in the terminal and by the time you get on the ship, you will have access to your cabin. Best of all, this won’t cost you anything extra. People are free to spend their own money on anything they want, but personally I would never spend money to get on a ship for an extra 30 - 90 minutes. 

[CoasterGuy]

Figure out when 60 days to go to your cruise is. And check frequently around that time.

 

In the meantime keep checking a few times a day.

[EngineCo52]

22 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

 

I cruised out of Miami last January (on a different cruise line) and waited in line about an hour and a half. It was a literal cluster f****. So, for my Breeze cruise this March, I was able to get FTTF, and I am so psyched! It will be my first time using it. I have read comments about “now that there are assigned arrival times, there is no need for it”. Bologna! I had an arrival time with that cruise last January, as I have for every cruise I’ve taken since 2014 (two other cruise lines than Carnival), and I ALWAYS still had to wait in lines! I purchased this mostly as a surprise Anniversary gift to my hubby who hates embarkation due to lines. And I will continue to purchase it for any upcoming cruises, as long as it gives me what is promised, priority check in, boarding, and cabin access. 👍

 

 

well if you stick with carnival once you hit platinum you get free priority boarding or if you get a suite 🙂 have fun on your cruise 

[grandmarnnurse]

1 hour ago, EngineCo52 said:

 

 

well if you stick with carnival once you hit platinum you get free priority boarding or if you get a suite 🙂 have fun on your cruise 

Thank you! I hope it won’t take me long to get there! This is my 6th Carnival Cruise, so it shouldn’t take me forever to reach Platinum. I just need to stick with them going forward. Can’t wait till my cruise! Only 32 days now! 🛳🌴🏖🍹🍸

[HillBilly Bob]

On 1/25/2019 at 2:31 PM, sltrn said:

TRYING FOR MONTHS TO GET THE FASTER TO THE FUN, BUT IT ALWAYS SAYS SOLD OUT. 

 

There are too many other things you can enjoy with your money than FTTF.   Patience is a virtue when it comes to sailing the high seas on any cruise line.  

[wesorbeth]

We drive to ports and with a 12 hour drive home FTTF is essential to get off the ship early. 😥

[scoobikins]

On 1/25/2019 at 10:16 PM, mexicobob said:

Stop posting in all caps.  It is like yelling.

We spend the day in the French Quarter before boarding.  Some of the best restaurants in the world are there  for lunch.  Assure you much better than  the buffet on the Lido Deck.  When you board late there will be no one in line in front of you.  We were literally the only ones in the embarkation zone when we boarded last time.  Great way to start the cruise.

May I ask what you did with your luggage? We are booked to sail out of New Orleans in October, and I would much rather have lunch in the French Quarter than on the Lido deck. My only concern was what to do with our bags. 

[wesorbeth]

20 minutes ago, scoobikins said:

May I ask what you did with your luggage? We are booked to sail out of New Orleans in October, and I would much rather have lunch in the French Quarter than on the Lido deck. My only concern was what to do with our bags. 

Drop it off with the porter, walk into the Quarter, it's not that far.  We got there early in October dropped our luggage, parked the car and did just that.

 

[LovetheTXsun]

Don’t worry ~ you’ll get it!   It just takes patience and persistence like everyone has mentioned.  I joined an FB group for my specific cruise.  Every time FTTF came up we’d alert each other ~ became a game lol.  I finally got it just a couple months before our cruise. 

[grandmarnnurse]

8 hours ago, LovetheTXsun said:

Don’t worry ~ you’ll get it!   It just takes patience and persistence like everyone has mentioned.  I joined an FB group for my specific cruise.  Every time FTTF came up we’d alert each other ~ became a game lol.  I finally got it just a couple months before our cruise. 

I agree. I was able to get it the first time it popped up for my cruise in July, but recently, it has popped up 3 different times, and members on my FB group were able to grab it for our March 2 cruise on the Breeze. Patience and persistence.

[bartleby112]

So i'm wondering about FTTF and it being worth while.  Doing a Saturday cruise out of Miami.  Is the port fast?  Its been a few years since i've done a cruise.  This time we will have 3 little ones 1, 3,  6.   Wondering if its worth while to be able to get the rooms early so they can do their afternoon naps. 

All ports are ports with docks, but it will be hurricane season so that could obviously change. 

[goofygal531]

5 minutes ago, bartleby112 said:

So i'm wondering about FTTF and it being worth while.  Doing a Saturday cruise out of Miami.  Is the port fast?  Its been a few years since i've done a cruise.  This time we will have 3 little ones 1, 3,  6.   Wondering if its worth while to be able to get the rooms early so they can do their afternoon naps. 

All ports are ports with docks, but it will be hurricane season so that could obviously change. 

 

We like having it. Your room is guaranteed to be ready upon arrival. We like going straight to our room dropping off our carry-ons before heading to lunch. 

 

I like to put my water and soda cans in the fridge, too.

 

We just like knowing our room is available for us whatever our plans are upon arrival. 

[bartleby112]

2 minutes ago, goofygal531 said:

 

We like having it. Your room is guaranteed to be ready upon arrival. We like going straight to our room dropping off our carry-ons before heading to lunch. 

 

I like to put my water and soda cans in the fridge, too.

 

We just like knowing our room is available for us whatever our plans are upon arrival. 

yeah.  is it worth the 180 bucks?  we have 2 rooms.  connecting ocean view rooms.  Also what is the earliest you can board these days?  I remember 8 years ago (ironically on facebook the memories popped up with memories from 9 years ago today) we could get onboard around 1. 

[Davey Wavey]

On 1/25/2019 at 2:31 PM, sltrn said:

I HAVE BOOKED A CRUISE ON APRIL 14, 2019 ON THE DREAM OUT OF NEW ORLEANS.  I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR MONTHS TO GET THE FASTER TO THE FUN...

Just so you know, Carnival made this a Premier Casino cruise, which immediately made FTTF go to sold out. The available casino cabins were all sold out before the promo end date, meaning the max number of those bookings was taken. All people booking this as a Premier Casino cruise get free FTTF, so the chances of it becoming available are pretty much zero. Keep checking, but don't get your hopes up.

[Davey Wavey]

On 1/25/2019 at 2:31 PM, sltrn said:

I HAVE BOOKED A CRUISE ON APRIL 14, 2019 ON THE DREAM OUT OF NEW ORLEANS.  I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR MONTHS TO GET THE FASTER TO THE FUN...

Just so you know, Carnival made this a Premier Casino cruise, which immediately made FTTF go to sold out. The available casino cabins were all sold out before the promo end date, meaning the max number of those bookings was taken. All people booking this as a Premier Casino cruise get free FTTF, so the chances of it becoming available are pretty much zero. Keep checking, but don't get your hopes up.

[goofygal531]

8 minutes ago, bartleby112 said:

yeah.  is it worth the 180 bucks?  we have 2 rooms.  connecting ocean view rooms.  Also what is the earliest you can board these days?  I remember 8 years ago (ironically on facebook the memories popped up with memories from 9 years ago today) we could get onboard around 1. 

 

You should have stated you were booked in two room in your first post. That changes things. No, I would not pay double for FTTF.  Is it worth it? That’s the most popular question posted. To each his own. For my family, it is. We buy it every sailing and enjoy all the benefits.

[bartleby112]

1 minute ago, goofygal531 said:

 

You should have stated you were booked in two room in your first post. That changes things. No, I would not pay double for FTTF.  Is it worth it? That’s the most popular question posted. To each his own. For my family, it is. We buy it every sailing and enjoy all the benefits.

lol.  yeah i figured that!  i mean i've been seeing posts that with carnivals new show up at this time thing the lines haven't been too bad. 

Benefits of 2 cabins, is that i can get the unlimited drinks for cheap since there is only one adult in the room.  But FTTF is expensive! 

[LovetheTXsun]

9 minutes ago, bartleby112 said:

yeah.  is it worth the 180 bucks?  we have 2 rooms.  connecting ocean view rooms.  Also what is the earliest you can board these days?  I remember 8 years ago (ironically on facebook the memories popped up with memories from 9 years ago today) we could get onboard around 1. 

Carnival will not split up children from parents.  When we sailed with two rooms (balcony and inner stateroom directly across hall) with our three under 18 children, I only purchased one FTTF.    The only difference it made to our 2nd cabin is that it wasn’t ready, so we stashed all our luggage in the room attached to the FTTF. 

So, you shouldn’t have to purchase two FTTF’s.

And it was completely worth it to us....passed up long embarkation lines (Galveston) no lugging around carry-ons, first in line at Customer service when other non-priority line was 20 deep, among first to tender to Belize.  With my wonderful but notoriously impatient hubby, it was gold and made a huge difference to our trip.

[goofygal531]

4 minutes ago, LovetheTXsun said:

Carnival will not split up children from parents.  When we sailed with two rooms (balcony and inner stateroom directly across hall) with our three under 18 children, I only purchased one FTTF.    The only difference it made to our 2nd cabin is that it wasn’t ready, so we stashed all our luggage in the room attached to the FTTF. 

So, you shouldn’t have to purchase two FTTF’s.

And it was completely worth it to us....passed up long embarkation lines (Galveston) no lugging around carry-ons, first in line at Customer service when other non-priority line was 20 deep, among first to tender to Belize.  With my wonderful but notoriously impatient hubby, it was gold and made a huge difference to our trip.

 

 

Yes yes yes!

 

Exactly what she said!

[bartleby112]

5 minutes ago, LovetheTXsun said:

Carnival will not split up children from parents.  When we sailed with two rooms (balcony and inner stateroom directly across hall) with our three under 18 children, I only purchased one FTTF.    The only difference it made to our 2nd cabin is that it wasn’t ready, so we stashed all our luggage in the room attached to the FTTF. 

So, you shouldn’t have to purchase two FTTF’s.

And it was completely worth it to us....passed up long embarkation lines (Galveston) no lugging around carry-ons, first in line at Customer service when other non-priority line was 20 deep, among first to tender to Belize.  With my wonderful but notoriously impatient hubby, it was gold and made a huge difference to our trip.

interesting idea!  you'd think they would just say "well the wife and 2 kids are in one room.  so they can go onboard, you and your other daughter must wait"

[LovetheTXsun]

5 minutes ago, bartleby112 said:

interesting idea!  you'd think they would just say "well the wife and 2 kids are in one room.  so they can go onboard, you and your other daughter must wait"

You make a good point because you have seperated the two adults into 2 staterooms. I’m no expert on this stuff for sure, but if it were me, I’d simply say that you tried to get the second FTTF and it never came available.  Odds are, this is going to be the case anyway...just getting one is a gamble. 

[bartleby112]

17 minutes ago, LovetheTXsun said:

You make a good point because you have seperated the two adults into 2 staterooms. I’m no expert on this stuff for sure, but if it were me, I’d simply say that you tried to get the second FTTF and it never came available.  Odds are, this is going to be the case anyway...just getting one is a gamble. 

But you had 3 under 18 year olds in one cabin.  i assume they made you have an adult in one room and split the kids right? 

[shellster1]

1 hour ago, Davey Wavey said:

Just so you know, Carnival made this a Premier Casino cruise, which immediately made FTTF go to sold out. The available casino cabins were all sold out before the promo end date, meaning the max number of those bookings was taken. All people booking this as a Premier Casino cruise get free FTTF, so the chances of it becoming available are pretty much zero. Keep checking, but don't get your hopes up.

 

There's always hope. The cruise I took last March in which I stalked FTTF (and got it a few weeks prior to sailing) was also a premier cruise. I didn't know it was one until the first night on board...which brings me to my question: Is there a way to find out in advance if your cruise is a premier cruise? It didn't bother me, but sometimes I like to play the slots and the casino was just packed all the time.

[LovetheTXsun]

23 minutes ago, bartleby112 said:

But you had 3 under 18 year olds in one cabin.  i assume they made you have an adult in one room and split the kids right? 

No ~ because we were directly across from them.  Perhaps things have changed??...but this was allowable.  Are you split just bc of the drink package or did Carnival insist on your arrangement?   My husband and I just made our own “drink package” and set aside $ that we would have spent on the package.  Sure enough, even he didn’t come close to the amount of the package.  Between bringing on wine per person, saving a little by purchasing buckets of beer and 3 days of excursions that were drink-inclusive, we were covered.  Totally understand if you’re not as much of a light-weight as we are lol!

[bartleby112]

1 minute ago, LovetheTXsun said:

No ~ because we were directly across from them.  Perhaps things have changed??...but this was allowable.  Are you split just bc of the drink package or did Carnival insist on your arrangement?   My husband and I just made our own “drink package” and set aside $ that we would have spent on the package.  Sure enough, even he didn’t come close to the amount of the package.  Between bringing on wine per person, saving a little by purchasing buckets of beer and 3 days of excursions that were drink-inclusive, we were covered.  Totally understand if you’re not as much of a light-weight as we are lol!

we never attempted to put 3 kids 1 through 6 in one room and wife and i in the other.  We just assumed that it needed an adult.  worst case i could get my  wife and 3 and 1 year old the FTTF and maybe they let them on and me and the older have to hang out.