FTTF lets us skip our assigned boarding time right??

[160july]

I am pretty sure FTTF lets us skip our assigned boarding time but wanted to make sure. I do not want to have the baby out in the heat.  We are in Port Tampa

Edited June 9, 2019 by 160july

[wesorbeth]

Yes, you will be able to skip your assigned boarding time.

[160july]

Thanks. 

[declansdad]

You can arrive anytime you want and you will board just after the weddings and diamond/platinum groups. Last cruise we were boarding the ship around 11:30.

[beachbum53]

29 minutes ago, 160july said:

I am pretty sure FTTF lets us skip our assigned boarding time but wanted to make sure. I do not want to have the baby out in the heat.  We are in Port Tampa

 

There is no assigned boarding time. No one, regardless of their status, can choose when to board the ship. Whether you're going on a cruise for the first time or the 100th time, you choose a check-in time at the cruise terminal. If you have priority status, such as Diamond, Platinum, FTTF, etc., the check-in time is merely a formality. Those with priority status may check in at the terminal ahead of those that do not have priority status. If you check in at 9:00 a.m., but boarding doesn't start until 12:00 p.m., you will have to wait along with everyone else until Carnival begins the boarding process. The only difference is, those with priority status board first.

[Bookbug53]

42 minutes ago, wesorbeth said:

Yes, you will be able to skip your assigned boarding time.

You do not have an assigned boarding time. 

[maryred]

As other posters have stated you pick or are assigned an arrival appointment time for the the cruise terminal. That is the earliest time for those with general boarding passes that they can enter the terminal for the security and in person check-in.

FttF does give you  priority check-in privileges which means you can start your in person check-in process anytime after the terminal opens its doors to new passengers. But say if the terminal opens at 9:30am, and you decide to arrive then, it could mean you have a long wait in the terminal prior to the ship being cleared for boarding. Also up until just before the general boarding pass arrival appointments start, usually 3-4 hours after the ship docks from the last voyage, the priority line is the only area processing passengers so you will have the possibility of still waiting on a line to be checked through security &/or see a check-in clerk. Those with priority that arrive after general boarding has begun generally have no or very quick moving lines to be processed in.

Once the ship has been cleared for boarding, generally about 3.5-4.5 hours after docking, the boarding order goes like this...

Back to Back passengers

Embarkation day Wedding parties and guests

Diamond, Platinum, and suite passengers waiting in the "Captain's Lounge"

Special invitees of the cruise line or the casino (at some terminals or voyages they might go before D, P,& s)

Faster to the Fun passengers

FInally those waiting for general boarding first by zones or being dismissed row by row

 

What you need to decide is for what works best for your situation, arriving early as part of the priority "rush", then waiting to board to among the first few groups on the ship; or arrive a little later (after general boarding starts) to possibly fly through the check-in process (boarding delays do occur) and board immediately after completion with the next available group. Either way once on board with FttF your cabin should be ready for S&S card card retrieval, carry-on drop off & unpacking, a quick nap, and/or showers, but often things ordered through your cruise planner or special requests in your booking notes (like a portacrib) may not be delivered until 3pm. Your checked luggage should arrive before they announce the the bars are closed for the muster drill.

[Meoff]

How comes the FTTF have to wait on the Platinums.  We paid to get on faster.

 

[linbobky]

you are so funny!

[PhillyFan33579]

6 hours ago, maryred said:

As other posters have stated you pick or are assigned an arrival appointment time for the the cruise terminal. That is the earliest time for those with general boarding passes that they can enter the terminal for the security and in person check-in.

 

Your statement is not correct.  Passengers  without any priority status can show up any time they want, to include arriving before or after their assigned check-in window.  Every port, at least the ones I have been to, has an early/late line for passengers who arrive outside their check-in appointment time.  Of course these passengers take the risk they could be waiting in line for a long time, but it is an option that is available. 

[maryred]

50 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Your statement is not correct.  Passengers  without any priority status can show up any time they want, to include arriving before or after their assigned check-in window.  Every port, at least the ones I have been to, has an early/late line for passengers who arrive outside their check-in appointment time.  Of course these passengers take the risk they could be waiting in line for a long time, but it is an option that is available. 

And based on my experience your statement is incorrect. In New York, Baltimore, anf NOLA all barred those arriving too early from entering the building, but I've never seen at these 3 ports anyone that arrived after their Appointment Arrival time told they need to go on some standby line, they just walked in. In NYC those showing up early were told to return later as there was no outside line up at all, in NOLA people just milled about trying to get past different personnel, but Baltimore does have a roped off area outside under the overhang for people to wait for their appointment time to be called. 

As for Tampa, which we sailed out of in Sept' 18, we arrived at 10:20am at 10:30am the terminal opened for priority passengers only. DH and I were among the first 10 new passengers in the terminal that morning (except for a special invitee group). Being Platinum we sat in the section with Diamonds and suites passengers which faced the general boarding clerks. At 11am  terminal personnel escorted a special invitee group on board, announced once the gangway clear from them that D, P, and suites would board. They announced around 11:15am it was time for us to board and at that point still no one was being processed in at the general check-in desks. So the port personnel must of been enforcing the Arrival Appointment times, as the earliest choice was 11:30-noon. Even though fully manned and the priority arrivals had slowed down to about 1 family/group arriving every 5 minutes or so, no general boarding passengers were being let in the terminal.

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, maryred said:

And based on my experience your statement is incorrect. In New York, Baltimore, anf NOLA all barred those arriving too early from entering the building, but I've never seen at these 3 ports anyone that arrived after their Appointment Arrival time told they need to go on some standby line, they just walked in. In NYC those showing up early were told to return later as there was no outside line up at all, in NOLA people just milled about trying to get past different personnel, but Baltimore does have a roped off area outside under the overhang for people to wait for their appointment time to be called. 

As for Tampa, which we sailed out of in Sept' 18, we arrived at 10:20am at 10:30am the terminal opened for priority passengers only. DH and I were among the first 10 new passengers in the terminal that morning (except for a special invitee group). Being Platinum we sat in the section with Diamonds and suites passengers which faced the general boarding clerks. At 11am  terminal personnel escorted a special invitee group on board, announced once the gangway clear from them that D, P, and suites would board. They announced around 11:15am it was time for us to board and at that point still no one was being processed in at the general check-in desks. So the port personnel must of been enforcing the Arrival Appointment times, as the earliest choice was 11:30-noon. Even though fully manned and the priority arrivals had slowed down to about 1 family/group arriving every 5 minutes or so, no general boarding passengers were being let in the terminal.

 

I can’t address ports outside of Florida, but I am very familiar with ports in Florida. Over the last 7 months we have sailed out of Tampa once, Miami twice, and Canaveral three times. All of these ports have an early/late line for passengers who arrive outside their check-in window.  Like I mentioned before the wait in this line can be long, but they don’t turn passengers away at these ports like they apparently do at ports you have cruised from. When we sailed on Miracle out of Tampa in December, friends of ours without any priority status showed up 2 hours before their check-in time and were on the ship within 15 minutes. Granted the early/late line tends to move faster for smaller ships like Fantasy and Spirit class ships due to the smaller number of passengers on the ship. On the other hand, when we sailed on Horizon out of Miami in March, the early/late line was very long. The only line that was moving when we got there was the priority line. However, when we sailed on Victory out of Miami in May, the early/late line was moving almost as fast as the priority line.  Bottom line is the best chance for a quick check-in process is to show up during your check-in window.  But at least ports in Florida have a line dedicated to passengers who arrive outside their check-in window. 

[Crusin Hogs]

13 hours ago, Meoff said:

How comes the FTTF have to wait on the Platinums.  We paid to get on faster.

 

Because us Platinums  earned the the right to board 1st thru the number of cruises we have taken , number of days at sea 

[PhillyFan33579]

8 minutes ago, Crusin Hogs said:

Because us Platinums  earned the the right to board 1st thru the number of cruises we have taken , number of days at sea 

 

I believe the previous poster was just trying to be funny.  Another way to look at it is Platinums (and Diamonds too) have paid to board early too based on all the cruises they paid for to reach P or D. 

[purplephenom]

13 hours ago, Meoff said:

How comes the FTTF have to wait on the Platinums.  We paid to get on faster.

 

 

because it's faster to the fun, not fastest to the fun :-) 

[TNcruising02]

When I cruised on the Vista out of Florida, I missed my appointment window by 5 minutes.  They sent me to the early/late line.  Thankfully, it was not too long of a wait. 
Since I didn't want that to happen again, I showed up early for my next cruise which was out of Baltimore.  I didn't see an early/late line, but they let me through in what appeared to be a regular line.  I was on board the ship before my appointment time.
Then I cruised out of New Orleans.  Since we were parking and I had no idea how long it would take, we arrived early.  We ended up on the roof top of the garage.  We were sent to a very long early/late line.  That was fine.  

Since they can turn you away from the appointment line if you are even five minutes late, it's best to target your arrival for the beginning of your appointment time.

Edited June 11, 2019 by TNcruising02

[declansdad]

1 hour ago, Crusin Hogs said:

Because us Platinums  earned the the right to board 1st thru the number of cruises we have taken , number of days at sea 

 

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I believe the previous poster was just trying to be funny.  Another way to look at it is Platinums (and Diamonds too) have paid to board early too based on all the cruises they paid for to reach P or D. 

 

I believe the other poster recently joined and is trolling a few threads.