Faster to the Fun question...

[CheersPkg4Us]

We sail out Miami at 4pm on on Sunday on the Celebration. We do have the FTTF package. Today was my first opportunity to pre register. The only option was 2:00 -2:30. My thinking is regardless what you sign up for if you have FTTF you show up at the earliest time. If my thinking is correct what would the earliest time be for a 4 o'clock sail away? Noon maybe? 

[highSeas22]

2 minutes ago, CheersPkg4Us said:

We sail out Miami at 4pm on on Sunday on the Celebration. We do have the FTTF package. Today was my first opportunity to pre register. The only option was 2:00 -2:30. My thinking is regardless what you sign up for if you have FTTF you show up at the earliest time. If my thinking is correct what would the earliest time be for a 4 o'clock sail away? Noon maybe? 

You get priority check in

[grillinchillin]

Google or go to the Carnival Website.

[DallasGuy75219]

Did you research what you were buying?  It's spelled out pretty clearly on Carnival's website.

 

Priority Check-in
Upon arrival to the terminal (during your arrival appointment), look for the Priority line to check-in. 

[Pellaz]

4 hours ago, CheersPkg4Us said:

We sail out Miami at 4pm on on Sunday on the Celebration. We do have the FTTF package. Today was my first opportunity to pre register. The only option was 2:00 -2:30. My thinking is regardless what you sign up for if you have FTTF you show up at the earliest time. If my thinking is correct what would the earliest time be for a 4 o'clock sail away? Noon maybe? 

 

Now that the children have had their say, the actual answer would be to arrive at the pier by around 10 or 10:30 am. 

With FTTF, you'll be directed to the Priority Line and there should be a separate FTTF waiting area inside the terminal. 

In my experience at Florida ports, typically boarding will begin between 11 and 12, sometimes a bit earlier and occasionally after 12, after the ship has been cleared.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, Pellaz said:

 

Now that the children have had their say, the actual answer would be to arrive at the pier by around 10 or 10:30 am. 

With FTTF, you'll be directed to the Priority Line and there should be a separate FTTF waiting area inside the terminal. 

In my experience at Florida ports, typically boarding will begin between 11 and 12, sometimes a bit earlier and occasionally after 12, after the ship has been cleared.

And take a chance that the port staff are enforcing boarding times and if so, have to wait a couple hours and hope they allow your assigned boarding time to board early.

[AllgoodOnTheRoad]

Yes, I did this in April and recorded it, I had a late check in and stepped into the Priority line at 9:10am. I did it again in Tampa on the Paradise last week. 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by AllgoodOnTheRoad

[jsglow]

OP, different ports handle this differently and inconsistently if truth be told. There was some acknowledgement of this issue by Carnival a few months back and an attempt to 'standardize' the practical application. The stated policy is as described by @DallasGuy75219. But folks will always have stories of exceptions. Your only 'gatekeeper' will be at the terminal entrance. If he's playing strictly by the rules, you'll remain outside. If he chooses to 'give you a break', you'll enter via the Priority line.  Once inside, and fully checked in, you'll be welcomed to board the ship once FttF has been called which typically happens shortly after 11a.

My only objective here is to arm you with information. If you arrive early and are told no you'll understand the situation.

[ProgRockCruiser]

14 hours ago, CheersPkg4Us said:

We sail out Miami at 4pm on on Sunday on the Celebration. We do have the FTTF package. Today was my first opportunity to pre register. The only option was 2:00 -2:30. My thinking is regardless what you sign up for if you have FTTF you show up at the earliest time. If my thinking is correct what would the earliest time be for a 4 o'clock sail away? Noon maybe? 

As noted, the "rules" say you should show up according to your arrival appointment time, so 2:00 to 2:30pm, and you can go directly to the priority line.

 

As also noted, sometimes the rules don't get enforced.  So YMMV.

 

You should have been able to do your online check in two weeks prior to sailing - what delayed you to just a few days beforehand?  That's why only the last check-in time is available - all the other earlier slots are taken.

[Organized Chaos]

14 hours ago, grillinchillin said:

Google or go to the Carnival Website.

 

This community exists for a reason. People come here to interact with other cruisers and have their questions answered, do they not? We want to interact with others who have first-hand knowledge of the topic.

 

7 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

And take a chance that the port staff are enforcing boarding times and if so, have to wait a couple hours and hope they allow your assigned boarding time to board early.

 

Just to prevent any possible confusion on the OP's part, there's no such thing as boarding times, so we'll assume you're referring to arrival appointments.

[mamiamjo]

Your actual experience may vary but when we sailed last November out of Galveston, we arrived 10 minutes past our arrival time window and even though we had Priority, we had to go into the Early/Late line. We had to wait until the people in the On Time line were let in and then we were allowed to enter the terminal.

[Organized Chaos]

14 hours ago, CheersPkg4Us said:

We sail out Miami at 4pm on on Sunday on the Celebration. We do have the FTTF package. Today was my first opportunity to pre register. The only option was 2:00 -2:30. My thinking is regardless what you sign up for if you have FTTF you show up at the earliest time. If my thinking is correct what would the earliest time be for a 4 o'clock sail away? Noon maybe? 

 

Prior to the covid shutdown, it was a given that FTTF were allowed to arrive prior to their assigned arrival appointment time. Been there, done that, no one turned us away. But I guess they've gotten a little more strict with it. The purpose, I assume, is to keep the process running as smoothly as it was designed. As opposed to the days before arrival appts. when it was a huge cluster of humanity filling the terminal at the same time. Given that you have the 2-2:30 time slot, and are given priority check-in with FTTF, you'll be there in plenty of time before boarding begins, but be aware that the FTTF waiting area will be filled with all the earlier time slots and you'll have to wait once FTTF boarding is called. In many cases, even then it won't be a long wait.

[VentureMan_2000]

Funny that when people get away with something, especially if more than once, that they treat that as the rule rather than the exception.

[CheckersMidwest]

One of the MAIN reasons we always buy FTTF (last time necessary, will be platinum next cruise)....is because you have Priority Boarding. Sailed out of Miami several times with it....always show up around 10:30, show them my boarding pass & they whisk me through Priority check in.

 

We'll also be on the Celebration Sunday - see you there ! I got noon check in....I plan to arrive at 10:30. If I have to wait for some reason until noon, I'll just sit around there & wait. No different that sitting around the hotel room waiting.

 

I have heard that check in times were pushed back for this sailing due to a Coast Guard inspection Sunday - earliest offered , even to Diamond & Platinum, was 11:00.

[mz-s]

They have really diluted the value of FTTF haven't they. Wow, it boggles my mind why anybody would pay for it at this point at the current prices.

[mamiamjo]

37 minutes ago, mz-s said:

They have really diluted the value of FTTF haven't they. Wow, it boggles my mind why anybody would pay for it at this point at the current prices.

Exactly!☹️

[jsglow]

59 minutes ago, mz-s said:

They have really diluted the value of FTTF haven't they. Wow, it boggles my mind why anybody would pay for it at this point at the current prices.

What I would have done was to grant FttF 16 day check-in rights and then strictly enforced Arrival Times in the way it's done in Long Beach. Out there, EVERYONE does the arrival slot line.

But I personally agree with you about dilution, especially on any itinerary without tenders.

[Pellaz]

18 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

And take a chance that the port staff are enforcing boarding times and if so, have to wait a couple hours and hope they allow your assigned boarding time to board early.

 

"Arrival time," not boarding time. 

 

And IMHO, it's a chance worth taking based on our prior experiences at PortMiami.  

[john91498]

10 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

This community exists for a reason. People come here to interact with other cruisers and have their questions answered, do they not? We want to interact with others who have first-hand knowledge of the topic.

 

 

There's a few miserable people who always say google it or look it up on the website. I don't know why they need to come into a thread to say that. Is it so hard to just skip a question you feel the need to post google it?

 

I've answered a few questions a thousand times and I can answer the same question a thousand more times. Been doing this for over25 years.

[Dwright826]

11 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

This community exists for a reason. People come here to interact with other cruisers and have their questions answered, do they not? We want to interact with others who have first-hand knowledge of the topic.

 

1 hour ago, john91498 said:

There's a few miserable people who always say google it or look it up on the website. I don't know why they need to come into a thread to say that. Is it so hard to just skip a question you feel the need to post google it?

 

I've answered a few questions a thousand times and I can answer the same question a thousand more times. Been doing this for over25 years.

You guys are so right. Some people even to as far as starting threads to complain about these questions being asked.

[ProgRockCruiser]

13 hours ago, john91498 said:

There's a few miserable people who always say google it or look it up on the website.

I will admit I sometimes ask why didn't you look it up on the website (but usually after the answer is provided either by me or someone else).

 

Because IMHO it takes just as long to post a question here as it would be to go straight to the authoritative site, where you will get your answer immediately, vs waiting around here some undefined period of time (and potentially for a wrong answer - because I've seen plenty of those!).

 

So it seems very inefficient if your true need is an accurate answer.

 

While this is a great site, it is, by definition, "untrusted and unverified" information.  The best types of questions to ask here, IMHO, are the types that rely on cruisers' personal experiences or opinions, vs hard facts that have (usually) a single definitive trusted source elsewhere.  For example, Carnival will tell you where you cabin is located on a deck plan (i.e. the factual matter), but cruisers here will be able to tell you whether that is noisy because it located below the galley or above the disco.  Those can be useful and enjoyable (and/or amusing) threads.

 

In this thread alone there are varying opinions of whether the Arrival Appointment timeslot is enforced or not, and having that wrongly described as your "boarding time".  The first is user-experience, though potentially misleading if the person enquiring takes the answers too factually: one person/party being allowed into the Priority line with FTTF two hours before their official "arrival time" appointment as one particular instance "last weekend" doesn't mean it will be allowed at the same port the next week.  The second element (mis-describing "boarding time") is misleading, even if not intentional - the intended-to-be-useful information is tainted by the erroneous language.

 

If I want to check on the EPA-rated mileage of a new car, or the MSRP, I would go to car manufacturer's website, not ask an enthusiast forum.  But if I wanted to ask whether owners get anywhere close to the EPA mileage, or to find out whether anyone is getting any good discounts compared to the MSRP, then I would go the forum.

 

EDIT: I will go on to say that if you come here and ask a question such as "The Carnival website says blah-de-blah, but that makes no sense because la-de-dah, can someone tell me what their experience was?" then that is a great use of this CC forum site.

Edited October 13, 2023 by ProgRockCruiser