FTTF Out Of Long Beach

[CAgirl67]

There may be too many VIP cruisers on that sailing. JH said it was only going to be offered on the Mexican cruises.

 

Thanks for the info. With early check in at Long Beach we've always gotten zone 1 boarding anyhow, so not really sure it would be worth it anyhow.

 

 

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[ibtran]

They do offer FTTF in Long Beach, at least on the Miracle. We noticed it when we sailed last December to Hawaii. We managed to book it for our next cruise to HI in Dec 2014. I have no idea how well it works, but it is advertised to occur from 11am to noon. I suspect it works best if you arrive in that window. Check for availability daily, as you may be lucky enough, as we were, to find one or two tickets available from cancellations.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this at LB?

[johndru]

We had FTTF for our Miracle cruise to Hawaii in January of this year. We travelled with another couple, who also had FTTF. We both got to the check in counter at the same time, but they were done much sooner than we were. There is a "special line" for FTTF, so you'll want to look for that. As has been said in earlier posts, this port is very disorganized. We stood at the check in window for over 20 minutes because they couldn't find our sign and sail cards! They had to be re-printed! It was so frustrating because our friends had to wait for us to get done, and it took forever. When we went through the door into the second check in area, I told the Carnival rep that this definitely wasn't "faster" or "fun".

You're also supposed to get your luggage before anyone else. I had two bags and so did my husband. We got all of our bags, with the exception of my second bag. That one finally showed up around 8 p.m., and that was after I had called to inquire about its whereabouts.

If you're going on a Hawaii cruise, the only port you'll need FTTF is in Kona. Due to high seas, we missed that port, so we didn't need it for tender priority anyway.

Finally, you're supposed to get priority disembarkation, but that was disorganized, as well. We had an early flight, and we made it just in time.

All in all, I would say that FTTF is only advantageous if you have multiple tender ports, and you want to get to your cabin early. Weigh your options carefully. I don't think it was much of an advantage in Long Beach, or on the Hawaii cruise.

Edited June 1, 2014 by johndru

[ccruisequeen]

We had FTTF for our Miracle cruise to Hawaii in January of this year. We travelled with another couple, who also had FTTF. We both got to the check in counter at the same time, but they were done much sooner than we were. There is a "special line" for FTTF, so you'll want to look for that. As has been said in earlier posts, this port is very disorganized. We stood at the check in window for over 20 minutes because they couldn't find our sign and sail cards! They had to be re-printed! It was so frustrating because our friends had to wait for us to get done, and it took forever. When we went through the door into the second check in area, I told the Carnival rep that this definitely wasn't "faster" or "fun".

You're also supposed to get your luggage before anyone else. I had two bags and so did my husband. We got all of our bags, with the exception of my second bag. That one finally showed up around 8 p.m., and that was after I had called to inquire about its whereabouts.

If you're going on a Hawaii cruise, the only port you'll need FTTF is in Kona. Due to high seas, we missed that port, so we didn't need it for tender priority anyway.

Finally, you're supposed to get priority disembarkation, but that was disorganized, as well. We had an early flight, and we made it just in time.

All in all, I would say that FTTF is only advantageous if you have multiple tender ports, and you want to get to your cabin early. Weigh your options carefully. I don't think it was much of an advantage in Long Beach, or on the Hawaii cruise.

 

I learned that you need to ask for a special Orange luggage tag. Once I had that, luggage was waiting for me at the door

 

[WindsorFred]

We had FTTF for our Miracle cruise to Hawaii in January of this year. We travelled with another couple, who also had FTTF. We both got to the check in counter at the same time, but they were done much sooner than we were. There is a "special line" for FTTF, so you'll want to look for that. As has been said in earlier posts, this port is very disorganized. We stood at the check in window for over 20 minutes because they couldn't find our sign and sail cards! They had to be re-printed! It was so frustrating because our friends had to wait for us to get done, and it took forever. When we went through the door into the second check in area, I told the Carnival rep that this definitely wasn't "faster" or "fun".

You're also supposed to get your luggage before anyone else. I had two bags and so did my husband. We got all of our bags, with the exception of my second bag. That one finally showed up around 8 p.m., and that was after I had called to inquire about its whereabouts.

If you're going on a Hawaii cruise, the only port you'll need FTTF is in Kona. Due to high seas, we missed that port, so we didn't need it for tender priority anyway.

Finally, you're supposed to get priority disembarkation, but that was disorganized, as well. We had an early flight, and we made it just in time.

All in all, I would say that FTTF is only advantageous if you have multiple tender ports, and you want to get to your cabin early. Weigh your options carefully. I don't think it was much of an advantage in Long Beach, or on the Hawaii cruise.

 

Guess we were onboard with you. Missing Kona due to high seas and getting in late to Maui because of rough seas.

Edited June 8, 2014 by WindsorFred