FTTF and airport transfers (Galveston)

[MaiTaiMary]

We are taking our cruise out of Galveston. We'll be spending the night at a hotel very close to the airport the night before, then heading back to the airport first thing in the morning to get the transfers over to the cruise terminal.

 

I know the transfer bus will wait for other passengers, so I'm trying to figure out if getting FTTF would really be worth it. Of course I'm super anxious to start my vacation, but I don't want to waste $50 if we are most likely going to spend a good chunk of the morning waiting around at the airport.

 

I know there are other FTTF perks, but as far as early boarding goes, do you think it would be worth it if we have airport transfers? Again, this is from Galveston, if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks. :D

[volmoma]

Is your transfer to port thru carnival?? (I've used their transfers) If not, how much would it cost for a taxi from your hotel to the port? ( you will get there faster via taxi) I'm not familiar with Galveston. I would check cost effectiveness with getting to the port, then make my call on purchasing FTTF. You can also purchase FTTF and cancel it later if you change your mind. Hope this helps. And I think the price of FTTF is $59 now, you might want to check.

Edited July 5, 2015 by volmoma

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Galveston is over an hour from Houston...land transportation is expensive but private transport is much cheaper, faster, and more efficient than Carnival transports and they will pick you up directly from the motel/hotel (there are lots of online sites). FTTF is not about early boarding but priority boarding. If you don't like lines...and they start lining up at 9am in Galveston...either get FTTF which allows you to go through the check-in process at a special line (basically jumping the main lines) or arrive at the terminal after 12:00 when most people have checked in.

[MaiTaiMary]

FTTF is not about early boarding but priority boarding.

 

What is the difference? :confused: If you have priority boarding, you get to board earlier than others. I don't understand.

[MaiTaiMary]

We already have our Carnival transfers. That's a done deal. :)

 

My question was whether the FTTF would really help us out at all of we have airport transfers to the Galveston cruise terminal.

 

We will be getting to the airport early, but others have told us that we may have to wait a while until the bus is full before we head over to the cruise terminal. I don't want to pay for FTTF if we don't get to board until the general cruise population boards anyway.

 

Thanks. I guess this question is aimed more towards people who have taken Carnival airport transfers to the Galveston cruise terminal and had FTTF.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

What is the difference? :confused: If you have priority boarding, you get to board earlier than others. I don't understand.

 

If you arrive at the same time as someone without loyalty or FTTF you get moved to a reserved line for check in which means the process is faster. And sure if you arrive before boarding begins you will get a low number. If you arrive after boarding has started you are moved to the head of the line no matter what time you get there.

 

Some ships sail with hundreds of platinums and diamonds...you have to wait until they get on board with FTTF.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

We already have our Carnival transfers. That's a done deal. :)

 

My question was whether the FTTF would really help us out at all of we have airport transfers to the Galveston cruise terminal.

 

We will be getting to the airport early, but others have told us that we may have to wait a while until the bus is full before we head over to the cruise terminal. I don't want to pay for FTTF if we don't get to board until the general cruise population boards anyway.

 

Thanks. I guess this question is aimed more towards people who have taken Carnival airport transfers to the Galveston cruise terminal and had FTTF.

 

Yes you will wait at the airport until the bus is full. Transfer service begins at 10am....you may be lucky and leave the airport by 10:30. Arriving at Galveston just before noon. Most FTTF purchasers are at the pier by 9am.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Sweet Dutch Girl

[MaiTaiMary]

Yes you will wait at the airport until the bus is full. Transfer service begins at 10am....you may be lucky and leave the airport by 10:30. Arriving at Galveston just before noon. Most FTTF purchasers are at the pier by 9am.

 

Oh wow! I knew it was far, but I didn't realize it was a 90 minute drive. OK, FTTF isn't sounding like it would work for us, then. Thank you!!! :D

 

 

9:00a at the Galveston cruise terminal? Wow! That's awesome! Sounds like embarkation is much better here than at the Long Beach terminal. We had FTTF in Long Beach and didn't get to board until after 1:00p! :(

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Oh wow! I knew it was far, but I didn't realize it was a 90 minute drive. OK, FTTF isn't sounding like it would work for us, then. Thank you!!! :D

 

 

9:00a at the Galveston cruise terminal? Wow! That's awesome! Sounds like embarkation is much better here than at the Long Beach terminal. We had FTTF in Long Beach and didn't get to board until after 1:00p! :(

 

The drive is 1hr + but getting onto the island can be time consuming because of the traffic. The ship doesn't board till 11 am or later but people are impatient and get there very very early and just sit in the waiting rooms.

 

Having done Galveston a few times I would aim for a 12:30 to 1:00 pm arrival. By then it has slowed down, you will be able to drop of hand luggage and still have plenty of time for a nice lunch.

[MaiTaiMary]

Transfer service begins at 10am...

 

Our transfer info says it begins at 7:30am. :confused: That's a big difference. Why are you saying it's 10:00am?

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Our transfer info says it begins at 7:30am. :confused: That's a big difference. Why are you saying it's 10:00am?

 

That is what the Carnival website says.

[MaiTaiMary]

That is what the Carnival website says.

 

Where? It says 7:30am on the transfers that we purchased. I want to call and confirm. That's a huge difference. I really would rather not sit at the airport all morning, yet want to get to the cruise terminal as soon as I can.

 

Thanks!

[HawksFan74]

Oh wow! I knew it was far, but I didn't realize it was a 90 minute drive.

Which airport are you flying into? Hobby Airport is 42 miles from the cruise terminal. Bush Intercontinental Airport is about 70 miles. Southwest flies into Hobby. Pretty much all other airlines use Intercontinental.

 

Our transfer info says it begins at 7:30am. :confused: That's a big difference. Why are you saying it's 10:00am?

According to this page, Carnival transfer service begins at 10:00am.

[MaiTaiMary]

(sorry. duplicate post.)

Edited July 5, 2015 by MaiTaiMary

[MaiTaiMary]

Which airport are you flying into? Hobby Airport is 42 miles from the cruise terminal. Bush Intercontinental Airport is about 70 miles. Southwest flies into Hobby. Pretty much all other airlines use Intercontinental.

 

 

According to this page, Carnival transfer service begins at 10:00am.

 

Good grief! That's a big difference. Thank you! I guess I'll call Carnival and see what they have to say. Our transfers definitely say it begins at 7:30am.

 

We are flying Southwest into Hobby.

[KatyAGoGo]

We had FTTF on our Magic cruise from Galveston in March. We live in Houston, but we were slow getting to the port and didn't arrive until almost 1pm. I was afraid we had wasted our main benefit.

 

But, when we got to the check-in area after security the line was LONG. It was hot and crowded and people were cranky. We were so happy not to wait, totally worth it.

 

This may or may not happen, but I would get it again even taking that risk. Skipping the

line at guest services was great as well.

[MaiTaiMary]

FTTF opened up for our cruise, yet I couldn't purchase it because it conflicted with our transfer time. So this isn't even an option, I guess? :( I was still considering it because we will have a tender in Belize. Also, I was hoping we would luck out and it would help us some in Galveston.

[Jana60]

Carnival waits for that big bus to be fully booked before they leave the airport so you don't get to the port very much time before boarding if any. I'm platinum and like to get on board and be unpacked and eating lunch before the big crowds are on so for next cruise we are going with Island breeze shuttle for transfer from Houston hubby to the cruise port. I discovered that for the two of us round trip transfers with Carnival would cost $140 but roundtrip transfers with the shuttle service, who use a small van so we don't have to wait for a large group, are $150 so I decided it was worth the extra $10. You can cancel your Carnival shuttle. Answer to the person who said the Carnival shuttle leaves at 10 even though it says 730 AM you are correct. There wasn't even anyone there at the airport at 730 and I was told by information people that they wouldn't be there until at least 9. So I had to go and kill time for over an hour before anyone from Carnival even arrived at the airport. And then it was after 10 o'clock before the shuttle left the airport and people were already boarding when the first shuttle from the airport arrived to the cruise port. I was very disappointed.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Jana60

[JR321]

If you have your transfers booked through Carnival you might not be able to book FTTF. We had that issue and Carnival told us over the phone it wasn't possible to book FTTF online if you have transfers booked. Some computer glitch.

 

Try to call Carnival and tell them you want to buy it. They told us that they would put us on a "master list" and we could pay for it at the port. Seems like it was a lie though because I started a thread on it and everyone seemed very skeptical.