FTTF and room being ready - does it really happen?

[Landlocked_N_Texas]

Our room wasn't ready when we used FTTF (this was on the Magic out of Galveston). We were told we could leave our bags (we only had a small carry on and a backpack). But one thing I didn't think about - I think the luggage was in our steward's way. Even when we went back, there was still sand on the floor, like it hadn't been vacuumed well.

 

I never thought much of it - actually I chalked it up to a difference between Carnival and the only other cruise line we sailed, DCL. But after our 2nd Carnival cruise I realized that wasn't the case! Our steward for our 2nd cruise was incredible - everything so clean and smooth when getting into our room. I think this has to do more with the room steward than the FTTF vs no FTTF.

 

We had an early excursion on a tender port and an early flight out, so those perks made it worthwhile. We want to try again, as our next cruise has a tender port and I like the idea of dropping things off. But if our room isn't ready, I won't leave our bag there.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Landlocked_N_Texas

[springs741]

Four for four in our case. Last trip we had 4 staterooms and all were ready. Does that mean I am 7 of 4?

All kidding aside on each of our last 4 cruises our rooms were ready and our luggage was delivered before muster drill. Twice we were told at check in that rooms would be ready around 1 or 1:30 pm. We didn't address it with the check in people. When we got to the double doors (once there was an employee stationed at the doors) we were welcomed to our rooms with a "welcome Mr. and Mrs. XXXX , your room is ready."

[ProudUSMCWife]

We purchased FTTF when we cruised on the Conquest in 2013. Our steward was finishing a few things up, but our room was basically ready when we boarded. We were checking things out in the room and taking some pics from the balcony when our luggage arrived. WONDERFUL!!! We were able to go ahead and unpack and put things away right then. So much better than having to wait! We're planning another cruise for June 2016 and will be purchasing FTTF again!

[JLee1973]

I've had FTTF twice and birth times rum was ready when I boarded around 1145

 

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[Rock712]

We've used it twice , and our room was ready both times. However , on our last cruise back in April on the Splendor , upon boarding there was a young lady directing all traffic to the elevators and to Lido deck. I told her we had FTTF and to my surprise she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. she called over another crew member who had to explain to her what I was talking about.

[dkc1973]

Wow so many great posts!! Thanks!!!

 

Glad to hear so many people got to their rooms as the should but also nice to see I'm not totally alone in my experiences.

 

When we were turned away from going to our rooms I didn't go to guest devices or anything but now I wish I had. I did mention the issue in the survey they send after the cruise but never got any acknowledgement of it in any way.

 

I think I'll try to get it for our next cruise. Maybe we will have better luck!

[flutist14_99]

I've had it three times now and all three times my room was ready to when I boarded. Once, I believe the room steward may have still been stocking robes or something. We love this service and the quick luggage delivery. If that didn't happen, I agree with others that I would have been using that shorter line at guest services and I feel confident they would have helped in some way.

[RoscoeJames]

We have had FTTF on our last 6 cruises and had no problems. A couple of times the Steward was just finishing up but were able to drop off our carry on luggage. Our luggage always came to our cabin within 2 hours of boarding. Love FTTF!

[Mommy2three]

We had FTTF for our first cruise at the end of August. We boarded around 11:00 and had no clue where to go because it was our first cruise. When we asked an employee how to get to our room, he told us we couldn't until 1:30. We explained that we had FTTF and he still told us we couldn't get to our room until 1:30. We found another employee and explained what was going on and that we had FTTF but was being told we couldn't go to our room until later and the second employee took us straight to our room and it was cleaned and ready. Guess it just all depends on the employee and if they understand the whole FTTF thing.

[goingcrzn11]

We had two rooms on the Magic with FTTF. One room was ready and one was not. All our luggage did not arrive until after dinner. It was a bit of a disappointment. I would probably not purchase it again. There were several people in our group that got their luggage before us without FTTF. I think they bit more off than they can chew with this service.

[DebJ14]

When you purchase FTTF your cabin absolutely MUST be ready when you board and your bags MUST be expedited. If it's not then go to guest services and the guest services manager will refund you your money. I had to do that one time when my bags didn't arrive until 4:30pm, even though I arrived at the port at 10am and was on the ship (Victory) by 11:45am. This happened to me two times and the first time (Elation) I let it slide, but the second time I got a refund. Carnival executive office confirmed that the bags should have been in my cabin no later than an hour or two after I boarded.

 

Interesting. I am Diamond and on our last 3 cruises the room was not ready and the luggage was not delivered until after sailing. Who is going to refund me the thousands it took to get to this level?

[angiegal]

Interesting. I am Diamond and on our last 3 cruises the room was not ready and the luggage was not delivered until after sailing. Who is going to refund me the thousands it took to get to this level?[/QUOT

 

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought the room being ready was just FTTF not a platnium or diamonds perk?

[jimbo5544]

Interesting. I am Diamond and on our last 3 cruises the room was not ready and the luggage was not delivered until after sailing. Who is going to refund me the thousands it took to get to this level?[/QUOT

 

 

 

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought the room being ready was just FTTF not a platnium or diamonds perk?

 

 

I am pretty sure you are not correct with that. If there were some division, the opposite would be true (example diamonds debarked before platinum before fttf). I am not hopping up on a soapbox on this just stating facts.

[bobsfamily]

 

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought the room being ready was just FTTF not a platnium or diamonds perk?

 

Nope, when it was rolled (FTTF that is) one of the first statements is that it included Plat/Diamonds, no charge for us. Nice perk... lots were taken away.

[pattimelt]

I have had FTTF twice. Both times, my room was ready, and, of all things, my luggage was at the door waiting for me!!!

 

I'm all over using this again just for that reason!!!!

[karlanee]

In our opinion the FTTF is totally worth it. It's not just getting to your room before others, it's also getting to go aboard earlier, getting to go to the special window at the Guest Services desk, priority choice for dining and getting to get off earlier.

 

We love FTTF!!

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

Interesting. I am Diamond and on our last 3 cruises the room was not ready and the luggage was not delivered until after sailing. Who is going to refund me the thousands it took to get to this level?

 

Good question, you are definitely getting screwed :) and I hope they fix it before I reach Platinum next year. If I were you I would take it up with guest services and request OBC for the lack of service. If they play hardball take it to the Carnival exec team while you're on the cruise. Guest services hates it when they get a complaint call from the executive office for a passenger currently on the ship (I know from experience :D ).

 

For people with FTTF it's a service that has been paid for and has a service agreement. So not honoring this agreement means refunds for us.

[RecoveryDude]

When you purchase FTTF your cabin absolutely MUST be ready when you board and your bags MUST be expedited. If it's not then go to guest services and the guest services manager will refund you your money. I had to do that one time when my bags didn't arrive until 4:30pm, even though I arrived at the port at 10am and was on the ship (Victory) by 11:45am. This happened to me two times and the first time (Elation) I let it slide, but the second time I got a refund. Carnival executive office confirmed that the bags should have been in my cabin no later than an hour or two after I boarded.

 

Ok so I recently used FTTF for the first time, Paradise 9/10 - The water doors were closed with a sign saying that "Rooms would be available at 1:30 ... unless you were Diamond/Plat/FTTF in which case please proceed to your room whenever you like."

 

There were no employees at the doors, we were first on the ship after Dia/Plats - We just went to our room, which was NOT ready, he still had to vaccuum- but regardless we just dropped off our carry ons, also our luggage was NOT there, and didn't arrive till 2PM, which was disappointing since we got to the port at 10AM and was on the ship before 11AM.

 

Also, on the paradise the guest services folks did not do a good job of giving people in the FTTF line priority. Several times I had to say "What about me?" because they kept taking people in the regular line.

 

I'm curious about this "refund" you got, though - did the fact that you got a refund mean you no longer had the "other" FTTF perks?

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

Ok so I recently used FTTF for the first time, Paradise 9/10 - The water doors were closed with a sign saying that "Rooms would be available at 1:30 ... unless you were Diamond/Plat/FTTF in which case please proceed to your room whenever you like."

 

There were no employees at the doors, we were first on the ship after Dia/Plats - We just went to our room, which was NOT ready, he still had to vaccuum- but regardless we just dropped off our carry ons, also our luggage was NOT there, and didn't arrive till 2PM, which was disappointing since we got to the port at 10AM and was on the ship before 11AM.

 

Also, on the paradise the guest services folks did not do a good job of giving people in the FTTF line priority. Several times I had to say "What about me?" because they kept taking people in the regular line.

 

I'm curious about this "refund" you got, though - did the fact that you got a refund mean you no longer had the "other" FTTF perks?

 

IMO if the steward was still in the process of cleaning your room I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. That's happened to me a few times and I didn't sweat it. Those guys work a ton of hours and I know they're doing their best to meet the needs of FTTF. If the cabin wasn't touched at all then I would have a problem. Luggage arriving around 2pm is actually normal for FTTF and would be considered expedited. if you're lucky sometimes you can get on the ship extra early, but the luggage delivery countdown should start around the normal embarkation time.

 

When I got my refund I originally requested a partial refund for the late luggage. But they said they couldn't do partial and just gave me the full refund. I still had FTTF with all of perks :)

[lylone]

We have had fttf and suites both times we have cruised. First time no problem, the second time room wasn't ready but still was able to put carryons in a closet. Not too mad about room not being ready but my checked bag didn't show up until after dinner. I was majorly worried!!

Edited September 21, 2015 by lylone

[pebblesjns]

We have had FTTF 2 times now. The first time last year, we had no problems with our room being ready when we got on board. We were on the Sunshine on Sept. 11 and got the email that we were manually added to the FTTF roster a couple of days prior to our sailing. We were on board by 11 am and headed straight to our room to drop our things off, and it wasn't ready. My parents also had FTTF and their cabin was 3 doors down, and theirs was ready. We wound up dropping our stuff in their room and proceeded to Guest Services to see why it wasn't ready yet. We spoke with the manager at the Guest Services who called and had our room steward prioritize our room. We had medication that needed to be cooled which was one of the reasons I wanted FTTF in the first place. We wound up getting a medi-cooler until we got a fridge to our room. We also had a message on our cabin phone later that day saying they were not charging us for FTTF since our room wasn't ready. It worked out to our advantage really, since we were able to board early and just used my parents room for storage until ours was ready. We still had our luggage early and got to debark in zone 1, but didn't have to pay!

[MandiesMom]

We had FTTF on my last cruise on the Sensation. Our room was NOT ready either. But, we were still allowed to go in and drop off our stuff. We weren't kept out of it. If we had been, I would've immediately gone to Guest Services.

 

As others have said, that was really the only reason we got it.