FTTF Worth It?

[Warm Breezes]

You are in zone 4 watching people board and hearing them call zones, just waiting for your turn to get on that boat. Would you pay $60 at that moment to walk out of that zone and get on the ship without waiting? I would, and that makes FTTF worth it every time for me.

 

Same goes at guest services. I did not even think the guest services perk even mattered to me, I seldom need them. Then three times on the last cruise I had something I needed from them and the line at the desk was honestly 30 minutes long. I was able to walk right up and get my questions answered.

 

I no longer even consider not purchasing FTTF.

 

Absolutely not. 15 minutes of waiting (which is approximately how long we waited when we had zone 4 in May once they started boarding) is not worth $60 to me. We also used guest services once on our last cruise....there was only one person in front of me. I don't think I would ever consider purchasing it.

[Kevin308]

For us it was worth it. It is really nice on a hot day being able to walk right by the line and get checked in. Even with Stagered check in the line out side in Galveston was about 15-20 minutes long it looked like. We got to walk right by those people and get checked in before those people even started coming in. It was really nice to avoid the heat and humidity and I really hate waiting in lines.

 

Getting on the ship so quick and having your room ready was nice. I had my room unpacked had eaten lunch and was exploring the ship before most people even got on board. This was nice.

 

Finally checking off. Disembarkation started at 8 by 8:15 we were waiting on or ride to show up. I wouldn't always expect to get through customs that quick though. We were coming back from Belize and they said to expect a long wait getting through customs. But on this day for us at lest It was minutes to get through.

[telebax51]

Try it then make your own judgement, i did on my first cruise and used it once at embarkation since then NO for us i give the porters a extra tip my last 2 cruises and the bags was at our cabin when we arrived.

[Rh2458]

Try it then make your own judgement, i did on my first cruise and used it once at embarkation since then NO for us i give the porters a extra tip my last 2 cruises and the bags was at our cabin when we arrived.

That makes no sense and must have just been a coincidence because the porters aren't responsible for getting your bags to your room, just onto the ship.

[kidzrnseattle]

We thought it was well worth the small fee. Stress free, short lines and easy on and off ship. Will always get it

[The Trooper]

I am not a patient person (but it's one of the things I am working on) to me FTTF is just a way to enjoy my vacation sooner. Standing in a long line at a cruise terminal is not vacation. On the Valor cruise in August out of Canaveral there are 3 reasons I bought FTTF - get on the boat sooner, tender early in HMC and get off the boat faster, I have a 12 hour drive home from Port Canaveral and want to get through customs and on 95 as soon as I can even though that means the vacation is over.

 

The other side benefit is cruising with children even teenagers to look at a lack of a line with them it's just easier to go grab lunch and the kids are off doing whatever they WANT to do instead of standing in a line to check in even for an extra 20 minutes.

[telebax51]

That makes no sense and must have just been a coincidence because the porters aren't responsible for getting your bags to your room, just onto the ship.

 

I am not going to question weather it makes since or a coincidence our luggage was there when we arrived once we got to our cabin for $10 dollars anything is possible

[DreadPirateRobert]

Face it, there are goin to be two prevalent opinions about FTTF. It is either worth it to people , or it isn't. Your job is to sort out the pros and cons and then decide for yourself.

For us the simple benefit of having cabins ready as soon as we board is worth it. We can drop off our carry on bag, use the bathroom in peace and have that big " vacation is finally here, baby" moment is worth the price. Priority this and that , blah, blah ... is just icing on an already pretty nice cake.,

[LovetheTXsun]

I think of FTTF as "Peace of Mind" insurance. For our first cruise on Freedom this past May out of Galveston it was GOLD. Had it not helped, I still would not have wanted to put myself in a position of regret.

 

At check-in, we breezed by in a separate line while long lines of hot cruise-goers extended into the humid outside.

 

We were let onboard earlier, able to go straight to our clean room to unload our carry-ons and were among the first to the bar and lido deck for lunch. By the time we were done eating 30 mins. later, the lines were full.

 

I had a few questions to ask Guest Services and was able to get in line behind 3 people. The non-FTTF/Priority line had at least 25 disgruntled people, some darting frustrated glances our way. Had I been them, I might have, if not looked, at least felt, the same. Tendering to Belize was easy and quick. We were able to check-in to our excursion and still have time for a leisurely drink and shopping while we waited for the others.

 

All in all, it was worth every penny of the $60 spent. When we booked, it wasn't available so I had to check it everyday, 3 times a day, for months! My husband thought I was crazy & teased me about it. By the end of the first day on the ship, he was humbly thanking me.

 

Have a wonderful time on your cruise and rest easy that you've covered all your bases 😊

[cruzelover55]

I am not going to question weather it makes since or a coincidence our luggage was there when we arrived once we got to our cabin for $10 dollars anything is possible

 

I think you were just very lucky! We have sailed with and without FTTF, have never seen much difference in luggage arrival. But, in all instances, we tipped way more than you did. I can only speak for the port of Galveston. I know for a fact the porters do NOT work for Carnival. Usually a part time job for longshoremen. They haul it to "wherever" their drop off is. I would think that the only control they would have on it, is if you did have FTTF, and you stiffed them. Then the "special" tag for FTTF might just not be noticed. Or they might just stack them a little further "away" from the zone. I have seen them roll their eyes when not tipped, and thought, YIKES!

[riclop]

I just purchased FTTF for my sailing in the pride august 7 out of baltimore. Do you guys believe that FTTF is worth is on this cruise. It stops in orlando nassau and freeport so we dont get to use the first tender and cut the tender line perk.

 

I could use $60 in other areas.

[andrek]

Can one person in the Cabin buy the FTTF and both people get on early or do you have to pay $120? Thanks

[Kevin308]

Can one person in the Cabin buy the FTTF and both people get on early or do you have to pay $120? Thanks

 

One person for the whole cabin.

[AlPSUCruiser]

$60 per cabin covers everyone. They put stickers on our room cards.

 

 

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[BettyPC]

Bought it for the second time.

[disneylover89]

Absolutely not. 15 minutes of waiting (which is approximately how long we waited when we had zone 4 in May once they started boarding) is not worth $60 to me. We also used guest services once on our last cruise....there was only one person in front of me. I don't think I would ever consider purchasing it.

 

Boy you are lucky, I have been on 3 Carnival cruises and I have never seen a guest services line with less than 10 people on it. Last time my son's card stopped working and we waited an hour. We would try going in the middle of the night at other times and there was still a line and I have been on smaller ships that had less people.

 

We purchased FTTF mainly for the GS line. Being able to drop off our 4 carryons when we board and the smaller lines on the Lido deck is an added plus.

[asalligo]

Same here, cruise before last without FTTF, I waited 45 minutes for a key change.

[ttown]

Just got off the Breeze yesterday and had FTTF. Check-in was super fast and we had a relatively short wait to board. Having our cabin ready immediately is a big plus as we bring our swim gear on with us and change into it right away. That's when the cruise begins.

 

I learned a lesson about baggage in Galveston. The porter put a special orange sticker on one of our bags and it got to the cabin by 1pm. The other bag did not have the sticker and it didn't show up until 5pm. The printed luggage tag is not the key to fast delivery, the orange sticker is.

 

Priority tendering in Grand Cayman did not matter as we were on a very early one and there were no lines.

 

The big payoff for FTTF was disembarkation. It was by far the best organized one we have ever experienced. We were through customs by 7:30 which was less than 15 minutes after the first person left the ship. There were 23 members of our family on this cruise and we all agreed that the $60 per cabin was will worth it just for the ease and speed of getting off the ship so we could start the 8 hour drive home.

 

FTTF could be improved by have a way to expedite get off the ship at non tendered ports. The current system is chaos.

[cmukid87]

This is the question of all questions for Carnival cruisers. Many say yes, many say no, for various reasons.

 

I say yes. Here's why:

-Priority boarding. We fly in the night before, sometimes the morning of. We get to the port very early usually and we won't have to wait long to board.

-Stateroom readiness. With a handful of kids, it's really convenient to dump our stuff in the our stateroom so the kids can hit the pool ASAP.

-Guest services. I visit guest services a 4 or so times per cruise, including during embarkation. Jumping the line is a real plus.

 

Priority tendering/debarkation - not real perks for us.

[sandebeach]

I just purchased it for our May 2017 Vista cruise. We did not have it for our Breeze cruise out of Miami in January, and we had to stand in a line in the terminal for almost an hour to get to the check-in counter. (I have no idea what was going on to take so long, if I had realized that I would have had my husband go find a place to sit down). By the time we got onboard, his knee was really bothering him. So I am hoping that having Faster to the Fun will make getting onboard a lot faster this time.

[Sabalon]

I learned a lesson about baggage in Galveston. The porter put a special orange sticker on one of our bags and it got to the cabin by 1pm. The other bag did not have the sticker and it didn't show up until 5pm. The printed luggage tag is not the key to fast delivery, the orange sticker is.

 

We had the orange stickers on our bags - read about that ahead of time - and a few of them still didn't show up until after we set sail. A bag from down the hall arrived at our room pretty early though :) Delivered it for them.

 

The big payoff for FTTF was disembarkation. It was by far the best organized one we have ever experienced. We were through customs by 7:30 which was less than 15 minutes after the first person left the ship. There were 23 members of our family on this cruise and we all agreed that the $60 per cabin was will worth it just for the ease and speed of getting off the ship so we could start the 8 hour drive home.

 

We were in the steerage class, er..., on the main deck, so there was no line for self disembark, and it would have been longer for us to go to the FTTF disembark area than to just get off the ship. However, if you're on an upper deck, this would help. Same reason we had it, except a 10 hour drive.

 

FTTF could be improved by have a way to expedite get off the ship at non tendered ports. The current system is chaos.

 

I agree, but I can live with it as it usually moves pretty fast. What I would love to see would be a Faster Back to the Fun - priority getting back on board at non-tender ports. (though I was impressed with how well Carnival handled it - the fellow guests left something to be desired...I didn't realize the lines don't matter for some people.)

[kamari]

not worth it. I recently sailed on the Conquest. Purchased FTTF it was a big waste of money. They didn't start boarding the ship until almost 1pm. Luggage arrive at the same time as non FTTF passengers. First and last time for sure !!!!!

[kamari]

also by 1pm all the staterooms were ready

Edited July 20, 2016 by kamari
error

[Rh2458]

also by 1pm all the staterooms were ready

 

not worth it. I recently sailed on the Conquest. Purchased FTTF it was a big waste of money. They didn't start boarding the ship until almost 1pm. Luggage arrive at the same time as non FTTF passengers. First and last time for sure !!!!! also by 1pm all the staterooms were ready

First off there are other benefits, secondly, how did you know your stateroom was ready that early? But, with that said, the more people that feel it's a waste of $$, the more chances there are that one will be open when I want to purchase it. I personally won't sail without it if at all humanly possible.

[telebax51]

also by 1pm all the staterooms were ready

 

Thanks for posting your experience with FTTF KAMARI I also agree it is ( NOT WORTH IT FOR ME ) again it is NOT FOR ME