John Heald: Priority boarding isn’t gone for good

[kelkel2]

In his live today he didn’t offer a lot of details but did confirm that priority boarding on the first few cruises in July won’t be happening. He didn’t say how they would be handing boarding, only that this is not a permanent thing and it will return. 

[miataman19]

Obvious that they don't want everyone showing up at the port all at once. Everyone will probably be given a boarding time to stretch out the embarkation process (they did that previously but nobody pays attention). I'll assume that the Diamond and Platinum folks will get first slots. If you show up early they won't let you into the terminal so don't be that person that thinks they're entitled. You might be but not till we get back to normal.

Edited June 2, 2021 by miataman19

[ninjacat123]

57 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

In his live today he didn’t offer a lot of details but did confirm that priority boarding on the first few cruises in July won’t be happening. He didn’t say how they would be handing boarding, only that this is not a permanent thing and it will return. 

Good to know!  Thx for posting!

[kelkel2]

1 hour ago, miataman19 said:

Obvious that they don't want everyone showing up at the port all at once. Everyone will probably be given a boarding time to stretch out the embarkation process (they did that previously but nobody pays attention). I'll assume that the Diamond and Platinum folks will get first slots. If you show up early they won't let you into the terminal so don't be that person that thinks they're entitled. You might be but not till we get back to normal.

I think so too. I think they’ll be giving plats and diamonds the earlier time slots and not allow people to come before their time window. 

[LHARTWICK]

43 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

I think so too. I think they’ll be giving plats and diamonds the earlier time slots and not allow people to come before their time window. 

As it should be IMO, once test sailings are done and things normalize a bit.  I know in Galveston and NOLA the time slots and priority lines were enforced.  We are Platinum, and the line for the non-priority level guests was very long and full of people complaining because they were waiting to get in.  Follow the rules and you won't be waiting - duh! 🙃  I'm just sayin'!  I do hope priority boarding returns.  CCL's system has worked well for us. 

[kelkel2]

18 minutes ago, LHARTWICK said:

As it should be IMO, once test sailings are done and things normalize a bit.  I know in Galveston and NOLA the time slots and priority lines were enforced.  We are Platinum, and the line for the non-priority level guests was very long and full of people complaining because they were waiting to get in.  Follow the rules and you won't be waiting - duh! 🙃  I'm just sayin'!  I do hope priority boarding returns.  CCL's system has worked well for us. 

I agree. I mean we are not platinum. However, I have no problem having a relaxing morning at the hotel before we head over. If it’s that big of a deal I can try to get FTTF but it’s not that big of a deal. I’m sure in the long run it will

make things so much smoother.
We haven’t cruised lately, we put cruising on hold while we had infant twins. However, now we’re ready to head back. I have absolutely no problem with an assigned time,  I have zero desire to sit in a lobby with a bazillion other people. Last cruise people were so rude. We had fttf and it was still a cattle call. People pushing etc. any improvements they can make, especially on a ship like Mardi Gras will be completely welcomed by me. 

[Linsuesue]

FTTF is still being sold for my Alaska cruise this August. 

[dbrucern]

We made Diamond for this cruise to Alaska and priority is gone but my granddaughters FTTF is still on her luggage tags

[Lee Cruiser]

1 hour ago, kelkel2 said:

I agree. I mean we are not platinum. However, I have no problem having a relaxing morning at the hotel before we head over. If it’s that big of a deal I can try to get FTTF but it’s not that big of a deal. I’m sure in the long run it will

make things so much smoother.
 

A few years ago we were going out of N.O.  I think it was our last cruise before turning platinum. We had a check in later in the day.  It was actually the smoothest boarding experience we have ever had.  There were no lines.  Going through security and checking in was a breeze and we were able to go directly on the ship.  Since the rooms were already ready when we got on board, we just took our own luggage.  Worked out really well.

[TNcruising02]

34 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

A few years ago we were going out of N.O.  I think it was our last cruise before turning platinum. We had a check in later in the day.  It was actually the smoothest boarding experience we have ever had.  There were no lines.  Going through security and checking in was a breeze and we were able to go directly on the ship.  Since the rooms were already ready when we got on board, we just took our own luggage.  Worked out really well.

We had the opposite experience.  We drove to the port and arrived around noon.  It was well before our appointment time, so we went through the early/late line.  It was the slowest we have ever boarded in all of my cruises.

[asalligo]

I think we can completely understand why priority boarding would be removed from the process for the first couple of months. Don't worry, it will be back once things normalize a little. 

[asalligo]

54 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

We had the opposite experience.  We drove to the port and arrived around noon.  It was well before our appointment time, so we went through the early/late line.  It was the slowest we have ever boarded in all of my cruises.

The only reason I buy FTTF now and probably always will when it it available. I really do not care about the other perks, but I had FTTF in NO for our Dream cruise and some cruisers we know did not. They literally boarded four hours after us due to some complication in the boarding process and estimate that there were still hundreds waiting when they boarded. We actually sailed late that day, but I was on the ship before noon. Most of the time you are really only buying an hour with FTTF, but that day it bought at least four hours of cruise time.

 

Does anyone else find sitting in the terminal just waiting to be mind numbing or is that just me? 

[PlanoDebbie]

When Carnival first started doing the staggered (assigned) check-in times, I wasn't a happy camper and was sure that it was going to be awful.  Surprisingly, it goes quite smoothly.  In Galveston, they have 2 que lines, one for those on time, and the other line for those that are too early.  If the on-time line gets really short, they allow some of the too early folks to fill in the lines.  I think it took us barely 10 minutes after dropping off our bags to getting through the check-in procedure and finding our cabin.

[cruisingguy007]

Great way to boost revenue by selling more FTTF. Nice profit chasing move! 

[hurricane0226]

On 6/2/2021 at 3:07 PM, asalligo said:

The only reason I buy FTTF now and probably always will when it it available. I really do not care about the other perks, but I had FTTF in NO for our Dream cruise and some cruisers we know did not. They literally boarded four hours after us due to some complication in the boarding process and estimate that there were still hundreds waiting when they boarded. We actually sailed late that day, but I was on the ship before noon. Most of the time you are really only buying an hour with FTTF, but that day it bought at least four hours of cruise time.

 

Does anyone else find sitting in the terminal just waiting to be mind numbing or is that just me? 

Time sure does not fly when waiting in the terminal, lol. 

[keels81]

On 6/2/2021 at 12:31 PM, Lee Cruiser said:

A few years ago we were going out of N.O.  I think it was our last cruise before turning platinum. We had a check in later in the day.  It was actually the smoothest boarding experience we have ever had.  There were no lines.  Going through security and checking in was a breeze and we were able to go directly on the ship.  Since the rooms were already ready when we got on board, we just took our own luggage.  Worked out really well.

 

I live legit less than seven minutes from the port here in New Orleans - our last boarding experience was exactly like yours. We had a time just after Noon, and from the time the Uber picked me up at my house to the time we were on the ship with a cocktail in hand was less than 30 minutes. It was incredible.

[BlerkOne]

Depending on testing requirements, and if luggage and such are to be disinfected before being allowed on the ship, priority anything will be hard to implement.

[SNJCruisers]

On 6/2/2021 at 3:07 PM, asalligo said:

 

Does anyone else find sitting in the terminal just waiting to be mind numbing or is that just me? 

It's just as mind numbing for Platinums.  The funniest time we ever had was a few years ago embarking out of Miami on the NCL Bliss.  NCL, similar to Carnival is a Pepsi cruise line.  Past security in the waiting area there are Coke machines that dispense 20 oz bottles @ $2.00 each.  It was a riot sitting there and watching multiple families buying tons of bottles to take on board in their backpacks so they could have their "Coke fix".

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

4 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

It's just as mind numbing for Platinums.  The funniest time we ever had was a few years ago embarking out of Miami on the NCL Bliss.  NCL, similar to Carnival is a Pepsi cruise line.  Past security in the waiting area there are Coke machines that dispense 20 oz bottles @ $2.00 each.  It was a riot sitting there and watching multiple families buying tons of bottles to take on board in their backpacks so they could have their "Coke fix".

 

Coke is addictive! (both kinds)

 

I kicked my Mt. Dew habit over 20 years ago 🙂

 

Tom

[SCBarker]

12 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Great way to boost revenue by selling more FTTF. Nice profit chasing move! 

That is one thing Carnival sells that costs them absolutely zero.  It's everything they would be doing anyway, just in a different order.  They will hold on to that until their hands bleed.

[mexicobob]

On 6/2/2021 at 2:07 PM, asalligo said:

The only reason I buy FTTF now and probably always will when it it available. I really do not care about the other perks, but I had FTTF in NO for our Dream cruise and some cruisers we know did not. They literally boarded four hours after us due to some complication in the boarding process and estimate that there were still hundreds waiting when they boarded. We actually sailed late that day, but I was on the ship before noon. Most of the time you are really only buying an hour with FTTF, but that day it bought at least four hours of cruise time.

 

Does anyone else find sitting in the terminal just waiting to be mind numbing or is that just me? 

I wait in a restaurant or bar in the French Quarter and try to be the last one to board. No line. No wait. Always board the ship happy and stress free. Had to learn the hard way though.

[Frank12]

I don't mind not being on the ship first.  I just hope Platinums can still access rooms upon boarding to drop stuff off.

[TNcruising02]

1 hour ago, Frank12 said:

I don't mind not being on the ship first.  I just hope Platinums can still access rooms upon boarding to drop stuff off.

Me too.  We travel with only carry-ons, so we like to take our baggage directly to our cabin.  We have used FTTF to do that in the past, but are looking forward to doing it was a platinum benefit on our next cruise.