kctwinmommy

Haha! This is why I've told my son I won't buy him the crazy, neon colored shoes he always seems to want. I don't totally mind them, but when we need to look a little nice, the darker gym shoes just blend in better. So he agrees to get darker Nike's with some colored trim instead! ;)

And like everyone else said, nobody's going to turn you away. For our Alaska cruise, he'll bring his gym shoes for sure. We have too much to pack.

I've lost $50 on a bad blackjack hand. FTTF is worth it just for the peace of mind.

Haha! Great point!

So we haven't done it in the past, but our friends we travel with are a much higher status, so they're always on before us. This last time, in November, they were on for about 2 hours before us, we didn't have the FTTF. It took us at least an hour to get through the line, check-in, etc... Plus, our rooms weren't ready for another hour or two.

Having said all that, we did buy the FTTF for both of our future cruises. One we'll be traveling with the other couple again, so we want to get on with them. The other one, we won't, but we'd like to be on as soon as possible. Plus, then our room is ready. You also get a dedicated line for guest services, which could be handy if you need it. There are also a few other benefits, so read through Carnival's site and see if it's worth it for you.

I posted the other day about getting this finally for our July trip and like someone said, it's like a little extra insurance. If you don't need it, you'll feel like you wasted the money, but if you do, you'll be happy you bought it. So for the $60, it's no big deal to us, we bought it.

I think it's probably like insurance if you don't need/use it, it's going to seem like a waste of money. So if you happen to get on an off fast and you don't really need guest services then you are going think why did I waste money on this pass? But if there are delays and you get on faster due to FTTF and there are issues where you have to go to GS and get to skip the long lines because you have the FTTF pass you are going to say OMG I'm so glad I bought it.

 

I just bought it for our Dec cruise. I had to decide if I wanted to buy it for our Oct one or our Dec one first. The Oct one was still showing 21 available so none sold yet. The Dec one was down to 2 available, figured I'd grab one before they were all gone, plus it's a bigger ship with more people. If I wind up only getting one, that seems to be the smarter one to have.

Exactly! It's like Southwest Airlines charging $12/person, per flight, to board earlier. You take your chances when you check in that you'll get something early, or you pay a little extra. It's all up to each person as to what they feel is best for them! :D

A BIG waste of $$$.

Thank you for sharing your opinion. Again, the good thing is Carnival doesn't force anyone to buy it. :)

I didnt stand in any lines on Silversea. Whats your point?

That's great! I've never sailed on their ships, so I can't speak to anything about them.

As far as Carnival, which I have sailed, I guess the bottom line is that people are willing to pay extra for a variety of things. Some people book excursions through Carnival to make things easier, others use outside companies to save a few bucks. Some people pay a much higher price for certain cabins while others go with the cheapest one just to be on vacation. The best thing is that nobody is required to purchase FTTF. ;)

Still checking every day. Up until a week ago the FTTF option was still showing in the excursion section. It was showing SOLD OUT. Now its not there at all, gone completely. I'm thinking our sailing has an abundance of Diamond and Platinum cruisers.

That's odd! It doesn't show up on my excursions anymore either. But I just assumed that it was because I already bought it.

Yes if there is not staggered boarding you can just show up whenever you want to. That is what we've always done. This will be our first experience with staggered boarding or FTTF if we purchase it.

This will be our first experience with FTTF! :)

We got it for our other cruise in November, since we booked it much further out. We wanted it for that one since the friends with travel with are at I believe a diamond level, so we had to wait to get on and they would already be settled in, eating lunch, etc... LOL!

Ok found the post it's in the umm awww shoot I already forgot the title of it, sorry my memory sucks, ok checked my history, the mandatory late boarding with FTTF thread on the first page. It was port authority that wouldn't let them in before the time on the FTTF paperwork. In their case it wasn't a big deal they still boarded together since it was only half an hour difference. But it would be an hour wait if I showed up at 10 and they wouldn't let me in until 11. I don't think I want to start the girls first cruise off with an hour wait outside.

 

Wait since you still keep your check in time I could just show them my cruise docks with the 10 am check in couldn't I and not even show them my FTTF? Wouldn't that solve any confusion the port authority might have since it would show I have permission to enter at 10am?

You're talking about ports that have the staggered boarding though, correct? We don't have that for our cruise.

How many days out did it pop?

We're like 50-something days out. I was checking around the time when deposits were due since many people said that's a good time. I'm guessing it's because people change their mind and don't pay their deposit. But nothing opened up at that time. Last night it did, just random, in the evening.

This post reminded me to check again. Same as you it's always not been available. Just got it this morning :). I really wanted it as I didn't want to lug around our carry ons. :)

LOL! I know what you mean. And when I looked it said limited availability, and I almost clicked off the page thinking it was saying sold out, because I was so used to seeing it!! :p

I've been checking almost every day, but it never opened, so I had stopped checking so much. I had just resigned myself to not getting it. Thought I'd check tonight and Bam! It was available! I know not everyone feels that it's all that much of a difference, but it'll be nice to have our room ready and the short times at guest services if needed. :D

Not sure what the All-inclusive was offering, but Grand Turk is a very small port. I mean, when on the beach, my son and husband were swimming out to where the ship was docked. We just picked some beach chairs and spent the morning on the beach. Then we walked over to Margaritaville, and spent the rest of the day at the pool there.

You'll probably get more information on the Alaska board. But here's a thread I was following. I know it says "ladies" but there is more information in there.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2342728

We're going on our first as well, but being from Chicago, we have clothes for all kinds of weather and seasons! ;)

Like someone else said, check the Alaska board on here. We're doing our first one this summer too. There are a bunch of threads there talking about different things to do. I already booked our stuff, for the most part. But we're still undecided about Ketchikan, so there are conversations there that are helping me decide.

Nope! Like others said, I guess there is the regular stress of traveling, and I get that. But also, like others said, we've mostly eliminated that by being smart about flying in the day before and staying at a nearby hotel.

The only thing I stressed about on this last one was our son. It was his first one, and he was 12. He really hadn't been given much of a change to really do things on his own, just for various life issues in the past. So I had no idea how it would be for him, for us, etc... But he loved it, which didn't surprise me. And I found out that he would check in on occasion, he'd find one of us, or one of our friends that was with us, I never felt worried that he was lost.

I also do think there are different type of cruises. For example, this Alaska one we're taking will certainly be a different experience. We're doing much more active type excursions, getting up early for things, etc... Not that it makes it stressful, just not quite as "laying around the beach relaxing" LOL!

I can only see cabana rentals by clicking the Rentals box on the far left.

 

First click on Grand Turk, then scroll down on the far left which shows different options ( water sport, beach, hiking) and click on Rentals

OMG! Thank you!!! I had looked for a couple of times and just thought maybe it wasn't there yet, for some odd reason, or just sold out. Or who knows!! :confused: But either way, it's there now! And limited availability, so I booked it! I figure I can always cancel, but I would love to do that this time. We have 6 people traveling with our group, so then we can all use it.

In Margaritaville you have to buy the cabana thru the excursions offered for your cruise and then get off early to pick the one when you get to Margaritaville. We usually always choose # 2 or 3 close to bathrooms and right across from swim up bar.

Is there a reason it isn't showing up in the excursions? Could it be sold out already?

Nope, that is for the cabanas on Half Moon Cay.

 

At Margaritaville, you meet up with a rep from Margaritaville and select through him. My advice, get there early. You can send 1 person in your party to go reserve, they give you a key to it, so you can reserve and go back to the ship then back to your cabana. The guy was super nice, walked with us while we decided which one we wanted.

 

That's good to know! I haven't been able to find much of good information on renting one. It's not showing up as an excursion on our cruise, but according to the Margaritaville website, that's the only way to book it.

I keep checking, hoping one day I'll catch it as open for purchase. Haven't had any luck yet though. Still have about 2 months to go.

Thanks for the info. We're going to have FTTF for our November cruise, but we couldn't get it for our Alaska one, we booked it pretty late. We travel with other friends for the Nov. one though, and they're a much higher level than us, so they get on much quicker. We would like to be able to get on with them and relax on board too. Not sure how much we'll use the other perks either, but it's nice to know we have them if we need them, like the guest services thing!

When we originally booked our cruise early dining was 6:00 - but then they moved it to 5:30 because people apparently wanted the earlier time. Funny, but that half hour makes a world of difference to me - 5:30 is just too early. By then the YTD was completely booked so we had to go with early. If we ever repeat this cruise we'll book YTD from the start.

We normally book a dining time too, but this was the one cruise we felt we didn't want to be tied down to a specific time.

This excursion is 3 hours, so the 8:30 must have been added using a different vendor as it wouldn't be back in time for the 11:00 excursion.

Must be! When I looked yesterday I only saw a 7:00 a.m. option!! :eek:

It doesn't show that PC has staggered check-in yet, or anytime soon... That's just the standard letter.

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3180/~/staggered-check-in

We are scheduled for the first excursion, which leaves at 8:30 a.m. :eek: A little early for me but I'd rather be early than be tired and in need of a nap on the second one.:D

They must have added an earlier booking. When I booked ours, the only option was 11 or 2:30. I just looked at our booking to see what we chose! LOL! I know some of our excursions are really early, but I couldn't remember what that one was. We're doing the 11:00 a.m. one.