OK, I'm Stupid. Is FTTF Really Worth It?

[riclop]

Just to avoid the nasty comments I admit upfront I'm stupid. :p

 

Now to the question, is FTTF really worth it? What does it get you? Do I buy one ticket for the cabin or one ticket for each passenger?

Save your $50.

[sjcruiser]

Yes, it was worth it to me on my last cruise, and I have it for my upcoming cruise.

[fishtaco]

the one thing i have noticed on my cruises since this has come to be, being platinum i go to the guest services line for platinum, diamond, FTTF... i have NEVER ever seen a line up, due to so many being able to pay for this " perk" so to speak.

 

i know when it was first introduced, there was a lot of talk about being able to buy what wasnt earned, and i thought oh boy there goes the line at the guest services desk, as that is the one thing i thoroughly like due to being platinum ( aside from the laundry wash and fold)

 

in any event, im truly surprised there is still, never a line up, usually no one, maybe one in line.

 

interesting and i say interesting because, there could be 5 6 10 14 people in the regular line, and it seems, there are always those who obviously havent used the FTTF, as the regular line is full, and the platinum line, empty

 

 

Curious :) You state the one thing you like about being platinum is no line at guest services, why do you need guest services so much with your cruise experience? You can use the in cabin phone to call GS:)

[CTI1WLM]

which happened to be our first, and we have it for our next cruise.

 

First, it is only $50 per cabin - so if there are two or three in a cabin, the cost per person goes down yet everyone gets all the benefits.

 

Once you purchase FTTF, your boarding passes and luggage tags will be updated; ours read "F2F". Carnival may have changed that verbiage since it was 13 months ago that we were on the cruise.

 

When arriving at the port, we went straight to the DIAMOND/PLAT/F2F/ etc. line. As it turned out, we arrived so early we were the first in that line. LOLOL.

 

When checking in aboard ship, your Sign&Sail cards will be stickered on the reverse so that you can "claim" F2F benefits at various spots.

 

We went straight to the cabin and put in our carryon luggage [that is all we use] and were immediately free to roam the ship 5 minutes after boarding. I went to the gym and had a brief workout and shower. Changed clothes and then for some reason, I forget which, went to the Guest Services desk. As soon as I did that I realized my $50 was well-spent because there was a l-o-n-g line of people still trying to just board the ship! And, I had already dumped my luggage, roamed the ship, had a workout, and was seeking help/advice on some topic. Stand in line? No thank you very much.

 

As far as tendering, we went to GS desk and got escorted to the head of the line to catch the tender from the ship to port. As others have noted, there is no "head of the line" privilege when returning to the ship.

 

Get F2F? Slam dunk yes.

[Cruise Envy]

Accurate advice being given. My husband doesn't handle lines well. We got FTTF last cruise, and went straight to our cabin. I was THE FIRST person in the pool. For us, it felt like we got an extra 1/2 day to our vacation. It was also great to be totally unpacked prior to the muster drill.

 

We used the priority line to get our S&S cards hole punched the first day rather than waiting in the long line. We also enjoyed the early debark -- much simpler than prior cruises. This cruise we have two tender ports.

 

Funny though... only 3 FTTF have sold for our November cruise, and I bought 2 of them. Makes me wonder how well my cruise is selling!! :D

 

I won't sail w/o FTTF again until I'm platinum if I can help it. If you are on the fence, buy it now, and remember shore excursions (which this is sold as) can be cancelled up to right before your cruise.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[LREcruise02]

I agree I think it has to do with why you are getting it and how you value that benefit against the $50 cost. We had FTTF for our Dream cruise this past March and it was worth every penny to us. But we are a family of 4 with 2 young kids so we have a lot of carry on stuff. We boarded by 11:30 and it was worth it to us to not be waiting long with the kids to board and also going right to our room. Also Belize was one of our ports and passing up the giant tender line to get right on was also well worth it to us. Back before we had kids and it was just the 2 of us I probably wouldn't have even thought about getting it because it wouldn't have had as much benefit to us then. But in our case this time I thought for $50 it was well worth it!!

 

 

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[MaryPaul]

We prefer it...

 

But our next cruise in June was sold out before we could purchase it...

 

Paul

[mawmawmaw123]

How much money is it per cabin?

[Tacosha]

How much money is it per cabin?

 

$49.95 per cabin :)

[ccruisequeen]

When you check your luggage, make sure they put an orange sticker on each one. The priority/F2F logo doesn't seem to draw enough attention that it should be unloaded first.

 

[Grannycb]

Loved FTTF! HD has trouble standing for long periods. This really helped waiting to board tenders and at Passenger Services. It was a big help getting off the ship right behind the walk offs. We waited in a small area with very few people at disembarkation. That was nice too. And, as everyone else pointed out, it was very nice to drop off luggage and head out for lunch before it got crowded. For our upcoming cruise, I checked twice a day until FTTF became available. We will be getting it for every cruise if it's available.

[smac67]

I used it 2 weeks ago on the Ecstasy and loved it. We bypassed all the lines at check in. Were able to be in our room well before 11:30 and most importantly for us, able to be one of the first off the ship as our flight time home had changed. We will definitely purchase it next time.

[jcearth]

Curious :) You state the one thing you like about being platinum is no line at guest services, why do you need guest services so much with your cruise experience? You can use the in cabin phone to call GS:)

 

I can tell you my experience -- I had FTTF on the Dream last year and used the expedited line at Guest Services 3 times for issues that could not be resolved with a phone call:

 

1) My 5 year old left his backpack (with his favorite stuffed animal) during the boarding process when we got our embarkation photo taken - we noticed it was missing after setting sail - went to Guest Services, bypassed the huge line and luckily they had it there!

 

2) Had OBC (refundable) remaining on my Sign and Sail late the last night of the cruise - all of the kiosks were out of money at this point, so i went to Guest Services, bypassed a 20+ person line, and got my cash in less than 2 minutes.

 

3) I "lost" my sign and sail card after my wife blamed me for not being able to get seats to the early seating of "Dancing in the Streets" (by lost I mean I threw it at her and stormed off) - After realizing I couldn't get in my room or buy a drink - I went to Guest Services, and got a new card within a minute or two, again bypassing a bit of a line.

[Tacosha]

I can tell you my experience -- I had FTTF on the Dream last year and used the expedited line at Guest Services 3 times for issues that could not be resolved with a phone call:

 

 

 

1) My 5 year old left his backpack (with his favorite stuffed animal) during the boarding process when we got our embarkation photo taken - we noticed it was missing after setting sail - went to Guest Services, bypassed the huge line and luckily they had it there!

 

 

 

2) Had OBC (refundable) remaining on my Sign and Sail late the last night of the cruise - all of the kiosks were out of money at this point, so i went to Guest Services, bypassed a 20+ person line, and got my cash in less than 2 minutes.

 

 

 

3) I "lost" my sign and sail card after my wife blamed me for not being able to get seats to the early seating of "Dancing in the Streets" (by lost I mean I threw it at her and stormed off) - After realizing I couldn't get in my room or buy a drink - I went to Guest Services, and got a new card within a minute or two, again bypassing a bit of a line.

 

 

LOL...your # 3 cracked me up! Thanks for the laugh...and Happy Friday!

 

 

 

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[adaptabl]

Some people like it because they go to the front of the line at guest services. Then they can cancel thier tips quickly.

[BlasianGrl]

I've done it twice and will continue to purchase it on every cruise. I like being able to get to my cabin early and unpack....that in itself is worth it to me.

[Mrsdigi]

We got it for our cabin in July last year on the dream. We have two little kids and I wanted to be sure we would get to drop off carry ons ASAP. It was also nice to get early tender in Belize. The best was the hotline to guest services, both on the phone and in line. I'd probably do it again.

[my1stcruise]

What does getting your cabin and luggage "early" mean? Can someone give me an example of what time you may be able to have your room and bags with FTTF and without?

 

 

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[maldenmusic]

No, I'm not stupid lol... I'm just avoiding the posters who seem it is worth their time to insult people for not knowing something or asking a simple question which no doubt, has been asked 100 times in the past. There is ONE ticket left for my booking.

Isn't that the truth? Everytime I post a new question (which isn't too often) I hold my breath to see how long it takes for me to get my first rude answer. Sometime CC isn't a very friendly place at all. I purchased FTTF for my June 2014 cruise and it will be my first experience with it.

[paradiscroozin]

For me, it is worth it. We carry a lot of carry on's; camera bag, tote bag, and luggage. I enjoyed it cause we were the first ones on and went straight to the room to drop everything off then headed to the lido deck and ate without having our luggage to lug around. While people were sitting on deck chairs or staying in the dining room trying to keep track of their luggage until the rooms opened up, we had drinks in hand and went to explore the ship, went back to our room to change and check out our balcony, then got into bathing suits and went to the serenity deck pool.

 

We haven't had tender ports yet but we have used the faster customer service lines. Most times there was never a wait and always a long line in the regular section. I actually loved getting the stares when I walked right up and got service while people were still in line. I felt like a true VIP! :D

 

I have it booked for my upcoming June cruise. With that many people cruising in the summer, I'm sure it will be VERY worth it!!!

[paradiscroozin]

What does getting your cabin and luggage "early" mean? Can someone give me an example of what time you may be able to have your room and bags with FTTF and without?

 

 

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I may have answered that in my previous post. but it means this. Usually rooms are available to enter after 1:30 pm or so. If you arrive early to the port around 11 or so and are able to board, your room is available as soon as you get on board. Your luggage will be delivered very soon after.

 

Without FTTF, you will be dragging your carry on stuff with you around the ship until your room is ready. The big/main luggage will be taken at the cruise terminal so you won't have that with you, just all the small stuff in hand.

[paradiscroozin]

Some people like it because they go to the front of the line at guest services. Then they can cancel thier tips quickly.

 

I actually used it because I needed an extra key to my kids room, I also asked where to book excursions,because I thought it was there. I lost my key once and had to get a replacement. I also lost my refillable, really cute tumbler cup and went there to check lost and found to see if they had it.

 

I think when people spend extra money on these types of things the last thing they want to do is "cancel tips"

 

Seems like the ones that bring up or noticing people cancelling tips are mostly the ones doing it. :cool:

[4petmom]

If my plane got in earlier I think it would be really great to be able to go to your room early. Our plane doesn't even land until 12:30 so we aren't going to purchase it. I'm not in a hurry to get off at the ports so that isn't a big deal do me either. The no waiting in guest services would be nice if I ever needed it. I guess it just really depends on your individual needs as to wether you think it would be worth it or not.

 

I was told that the crew liked getting tips in cash because they had to wait for money otherwise. Is that not correct? We have done our own tipping in the past because of being told this. Just so you don't think it's being cheap, we have usually tipped more than the expected amount when we do.

[Jenny in TX]

For me personally I don't think it is worth it and have never purchased it. We have always been on board between 11-11:30 without it. We don't bring on any carry on stuff so I have no reason to go to my room early and drop off stuff. Our friends that we cruise with are VIP's so if we need to get off early at a tender port we have always been able to go with them. I usually only visit guest services once a cruise to pay my tab with cash instead of leaving it on my credit card and I usually go late at night and have never had to wait for more than one or two people in front of me. I hear people saying how wonderful it is but its just not something we have seen the need for. Just my personal experience.

[bellagabriella]

which happened to be our first, and we have it for our next cruise.

 

First, it is only $50 per cabin - so if there are two or three in a cabin, the cost per person goes down yet everyone gets all the benefits.

 

Once you purchase FTTF, your boarding passes and luggage tags will be updated; ours read "F2F". Carnival may have changed that verbiage since it was 13 months ago that we were on the cruise.

 

When arriving at the port, we went straight to the DIAMOND/PLAT/F2F/ etc. line. As it turned out, we arrived so early we were the first in that line. LOLOL.

 

When checking in aboard ship, your Sign&Sail cards will be stickered on the reverse so that you can "claim" F2F benefits at various spots.

 

We went straight to the cabin and put in our carryon luggage [that is all we use] and were immediately free to roam the ship 5 minutes after boarding. I went to the gym and had a brief workout and shower. Changed clothes and then for some reason, I forget which, went to the Guest Services desk. As soon as I did that I realized my $50 was well-spent because there was a l-o-n-g line of people still trying to just board the ship! And, I had already dumped my luggage, roamed the ship, had a workout, and was seeking help/advice on some topic. Stand in line? No thank you very much.

 

As far as tendering, we went to GS desk and got escorted to the head of the line to catch the tender from the ship to port. As others have noted, there is no "head of the line" privilege when returning to the ship.

 

Get F2F? Slam dunk yes.

 

 

SO IT'S KINDA LIKE A "I GOT ON BEFORE YOU" SLAP TO THOSE THAT WEREN'T "FAST ENOUGH" TO GRAB THE MERE 20 THAT ARE SOLD TO MAKE THE REST OF THE PEOPLE FEEL BAD WHILE EVERYONE WHO DID GET ONE GLOATS OR BRAGS. SOUNDS UNFAIR TO ME. AND FRANKLY KINDA NOSE-UP-IN-THE-AIR-ISH. WE ALL PAID OUR MAX AFFORDABLE TO ENJOY THE SAME CRUISE. WHY SHOULDN'T EVERYONE'S ROOMS BE READY AT THE SAME TIME:confused: WHY SHOULDN'T EVERYONE BE FREE TO DROP OFF THEIR BAGS IN THEIR ROOM AND ROAM THE SHIP THE MOMENT THEY GET ON OR JUMP IN THE JACUZZI OR POOL OR WHATEVER. OR WHY SHOULD EVERYONE ELSE HAVE TO WAIT IN LINE FOR ANYTHING? OH HEY....THAT'S LIFE!:rolleyes: CALL ME A POOR SPORT? IT'S CALLED SPEAKING THE TRUTH AND I'M SURE I SPEAK FOR HUNDREDS OF OTHERS. IT'S NOT FAIR NOR IS IT RIGHT TO THE REST OF THE CRUISERS.