Thoughts on Faster to the Fun, especially if you've used it?

[GlamorousGirl]

Seeking opinions on Faster to the Fun, especially if you've tried it. What perks did you get and did you feel it was worth it? We are very seriously considering it for our sailings in September out of New Orleans and December out of Miami.

[bobbismith]

Are you going as a group?

 

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[bobbismith]

I love faster to the fun for DH and myself. We got to skip lines and once they have a special room with snacks. Your cabin is ready and suit cases come faster. In 32 days we are sailing out of Mobile. I don't know what to expect. I bought it for the group. 4 couples. I hope it is worth it.

 

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[poz222]

I think it depends on your travel preferences and itinerary and the group you are with. If you have kids, elderly or physical issues that waiting in a crowded room for check in would be difficult AND you plan on arriving during peak boarding times... then YES.

 

If you have a tender port and are doing more of a DIY (non excursion) then YES. If you are traveling with a group and not everyone will have it then no... or if you don't have tender ports or are flexible with your Embarcation and willing to come a bit later then save your money.

 

Also, if you are the type that you usually have to make visits to the guest services during cruises (switch rooms with kids, put cash on account, complain, ask info often) then it is definitely worth it as that GS line can get LONG!

 

Bottom line, got some, FTTF is a waste of money for others, it is the best thing ever...

[darlene62]

My last 3 carnival cruises I had FTTF and for me worth the extra cost. My last cruise I had booked a suite, was traveling with my mother and I wanted to make it special for her. Even though I had suite perks of priority the FTTF was a bit better . My mom had some health issues and just having the promise that her luggage and stuff would be at cabin without lugging it around and having priority booking where she could sit till our name was called. was a relief.

[cruisinqt]

People either love it or hate it so you will get a large variety of responses. I don't understand the haters because we love it. As soon as I book a cruise my husband and kids ask if I booked FTTF. We love bypassing all of the super long lines during boarding. But some cruisers come pretty late when there are no lines so FTTF doesn't help them. We love skipping the long lines at guest services (which we use a lot) but some cruisers never go to guest services so FTTF makes no difference for them. We absolutely love having our cabin ready immediately and not having to lug around luggage on the ship for a couple of hours, some cruisers don't mind it. So I guess it's really according to how you cruise and whether or not you think you'll appreciate the perks of FTTF. But we love it and just can't cruise without it.

[First and Ten]

Depends on your mindset and personality....if you HAVE to be one of the first people on the ship aka "firstie", because you have a fear the buffet will disappear, FTTF may be for you. So you can get to the terminal at 8:30 am, wait 3.5 hrs and get on at 12. Or, show up at 1:50 and there will be more Carnival personnel in the terminal than passengers and be on the ship by 2:00 pm. I have found I got the same exact food on the Lido deck at 2:00 as a firstie did at 12 [emoji14]

Guest Services: I have been on probably 20+ cruises. Maybe I have used GS 5 times. Never more than a 5 min wait. Some people go to GS 5 times in one day. Part of their excursion package is GS, they love to complain....FTTF is probably worth it for them

Luggage delivery: I will debate this fallacy of expedited luggage. Most times, when we travel with friends, they get FTTF and on boat by 12. We don't and met up with them around 2 or 230. I would say more than 50% of the time, I get my luggage before they get theirs. There are certain people afflicted with a condition of if they don't have their "stuff" and are able to take it out of one bag to put in a drawer, they get highly anxious. I don't understand it, but it's out there.

Tendering: a firstie gets the first tender. I get the second. You beat me to the port by 3 mins....you win [emoji23]....not that big of a deal. To some however, it is

 

 

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Edited April 9, 2017 by First and Ten

[mindymariexxo]

We don't normally purchase FTTF because it's not usually something we care about the perks for, but I just got off the Miracle today and we had FTTF. I knew the ship would be FULL from spring break and with 2 days in Cabo tendering I thought priority for that would be worth it. Yes it was nice to be able to board right away, but usually we don't rush to get on the ship so it wouldn't have been a big deal. Same thing with the cabin being ready. Normally we board around when the cabins are ready for everyone and head straight for a drink, so the cabin being ready and luggage being dropped off quickly was nice but not a make-or-break thing for us. I actually did go to Guest Services for the first time in all of my cruises, but it was late and there was no one in line.

 

I was a little disappointed in the priority tender. I didn't realize that you have to use the tender at a certain time otherwise you wait like everyone who doesn't have priority tender service. It saved us a lot of time our first day in Cabo I think as they were using some zone system, but we probably could have gotten our zone and then gone back to the room to get ready and been just fine. The second day in Cabo we got up too late but there wasn't a line anyway.

 

So realistically the only thing I thought was really nice about having it was 1 day of priority tender service. I definitely wouldn't purchase it again personally, but a big part of that is that I am not the type that's anxious to be first on the ship or have my luggage right away. If you are then it's definitely worth it.

 

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[bakersdozen12]

I love it, and will always purchase it when available for my cruise. To me, just being able to go straight to my room when we board early is reason enough to get it. But I also like the shorter line at the Guest Services desk, and the priority tendering. All of this makes it worth the cost, because after all, we are on vacation and want to make things as relaxing and easy as possible.

[Razor_Poke]

Liked it the 2 times we've purchased it but they have increased the cost in the past year. We have 2 cabins this time so I think we'll skip it this cruise.

 

Line skipping, guest services and priority tendering were the main benefits for us. Early disembark not so much because we tend to hang around for one more breakfast. I've never had a lot of bad luck with luggage so maybe I just didn't notice that much.

[RWolver672]

FTTF is a lot like the Cheers, Bottomless Bubbles and any other thing they offer. You have to decide if it will be worth it for you or not.

 

Are you staying at a hotel that kicks you out by 11 and you can't get a check-in time at the ship until 2? FTTF will allow you to check in as soon as they open the doors.

 

Do you want to lug your carry-on around until 1:30 when they open the doors to the cabin?

 

Is there a chance that you will be going to Guest Services? The lines can be very long at times. FTTF gives you a separate line and phone line to call GS if needed.

 

Is you port a tender port? Priority there too.

 

We have gotten it for our last three cruises. The only glitch we got was on our last cruise, our cabin wasn't made up yet when we got there. We still had the opportunity to drop off our carry-on, the went to get something to eat. By the time we got back, our luggage was there waiting for us and the cabin was made up.

 

We have two cruises booked. One this year and one in 2019. We already snagged FTTF for this year's cruise. We will be Platinum for the 2019 one so we won't need it any more.

 

Again, only you can decide if it's worth it or not. The majority of the people that have bought it have liked it. There is one person on here who is dead set against it and constantly posts what a waste of money it is but they have never said if they've even tried it.

[chf1953]

It is worth it to me. I don't need someone else telling me it's a waste of money. To each his own.

[Computer Nerd]

The one time I purchased it, I appreciated having it. If you are on a cruise that has tender ports, then it can be quite useful (especially if getting off the boat is time sensitive for you). Also, if you need to go to GS quite often then it is very useful. I also liked being able to drop my bags as soon as I boarded the ship.

[Computer Nerd]

We don't normally purchase FTTF because it's not usually something we care about the perks for, but I just got off the Miracle today and we had FTTF. I knew the ship would be FULL from spring break and with 2 days in Cabo tendering I thought priority for that would be worth it. Yes it was nice to be able to board right away, but usually we don't rush to get on the ship so it wouldn't have been a big deal. Same thing with the cabin being ready. Normally we board around when the cabins are ready for everyone and head straight for a drink, so the cabin being ready and luggage being dropped off quickly was nice but not a make-or-break thing for us. I actually did go to Guest Services for the first time in all of my cruises, but it was late and there was no one in line.

 

I was a little disappointed in the priority tender. I didn't realize that you have to use the tender at a certain time otherwise you wait like everyone who doesn't have priority tender service. It saved us a lot of time our first day in Cabo I think as they were using some zone system, but we probably could have gotten our zone and then gone back to the room to get ready and been just fine. The second day in Cabo we got up too late but there wasn't a line anyway.

 

So realistically the only thing I thought was really nice about having it was 1 day of priority tender service. I definitely wouldn't purchase it again personally, but a big part of that is that I am not the type that's anxious to be first on the ship or have my luggage right away. If you are then it's definitely worth it.

 

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Didn't know Cabo was a tender port (doing my first Mexican Riviera cruise in July). Is either Matzalan or Puerto Vallarta tender ports?

[teknoge3k]

Personally, we love it and get it every time.Definitely a benefit for us. We always carry 4 12pks of soda on with us + our carry ons. It's worth it to be able to drop them off at our cabin as soon as we embark. Not to mention walking past the many many people in line at the terminal that are waiting to get on.

[momof4girls]

I agree with everyone else in saying it mostly depends on what kind of cruiser you are, if it is worth it. Before the staggered check in, I would be one saying it is most definitely worth it. We are not the type to want to be on the ship first, so there was always VERY long lines to board by the time we arrived. When I cruised with my younger two girls, they were so impatient that a long wait in line could be painful! The times I had it and needed to visit GS, it was nice to just walk right up. However, if I had not had FTTF I would have just come back to GS when there wasn't a long "regular" line.

 

If FTTF was still just $50, I might consider it. With the price it is now, I just say "no". :)

 

My Triumph cruise was the first time I had to take my carry on with me to the Lido deck for lunch. I'll admit it was much more of a pain than I knew it would be, so if FTTF wasn't so expensive, it might be worth it just for that!

[Computer Nerd]

I agree with everyone else in saying it mostly depends on what kind of cruiser you are, if it is worth it. Before the staggered check in, I would be one saying it is most definitely worth it. We are not the type to want to be on the ship first, so there was always VERY long lines to board by the time we arrived. When I cruised with my younger two girls, they were so impatient that a long wait in line could be painful! The times I had it and needed to visit GS, it was nice to just walk right up. However, if I had not had FTTF I would have just come back to GS when there wasn't a long "regular" line.

 

If FTTF was still just $50, I might consider it. With the price it is now, I just say "no". :)

 

My Triumph cruise was the first time I had to take my carry on with me to the Lido deck for lunch. I'll admit it was much more of a pain than I knew it would be, so if FTTF wasn't so expensive, it might be worth it just for that!

 

Actually, it's only $20 more and good for everyone in the cabin so it's really not that much more expensive than it used to be.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

For us it's worth it. We get in the short line to check in, get to board early, we love dropping off our luggage as soon as we board...hate lugging it around until our room is available. One time we needed to go to customer service and our line was much shorter. When you look at how much you're spending for the cruise, it's really not that much extra for the convenience. Unfortunately, we booked our cruise late and so far, although I check daily, it keeps saying sold out. [emoji17] I will not give up, someone could cancel.

 

 

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[auntieshoes]

Computer Nerd - No, PV and Mazatlan are not tender ports.

 

 

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[chef5674]

We've had it twice and for us, it's not worth it. We like to take our time and have a leisurely brunch the first morning, so we aren't the type to rush to the pier to be the first in board (we have 1:30 boarding for our upcoming cruise and that suits us fine). And even in tender ports, since we like to sleep in on vacation, by the time we get off the ship there usually isn't a line anymore.

[GiftieEtcetera]

I've never purchased it, but I did get priority boarding as a spontaneous gift from Carnival on check-in. (Four of us got little butterfly stickers on our check-in documents and they called us before anyone else. It was pretty sweet.)

 

My husband and I loved the extra two hours on a virtually empty ship. We were able to try the best food areas without a line. We got to watched everyone board. We got a nap before dinner. It was lovely.

 

But I can't imagine paying $50 or whatever for those two extra hours. It was fun, but not a big deal for me.

 

Now, I'm just speaking about the value for me, here. If the things I talked about above are worth the money, go for it. It's just not for me, even though I tried it.

[Computer Nerd]

Computer Nerd - No, PV and Mazatlan are not tender ports.

 

 

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Thanks.

 

I checked and amazingly, it was still available for my MR cruise this July. Now I won't have to stand outside the terminal for 2 hours (plane gets in LA at 1000 and my assigned time was 1300) and I'll access to my cabin as soon as I get on board plus access to the Platinum line at GS if needed. I turn Platinum on the cruise after that so all is good in the world. :)

[Computer Nerd]

I've never purchased it, but I did get priority boarding as a spontaneous gift from Carnival on check-in. (Four of us got little butterfly stickers on our check-in documents and they called us before anyone else. It was pretty sweet.)

 

My husband and I loved the extra two hours on a virtually empty ship. We were able to try the best food areas without a line. We got to watched everyone board. We got a nap before dinner. It was lovely.

 

But I can't imagine paying $50 or whatever for those two extra hours. It was fun, but not a big deal for me.

 

Now, I'm just speaking about the value for me, here. If the things I talked about above are worth the money, go for it. It's just not for me, even though I tried it.

 

There is a lot more to FTTF than just boarding a little early.

[HighCPU]

If you are okay with the extra charge I think it's worth it. My partner HATES waiting. Even at home she avoid lines so I Just get it to make the travel experience a little less stressful for her which in turn makes me less stressed. Having your room ready is also a perk for me. I think it's worth it until you can reach a platinum level

 

 

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[BTromboneFrack]

We've gotten FTTF on the last several cruises because that extra time on the ship before we depart is, for us, some of the most exciting time on the ship. We love to explore and enjoy our pre-trip drinks knowing the whole trip is in front of us. We have also enjoyed the priority guest services line a few times. My DW's MS has been kicking up lately, so standing in line is not a good thing. We have also been on Christmas break before we go back to teaching, so every second counts.

 

However, we are doing a 5 day out of Tampa in July and we'll be on vacation prior to the cruise, so FTTF is not necessary there. No rush to do anything, and with it only being a 5 day, the priority guest services lines won't be as much of an issue.