Does Royal Caribbean offer a “Faster to the Fun” option?

[Mrsbookie]

My last cruise was with Carnival and the offered a Faster to the Fun option for Faster boarding and disembarkation, as well as priority tender and luggage.

[Clarea]

My last cruise was with Carnival and the offered a Faster to the Fun option for Faster boarding and disembarkation, as well as priority tender and luggage.

Nope. Closest thing would be booking a suite.

[GUT2407]

No.

[breezy270]

No but imho Royal has the embarkation process down that every time we have cruised with them we don’t even wait to board.....I don’t see a need for FTTF I have cruised Allure and Harmony and with the large amount of cruisers it is the smoothest process for boarding and disembarkation I have experienced!

 

 

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[lovescats5]

RCCL has the "book a room with a genie" and you will be one of the first onboard. Embarkation was only 15 mins. after we checked in at 10am. Disembarkation only took us 10 minutes from the time our genie picked us up to when we cleared customs. This was on Oasis and there were hundreds of people waiting to get thru customs. Not sure if this is better than fttf but it worked amazingly well for us.

[Mikew0805]

RCCL has the "book a room with a genie" and you will be one of the first onboard. Embarkation was only 15 mins. after we checked in at 10am. Disembarkation only took us 10 minutes from the time our genie picked us up to when we cleared customs. This was on Oasis and there were hundreds of people waiting to get thru customs. Not sure if this is better than fttf but it worked amazingly well for us.

 

Embarkation 15 minutes, and debarkation in 10 minutes. (actually timed it on the Navigator and it was 7 minutes, cabin to car.) all while having an inside cabin, with no Genie. LOL We usually show up to board between 1030 & 11am, and we do self debarkation.

[GEORGIEGIRL]

Yes. It's called "Diamond, Diamond Plus, Pinnacle, etc...." as well as "Suite Class".

 

Takes a little while to get there. But hey, you have to start somewhere. Welcom to RCCL.

[bonsai3s]

yes. It's called "diamond, diamond plus, pinnacle, etc...." as well as "suite class".

 

Takes a little while to get there. But hey, you have to start somewhere. Welcom to rccl.

 

:d:d:d

[IzznOll17]

My last cruise was with Carnival and the offered a Faster to the Fun option for Faster boarding and disembarkation, as well as priority tender and luggage.

 

You don't state what ship and what port, but from experience and as others have said I find Fort Lauderdale is spot on if you arrive early doors! We always plan to arrive around 11am and our quickest time from stepping out/off transport to stepping on board is 12 mins - our longest at that location is 20mins! even at UK ports at that time is measurably better. I work on the basis that your cruise starts the moment you board so why delay it!!! Bon Voyage

 

I forgot to say ... forget the guff with regards to status lines, we're diamond and we simply join the shortest line! I don't mind being in the Gold lines if I get on board quicker ha ha

[maryann2]

The difference of course with Carnival's FTTF is that the cabins are ready on boarding. So people can go straight to the cabin and drop off carryons.

Even suites on Royal don't have that option.

[lovescats5]

Not true. Our suite on RCCL has been ready for us as soon as we board, which is about 10. Our luggage is in the room before we get to the room. A perk is having a suite.

[grest]

what is book a room with a genie?

[Clarea]

what is book a room with a genie?

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/royalsuiteclass/star/

[lovescats5]

A genie is someone who comes with certain suites and does everything for you. Book shows, make any and all reservations for food and activities on board. Best is taking you to the front of the line at debarkation. All included in your room cost, not additional money for fttf.

[sandebeach]

I bought Faster to the Fun for our recent cruise on Carnival Dream out of NOLA. It was a little over $80, and well worth it to have my husband smiling when he was immediately able to go to our cabin upon boarding, and drop off his carry-on. In comparison, I would have to pay 100 times that cost for a Star Class Suite for 2 people.

 

 

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[lovescats5]

And we probably pay that much more but we like balconies and Royal has them.

[maryann2]

FTTF is free for Platinum and Diamond. Great loyalty perk.

[cb at sea]

NO, thank goodness! RCI doesn't have timeslots to check in. You show up when you can, and get onboard in pretty good fashion.

[dude_hdt]

I always treat Carnival's check in time as a suggestion. We always show up at 10:30a and in line to board by 11a

[Chrisscrossusa]

Thankfully you board when you arrive.. like grownups. I disliked Carnival’s boarding system. Royal Caribbean was so much more pleasant.

 

 

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[CruisingNole]

Thankfully you board when you arrive.. like grownups.

 

LOL, what is that supposed to mean? Pompous much?

 

At Disney World, thankfully they have fast passes, so you DON'T have to get in the same line as everyone else...like children. :')

[NavyCruiser]

FTTF is free for Platinum and Diamond. Great loyalty perk.

 

What about Emerald?

[Ourusualbeach]

 

What about Emerald?

 

The poster was referring to Carnivals rewards loyalty tiers. Platinum and Diamond are Carnivals 2 highest levels and they get free FFTF passes as a loyalty perk. Carnival has no Emerald level.

[EBFURR]

We have been cruising on Carnival some lately and are aware of the FTTF program but have never used it. With it comes priority boarding, early cabin availability, priority tender boarding, and a special customer service line. Carnival has these annoying "check in time appointments" that you get when you complete your online check in. If you do your online check in early you can get an earlier time with the earliest I have seen being 11:30 AM. We try to do our online registration as early as possible (90 days out) and get the early time but have not always been able to do so due to late booking. That said, from our experience we have not always seen those check in times enforced which is fine with us. If the line is moving along, then why not let people through? When you get through the check in line you are put in a numbered group (1 - whatever) and they board their Platinum and other priority guests first, then FTTF, then start with group 1, etc. Even though we are pretty much early arrivals we usually seem to wind up in group 4 for some reason. I have timed things on our last few cruises and even in group 4 we are on board no more than 15 minutes or so after the FTTF group. We do not care about priority tenders or cabin availability (we have learned to travel light with carry on items) so it is not worth the money to us. However, some people are happy to pay the extra money and can even get upset when it sells out and they can't get it. Over on the Carnival forum there is much debate about it and even some resentment among the higher tier loyalty members about people having it and getting in front of them if they arrive after boarding begins. There is also some controversy about whether cabins are actually ready for early access. RCI does do more for suites and higher tier loyalty members than Carnival. I have no doubt about that. In summary, We like RCI's system of embarkation better. Who knows if RCI will follow suit on the paid priority system. It does seem to be a revenue generator for Carnival and we know how the quest for revenue goes.

Edited July 3, 2018 by EBFURR

[CruisingNole]

We have been cruising on Carnival some lately and are aware of the FTTF program but have never used it. With it comes priority boarding, early cabin availability, priority tender boarding, and a special customer service line. Carnival has these annoying "check in time appointments" that you get when you complete your online check in. If you do your check in early you can get an earlier time with the earliest I have seen being 11:30 AM. We try to do our online registration as early as possible (90 days out) and get the early time but have not always been able to do so due to late booking. That said, from our experience we have not always seen those check in times enforced which is fine with us. If the line is moving along, then why not let people through? When you get through the check in line you are put in a numbered group (1 - whatever) and they board their Platinum and other priority guests first, then FTTF, then start with group 1, etc. Even though we are pretty much early arrivals we usually seem to wind up in group 4 for some reason. I have timed things on our last few cruises and even in group 4 we are on board no more than 15 minutes or so after the FTTF group. We do not care about priority tenders or cabin availability (we have learned to travel light with carry on items) so it is not worth the money to us. However, some people are happy to pay the extra money and can even get upset when it sells out and they can't get it. Over on the Carnival forum there is much debate about it and even some resentment among the higher tier loyalty members about people having it and getting in front of them if they arrive after boarding begins. There is also some controversy about whether cabins are actually ready for early access. RCI does do more for suites and higher tier loyalty members than Carnival. I have no doubt about that. In summary, We like RCI's system of embarkation better. Who knows if RCI will follow suit on the paid priority system. It does seem to be a revenue generator for Carnival and we know how the quest for revenue goes.

 

The system you described is essentially how airlines such as Southwest operate. It's more efficient and most importantly, it generates additional revenue for the airlines. I'm sure most, if not all, cruise lines will switch to and perfect this model soon enough.