Priority Boarding Staterooms Being Ready

[Lee Cruiser]

Just got back from our cruise on the Breeze.  While waiting in the priority waiting area with other Platinum and Diamond cruisers a Carnival rep gave a quick rundown of how the boarding process would work.  One of the things that caught my attention was what he said about rooms being ready.  He said, "Carnival no longer guarantees that staterooms will be ready upon boarding."  He went on to say that if your room is not ready, please explore the ship and wait until later.  This was the case with our room.  We put our carry on bags in the room, but went on to lunch while our room was finished.  Later I was watching information on one of the Carnival TV channels and it listed the times that rooms would be available.  It stated rooms would be ready at 11:45 a.m. for priority and 1:30 for everyone else.  While this is not a big deal, it is interesting that Carnival still sells FTTF with one of the advantages being that staterooms will be ready upon boarding.

 

 

CARNIVAL’S FASTER TO THE FUN PACKAGE:

Here's what it includes:

(Note: VIFP Club Diamond & Platinum members do not need to purchase this package as these and other benefits are included as part of your VIFP Club status.)

Priority Check-in 
Bypass lines and have exclusive security screening lanes for initial embarkation at onset of cruise. 

Guaranteed Stateroom
Your stateroom will be ready as soon as you board, so you can relax or freshen up for the fun you're about to have.

Express Luggage
Your luggage will be expedited to your stateroom so you can unpack and get settled in for a great vacation!

Guest Services
You'll have a dedicated phone number and line at Guest Services so you can quickly have your questions answered.

Dining Reservations
Priority Main Dining Room and Specialty Restaurant reservations (excluding Your Time Dining).

Priority Water Shuttle Boarding
We hope you take advantage of Carnival's Excursions. If you choose to explore the destination on your own, you will have the option to choose a priority water shuttle from the ship to shore. 

Debarkation
We're always sad to see you go. But when your cruise is over, you may choose an early or late debarkation time upon arrival to your homeport.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Lee Cruiser

[RumpunchGirl]

I have FTTF on my cruise in Oct. I sure hope I get what I paid for.  The room being ready is the main reason we bother to purchase this. I'll be watching this board to see how others fair with this.

 

[Butterbean1000]

On one of our cruises, our room was not quite ready.  They were just finishing up on it.  We were able to drop off our carry ons, which was all we wanted to do.  It was no big deal.  This was with FTTF.  As long as I'm able to drop off my carry ons, I'm good.

[Organized Chaos]

2 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

While this is not a big deal, it is interesting that Carnival still sells FTTF with one of the advantages being that staterooms will be ready upon boarding.

 

If there has been an official policy change, the fact that the FTTF info still says immediate room access just means they haven’t updated their FAQ’s to reflect the change. I’m going to take it with a grain of salt until I see something concrete. Simply because I’ve seen others in the past say they were informed, for whatever reason, of a change by someone on their cruise when there wasn’t actually a company-wide change.

 

The fact is, with fewer stewards having to handle more cabins, there’s plenty of times when they can’t get all of the priority cabins turned over in time. This possible policy change might just be a way of Carnival covering their rears.

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, Butterbean1000 said:

As long as I'm able to drop off my carry ons, I'm good.

 

I agree, just let us drop off our bags. It’s one of the big reasons people buy FTTF. And I’m sure P/D like it too.

 

We’re just going to lunch anyway. But I would like it to be ready by the time we’re done eating. 

 

We had FTTF last year aboard Glory and our cabin wasn’t quite ready. They did let us put our carry-ons in there. As we headed down the hall on the way to Lido, we passed our steward. He was carrying a handful of envelopes with S&S cards, so we went back to our cabin, grabbed ours, then went off to lunch. Our 2 cabins were ready when we came back down. It took about  2 1/2 to 3 more hours before we had all 4 checked bags though.

[RWolver672]

6 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

If there has been an official policy change, the fact that the FTTF info still says immediate room access just means they haven’t updated their FAQ’s to reflect the change. I’m going to take it with a grain of salt until I see something concrete. Simply because I’ve seen others in the past say they were informed, for whatever reason, of a change by someone on their cruise when there wasn’t actually a company-wide change.

 

The fact is, with fewer stewards having to handle more cabins, there’s plenty of times when they can’t get all of the priority cabins turned over in time. This possible policy change might just be a way of Carnival covering their rears.

 

Priority Guests still have immediate access to their cabins.  There's just no guarantee that they will be ready.  You can still drop off your carry ons which is why most people want early access.  

 

We were Platinum for our last cruise on the Horizon.  Our cards were in the mailbox but they were still vacuuming the carpet when we got to our cabin.  We dropped off our bags and left.  On the previous two cruises, we had FTTF.  The same thing on those two.  Cabins were accessible but not fully cleaned yet.

 

We were told that our Horizon cruise had 567 Platinums, 80+ Diamonds and who knows how many FTTFs.  With that many priority guests, it would be impossible to have that many cabins ready by early boarding.  What if all of a steward team's cabins were priority?  It's very possible that it could happen.  Especially on our last cruise as it was a Premier cruise and a lot of those players are Priority cruisers.

[Lee Cruiser]

14 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

If there has been an official policy change, the fact that the FTTF info still says immediate room access just means they haven’t updated their FAQ’s to reflect the change. I’m going to take it with a grain of salt until I see something concrete. Simply because I’ve seen others in the past say they were informed, for whatever reason, of a change by someone on their cruise when there wasn’t actually a company-wide change.

 

The fact is, with fewer stewards having to handle more cabins, there’s plenty of times when they can’t get all of the priority cabins turned over in time. This possible policy change might just be a way of Carnival covering their rears.

 

I agree about taking what a rep says with a grain of salt most of the time.  However, coupled with the fact that our room was not ready when we boarded and the fact the TV said 11:45 for priority makes me believe that it is starting to become more of the norm.

[Lee Cruiser]

8 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

 

Priority Guests still have immediate access to their cabins.  There's just no guarantee that they will be ready.  You can still drop off your carry ons which is why most people want early access.  

 

That's true, you still have access to drop off your luggage.  However, that is not what they are selling with FTTF.  It says your room will be ready as soon as you board so you can relax or freshen up.  That's more than just dropping off your luggage.  For those who are platinum/ diamond, it also says you already receive all these benefits and more as a part of your VIFP status.

 

Guaranteed Stateroom
Your stateroom will be ready as soon as you board, so you can relax or freshen up for the fun you're about to have.
 

[maldenmusic]

I'm platinum and all I want to do is be able to drop off my carry on and it sounds like that's covered.

[Lee Cruiser]

5 minutes ago, maldenmusic said:

I'm platinum and all I want to do is be able to drop off my carry on and it sounds like that's covered.

Yes, you should still be good with that for now.  That's what he told us.  If the room wasn't finished to please just put our things in there and come back later.

[PhillyFan33579]

When we sailed on Sunshine in February and Horizon in March, we were told in the priority lounge that cabins weren’t guaranteed to be ready due to the high number of D&Ps on the cruise. On both cruises it was emphasized that guests were more than welcome to drop off luggage at their cabin as soon as they boarded. I don’t know if anything was said to guests with FTTF since they were in a different area in the terminals.   

[auburn77]

I wonder if it's different for D&Ps if there are no FTTF's sold on a cruise, such as a Journeys cruise.

[RWolver672]

7 hours ago, auburn77 said:

I wonder if it's different for D&Ps if there are no FTTF's sold on a cruise, such as a Journeys cruise.

 

I would guess that on a Journeys cruise, there are more D&Ps than on a normal cruise so I would guess that it's probably worse.

 

[Retired_to_Cruise]

Have been on 30 Carnival Cruises to date. Since turning Platinum, my cabin has always been ready when I have boarded the ship - even on Journey cruises. I would bet that in those instances where people have had a problem, it was directly related to problems getting people from the previous cruise out of their cabins and off the ship at a reasonable time. Any attempt to make it appear as another Carnival conspiracy theory because of their illogical assumption is misguided. 

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, Retired_to_Cruise said:

Have been on 30 Carnival Cruises to date. Since turning Platinum, my cabin has always been ready when I have boarded the ship - even on Journey cruises. I would bet that in those instances where people have had a problem, it was directly related to problems getting people from the previous cruise out of their cabins and off the ship at a reasonable time. Any attempt to make it appear as another Carnival conspiracy theory because of their illogical assumption is misguided. 

 

I have talked to numerous cabin stewards, most recently on a cruise that ended on Sunday. It is becoming more challenging for them to have priority cabins ready at boarding because they are now responsible for significantly more cabins.  

 

I don’t think there is any conspiracy theory, but at some point it becomes a simple math issue. If the ship has an excessive number of D&Ps, at some point it becomes impossible time wise for every cabin to be ready upon boarding.  Another big factor is how many priority guests are in a cabin steward’s section. It’s possible for one steward to have only a few priority cabins while another steward has mainly priority cabins in their section. 

 

I have been on multiple cruises where we were told in the priority waiting area that everyone’s cabin would not be ready upon boarding due to the large number of D&Ps on the cruise. Apparently you have been lucky so far, but it is an issue that is becoming more common place. Personally this issue doesn’t bother me, since we usually don’t go to our cabin until we have been on the ship for several hours. 

 

 

[Lee Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Retired_to_Cruise said:

Any attempt to make it appear as another Carnival conspiracy theory because of their illogical assumption is misguided. 

I'm not sure if this was directed at me or someone else.  But it is hard to call something an illogical assumption and misguided when those of us who are waiting in the platinum and diamond area were told this by the Carnival rep in charge of our boarding.  He specifically said that Carnival no longer guarantees that staterooms will be ready upon boarding.  That is not an illogical assumption.

[Organized Chaos]

On 5/6/2019 at 5:29 AM, RWolver672 said:

 

Priority Guests still have immediate access to their cabins.  There's just no guarantee that they will be ready.  You can still drop off your carry ons which is why most people want early access.  

 

We were Platinum for our last cruise on the Horizon.  Our cards were in the mailbox but they were still vacuuming the carpet when we got to our cabin.  We dropped off our bags and left.  On the previous two cruises, we had FTTF.  The same thing on those two.  Cabins were accessible but not fully cleaned yet.

 

We were told that our Horizon cruise had 567 Platinums, 80+ Diamonds and who knows how many FTTFs.  With that many priority guests, it would be impossible to have that many cabins ready by early boarding.  What if all of a steward team's cabins were priority?  It's very possible that it could happen.  Especially on our last cruise as it was a Premier cruise and a lot of those players are Priority cruisers.

 

My point was, according to their FAQ's, it still says priority cabins "will be ready." Carnival's intent has been to have them fully ready by the time priority passengers get on board, not just to let you drop off bags. But with the teams having to handle more cabins now, it doesn't always work out that way. Yes, they let you drop off your bags, but that's more of a courtesy since they know priority passengers are expecting them to be ready. It'll be interesting to see if they release an official change and reword their FAQ's to say something like, they may not be ready, but you can drop off your carry-on luggage.

 

Last year, we had FTTF aboard Glory and our cabin wasn't quite ready and our S&S cards weren't in the mailbox. The team member did let us drop off our bags, though. As we were walking down the hall, we passed our steward. He had a handful of envelopes with everyone's S&S cards, so we went back to get them.

 

On 5/6/2019 at 1:39 PM, Lee Cruiser said:

 

I agree about taking what a rep says with a grain of salt most of the time.  However, coupled with the fact that our room was not ready when we boarded and the fact the TV said 11:45 for priority makes me believe that it is starting to become more of the norm.

 

As I mentioned above, ours wasn't ready aboard Glory last year either. Judging by many comments on these boards, it seems as if many boarding times are getting pushed to a little bit later time. Especially on the two Vista class ships. I'm wondering if they'll make an official announcement of an actual change, or just leave it as is and let priority folks continue to drop off their luggage as needed.

[Organized Chaos]

19 hours ago, auburn77 said:

I wonder if it's different for D&Ps if there are no FTTF's sold on a cruise, such as a Journeys cruise.

 

Even for cruises where FTTF is sold, the number of FTTF they do sell is determined by the number of D/P's on that cruise. More D/P's = less FTTF.

[Organized Chaos]

9 hours ago, Retired_to_Cruise said:

Have been on 30 Carnival Cruises to date. Since turning Platinum, my cabin has always been ready when I have boarded the ship - even on Journey cruises. I would bet that in those instances where people have had a problem, it was directly related to problems getting people from the previous cruise out of their cabins and off the ship at a reasonable time. Any attempt to make it appear as another Carnival conspiracy theory because of their illogical assumption is misguided. 

 

There is no conspiracy theory here, nor is there any indication that one is implied. So the misguided assumption seems to be on your end. For those priority passengers who experience cabins that aren't ready when they board, they fully acknowledge that it's because of the workload being put on the stewards and their teams. That goes for this thread and every other discussion I've ever read regarding this very topic. To acknowledge that it's, more often than not, simply too much for the current housekeeping staff to keep up with is far from a conspiracy theory.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Organized Chaos

[Lee Cruiser]

39 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

As I mentioned above, ours wasn't ready aboard Glory last year either. Judging by many comments on these boards, it seems as if many boarding times are getting pushed to a little bit later time. Especially on the two Vista class ships. I'm wondering if they'll make an official announcement of an actual change, or just leave it as is and let priority folks continue to drop off their luggage as needed.

 

I'm guessing they will just leave it as is and allow folks to drop off their luggage.  But who really knows at this point.  With the move to larger ships, it may become more of a problem, although the number of stewards should be much larger as well.  We are already booked on the Mardi Gras.  It will be interesting to see how it is handled for that large of a ship.

[PhillyFan33579]

37 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

 

I'm guessing they will just leave it as is and allow folks to drop off their luggage.  But who really knows at this point.  With the move to larger ships, it may become more of a problem, although the number of stewards should be much larger as well.  We are already booked on the Mardi Gras.  It will be interesting to see how it is handled for that large of a ship.

 

In my opinion Carnival needs to cutback on the number of FTTF they sell, at least initially. Although I understand from their perspective it is a program that generates a lot of revenue with little cost to run. 

 

On several cruises, most recently on Sunshine and Horizon within the last few months, we were told cabins may not be ready due to the large number of D&Ps on the cruise.  Fair enough on the surface.  Yet on every cruise I have heard this announcement, there were still a lot of guests with FTTF.  If the number of D&Ps is impacting supposed perks, to include cabins being ready early, they shouldn’t sell any FTTF for that cruise. They already do that for journey cruises. I am positive Carnival knows which of their ships/cruises are going to have a lot of D&Ps (for example, the earliest check-in windows on Vista and Horizon are later than other ships due to the higher number of D&Ps), so it shouldn’t be difficult to determine when not to offer FTTF on certain ships/cruises in addition to journey cruises. 

 

 

[linbobky]

8 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

In my opinion Carnival needs to cutback on the number of FTTF they sell, at least initially. Although I understand from their perspective it is a program that generates a lot of revenue with little cost to run. 

 

On several cruises, most recently on Sunshine and Horizon within the last few months, we were told cabins may not be ready due to the large number of D&Ps on the cruise.  Fair enough on the surface.  Yet on every cruise I have heard this announcement, there were still a lot of guests with FTTF.  If the number of D&Ps is impacting supposed perks, to include cabins being ready early, they shouldn’t sell any FTTF for that cruise. They already do that for journey cruises. I am positive Carnival knows which of their ships/cruises are going to have a lot of D&Ps (for example, the earliest check-in windows on Vista and Horizon are later than other ships due to the higher number of D&Ps), so it shouldn’t be difficult to determine when not to offer FTTF on certain ships/cruises in addition to journey cruises. 

 

 

heres my 2 cents worth. i think, they will get the fttf cabins ready before th p and d's . because the fttf people will go to gs to get a refund. that has happened before.

[quickrate]

2 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Even for cruises where FTTF is sold, the number of FTTF they do sell is determined by the number of D/P's on that cruise. More D/P's = less FTTF.

Unfortunately, I don't believe this is the case anymore. If it was, the room stewards would be able to have priority ready as there would be no FTTF on those sailings. For priority to be told " your rooms won't be ready when you board as there are too many of you" and there are still FTTF waiting to board as well shows Carnival is not holding back on selling FTTF.

Pat

[CHOPPERTESTER]

HAL has the cabins ready when you board at 11:30 to 11:45. Not at 1:30. So it can be done. Yes HAL is a different price point.

 

FTTF is a revenue generator so they keep the 1:30 time valid to sustain FTTF sales. D&P and FTTF sales should be linked to sustain D&P cabins being ready. Carnival rep showing up in embarkation lounge and announcing to D&P that they can't guarantee the cabins will be ready is too bad so sad. Plan for it. Sort of like too many D&Ps this cruise so only 1 bag of laundry instead of 2. Ain't going to happen too long before D&Ps go elsewhere.

[PhillyFan33579]

42 minutes ago, linbobky said:

heres my 2 cents worth. i think, they will get the fttf cabins ready before th p and d's . because the fttf people will go to gs to get a refund. that has happened before.

 

I agree from a financial point it makes more sense to focus on FTTF since they are paying for it. I know this only applies to a small percentage of people, but the most entitled people I have seen on a Carnival ship are people with FTTF who think everything should revolve around them because they paid for a few perks.  Like you mentioned, they will also be the first ones at GS for the smallest problem 

 

It doesn’t take a genius to realize Carnival’s focus is on the blue and red cards. I think most people agree Carnival’s perks for their loyalty programs are the worst in the industry.  I continue to cruise on Carnival because I always have fun on their cruises. I definitely don’t cruise on Carnival for the perks I get as a Platinum.  I know quite a few people who are Platinum and Diamond who no longer cruise on Carnival. I don’t think Carnival worries one bit about losing people who have cruised on Carnival for decades. All you have to do is look at the current D&P gift, a cheap lanyard that I got on my cruise that just ended, to realize Carnival’s focus is not on their most loyal guests.