Appointment Time Vs Faster to the fun?

[zelangel1994]

Hey Cruisers,

 

I had a quick question.. My wife and I just got married and will be going on out honeymoon (Our very first cruise) I have been doing loads of research and we leave on the freedom for 7 days on the 1st. I was FINALLY able to snag a faster to the fun last minute. I just reprinted my luggage tags and boarding passes. My question is, my boarding passes say ''Arrival Appointment 12:30PM-1:00PM'' We decided to just stay a night at a hotel the day before. If we get there earlier, around 11-11:30 will they let me pass or turn me away even with the Faster to the fun? Do i need to strictly be there at my time or can i arrive anytime earlier? Thanks in advance.

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. 

With FTTF the arrival appointment time is irrelevant.  Ignore it and arrive when you are ready. 

There are separate boards here for most of the cruise lines, and if you have further questions about your Carnival cruise/ship, head on over to the Carnival board.  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/   EM

[Host Kat]

11 hours ago, zelangel1994 said:

Hey Cruisers,

 

I had a quick question.. My wife and I just got married and will be going on out honeymoon (Our very first cruise) I have been doing loads of research and we leave on the freedom for 7 days on the 1st. I was FINALLY able to snag a faster to the fun last minute. I just reprinted my luggage tags and boarding passes. My question is, my boarding passes say ''Arrival Appointment 12:30PM-1:00PM'' We decided to just stay a night at a hotel the day before. If we get there earlier, around 11-11:30 will they let me pass or turn me away even with the Faster to the fun? Do i need to strictly be there at my time or can i arrive anytime earlier? Thanks in advance.

 

@zelangel1994

 

Howdy and welcome to Cruise Critic!  

 

Thank you for your new thread on the First Time Cruisers forum that is for general questions about cruising. 👍 

 

Since your thread concerns a specific cruise line ship, I have moved your thread to the Carnival Cruise Lines forum where it will be on-topic.. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have had FTTF on Freedom frequent the forum and can provide feedback there. Please browse through the thread titles on the forum looking for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you. 

 

Cruise Critic is a great resource and we are so glad you found us!   Please feel free to browse the  Cruise Critic Community Categories list. Read a few threads in the forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads on the top of the first page of threads in a forum. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

And BTW, on cruise ship turn-around days in Galveston, be sure to check out the Cruise Video Cam webcam.

 

I sincerely hope this will be helpful and so glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Host Kat
Typo due to fat fingers & skinny laptop keys!

[tandemcruzr]

Congrats and Happy Cruising.  🙂

 

It can be habit forming. We did our first cruise in 2004 and will be doing our 50th cruise (celebrating our 50th anniversary) in November.

 

Enjoy your Honeymoon and take pictures.

[TNcruising02]

How exciting that this will be your first cruise and honeymoon.  Congratulations!  

When you get to the terminal, you should see three lines.  One is the regular appointment time line, another is the early/late line for people who arrive before or after their appointment window, and then there's the priority line.  You should look for the priority line.  They will not care what time is listed on your boarding pass.  You can enter through this line as soon as they open up the terminal.

When I have FTTF, I usually arrive around 10:30.

[skrufy]

10 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic. 

With FTTF the arrival appointment time is irrelevant.  Ignore it and arrive when you are ready. 

There are separate boards here for most of the cruise lines, and if you have further questions about your Carnival cruise/ship, head on over to the Carnival board.  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/   EM

A check in time is needed to complete the boarding pass. That is why one was assigned. Arrive when you wish, you will board behind weddings, diamond and platinums.

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, skrufy said:

A check in time is needed to complete the boarding pass. That is why one was assigned. Arrive when you wish, you will board behind weddings, diamond and platinums.

 

Essiesmom wasn't arguing why one is assigned. She just said the OP can ignore it, which is what the OP asked. Also, you left out guests staying in Suites. They board after Platinum and before FTTF.

[Joe817]

1 minute ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Essiesmom wasn't arguing why one is assigned. She just said the OP can ignore it, which is what the OP asked. Also, you left out guests staying in Suites. They board after Platinum and before FTTF.

Ok. Here is where I get to ask a dumb question.....are there that many suites on a Carnival ship. Take for example the Freedom, since this is the ship the OP will be on. 

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

Ok. Here is where I get to ask a dumb question.....are there that many suites on a Carnival ship. Take for example the Freedom, since this is the ship the OP will be on. 

 

I did a quick search and one website says the Freedom has 52 Suites. That's more than I would've thought. Figure at least two people per Suite, because I'd imagine not too many solo cruisers choose a Suite, and that's 100+ passengers to board in Suites alone. Out of curiosity, I checked the Horizon (since that's our next one) and it says 72 Suites.

 

I will say this...when you have FTTF, there isn't much of a wait from the time they start priority boarding until they get to FTTF. I'd say 10 minutes give or take, in our experience.

[Joe817]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I did a quick search and one website says the Freedom has 52 Suites. That's more than I would've thought. Figure at least two people per Suite, because I'd imagine not too many solo cruisers choose a Suite, and that's 100+ passengers to board in Suites alone. Out of curiosity, I checked the Horizon (since that's our next one) and it says 72 Suites.

 

I will say this...when you have FTTF, there isn't much of a wait from the time they start priority boarding until they get to FTTF. I'd say 10 minutes give or take, in our experience.

My Gawd, O.C. I had no idea there were that many! Many thanks for your investigation! 🍻