Faster To The Fun is back...

[sammee]

16 hours ago, mmtska said:

$149.95 for our cruise on Mardi Gras. I don't know if it'll make a difference in anything. Our cruise last year we didn't have it and we checked in at the right time and walked right on board. The room being ready is almost worth it to me. Even if it's just dropping off a bag. I'm the only one going without a CPAP, so it'll be good for the others with me. It was WAY more money than I was expecting. 

I don't need it now, but when I did it was well worth it just to drop off the cpaps (two). If something happens to them, you're screwed.  When we went on MSC during the summer, they actually had a spot that you could check your carryons, they'd give you a ticket and than you could collect them when ready to go to room. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

Yesterday FTTF was available for our next cruise. We decided to pass.

 

Last night at midnight I checked us in and got a 10:30am slot, B05 (IIRC). I wasted no time, so I have to assume that was one of the earliest slots left after the P/Ds checked in two days ago. 

 

If we can get on around 11am (or whenever, just behind the FTTF folks) I will be glad we passed on it.

[ProgRockCruiser]

As a follow on thought, I just checked the boarding pass zones / times of a few previous cruises.

 

Two of the pre-pandemic cruises had check-in times of 11:30 with a boarding zone of A01. The one post pandemic cruise where I logged in as early as I could had a boarding zone of B05 and check-in time of 10:30.

 

I am guessing in pre-pandemic times the D&P people didn't have boarding times and zones assigned that filled up the A series. But post-pandemic, because until recently the D&P people had to select a boarding Zone and time, that they are now snagging all of those, and that's why B05 was the earliest I could get with a 10:30 check-in time, just like the other post pandemic cruise.

 

I would guess that if Carnival ever removes the assignment of boarding zones for the priority people, then the earliest Zone will revert to the A series for non priority cruisers.

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Yesterday FTTF was available for our next cruise. We decided to pass.

 

Last night at midnight I checked us in and got a 10:30am slot, B05 (IIRC). I wasted no time, so I have to assume that was one of the earliest slots left after the P/Ds checked in two days ago. 

 

If we can get on around 11am (or whenever, just behind the FTTF folks) I will be glad we passed on it.

I'm guessing you're exactly right.  And B05 is just fine.

 

JH has a discussion today on his FB page that seems to suggest check-in times might actually be totally going away for the D&P guests.  The beards (and computer programmers) seem to be considering/working on it.  I'm guessing his comment was triggered by our own Spaniel Lover having problems with the website. When a YouTuber w/ nearly half a million Subs has a problem, JH takes note. Thanks Jim.

Edited November 19, 2022 by jsglow

[pinto18]

14 hours ago, CGrey93 said:

So, anyone else buy FTTF and have luggage tags that have not yet updated? I'll be waiting anxiously for your replies assuring me I'm not alone. I'm just going to step away to grab a Xanax and a glass of wine. 

Not to make you grab more Xanax..( r maybe it will make you feel better) but in my experience the express luggage is useless. I honestly dont believe they look at the "priority" tags. We have had luggage come quickly , and sometimes take forever, sometimes one suitcase comes and hours later the other..

[jsglow]

I think it's along the lines of Priority once it's at the top of the stack in the bin by the elevator on your floor! I seriously doubt the shoreside longshoremen segregate it. That said, our luggage service has always been good to excellent. 

[coops]

18 hours ago, Rudyard said:

Had a chance to get it for my Vista cruise in a couple of weeks but decided to pass on it this time. I liked it for being able to get into my cabin early. We'd unpack, relax for a bit, then head out for lunch. With JH saying the cabins might not be ready that makes it worth less than the asking price to me. I also used to get it for early debark, but that's turned into such a circus that I plan to get Zone 25 tags and eat a late breakfast this time. Only thing left that made it worth it to me was the angry looks I'd get from using the priority GS line. I'll play the odds and hope I don't need to use it for anything this trip.  

On my print out from Carnival site it says guaranteed stateroom will be ready when you board so I am taking that with me. 

[coops]

16 hours ago, CGrey93 said:

Someone! Please ! Make me feel better. Being an incredibly nervous person, I am overreacting to what is probably a non-issue. If anyone else is experiencing the same issue, I would sure love to hear about it.

 

I bought FTTF this morning. All good. Got email receipt and it shows up in my order details. Swell! I go to print my updated luggage tags and . . . No FTTF Logo that is supposed to be there to ensure Priority Luggage. Okay . . .breathe. It just went live. Give it some time. Stop being such a freak! (Insert Nervous Chuckle). Post to my Facebook group. Another member says his luggage tags updated immediately. I clear cache and cookies and restart my computer. No change. 8 hours later, still no change. 8 hours is long enough, right? Call Carnival. I get through to a delightful lady who assures me it's still getting implemented and some people update immediately, but others don't. It will all work itself out. I feel better for about 5 minutes. What if she has no clue? What if she's just guessing? What if I'm the only one? 

 

So, anyone else buy FTTF and have luggage tags that have not yet updated? I'll be waiting anxiously for your replies assuring me I'm not alone. I'm just going to step away to grab a Xanax and a glass of wine. 

 

On a side note, I REALLY need a vacation. 57 days to go!

Ours updated right away.

[CGrey93]

2 hours ago, coops said:

Ours updated right away.

Yeah, I can't find anyone else having a problem. There definitely is something going on, though. If I click on shore excursions, and find it that way, it would let me add to cart and buy again, even though I already did. If I bring FTTF up under "categories", then it recognizes it as already bought and won't let me buy it again. Since I had $500 in credit, I played around about. I went back to shore excursions and bought it again. Luggage tags still didn't update. Then I refunded both FTTF purchases I had made, so it no longer showed at all. Still the same luggage tags (obviously, but I just checked anyway). Then, I went back in and brought it up under categories and purchased it again. Still no change. Also, it still does the same thing where I could buy it again under shore excursions, but not when I bring it up under categories. Anyways, it shows in booking and order details, I have the email confirmation, and all my cruise credits are exactly where they ought to be after all my fooling around. Obviously, I'm not going to mess with it anymore. I have almost two months until we cruise, so I'll just wait a bit and see if things work out on their own. When I do online check-in at the end of Dec. I'll be able to get boarding passes. As long as it shows on there as it should, I'm not gonna worry about it.

 

[Rudyard]

2 hours ago, coops said:

On my print out from Carnival site it says guaranteed stateroom will be ready when you board so I am taking that with me. 

Good luck and I sincerely hope everyone has their cabin ready. Heald posted again this morning not to count on it happening. I'm guessing that no one at Carnival thought to change the verbiage on the print outs. 

[CGrey93]

4 hours ago, pinto18 said:

Not to make you grab more Xanax..( r maybe it will make you feel better) but in my experience the express luggage is useless. I honestly dont believe they look at the "priority" tags. We have had luggage come quickly , and sometimes take forever, sometimes one suitcase comes and hours later the other..

I was just joking about the Xanax, by the way. I realized after I posted that some folks might think I'm seriously that freaked out. I'm not. It's a minor annoyance, really. I am a nervous person, but not THAT nervous, LOL. I did see this, though. This is a picture of our boarding pass when we last cruised. We had a suite in that cruise too, and we bought FTTF for that trip as well, since we like the dedicated line at the service desk. I am showing you that, so you can see the FTTF logo. Next, here's a close-up of my current luggage tag. Does that look like the FTTF logo peaking out from behind the priority logo to you? It's only on the first tag, not on the others. 

[Thenagers]

29 minutes ago, Rudyard said:

Good luck and I sincerely hope everyone has their cabin ready. Heald posted again this morning not to count on it happening. I'm guessing that no one at Carnival thought to change the verbiage on the print outs. 

I think this is something they should have thought of before they went back on sale? They are clearly selling something that might not be included? All they had to do was change the wording before selling Again? This is not the 1st time the IT department screwed up something simple? Personally I bought it but will be happy if the just let me drop off my sodas/wine. I do think the price should be lowered if they can’t give you all the benefits?

[fligster]

I was $60 for our December 19th  3 day cruise. I figured I would buy it since we have $500 OBC to use and I could use that to pay for it. 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I wish it was clear on whether FTTF allows you to show up anytime, or only arrival time. 

 

On a related note, it seems Ps and Ds won't need boarding numbers soon... but will they still need to adhere to their check in time? Less of a problem for them, with the 16 day online check in.

 

Personally, 14 day online check in plus arrival time strictness means FTTF is not worth it for us. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

13 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I wish it was clear on whether FTTF allows you to show up anytime, or only arrival time. 

 

On a related note, it seems Ps and Ds won't need boarding numbers soon... but will they still need to adhere to their check in time? Less of a problem for them, with the 16 day online check in.

 

Personally, 14 day online check in plus arrival time strictness means FTTF is not worth it for us. 

Pretty sure, despite the lack of clarity so far, that FTTF can arrive whenever, and not fixed to whatever arrival time is assigned, since Mr. Heald noted they board before the "rest" of the non-priority pax.

[jsglow]

30 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Pretty sure, despite the lack of clarity so far, that FTTF can arrive whenever, and not fixed to whatever arrival time is assigned, since Mr. Heald noted they board before the "rest" of the non-priority pax.

I'm not sure about that Prog.  What I believe is happening right now is that Carnival is attempting to move toward D&P 'show up anytime' thus paving the way for FttF to 'show up anytime'.  I think they know they have an issue and JH certainly did a 'wink wink' yesterday.  The good news is that they have more than a week to iron out the wrinkles.

[ProgRockCruiser]

6 hours ago, jsglow said:

I'm not sure about that Prog.  What I believe is happening right now is that Carnival is attempting to move toward D&P 'show up anytime' thus paving the way for FttF to 'show up anytime'.  I think they know they have an issue and JH certainly did a 'wink wink' yesterday.  The good news is that they have more than a week to iron out the wrinkles.

I will admit I'm not totally convinced about my own argument either, and even if I'm correct in principle, I wonder whether the port staff will grok it.

[jsglow]

30 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I will admit I'm not totally convinced about my own argument either, and even if I'm correct in principle, I wonder whether the port staff will grok it.

No Doubt.  I literally had a well-meaning port staff person absolutely pour over my Vax Card for 5+ minutes one time.  The first two shots were represented by computer generated stickers that were placed on the card way back in '21  Standard Kroger/Smiths stuff as I understand it.  She agonized over that having not seen it it training apparently.  I literally offered to open up my LiveWell app so as to not delay the line further.  She was pleasant the whole time and eventually relented.  I've only been jabbed 4 times for crying out loud.

 

We're cruisin' in 2 weeks.  Got a Platinum 10a arrival and A01 when I checked us in at 16 days.  I'll report back on what I see in real time.  It'll be one of the first few days of FTTF.

[ninjacat123]

I'm boarding Elation in Jacksonville this Wednesday.  I have a Platinum 10am Arrival Appt and a Boarding Zone of A01.  We will see how it goes!

[SmoothFlying]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I'm boarding Elation in Jacksonville this Wednesday.  I have a Platinum 10am Arrival Appt and a Boarding Zone of A01.  We will see how it goes!

We (my wife and I) are like you (Platinum) and are going to be on Elation (our very 1st cruise on her in January  Wahoooooo !) and were wondering if the FTTF was back in effect for our group ? Looking forwards to what you find out. But, after ALL is said and done, it is still a CRUISE !!! :))

 

Mac

[geneparmesan]

From Carnival's FAQ on FTTF. They emphasize twice that you need to "select" an Arrival Appointment, but it doesn't say if you must adhere to it.

[Jamesatgsu]

5 minutes ago, geneparmesan said:

From Carnival's FAQ on FTTF. They emphasize twice that you need to "select" an Arrival Appointment, but it doesn't say if you must adhere to it.

I think that is same as before. Hopefully get an early slot and it doesn't matter. I plan to show up at 10am regardless of my arrival time.

[jsglow]

5 minutes ago, geneparmesan said:

From Carnival's FAQ on FTTF. They emphasize twice that you need to "select" an Arrival Appointment, but it doesn't say if you must adhere to it.

I really think you're reaching there.

 

This will all work itself out shortly. But I sincerely hope all pax remain respectful of the shoreside staff just doing their jobs. I really do hope that Carnival clarifies this before there's a lot of hurt feelings. 

[geneparmesan]

2 hours ago, jsglow said:

I really think you're reaching there.

 

This will all work itself out shortly. But I sincerely hope all pax remain respectful of the shoreside staff just doing their jobs. I really do hope that Carnival clarifies this before there's a lot of hurt feelings. 

Carnival felt the need to emphasize that statement by making it red (not me). I don't think they would do that if they just meant you need to select a fake appointment time as the online check-in process would make you do that anyways.

 

I'm not "reaching" for anything; I'm just curious if FTTF means you need to arrive in your scheduled window or not. I'm not sailing until the end of Dec, so hopefully I'll hear about how it works before I go.

[jsglow]

8 minutes ago, geneparmesan said:

Carnival felt the need to emphasize that statement by making it red (not me). I don't think they would do that if they just meant you need to select a fake appointment time as the online check-in process would make you do that anyways.

 

I'm not "reaching" for anything; I'm just curious if FTTF means you need to arrive in your scheduled window or not. I'm not sailing until the end of Dec, so hopefully I'll hear about how it works before I go.

Then I believe I may have misunderstood you.  By Carnival making it red, I'd say that the arrival appointment time ISN'T OPTIONAL or a SUGGESTION at all.