Difference between arrival time and boarding time?

[teebrown1234]

Hi there, It's my first cruise as a surprise to my husband, I purchased faster 2 fun as a way to get in early.  I have an arrival appointment of 10:30, is that the earliest time we are able to come?  or does the faster 2 fun group come in earlier?

[crewsweeper]

10:30 is the time you can check in at the terminal. 

 

Boarding will follow when ship is ready to board.  In theory FTF folks do go before the general boarding but there could be other groups boarding in advance of you or with you, like wedding parties, Diamonds and Platinum cruisers.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

In most ports, earliest arrival time is 10:00. But, but all.

 

Before covid,  FTTF could arrive prior to their arrival time. I don't know if that's still true. 

 

When boarding starts (often around 11, but can vary a lot, as many things effect when ship is ready), FTTF will be called after wedding,  suites,  diamond;, and platinum. 

 

After FTTF, boarding zones will be called, and boarding zones correlate with arrival times. 

[mz-s]

Arrival time is when you can arrive at the pier.

 

Boarding time is when customs clears the ship and Carnival starts calling boarding zones. As Faster to the Fun guests, you will be in one of the first boarding zones so you will be among the first aboard.

 

You should be able to drop off your carry-on luggage in your room when you board, but your stateroom won't necessarily be made up.

[Eli_6]

Pre-Covid, FTTF could arrive whenever they wanted to.  

 

They just brought FTTF back so no one knows exactly how it will work.  

[hillbillycruisers]

Another factor that could possibly delay your boarding time...sometimes the ship is late getting into port...for various reasons. Of the ten cruises we've been on, two had us waiting to board for that reason...one was super late due to very heavy fog ( Galveston), and it was five hours late arriving. On our last cruise, we were almost one hour late getting back, which meant those waiting to board had to wait. Your FTTF will definitely help get on earlier. Good luck and enjoy your first cruise!!

[skrufy]

16 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Arrival time is when you can arrive at the pier.

 

Boarding time is when customs clears the ship and Carnival starts calling boarding zones. As Faster to the Fun guests, you will be in one of the first boarding zones so you will be among the first aboard.

 

You should be able to drop off your carry-on luggage in your room when you board, but your stateroom won't necessarily be made up.

You need a check in time to complete your boarding pass. You can show up at 10:30 or any time you please. You will board behind wedding parties, suitors, diamonds and platinums. Once boarding starts you'll be on board in no time. If you arrive and boarding has already began, you will head right through check in and right on board. On some occasions, the ship is not ready for boarding so you will sit in the lounge until called 

[asalligo]

Check in time is when you can arrive at the terminal and boarding time is when they let you on the ship. To give you an idea of how this works. I will arrive at the terminal next week at 10am, but the ship will not be anywhere near ready to let me on. I will be security scanned, checked in at the desk to make sure everything is in order and then guided to a large seating area just like in an airline terminal and sorted by boarding zone. There we sit and wait until they are cleared to start boarding. When boarding starts you will be called by boarding priority and zone. 

 

If you show up after boarding has started, you get to just board after you check in, but sometimes that can be very late. If the ship has an issue we have seen people boarded as late as 4pm and many of them sat in that seating are all day. 

 

 

[ninjacat123]

17 hours ago, teebrown1234 said:

Hi there, It's my first cruise as a surprise to my husband, I purchased faster 2 fun as a way to get in early.  I have an arrival appointment of 10:30, is that the earliest time we are able to come?  or does the faster 2 fun group come in earlier?

Remember that you can bring a bottle of wine or sparkling wine in carryon bag per legal adult at embarkation.  Bring a wine stopper (I forgot that last cruise and we had to drink the whole bottle on our balcony😉) and a rubber band (wrap it around the cork and it helps to open the bottle).

Have a great first cruise!!

[teebrown1234]

Thank you all this is very helpful for a first time cruiser.  I hate lines which is why I opted for the faster to fun pass. I'll be sure to bring along some reading material to occupy us while waiting for boarding.

[ABQrobin]

No one can get on the ship until the previous cruise people have gotten OFF the ship, and the crew is able to clean the whole ship.  Even with FTTF you won't get onboard before 11-11:30 at the earliest.   

[groundloop]

On 12/13/2022 at 12:20 PM, teebrown1234 said:

Thank you all this is very helpful for a first time cruiser.  I hate lines which is why I opted for the faster to fun pass. I'll be sure to bring along some reading material to occupy us while waiting for boarding.

 

Something you might not realize is that once you get on the ship you're still going to have to find a place to sit and relax among a few thousand new friends while you wait for cabins to be ready (usually at 1:30).  FTTF doesn't change that.

 

I sailed Holland America this past summer, I like how they handle arrival and boarding much better.  They assign a check-in time based on your cabin location, after you check-in you board immediately and have immediate access to your cabin.  That's SO MUCH more relaxing.

[staceyglow]

5 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

Something you might not realize is that once you get on the ship you're still going to have to find a place to sit and relax among a few thousand new friends while you wait for cabins to be ready (usually at 1:30).  FTTF doesn't change that.

 

I sailed Holland America this past summer, I like how they handle arrival and boarding much better.  They assign a check-in time based on your cabin location, after you check-in you board immediately and have immediate access to your cabin.  That's SO MUCH more relaxing.

Or just choose a check-in time after 1:30. You  will be able to go straight to your cabin and let those of us who don't mind boarding early with the masses do our own thing. 

[hapytobehr]

On 12/13/2022 at 12:20 PM, teebrown1234 said:

Thank you all this is very helpful for a first time cruiser.  I hate lines which is why I opted for the faster to fun pass. I'll be sure to bring along some reading material to occupy us while waiting for boarding.

There still will be lines with FTTF 

[hillbillycruisers]

We used FTTF on three cruises...all out of Galveston...prior to all the Covid unpleasantries. On each of these three cruises, we were onboard around 11am, and our cabin was available for use each time. Of course, we just dumped off our carry ons, and went to eat lunch and sightsee. With this newly reinstated FTTF, they are stating the cabin may or may not be ready for use that early, but we can still dump off our bags and go eat. That would suit me just fine, as we both have a carry on and a backpack...our only luggage...nothing checked....and we won't have to lug everything around. We will be using FTTF on our Dream cruise in a few weeks...curious to see how it goes.

[teknoge3k]

1 hour ago, ABQrobin said:

No one can get on the ship until the previous cruise people have gotten OFF the ship, and the crew is able to clean the whole ship.  Even with FTTF you won't get onboard before 11-11:30 at the earliest.   

 

I am curious which port you typically sail from? From all of the Florida ports, and Charleston we've always been on well before 11am even without FTTF or Platinum status. (Usually on well before then with FTTF as well) In fact, 2 cruises we've been on this year, we've been on the ship before 10:30. The only exception has been Baltimore, because they have a later embarkation since there's a later port arrival from the previous cruise. 

[ABQrobin]

44 minutes ago, teknoge3k said:

 

I am curious which port you typically sail from? From all of the Florida ports, and Charleston we've always been on well before 11am even without FTTF or Platinum status. (Usually on well before then with FTTF as well) In fact, 2 cruises we've been on this year, we've been on the ship before 10:30. The only exception has been Baltimore, because they have a later embarkation since there's a later port arrival from the previous cruise. 

We are Platinum, have sailed from Galveston mostly, but also Seattle, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Port Canaveral.