Before talking about Carnival Cruise Line’s Faster to the Fun perks, let’s talk abit about what the program is.
What is faster to the fun on Carnival?
Carnival’s faster to the fun (Also known as FTTF) is an optional pay for perks program. There are a limited number of faster to the fun packages sold for each cruise.
Read my recent Faster to the Fun review and what made me change my mind about it.
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In addition to the Faster to the Fun perks this article will also cover
- How much is faster to the fun on Carnival?
- How to purchase faster to the fun?
- Is Carnival faster to the fun worth it?
- When not to buy faster to the fun
Faster to the Fun perks
The Carnival faster to the fun perks are designed to give you some of the benefits of Carnival Diamond and Platinum members for a cost, without having to have reached that frequent cruiser level.
The faster to the fun perks (FTTF perks)
– Priority check in at embarkation
Read my recent Faster to the Fun review which gives some examples of arrival time vs boarding time with having FTTF.
– Stateroom ready when you board.
As you can imagine it’s a massive job getting each room fully cleaned after the prior sailing’s passengers disembark and the new passengers board.
Often your stateroom won’t be ready or accessible for a few hours after boarding. With Carnival’s Faster to the Fun, one of the perks is being able to access your room as soon as you board.
– Expedited luggage
Another massive and time consuming job for the cruise line is delivering all the passengers’ luggage to their staterooms on the first day of the cruise.
Normally you shouldn’t expect to see your luggage for several hours after boarding. This is why it is essential to pack a carry on bag with your first day essential items.
With Carnival Cruise’s Faster to the Fun, expedited luggage is one of the benefits.
– Guest services priority line
A dedicated phone line to guest services as well as an express line at the guest services desk.
– Priority dining reservations
This FFTF perk gives you priority when requesting early or late dining in the main dining room, and also gives you priority when making reservations for the specialty dining restaurants. Note that this is still a request and not a guarantee.
Also note that with Carnival’s faster to the fun, you are not given priority access to or able to reserve ‘Your Time Dining”.
– Priority tender boarding
Another faster to the fun perk (fftf perk) is priority tender (water shuttle) boarding for those not booked on a Carnival shore excursion.
Some ports on your cruise itinerary may require the ship to anchor off shore and passengers are then transported from the ship to shore in a smaller boat. Often a local water shuttle or the ship’s life boats are used.
One of the benefits of Carnival’s faster to the fun is priority boarding on these tenders.
– Priority disembarkation
The final Carnival faster to the fun perk is having the option to choose an early or a late disembarkation.
How much is faster to the fun on Carnival?
The cost of Carnival’s faster to the fun varies depending on the ship and the cruise duration. Currently, the cost of faster to the fun on a 7 day cruise starts at $89.95 USD per stateroom. Prices can change, you can check the current price for your cruise here.
If you are a diamond or platinum Carnival Cruise member (VIFP) then you do not need to purchase faster to the fun as you already receive these perks and then some.
How do you purchase faster to the fun on Carnival?
Faster to the fun is purchased online under shore excursions once you log in to your Carnival account. There are a limited number of FTTF packages available and they tend to sell out very quickly.
If you find that the Carnival faster to the fun is sold out for your cruise, keep checking back. There are often cancellations or more fttf packages released. The number of faster to the fun packages available are dependent on the number of diamond and platinum cruisers booked on the ship.
Is FTTF available on all cruises?
No, faster to the fun is currently not available on Europe cruises or on Carnival Journey cruises. It is also not available on cruises departing from Honolulu, Vancouver, San Diego, San Francisco, and Norfolk.
Is Carnival Faster to the Fun worth it
Is Carnival faster to the fun worth it? Well that depends on how many of the fttf perks you would use and if you are willing to pay for those perks.
To help you decide if Carnival faster to the fun is worth it, let’s take a closer look at the faster to the fun perks. Are there some that don’t apply or ones you don’t care about?
Recap of faster to the fun perks
Priority check-in
Is this important to you? Does your cruise depart from a port with a staggered check-in? If so, and you are able to select an early check in time then this fttf perk might not be as imporant to you.
Stateroom ready when you board
Is this important to you? If you travelled a fair distance to get to the ship and plan to have a nap right away to rest up before your vacation begins then this might be very important to you. If you plan to board the ship then grab lunch, a drink, and lounge by the pool for a few hours you likely wouldn’t take advantage of this faster to the fun perk.
Expedited luggage – a faster to the fun perk
What about this perk, is it of benefit to you? If you pack what you need for the day in a carry on then waiting a few extra hours for your suitcases to arrive might not be important to you.
For other embarkation day tips, check this out. 11 Best Tips for Embarkation Day
Guest services express line
This could be a time saving benefit if you need to visit guest services. Is that important to you or are you okay with either waiting in line or checking back when then line might be shorter?
Priority dining reservations
This faster to the fun benefit won’t be much of a benefit to you if you choose “Your Time” dining. It would only then help you with priority specialty dining reservations.
Carnival dining times
When you book your cruise you will be asked to choose from 3 dining time options. These apply just to the main dining room and are only a request, it is not a guarantee.
The Carnival dining times for the main dining room are:
- Early dining – 6:00pm
- Late dining – 8:15pm
- Your time dining – Anytime between 5:45pm – 9:15pm
The faster to the fun Carnival dining benefit prioritizes your request if you choose early or late dining, it doesn’t not help with accessing “Your Time” dining. It does however give you priority when making specialty dining reservations.
So, if you are wanting Your Time dining and don’t plan to eat at any specialty restaurants then this faster to the fun perk won’t apply to you.
Priority tender boarding
Does your cruise itinerary have any or many stops where you take a cruise ship tender (water taxi) from ship to shore? It is usually noted on your itinerary if the port is tendered in. Check with Carnival if you are unsure.
If you don’t have any tendered ports, then this perk is of no help to you. It is also of no help to you if you book a Carnival shore excursion in these ports. With a Carnival shore excursion, everyone meets at a designated spot and time and are lead on to a tender (water shuttle) in time for your tour.
If you are exploring a tendered port on your own then this perk might be quite important to you.
Priority debarkation
Is the time you get off the ship important to you?
So is Carnival faster to the fun worth it?
Now to determine if Carnival faster to the fun is worth it, take a look back at the above perks. How many are important to you? How many don’t even apply? Now check the cost of faster to the fun for your cruise. Is the cost worth it to you to have those applicable perks? That is something only you can decide.
When not to buy the faster to the fun package
Don’t buy the faster to the fun package if the benefits don’t apply to you or aren’t important to you. Don’t buy the faster to the fun package if you are a Carnival diamond or platinum member as you already receive these benefits and then some.
Faster to the fun reminders
The faster to the fun cost is per room and not per person. Therefore, for that price, all the people staying in that room get the faster to the fun perks.
There a limited number of fttf packages available each applicable cruise and they tend to sell out quickly. If faster to the fun is sold out for your sailing, keep checking back as sometimes more open up.
Carnival’s fttf can only be purchased ahead of time and cannot be purchased on the ship.
Faster to the fun is an all or nothing package, you cannot pick and choose your benefits for a lower price.
Your boarding pass will indicate that you have purchased the faster to the fun package.
In summary, Carnival’s faster to the fun is a popular pay for perks program that is optional and has limited availability.
After reading the list of what’s included with faster to the fun you may decide it is totally worth it to buy or you might look at the perks and realize that only a few would apply to you and that the cost isn’t worth those few added benefits.
Either way I’m sure you will love your Carnival cruise, it’s a great choice for a vacation. Remember Carnival can change the pricing and faster to the fun benefits so be sure to check the details with Carnival before booking.
