Jump to content
  • We'd love for you to participate.

    Create an account

    Ask questions, share experiences and connect.

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
  • Carnival Cruise Lines to offer early boarding, for a price


    One cruise line is taking a chapter from the airline industry and offering passengers --willing to pay extra -- the chance to board their ship early.

    Carnival Cruise Lines announced it will begin testing a new program where all the occupants of a given stateroom can board the cruise ship as soon as it is cleared for new arrivals. The program, called “Faster to the Fun,” also will allow passengers instant access to their staterooms upon boarding and will even have their hand-delivered luggage waiting for them in the stateroom upon arrival.

    The program will be available on two Carnival ships: the Carnival Imagination (starting Aug. 20) and Carnival Liberty (Aug. 25) and is limited to a relatively small number of people. It costs $49.95, but only one occupant of the stateroom needs to book it to give the same benefit to everyone staying in the room.

    Typically, the first people to arrive aboard a cruise ship find the stateroom corridors locked until all of the staterooms have been “turned around.” Most early arrivals typically tour the open areas of the ship before heading to the buffet for a long lunch. On most cruises the earliest that all staterooms are made available is 1:00 p.m. Sometimes it is as late as 3:00.

    Additionally, most guests hand their larger pieces of luggage over to stevedores on the pier for later hand-delivery to their staterooms by the crew much later in the day, often as late as 5:00 p.m. or even after the ship has set sail.

    With this program the luggage is already placed in the stateroom before the priority guests arrive. This will be a very handy option for some people, such as those who took the red-eye flight to reach the ship, for example.

    The “Faster to the Fun” program is sold through the Carnival “shore tours” division and should be booked pre-cruise either online or though the travel agent handling the cruise. It mainly involves the boarding process, but in addition the users also get priority lines to leave and return to the ship in ports of call and priority tender tickets for ports where the ship must ferry passengers to shore.

    Although it is test program, there's the potential for it expand fleet-wide, since it means guests can change clothes immediately and even settle in for a nap right away if they need the rest.

    By Paul Motter, cruisecrazies




    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    This is interesting but I can’t imagine ever paying for it myself. We always get to the port early and usually get right on the ship – even back when we’d only been on a couple of cruises. We also never felt the need to get right in our room or missed getting our bags immediately. I guess we just got used to the way things have always been. I’m sure plenty of people will be happy to pay for this!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Cruise Secrets Revealed!
×
×
  • Create New...