Carnival Cruise Lines to offer early boarding for a fee

Under the slogan “Faster to the Fun,” passengers willing to pay an extra fee will get their own express lane to board the ship.

Aside from the priority check-in, for £49.95 (around $80) all occupants of a cabin will receive, among other perks, the benefit of having a guaranteed stateroom as soon as they board as well as a dedicated guest service phone number and hand-delivered luggage in the stateroom upon arrival.

The program, to be tested for an unspecified amount of time, is available on two Carnival Cruise Lines ships, the 3-day Carnival Imagination departing from Miami on August 20 and the 7-night Carnival Liberty sailing off from Miami on August 25.

Elite members of the line’s loyalty programs Diamond and Platinum, and well as members of Carnival’s VIFP (Very Important Fun Person program), already had access to these kinds of perks and more.

Carnival Cruise Lines currently has 23 ships operating three to 16 day voyages to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Mexico, Alaska and other popular destinations.

It is the first time a cruise line is offering a speedy boarding service and other perks for an extra fee, following a business model that has brought considerable benefits to the airline industry. According to a report published by Ideaworks on July, around $22.6 billion was collected from ancillary services by 50 large airlines in 2011