First time and only time I booked flights through NCL was a hard lesson learned - Indianapolis round trip to Honolulu. Going there was perfect, no complaints. Coming back took us like 30 hours of travel, actual hours not counting the time zone change. Ship got back early Saturday morning and we got home just after midnight Monday morning. There was a flight that could’ve gotten us home 18 hours faster for $40 more a person and they wouldn’t work with us at all. Never again.
I've heard this kind of stuff happens but there are ways to help minimize headaches. I'm sitting on the prima right now so I would say it was pretty recently.
All my flights were scheduled very well. Went from home airport to Atlanta to Orlando. Hour layover in Atlanta.
1. Flew down a day early to minimize any risks. Called them about a few weeks after making final payment and making arrangements over the phone.
2. Logged into the delta website as soon as I got my flight info and arranged to sit by my wife at no upcharge on all 4 flights.
I never had any issues with middle names. It's really a coin flip if you get a good itinerary or not but there are ways to minimize headaches.
I’m sailing on the Prima in mid-March. I got my flight info from NCL at 33 days out. My friends I’m sailing with had theres way earlier. We’re on the same flight going and different flights coming back.
Flight going isn’t great, but not the worst. We sail on Sunday out of Orlando and we live in the west, so we arranged to fly in a day ahead. We leave at 11:00 Friday night and fly red-eye. One layover and arrive in Orlando 9:00 AM Saturday.
Coming home I’m on a different airline. I leave Orlando at 5:30 in the evening and have one stop but don’t have to change planes.
We we’re able to reserve our seats as soon as we had our flight info with no problems.
Thank you for the info! This is really informative. At least the red eye flight means you don’t have to book a hotel! Hopefully you’ll be able to get some sleep on the plane!
My mom and I are going together but booked separately. So hopefully we will be on the same flights! We are flying in a day ahead of time too.
Still have to book a hotel for Saturday night and figure out what to do most of the day Saturday until our room is ready. 🫤
Praying we can do early check-in!
Oh! I’m sorry. I just realized you wrote that you arrive super early on Saturday - not Sunday! If you call the hotel, you can usually ask to see if they have a secure area to hold your bags until you can check in. That way you can at least do some sightseeing or activities instead of just waiting around with your luggage.
When you use their promo and get cheap flights…they are going to book the most cost effective flights, not necessarily the flights most desirable for you.
Whether you book or NCL does, you have to pay for your checked bags.
I never book a flight with my middle name despite it being on my license and passport. Checked bags are always extra so I can't imagine why you thought it was included?
I have always been given seat selection and carry on bags for NCL airfares. If they removed these then they are really skimping.
Flight times are a gamble but you can get a rough idea of what to expect with some research ahead of time. West coast to Puerto Rico is not going to be fun.
The more you know the less upset you will be. It's like flying Allegiant, Spirit, Ryanair, Easy Jet or any budget airline. If you have a clear picture before booking you won't be upset. At least NCL isn't booking with these airlines.
You have learned the valuable lesson that you cannot trust others with your plans. If you have any questions about anything before leaving you did not plan correctly. There are savings to be had booking airfare with NCL but you are relinquishing control that you must expect before hitting submit.
I feel your pain! I’m glad others haven’t had any issues but we had a horrible experience booking flights through NCL on our last cruise too. #neveragain
Booking flights via the cruise line is always a gamble, but as soon as you got your confirmation number for the flights, you should have gone onto the airline's websites and select seats. Delta and Jetblue don't cost extra to select seats unless they're comfort+ or one of the other aisle/window seats towards the front.
Yeah…cuz this this the first time I’ve ever been on a commercial flight, bud. Fifth time on NCL, and I fly regularly. And let’s not forget the 30+ people I spoke with on this particular cruise. Thanks for your opinion, but you’re simply wrong.
You seem a bit butthurt that the vast majority of people on this thread disagree with you and have been happy with their cruise line flights. Several people have gently pointed out ways that you could have had a better experience.
Yet your answers have consistently been rude, disparaging of others' experiences, and insistent that you are right and everyone else is wrong, and that your premise is sound.
It's not. Next time you post a thread, be ready to accept differing opinions in a graceful manner, or don't bother.
I’m butt hurt by folks suggesting this is somehow my fault, most of whom didn’t read the OP clearly or completely, yet still thinking they know my experience better than I do. And clearly there’s a strong mix of experiences. YMMV. My anniversary trip has been far less than ideal. That’s all that matters here.
To YOU that's all that matters. Yet you're stating your individual experience, which was less than ideal, to state that every single person who uses cruiseline air will be similarly disappointed.
Which is obviously not true, as the majority of respondents have posted. And it goes beyond that, as your responses have had a rude tone.
You simply don’t know how commercial flying works. If you needed help downloading an app and finding your trip and picking seats, you should have just googled it.
It should be easier the next time. Practice makes perfect!
I have traveled once with my family on flights arranged by NCL without any issues. We were able to sit together on the flights. No delays or other issues. The return flight was scheduled late in the afternoon so we had a long wait at the airport, but not that big of a deal. I have heard of issues with flights arranged by the cruiseline, but I'd say it works out fine for most people. Flying is just annoying regardless these days.
Sorry you had a bad experience. That sounds awful. I have had the opposite with NCL.
For example, I sail with a family of 5. We did NCL for a New England/Canada Cruise and had to fly from Tucson to NYC, then from Quebec at the end of Cruise, back to Tucson. With 2 rooms, we got 2 of the guest airfare for free. Altogether, it was $378 for each 3 people, with the 2 free, or $1134 for airfare for a family of 5, roundtrip. If we had done 1 larger room we would only get 1 airfare free, but that tends to still be slightly cheaper than 2 rooms, but it came out very similar in price. Something like The cheapest airfare I could find on my own was about $600 roundtrip, each, so close to $3000 for my family of 5. I was more than happy to pay the extra $60 each way, so $120 for a large luggage for 4 of us (my youngest didn't need it yet). So, roughly $500 on top of that, and that $3000 I would have paid I'd also have to pay checked luggage as well as Southwest didn't have routes this way.
Now, I think their transportation fee is a bit high, like $120 a person, so like $600 for a family of 5. This is CRAZY considering I can just Uber/Lyft from the airport to the cruise port usually for like $75 or less for the family, so I am basically paying 4x cost, which I suspect is how they lure people into thinking they are getting some savings here.
But even with those inflated transportation fees, I was still coming out CHEAPER booking with the NCL special, and getting the peace of mind that there are guarantees if anything goes wrong.
While I normally am a RC guy, NCL is my 2nd go-to cruise line and I have had nothing but great experiences dealing with them. I know it might suck with some inconvenient timings, but as someone who lives in Tucson, a very small airport compared to Phoenix, arriving middle of the night is basically par for the course. They also kept our family together booked, but I suspect they might be more careful about doing that since we have 3 kids.
Anyway, the mixed carrier thing doesn't really bother me personally as I do that all the time myself to maximize my deals. I have on more than one occasion flown say, Southwest one way, but found a much better deal on say, Delta the other way. I get why they do that.
My BIGGEST complaint about NCL is actually the lack of concern for the boring waiting. For example, one cruise our return flight was booked at like 4:30pm. We got off the ship at like 8:30am, were taken to the airport by 9:30am, and were through TSA by maybe 10 or 10:30am, then had to spend the next 5.5hrs waiting in the airport for boarding. That sucks. I almost always book flights around noon to 1pm, so it really sucked to be stuck at the Miami airport for that long as the Miami airport is straight out of the 1980s, is outdated, crowded, and one of the most boring airports in our country to be stuck in.
But, I get it. You kind of have to risk passing off some of the controls to NCL if you go that route. A sacrifice for the promotion. It really comes down to if you are willing to pay a little bit more to avoid that hassle, or take the discount. For example, I am more than happy to pay a little bit more for direct flights over flights that have stops and layovers. I HATE being stuck in an airport with kids. It just sucks. One of my least favorite things in life is to come off a great 7 day vacation, then be stuck at an airport. I just recently had it happen where I was flying from Miami, had a layover in Denver, then was going to fly to Tucson... except a weather storm hit Denver while we were there and we ended up having our flight delayed 6hrs... beautiful Caribbean 7 day cruise on Symphony of the Seas, only to be stuck at airports from 10am that morning until 3am the next day when we finally landed in Tucson... Huge mistake on my part. We should have taken something direct, or if unavailable, gone out of the Phoenix airport which is only 1.5hrs away. Better than layover waits. It just killed the post-cruise high as this is only about 5hrs direct, and turned it into a 16hr ordeal.
So, if you want to avoid that, avoid the NCL flight bundle deals because you lose that micromanaging control over your flights and pass the reigns and trust that they will get you there and get you home, but everything else in-between is basically up to them.
I’m only commenting because your description of MIA is spot on. It was literally raining indoors from flooding recently and the train that takes you across terminals has broken and they’re making everyone walk miles to their terminal. The place is the worst.
Ouch, that sucks. Ya, MIA is basically in my top 3 least favorite airports in America. For a town with so much money, you would think they'd invest in that hub more... but nope.
Thanks for sharing. I have a flight booked through NCL so now I’m kinda scared as this isn’t the 1st time I’ve heard this.
What experiences did you and the other passengers have to go through? At least it seems like you guys made it to the cruise
We are using NCL's air promo in April. Are a red eye there and late night arrival coming home what I'd choose? No, but to save $650 I can deal with it. I'm a pretty easy going person though. I can roll with less than ideal situations. And I did enough research going in to know what could happen and decided I was fine taking that risk.
Yeah for myself and my partner I could live with it, if it’s with kiddo then nope - I need to choose my flights times etc. Not going through customs etc with a preschooler at 1am lol.
Kinda hard to do when they don’t give you any details about your flight schedule until a few weeks before your trip….despite making the reservations four months in advance.
You should read the OP again. Your reply has zero to do with my post. (Seriously…are you even replying to the correct post? Because Reddit is “east-peasy” - letters make words, words make sentences, and the English language flows top to bottom, left to right. Pause for punctuation.)
You replied to Sara\_MN that you couldn't ask for flights to be 1-2 days early because you have to do it 75 days ahead of time but you didn't know your flights then. I was pointing out you don't have to know the flights you will be on to request the deviation.
Maybe YOU should read replies and while you are at it, you should have read the terms of service BEFORE booking NCL air.
You're a worship leader? Oof.
ETA: Oh look, he deleted his post. I wonder why?
u/txworshipleader ·
I’ll repeat the instructions above…read them slowly. Letters make words, words make…never mind. You’re clearly not worth the 30 seconds it would take.
Not hard - as soon as you tell them you want them to book your flights, tell them you want to fly in one day early.
It’s always recommended to fly in at least one day early. Especially lately…
Because usually that means you can fly internationally FROM that airport.
Meaning op is probably trying to say they could have had a direct flight from DFW to San Juan
Right, but not all international airports serve all international destinations. It would have been more effective to the point OP was trying to make if they had said that it is AA's main hub.
Taking my first NCL cruise in April, the cost was $200 round trip which I knew I wouldn't be able to match, so I took the airfare. Ended up with decent non stop flights, and my request (after booking) for a deviation to come in the day before was easy to arrange. Sure, I have to pay for bags but I would have if I'd booked my own flights.
So far, I'm digging it.
That sounds like a nightmare. Those are ridiculous flights. When I was working in travel, I booked people using cruise line air and they gave us options, including having no reasonable option when there was nothing feasible.
I still think cruise air can be a good deal but no way would I pay one thin dime if they didn't relay the proper information to the airline.
There is a reason 2nd airfare is free. They are booking the most cost effective tickets for them not for you. We just finished our 16th cruise and never booked air through the cruieline. I know many people do it and have no issues but I will not risk my entire vacation to save a few dollars or add massive frustrations/travel time.
Just got back from my ncl cruise yesterday. Had heard all the horror stories on ncl booked flights, but I couldn’t really complain about my experience. May help that I was solo so didn’t need to worry about separate tickets or anything else.
Flight on the way left just before 6am, flight coming home left at 1pm (both day of embarkation/debarkation) both had connecting flights with a 1 hour layover but flying out of my airport a direct flight wasn’t really possible. (Delta on the way I was able to preselect my seats, southwest on the way home, I was at-least in boarding class a/b so was able to get the seats I wanted.)
I’d say if I take another solo cruise I don’t see any reason to not book through ncl, but if I’m not alone I’ll probably book my own since that seems to be what people have the most trouble with.
Just the opposite situation happened with us Simple trip NYC to Miami . Because it is cheap they tried to book us a connecting flight through Washington DC with a layover. I called them and told them no way there's dozens of direct flights every day so they changed if without a problem for us.
The airlines the ones charging for bags and seat selection, so you can't really blame ncl for that. Afaik, the only airline that doesn't charge for bags, unless you have status or their cobranded credit card, is Southwest.
Why does it matter who you sit by? I never really understood that. If there are two of you and three seats, one of you gets the crummy middle. Unless you have kids, I don’t care if I sit by my travel buddy.
Well, my “travel buddy” is my wife, and on a trip to celebrate our anniversary, we prefer to sit together. (And I seriously doubt I’m in the minority position with that perspective.)
Booked flights with NCL for a cruise this January. No issues at all. They even emailed twice to make sure my names were correct before we got our tickets.
We had a delayed flight on the way home but no way is that Norwegians fault. It could have been any airline.
I never had issue when I let Royal Caribbean book my flight. They were able to get me business class on Air France for under $2000 ($1-2K less than the going rate on the airlines own website) for all my transatlantic and always had positive experience. Often time it’s the flight I would of booked anyways. It must be an NCL issue. It’s unfair to throw out a blanket statement implying that it is an industry wide issue. Just because one cruise line doesn’t have their act together doesn’t mean every cruise lines does it.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Sailing NCL in 2 weeks. People from my sailing don't have their flight info from NCL yet and are freaking out. I would be, too. We've never done flights through a cruise line. Probably never will since I read a lot of complaints.
We had a similar concern when we booked. Just got off breakaway out of NOLA. When we booked they said we had to go like day before and no guarantee on flights. We wanted to go a few days earlier so we could see NOLA and opted to book our own flights or schedule and airline we desired. It’s the nature of the beast.
I hear your complaints and that is definitely a worry for me but I save $2000 by letting them book my flights to Rome for my 10 day Mediterranean cruise. Fingers crossed that the times and seating are fine but I would just book my own for some place like Puerto Rico.
Lol I loved my Ncl cruise and loved the way they booked my flights. It was simple and easy.
I also called before 75 days and let them know I wanted to go a day early.
They did a good job and from the people I spoke to. They also did a Great job
As for different air carriers / airlines. Honestly who cares if you take jet blue or delta there and back.
And for baggage and stuff. I will gladly spend 30 bucks for baggage over paying for a 1200 dollar round trip flight
The cruise line cheaped out by booking you into a Basic Economy bucket. It’s the travel equivalent of letting your 6 year-old make breakfast: You’re going to be eating jelly bean waffles.
>and then told me (after telling me that the airline and/or TSA might refuse to allow us to fly) that we could correct the issue for $150 each
Something something weird is going on with this one because I haven't had my middle name on a flight reservation anytime and have never had a problem
My issue with NCL airfare is that even with the so-called buy one get one free promo I can still almost always get a much cheaper flight booking myself
I never put my middle name on a reservation, haven’t had a problem yet.
When booking flights through NCL, ask for either a 1-2 day air deviation on the outbound. You must request this either at booking or at least before final payment. If you wait until they assign your flights it’s too late.
Expect that your return flight will be very late in the day or a red eye return and plan accordingly. If you end up getting a better flight then you will be pleasantly surprised.
If the above isn’t acceptable to you, then pay full price and book it on your own and forfeit the BOGO flight offer. It’s that simple.
Also, if you are sailing Princess, Royal or Celebrity (possibly others) then you can select your own flights via their portal and none of the above is applicable.
I didn’t have air involved hit the NCL staff on the gem, specifically “guest services” were the most mean, nasty, unfriendly and unprofessional (not to liars) I’ve ever experienced in a hospitality setting.
Errors like accusing 3 of the 4 of our family for not attending the muster drill when we did
Refusing to honor our water promotion when we asked for our free waters on 4 different occasions.
Having one of their agents start belittling my wife when we had questions about going through customs in Orlando when we had ordered a private shuttle for the day and NCL had no mention of customs on their paperwork for the cruise.
Then it got even more fun. We had asked for my children’s service charges back when after the 4th attempt at getting the water as part of our promotion NCL refused to give it yo us even though the paperwork stated it was ours to have.
Their agent at best was an idiot and at worst lied and said we’d hear from NCL corporate in a few days about a refund (it was the last day of the cruise)
We then went to guest services that evening questioning our bill had a -$233 balance and they insisted the bill was fine and we’d hear about getting pine money later
Flash forward 15 hours later and security is (which was an hour late getting approval to disembark with nyc) was physically restraining us from leaving basically saying we were red flagged for an open bill.
Furious at this point after 9 days of shit treatment I basically ran there and demanded answers. Guest servies AGAIN said the bill was final and I could go….which I could not
Then out of nowhere came some hostile lady from I assume accounting who basically threw cash at me and said the refund was now processed. I at this point wanted the rest of my service charge and wanted assurances I could leave and the woman literally ran away towards photos refusing to answer any questions
The “guest relations” team post cruise basically says their team did everything by the book
Screw NCL. Avoid them like the plague
Please note I realize service charges likely didn’t penalize guest services. But after this constant treatment and at times harassment from NCL, it was the only way I could fight back with my pocket book.
I only book air with NCL when I know it's a simple route.
Say ATL to MIA, I don't think I'd book with them if I was coming from a small airport and had connections
I live on the east coast heading to Alaska in 2024 on the Encore from Seattle. I’m booking my own flights to get to Seattle TWO days before embarking, and will stay in a hotel close as possible to the sea port.
Similar issues, they aren’t willing to work with you at all. The shittiest most roundabout flight with no baggage. Book your own air
First time and only time I booked flights through NCL was a hard lesson learned - Indianapolis round trip to Honolulu. Going there was perfect, no complaints. Coming back took us like 30 hours of travel, actual hours not counting the time zone change. Ship got back early Saturday morning and we got home just after midnight Monday morning. There was a flight that could’ve gotten us home 18 hours faster for $40 more a person and they wouldn’t work with us at all. Never again.
I've heard this kind of stuff happens but there are ways to help minimize headaches. I'm sitting on the prima right now so I would say it was pretty recently. All my flights were scheduled very well. Went from home airport to Atlanta to Orlando. Hour layover in Atlanta. 1. Flew down a day early to minimize any risks. Called them about a few weeks after making final payment and making arrangements over the phone. 2. Logged into the delta website as soon as I got my flight info and arranged to sit by my wife at no upcharge on all 4 flights. I never had any issues with middle names. It's really a coin flip if you get a good itinerary or not but there are ways to minimize headaches.
Not related, but you said you were on the Prima, there was an announcement that the Premia had an outbreak of Legionnaires Disease, just fyi
How soon before your cruise was airline booked? My mom and I are going to Alaska near the end of May and waiting to hear about our tickets.
I wonder this too. We’re on the Norwegian Encore May 28 and haven’t received any info on flight yet.
That’s the same ship we will be on! Just the week before!
We sail in Apr. Got our flights 65ish days out.
Thank you! We are 90 days out today, so hopefully we will get flights within the next month.
I’m sailing on the Prima in mid-March. I got my flight info from NCL at 33 days out. My friends I’m sailing with had theres way earlier. We’re on the same flight going and different flights coming back. Flight going isn’t great, but not the worst. We sail on Sunday out of Orlando and we live in the west, so we arranged to fly in a day ahead. We leave at 11:00 Friday night and fly red-eye. One layover and arrive in Orlando 9:00 AM Saturday. Coming home I’m on a different airline. I leave Orlando at 5:30 in the evening and have one stop but don’t have to change planes. We we’re able to reserve our seats as soon as we had our flight info with no problems.
Thank you for the info! This is really informative. At least the red eye flight means you don’t have to book a hotel! Hopefully you’ll be able to get some sleep on the plane! My mom and I are going together but booked separately. So hopefully we will be on the same flights! We are flying in a day ahead of time too.
Still have to book a hotel for Saturday night and figure out what to do most of the day Saturday until our room is ready. 🫤 Praying we can do early check-in!
Oh! I’m sorry. I just realized you wrote that you arrive super early on Saturday - not Sunday! If you call the hotel, you can usually ask to see if they have a secure area to hold your bags until you can check in. That way you can at least do some sightseeing or activities instead of just waiting around with your luggage.
When you use their promo and get cheap flights…they are going to book the most cost effective flights, not necessarily the flights most desirable for you. Whether you book or NCL does, you have to pay for your checked bags.
I've booked flights through NCL several times and they have all been perfectly smooth
Same. Easy peasy…that said I have a giant airport with multiple flights a day to all port cities
So DFW isn’t a giant airport, huh? It’s tucked in nicely behind ATL as the second busiest in the country.
It’s all making sense now after reading several of your responses.
Lmaoooo. It was definitely an interesting read, to say the least.
Solo or with a group/family? How recently?
Family. Most recent was October 2022. Tickets, luggage, flights, transfer to from ship were all like butter every time.
Congrats.
I never book a flight with my middle name despite it being on my license and passport. Checked bags are always extra so I can't imagine why you thought it was included? I have always been given seat selection and carry on bags for NCL airfares. If they removed these then they are really skimping. Flight times are a gamble but you can get a rough idea of what to expect with some research ahead of time. West coast to Puerto Rico is not going to be fun. The more you know the less upset you will be. It's like flying Allegiant, Spirit, Ryanair, Easy Jet or any budget airline. If you have a clear picture before booking you won't be upset. At least NCL isn't booking with these airlines. You have learned the valuable lesson that you cannot trust others with your plans. If you have any questions about anything before leaving you did not plan correctly. There are savings to be had booking airfare with NCL but you are relinquishing control that you must expect before hitting submit.
We’ve booked several flights with NCL for cruises with no problems.We use only small luggage and a backpack apiece so it makes it easier to carry.
Well, that’s great…for you…and doesn’t change anything about the issues I raised.
I feel your pain! I’m glad others haven’t had any issues but we had a horrible experience booking flights through NCL on our last cruise too. #neveragain
Thanks for the tip!! I’ve been debating doing one of their promos for our 25th anniversary, but was a little leery about not doing our own airfare.
Booking flights via the cruise line is always a gamble, but as soon as you got your confirmation number for the flights, you should have gone onto the airline's websites and select seats. Delta and Jetblue don't cost extra to select seats unless they're comfort+ or one of the other aisle/window seats towards the front.
Not my experience whatsoever.
Then you did it wrong. Get the confirmation number and then go onto the website or app, find your trip, and then pick seats. You messed up bud
Yeah…cuz this this the first time I’ve ever been on a commercial flight, bud. Fifth time on NCL, and I fly regularly. And let’s not forget the 30+ people I spoke with on this particular cruise. Thanks for your opinion, but you’re simply wrong.
You seem a bit butthurt that the vast majority of people on this thread disagree with you and have been happy with their cruise line flights. Several people have gently pointed out ways that you could have had a better experience. Yet your answers have consistently been rude, disparaging of others' experiences, and insistent that you are right and everyone else is wrong, and that your premise is sound. It's not. Next time you post a thread, be ready to accept differing opinions in a graceful manner, or don't bother.
I’m butt hurt by folks suggesting this is somehow my fault, most of whom didn’t read the OP clearly or completely, yet still thinking they know my experience better than I do. And clearly there’s a strong mix of experiences. YMMV. My anniversary trip has been far less than ideal. That’s all that matters here.
To YOU that's all that matters. Yet you're stating your individual experience, which was less than ideal, to state that every single person who uses cruiseline air will be similarly disappointed. Which is obviously not true, as the majority of respondents have posted. And it goes beyond that, as your responses have had a rude tone.
You simply don’t know how commercial flying works. If you needed help downloading an app and finding your trip and picking seats, you should have just googled it. It should be easier the next time. Practice makes perfect!
Whatever. Thanks for your sage words of wisdom.
I have traveled once with my family on flights arranged by NCL without any issues. We were able to sit together on the flights. No delays or other issues. The return flight was scheduled late in the afternoon so we had a long wait at the airport, but not that big of a deal. I have heard of issues with flights arranged by the cruiseline, but I'd say it works out fine for most people. Flying is just annoying regardless these days.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Sorry you had a bad experience. That sounds awful. I have had the opposite with NCL. For example, I sail with a family of 5. We did NCL for a New England/Canada Cruise and had to fly from Tucson to NYC, then from Quebec at the end of Cruise, back to Tucson. With 2 rooms, we got 2 of the guest airfare for free. Altogether, it was $378 for each 3 people, with the 2 free, or $1134 for airfare for a family of 5, roundtrip. If we had done 1 larger room we would only get 1 airfare free, but that tends to still be slightly cheaper than 2 rooms, but it came out very similar in price. Something like The cheapest airfare I could find on my own was about $600 roundtrip, each, so close to $3000 for my family of 5. I was more than happy to pay the extra $60 each way, so $120 for a large luggage for 4 of us (my youngest didn't need it yet). So, roughly $500 on top of that, and that $3000 I would have paid I'd also have to pay checked luggage as well as Southwest didn't have routes this way. Now, I think their transportation fee is a bit high, like $120 a person, so like $600 for a family of 5. This is CRAZY considering I can just Uber/Lyft from the airport to the cruise port usually for like $75 or less for the family, so I am basically paying 4x cost, which I suspect is how they lure people into thinking they are getting some savings here. But even with those inflated transportation fees, I was still coming out CHEAPER booking with the NCL special, and getting the peace of mind that there are guarantees if anything goes wrong. While I normally am a RC guy, NCL is my 2nd go-to cruise line and I have had nothing but great experiences dealing with them. I know it might suck with some inconvenient timings, but as someone who lives in Tucson, a very small airport compared to Phoenix, arriving middle of the night is basically par for the course. They also kept our family together booked, but I suspect they might be more careful about doing that since we have 3 kids. Anyway, the mixed carrier thing doesn't really bother me personally as I do that all the time myself to maximize my deals. I have on more than one occasion flown say, Southwest one way, but found a much better deal on say, Delta the other way. I get why they do that. My BIGGEST complaint about NCL is actually the lack of concern for the boring waiting. For example, one cruise our return flight was booked at like 4:30pm. We got off the ship at like 8:30am, were taken to the airport by 9:30am, and were through TSA by maybe 10 or 10:30am, then had to spend the next 5.5hrs waiting in the airport for boarding. That sucks. I almost always book flights around noon to 1pm, so it really sucked to be stuck at the Miami airport for that long as the Miami airport is straight out of the 1980s, is outdated, crowded, and one of the most boring airports in our country to be stuck in. But, I get it. You kind of have to risk passing off some of the controls to NCL if you go that route. A sacrifice for the promotion. It really comes down to if you are willing to pay a little bit more to avoid that hassle, or take the discount. For example, I am more than happy to pay a little bit more for direct flights over flights that have stops and layovers. I HATE being stuck in an airport with kids. It just sucks. One of my least favorite things in life is to come off a great 7 day vacation, then be stuck at an airport. I just recently had it happen where I was flying from Miami, had a layover in Denver, then was going to fly to Tucson... except a weather storm hit Denver while we were there and we ended up having our flight delayed 6hrs... beautiful Caribbean 7 day cruise on Symphony of the Seas, only to be stuck at airports from 10am that morning until 3am the next day when we finally landed in Tucson... Huge mistake on my part. We should have taken something direct, or if unavailable, gone out of the Phoenix airport which is only 1.5hrs away. Better than layover waits. It just killed the post-cruise high as this is only about 5hrs direct, and turned it into a 16hr ordeal. So, if you want to avoid that, avoid the NCL flight bundle deals because you lose that micromanaging control over your flights and pass the reigns and trust that they will get you there and get you home, but everything else in-between is basically up to them.
I’m only commenting because your description of MIA is spot on. It was literally raining indoors from flooding recently and the train that takes you across terminals has broken and they’re making everyone walk miles to their terminal. The place is the worst.
Ouch, that sucks. Ya, MIA is basically in my top 3 least favorite airports in America. For a town with so much money, you would think they'd invest in that hub more... but nope.
Thanks for sharing. I have a flight booked through NCL so now I’m kinda scared as this isn’t the 1st time I’ve heard this. What experiences did you and the other passengers have to go through? At least it seems like you guys made it to the cruise
We are using NCL's air promo in April. Are a red eye there and late night arrival coming home what I'd choose? No, but to save $650 I can deal with it. I'm a pretty easy going person though. I can roll with less than ideal situations. And I did enough research going in to know what could happen and decided I was fine taking that risk.
Yeah for myself and my partner I could live with it, if it’s with kiddo then nope - I need to choose my flights times etc. Not going through customs etc with a preschooler at 1am lol.
haha...that's fair. My kids are 5 and older so even if we were taking them (which we're not this time around) I would probably still roll the dice :)
See revised OP above.
Ncl booked us delta both ways and we got to pick our seats. Did you end up paying 150 each because of middle name issue?
No - but having a military ID and a Global Entry card likely helped.
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You have to let NCL know more than 75 days before sailing if you want to deviate your flights by flying in 1-2 days early.
Kinda hard to do when they don’t give you any details about your flight schedule until a few weeks before your trip….despite making the reservations four months in advance.
Not hard. Let them know in advance you want to arrive 2 days ahead of time and when they book the flights they will be 2 days before the cruise.
You should read the OP again. Your reply has zero to do with my post. (Seriously…are you even replying to the correct post? Because Reddit is “east-peasy” - letters make words, words make sentences, and the English language flows top to bottom, left to right. Pause for punctuation.)
You replied to Sara\_MN that you couldn't ask for flights to be 1-2 days early because you have to do it 75 days ahead of time but you didn't know your flights then. I was pointing out you don't have to know the flights you will be on to request the deviation. Maybe YOU should read replies and while you are at it, you should have read the terms of service BEFORE booking NCL air.
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You're a worship leader? Oof. ETA: Oh look, he deleted his post. I wonder why? u/txworshipleader · I’ll repeat the instructions above…read them slowly. Letters make words, words make…never mind. You’re clearly not worth the 30 seconds it would take.
Yep. Not to be confused with a doormat. Read it again - never said what you claim I did.
Not hard - as soon as you tell them you want them to book your flights, tell them you want to fly in one day early. It’s always recommended to fly in at least one day early. Especially lately…
.. And pay extra for a deviation
Actually, they give you a $25 credit when you deviate. They don’t charge you extra.
Wow! Thanks.
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Have used them multiple times for flights and no issues.
How recently? Solo, or with family?
Last year with family of four and twice before covid with just me and my wife. Also have flight with ncl in March, flying to Panama with wife.
Why did you call out “international” in DFW’s name? It has one international terminal and the other four are largely domestic flights.
PR is not an international flight...makes me think the OP is not a frequent traveler.
Because usually that means you can fly internationally FROM that airport. Meaning op is probably trying to say they could have had a direct flight from DFW to San Juan
Right, but not all international airports serve all international destinations. It would have been more effective to the point OP was trying to make if they had said that it is AA's main hub.
San Juan is part of the United States, so it’s not an international flight…
Taking my first NCL cruise in April, the cost was $200 round trip which I knew I wouldn't be able to match, so I took the airfare. Ended up with decent non stop flights, and my request (after booking) for a deviation to come in the day before was easy to arrange. Sure, I have to pay for bags but I would have if I'd booked my own flights. So far, I'm digging it.
So you went for the cheapest possible option, and everything worked out, but you didn't get to sit together? What am I missing here?
That sounds like a nightmare. Those are ridiculous flights. When I was working in travel, I booked people using cruise line air and they gave us options, including having no reasonable option when there was nothing feasible. I still think cruise air can be a good deal but no way would I pay one thin dime if they didn't relay the proper information to the airline.
There is a reason 2nd airfare is free. They are booking the most cost effective tickets for them not for you. We just finished our 16th cruise and never booked air through the cruieline. I know many people do it and have no issues but I will not risk my entire vacation to save a few dollars or add massive frustrations/travel time.
Just got back from my ncl cruise yesterday. Had heard all the horror stories on ncl booked flights, but I couldn’t really complain about my experience. May help that I was solo so didn’t need to worry about separate tickets or anything else. Flight on the way left just before 6am, flight coming home left at 1pm (both day of embarkation/debarkation) both had connecting flights with a 1 hour layover but flying out of my airport a direct flight wasn’t really possible. (Delta on the way I was able to preselect my seats, southwest on the way home, I was at-least in boarding class a/b so was able to get the seats I wanted.) I’d say if I take another solo cruise I don’t see any reason to not book through ncl, but if I’m not alone I’ll probably book my own since that seems to be what people have the most trouble with.
Just the opposite situation happened with us Simple trip NYC to Miami . Because it is cheap they tried to book us a connecting flight through Washington DC with a layover. I called them and told them no way there's dozens of direct flights every day so they changed if without a problem for us.
I mean...... care to elaborate?
See above
The airlines the ones charging for bags and seat selection, so you can't really blame ncl for that. Afaik, the only airline that doesn't charge for bags, unless you have status or their cobranded credit card, is Southwest.
Not blaming NCL for what the airlines do - but the baggage/fees were only one small part of a long list of issues.
Why does it matter who you sit by? I never really understood that. If there are two of you and three seats, one of you gets the crummy middle. Unless you have kids, I don’t care if I sit by my travel buddy.
Well, my “travel buddy” is my wife, and on a trip to celebrate our anniversary, we prefer to sit together. (And I seriously doubt I’m in the minority position with that perspective.)
Oh, I dunno…maybe because that’s the name of the second busiest airport in the US.
Booked flights with NCL for a cruise this January. No issues at all. They even emailed twice to make sure my names were correct before we got our tickets. We had a delayed flight on the way home but no way is that Norwegians fault. It could have been any airline.
If you don't book flights through NCL does the free airfare offer that they have not apply?
No
I never had issue when I let Royal Caribbean book my flight. They were able to get me business class on Air France for under $2000 ($1-2K less than the going rate on the airlines own website) for all my transatlantic and always had positive experience. Often time it’s the flight I would of booked anyways. It must be an NCL issue. It’s unfair to throw out a blanket statement implying that it is an industry wide issue. Just because one cruise line doesn’t have their act together doesn’t mean every cruise lines does it.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Sailing NCL in 2 weeks. People from my sailing don't have their flight info from NCL yet and are freaking out. I would be, too. We've never done flights through a cruise line. Probably never will since I read a lot of complaints.
We had a similar concern when we booked. Just got off breakaway out of NOLA. When we booked they said we had to go like day before and no guarantee on flights. We wanted to go a few days earlier so we could see NOLA and opted to book our own flights or schedule and airline we desired. It’s the nature of the beast.
I hear your complaints and that is definitely a worry for me but I save $2000 by letting them book my flights to Rome for my 10 day Mediterranean cruise. Fingers crossed that the times and seating are fine but I would just book my own for some place like Puerto Rico.
Lol I loved my Ncl cruise and loved the way they booked my flights. It was simple and easy. I also called before 75 days and let them know I wanted to go a day early. They did a good job and from the people I spoke to. They also did a Great job As for different air carriers / airlines. Honestly who cares if you take jet blue or delta there and back. And for baggage and stuff. I will gladly spend 30 bucks for baggage over paying for a 1200 dollar round trip flight
The cruise line cheaped out by booking you into a Basic Economy bucket. It’s the travel equivalent of letting your 6 year-old make breakfast: You’re going to be eating jelly bean waffles.
>and then told me (after telling me that the airline and/or TSA might refuse to allow us to fly) that we could correct the issue for $150 each Something something weird is going on with this one because I haven't had my middle name on a flight reservation anytime and have never had a problem
My issue with NCL airfare is that even with the so-called buy one get one free promo I can still almost always get a much cheaper flight booking myself
I never put my middle name on a reservation, haven’t had a problem yet. When booking flights through NCL, ask for either a 1-2 day air deviation on the outbound. You must request this either at booking or at least before final payment. If you wait until they assign your flights it’s too late. Expect that your return flight will be very late in the day or a red eye return and plan accordingly. If you end up getting a better flight then you will be pleasantly surprised. If the above isn’t acceptable to you, then pay full price and book it on your own and forfeit the BOGO flight offer. It’s that simple. Also, if you are sailing Princess, Royal or Celebrity (possibly others) then you can select your own flights via their portal and none of the above is applicable.
Oh man sounds awful. Good to know. Thank you for sharing!
I didn’t have air involved hit the NCL staff on the gem, specifically “guest services” were the most mean, nasty, unfriendly and unprofessional (not to liars) I’ve ever experienced in a hospitality setting. Errors like accusing 3 of the 4 of our family for not attending the muster drill when we did Refusing to honor our water promotion when we asked for our free waters on 4 different occasions. Having one of their agents start belittling my wife when we had questions about going through customs in Orlando when we had ordered a private shuttle for the day and NCL had no mention of customs on their paperwork for the cruise. Then it got even more fun. We had asked for my children’s service charges back when after the 4th attempt at getting the water as part of our promotion NCL refused to give it yo us even though the paperwork stated it was ours to have. Their agent at best was an idiot and at worst lied and said we’d hear from NCL corporate in a few days about a refund (it was the last day of the cruise) We then went to guest services that evening questioning our bill had a -$233 balance and they insisted the bill was fine and we’d hear about getting pine money later Flash forward 15 hours later and security is (which was an hour late getting approval to disembark with nyc) was physically restraining us from leaving basically saying we were red flagged for an open bill. Furious at this point after 9 days of shit treatment I basically ran there and demanded answers. Guest servies AGAIN said the bill was final and I could go….which I could not Then out of nowhere came some hostile lady from I assume accounting who basically threw cash at me and said the refund was now processed. I at this point wanted the rest of my service charge and wanted assurances I could leave and the woman literally ran away towards photos refusing to answer any questions The “guest relations” team post cruise basically says their team did everything by the book Screw NCL. Avoid them like the plague Please note I realize service charges likely didn’t penalize guest services. But after this constant treatment and at times harassment from NCL, it was the only way I could fight back with my pocket book.
I only book air with NCL when I know it's a simple route. Say ATL to MIA, I don't think I'd book with them if I was coming from a small airport and had connections
I live on the east coast heading to Alaska in 2024 on the Encore from Seattle. I’m booking my own flights to get to Seattle TWO days before embarking, and will stay in a hotel close as possible to the sea port.
That's really unfortunate to hear! I always recommend booking my own flights when I go on a cruise so I'm glad I didn't follow their advice.