Flight by NCL, or not

I know it's more expensive to book the flight through NCL.

BUT ... will it get me off the ship faster to book through them if I can get an earlier flight?

It's mentioned often on here that you can do much better on flight costs on your own but more importantly you won't get a direct flight or you will end up with one or two connections or red eye flights.

You also won't get your flight info till much closer in to your cruise.

You can be one of the first off if you do the easy walk off with your luggage in tow.

They will accommodate what ever flights they assign you. I wouldn't count on an early flight. We only used cruise line flights once, arrived later in the day and flew home in the afternoon as well. I felt to rushed getting there and like enjoying the first day as early as possible. If possible we always do our flights the day before.

Unless you pay significantly extra, you don't get to choose your flights. NCL assigns them and you don't even know until just a few weeks ahead of time. The schedules can be really lousy. Given our experience, I would never book through them again. You can find flights that better fit your schedule for less on your own.

I never thought about the idea that you wouldn't get a choice and that they might not be non-stop. Silly me. I think I can do a lot better than $700 pp from Toronto anyway, seems to read about $400 pp right now, so that's what I'll do.

I again for this coming March booked my flights thru NCL, for the two of us it was an added $100 for "Air Deviation" which means I choose the flights I wanted. The total cost of the flight with air deviation was $1145.45 per person and I just checked on Expedia and the same flights are at $1566.60 per person. Today if I were to book directly thru the airline the price per person is $1441.43.

I again for this coming March booked my flights thru NCL, for the two of us it was an added $100 for "Air Deviation" which means I choose the flights I wanted. The total cost of the flight with air deviation was $1145.45 per person and I just checked on Expedia and the same flights are at $1566.60 per person. Today if I were to book directly thru the airline the price per person is $1441.43.

I did an air deviation with NCL so that I could get a non-stop flight from Dulles (IAD) to Honolulu (HNL) on United. But, when I wanted to change my seats from economy to first class, I couldn't. NCL didn't have a contract with United for first class seating. I would have had to fly Delta from Dulles to Atlanta to get a direct flight to Honolulu.

So I cancelled my flight through NCL and booked directly with United. Ended up getting a pretty good deal. If I were to book the flight today, it would cost me at least $250.00 per person more.

We have Epic in April '13, and needed one way air from Barcelona to Miami after the cruise.

I asked for a specific non-stop AA flight and that is the one NCL has booked and confirmed it for us.

The cost of the air was $800/pp through NCL. Checked it on AA and the price is $2400/pp. Expedia (and others) had it at $1800/pp. Big savings with NCL air. The only "travel diversion" charge was $80/pp for requesting a specific flight.

We booked our cruise with our TA last week. Jewel, October 2013. When she quoted NCL's price for the roundtrip tickets from Philadelphia to New Orleans I almost fell over. NCL wanted $879.00 pp round trip. They must be joking, unless airfare is going to more than double in price within the next month. Current pricing for US Air roundtrip non stop is $319.00 each round trip pp. The hotel price was pretty good, will be in NO two nights prior to the cruise

I would never book my airline tickets through the cruise line. On our first cruise (Hawaii) there were a couple ladies that had paid for NCL to book their flights. They had to leave Honolulu fly to LAX then Atlanta and finally to Texas just to drive the rest of the way to Louisiana. They told us it was a learning experience and they would never do it again.

The cruise line buys the cheapest flights possible and with that, you might get bounced around the country getting to your final destination.

As of right now if I price out my cruise for next year with airfare. NCL wants $1062 per person for the flights. DH and I booked our own already at a cost of $450.00 per person.

Best of luck

I guess we're lucky to have gotten the best price for a flight we really wanted to be on.

I would never book my airline tickets through the cruise line.

 

 

 

I agree

Without phrasing this question like I'm pulling a "snooty pooty" attitude, do you think that because we're in the owner's suite for the 15 night cruise causes NCL to handle our air request in a special manner?

Without phrasing this question like I'm pulling a "snooty pooty" attitude, do you think that because we're in the owner's suite for the 15 night cruise causes NCL to handle our air request in a special manner?

I'm in a Delux Ower's Suite also this coming year, this year I was in a Haven Spa Suite and it was also $50 per person for the air deviation. This past March I had originally booked in a Mini Suite before upgrading to the Haven Spa Suite and the air deviation was also $50.00 per person so I don't think it depends on your accommondation. So in my case whether I was non suite, suite, owners suite...the air deviation cost stayed at $50.00 per person. This is for a non-stop flight from Montreal to Miami. I actually live in Ottawa but there are no non-stop flights :mad: so I would rather drive the 1 1/2 hrs. to Montreal. As far as the actual price of the ticket this was the going airfare at the time when I booked Mar/12 for Mar/13 trip but now the airfare has gone up & up still getting the lower price.

i've found NCL prices for flights back to the UK reasonable, but more expensive for round trip cruises which need return flights ... however for a 1 way flight to US for my TA the flights are about 1/3 of the cost for me to buy myself, and they have already confirmed flight times, and they come with a free night in a hotel and transfers... so not too bad...

And I always book a cheap stateroom yet still get good flight deals!

Hypothetical question 1: You book flights through NCL, show up and the flight is delayed. So much that you arrive in Miami at 6pm. Does NCL wait?

Hypothetical question 2: You book flights through NCL, show up and the flight is canceled. So I would assume you now have to catch up to the ship. Does NCL cover this?

I book my own typically but I have wondered if NCL treats flights like they do their shore excursions.

Hypothetical question 1: You book flights through NCL, show up and the flight is delayed. So much that you arrive in Miami at 6pm. Does NCL wait?

 

Hypothetical question 2: You book flights through NCL, show up and the flight is canceled. So I would assume you now have to catch up to the ship. Does NCL cover this?

 

I book my own typically but I have wondered if NCL treats flights like they do their shore excursions.

NCL will do what they can to get you onboard that day, or make arrangements to board at the next port so similar to shore excursions. They give you an emergency number which yourself or airline can call to try and get you on alternative flights if needed. You get met at the airport anyway, so if delayed in the air, their staff should know.

From the website:

What should I do if my flight is delayed and what happens if I miss my outbound flight?

If your flight is delayed on your day of sailing, please follow these guidelines:

• Advise your airline as soon as possible that you are a cruise guest sailing that day. They will do all they can to book alternative flights.

• Ask the airline to contact our emergency number 0208 834 9013 immediately and we will do our best to get you on board. If you miss your flight due to your own error, Norwegian Cruise Line will not cover any additional costs for rebooking.

• Please note that if you miss your outbound flight the airline may consider this a ‘no show’ and may also cancel the return flight. In such cases, any additional expenses for rebooking return flights will not be covered by Norwegian Cruise Line.

If you have bought you own air tickets, independently of Norwegian Cruise Line, you will be responsible for any and all expenses incurred to join the ship.

This is the UK advice though! But should be similar to US, just a different contact number.

I again for this coming March booked my flights thru NCL, for the two of us it was an added $100 for "Air Deviation" which means I choose the flights I wanted. The total cost of the flight with air deviation was $1145.45 per person and I just checked on Expedia and the same flights are at $1566.60 per person. Today if I were to book directly thru the airline the price per person is $1441.43.

Your flight costs don't add up - did you mean the price was for both of you?? Or did you book business class?? The avg price from YUL to MIA non-stop in March is between $500 & $700 pp return in economy class. :confused:

Your flight costs don't add up - did you mean the price was for both of you?? Or did you book business class?? The avg price from YUL to MIA non-stop in March is between $500 & $700 pp return in economy class. :confused:

My flights are Westjet but the carrier is American Airlines Mar 8/13 Flight 1405 Montreal to Miami cost $497.00 per person and return American Airlines Mar 14/13 Flight 1478 cost $945.00. This is economy, I fly quite often for work to Miami from Ottawa for business doing medical research & my flights are booked by agencies who do mass bookings for big pharma companies and I've never seen a flight between $500-$700 return :confused:

Your flight costs don't add up - did you mean the price was for both of you?? Or did you book business class?? The avg price from YUL to MIA non-stop in March is between $500 & $700 pp return in economy class. :confused:

I just looked on Expedia for example and I can do Montreal to Miami with a stop both coming and going for $700.00 return but the reason I drive 1 1/2 hours to Montreal instead of Ottawa airport which is like 15 min. from my house is because I want to fly direct.

We are thinking about the Transatlantic from Copenhagen to Miami in October 2014. Since we are still more than 365 days out published airfare is not available of of yet. The airfare currently quoted by NCL does not seem too bad. If you make a reservation with the air; are you locking in that price or can it change and/or can you cancel the air portion without penalty once the airlines publish air prices for that period of time. When would the air portion of the cruise need to be paid for? Also, we would want to fly into another European city before going on to Copenhagen!

We are thinking about the Transatlantic from Copenhagen to Miami in October 2014. Since we are still more than 365 days out published airfare is not available of of yet. The airfare currently quoted by NCL does not seem too bad. If you make a reservation with the air; are you locking in that price or can it change and/or can you cancel the air portion without penalty once the airlines publish air prices for that period of time. When would the air portion of the cruise need to be paid for? Also, we would want to fly into another European city before going on to Copenhagen!

Your question is one that confuses a lot of people with a lot of Internet misinformation, horror stories and scare tactics to keep you from booking roundtrip or multicity tickets and merely throwing away the second portion.

As far as traveling to other cities within Europe that is very cheap and easy thanks to EasyJet which is Europe's version of Southwest. You'll be amazed how cheaply you can fly from one city to another. For example, I'll be on the April, 2013 transatlantic from Miami to Bacelona. I would like to fly to Milan and spend a couple of days and I'm getting a $48 nonstop fare from BCN to MIL. The problem will be if I don't want to pay baggage charges I will have to be sure I can travel with just a carry-on bag.

The reason airlines refuse to allow passengers to book one way fares from Europe is they don't want consumers to have the choices to "cherry pick" the best fares between airlines such as American Airlines one direction and Iberia Airlines on the return like we now have in the US (Thank you, Southwest Airlines!) on domestic travel. Unless you do throw-away tickets frequently on a regular basis using your loyalty number with the same airline, they would still be very hard pressed to prove it. Besides, there's no law against it or any law that says you have to take a trip you have booked, only rules in the ticket contract. Even if the practice was against the law and the airline could prove it, it would be next to impossible to find a prosecuting attorney that would waste court time on something so frivolous, nor would the negative publicity be good for the airlines. And of course the last thing the airlines want to do is publicize the practice to more people. In reality, the only recourse the airlines have against the consumer is to cancel their loyalty program and that's really an idle threat to most people.

http://travel.usatoday.com/alliance/...rfare/816445/1

Here's a link to that Roll Call so you can follow the thread and the debate over throwaway tickets...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1565980&page=20

We were on the most recent Jade cruise - February 2 through 13, and used NCL air. We were booked on a non-stop flight from PHL to FCO at the same price that USAir was charging for anyone booking that flight back in November. The cost was aroung $1K per person. Later, USAir raised the fare to $1700 PP so I feel NCL got us a good deal.

We were on the most recent Jade cruise - February 2 through 13, and used NCL air. We were booked on a non-stop flight from PHL to FCO at the same price that USAir was charging for anyone booking that flight back in November. The cost was aroung $1K per person. Later, USAir raised the fare to $1700 PP so I feel NCL got us a good deal.

The OP is asking about one way fares before an eastbound transatlantic. Roundtrip fares are a completely different animal.

Airfares fluctuate wildly on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day. It depends on several variables such as availability, gateways, value of the dollar to the Euro and day of the week of departure. The key is to have some flexibility on dates and airlines. While US Air may have been $1,700 most likely Delta, American, Iberia or others could have been half that figure.

The best search function I've found to use is kayak.com.

Flori the only non-stop flight between PHL and FCO is via USAir. I feel quite comfortable that NCL gave us a good deal.