Using NCL airline addon

[IDKaren]

I have never let a cruise book my air. We have recently booked a Baltic cruise and have done so. Air add on from NY to Copenhagen is only $399. That is crazy..what will they do..strap me on the wing or hide me in Cargo?😳 Who has used add on air from NCL? do they give you the worst flight times and seats on the airlplane? Are you allowed to pay more and upgrade to Premium Economy for the 12-13 hr flight??

Thanks all!!

[hallux]

I'm in the midst of my first cruise line booked air experience (sail in 44 days).  My understanding is that the tickets are regular economy.  The flight times aren't the BEST - 6 AM departure from home the day before the cruise with arrival in LA around 11:30 AM, 11:30 PM red-eye flight out after the cruise.  To be fair, there weren't too many options (on the airlines NCL uses) for the return flight that allowed enough of a buffer to get to the airport.

 

I believe that once the airline has the booking you can pay for seat upgrades.

[Alatraveler1]

perhaps 5 or so threads on this in first two pages of this section of the boards.  Look to those for a lot of details, pros and cons.  We received horrible flights/times for domestic and could not change them.  Some have been able to change and some are very pleased especially with international flights.  Knowing how much they paid for our tickets, not surprised yours are that low either, especially if they are the type of flights/times ours are.

[IDKaren]

Do you know which airlines NCL normally uses?? 

[mnkywrench79]

I just received my flights for Oct 13th cruise at 30 days out.  It is on American Airlines and I could not be happier with the times. Direct flight both ways--departing 8am from washington dc to miami and returning departure around 12:30pm. 

 

From what I have gathered here, those times would be a little tight for some, but I am happy I don't have to waste my first day as a sleep deprived zombie or wait around in vacation limbo on the last day. 

[SouthLyonCruiser]

If you have not problem with stops and flight times; go ahead and leave it to the cruise line.

We used to cruise line to book our flights years ago for about our first three cruises (out of 16). There always seemed to be stops; some way out of the way.

After the last experience where we had to fly from Detroit to Chicago and then to Anchorage and then the reverse coming home, we decided from then on to book our own air. Much better; we book way in advance and get good times and non stops.

 

[reeinaz]

13 hours ago, IDKaren said:

I have never let a cruise book my air. We have recently booked a Baltic cruise and have done so. Air add on from NY to Copenhagen is only $399. That is crazy..what will they do..strap me on the wing or hide me in Cargo?😳 Who has used add on air from NCL? do they give you the worst flight times and seats on the airlplane? Are you allowed to pay more and upgrade to Premium Economy for the 12-13 hr flight??

Thanks all!!

I don't think the flight will be as terrible as the price indicates. I'm also cruising out of Copenhagen. My flight from Philly is $699. My cruise isn't until 2021 so I can't really offer any advice other than people have seemed to say that international flight arrangements were much "better" than domestic ones.

[newmexicoNita]

47 minutes ago, mnkywrench79 said:

I just received my flights for Oct 13th cruise at 30 days out.  It is on American Airlines and I could not be happier with the times. Direct flight both ways--departing 8am from washington dc to miami and returning departure around 12:30pm. 

 

From what I have gathered here, those times would be a little tight for some, but I am happy I don't have to waste my first day as a sleep deprived zombie or wait around in vacation limbo on the last day. 

Sounds like you are sailing on the Breakaway with us? If you are and are not signed up for the M& you may want to give it a shot. Either way we are going to have a good cruise; let's hope we get to see the Redskins play on Sunday the 13th. 

[mjcatlvr]

 

We have had nothing but great luck (and prices) with NCL booking our air for us. Times that I would have chosen too! Our last flight from DTW to Miami we were booked on American Airlines, coach. A couple of days prior to departure, we got an email From AA and were offered an upgrade to First Class for only $80 each. Well that's a no brainer. I can only pray for a deal like this from Delta this November for our flight from JFK to Barcelona, fingers crossed.

[Cruise4Twos]

We're booked on direct flights from JFK to London via AA and Venice to JFK via Delta 2 days early with no hotel requirement at 35 days out.  It seems like if you do a generic flight search, if there are several cheap nonstop flights for the major carriers, there's a good chance to get nonstop flights. If you notice the cheapest from the major carriers have connections then there's a good chance to there will be connections. The times are good.  It's a better deal overall than I can book myself.

 

The add-on price is for an economy ticket. One you're booked you can pick any economy seat available on the carrier's website. There were plenty of seats available on the outbound flight about 10 seats left on the return flight.

Edited September 13, 2019 by Cruise4Twos
added information at the end

[Cruise4Twos]

3 hours ago, IDKaren said:

Do you know which airlines NCL normally uses?? 

Ncl has a list of the airlines they use on their website.

[Glide_Path]

15 hours ago, IDKaren said:

I have never let a cruise book my air. We have recently booked a Baltic cruise and have done so. Air add on from NY to Copenhagen is only $399. That is crazy..what will they do..strap me on the wing or hide me in Cargo?😳 Who has used add on air from NCL? do they give you the worst flight times and seats on the airlplane? Are you allowed to pay more and upgrade to Premium Economy for the 12-13 hr flight??

Thanks all!!

I would check around for your own air fare first.  Not sure on your dates, but google flights shows NYC to CPH anywhere between $300-500 range.  Just recently, family had a flight LGW-> LAX one way non stop for $199, after getting off the NCL Spirit.  Norwegian Air does offer prem eco for a very reasonable price.

[Suite Heart]

Once upon a time (like 5 years ago), we booked a Caribbean cruise with air through NCL. They used to put us up in a hotel overnight before the cruise, included in the fare.

We flew from Denver to Miami, non-stop, on United, got picked up by NCL and taken to the hotel. We got picked up by NCL the next morning and taken to the port. Ahhhh, those were the days.

 

My PCC tells me that for a similar flight & cruise nowadays, I would be booked on a
red-eye flight and from the airport I'd be picked up by NCL and taken to the port.