Should we let NCL handle flights / Hotel ?

[Beer Belly]

We are looking at a sailing out of Miami, which means a flight / hotel, we intend on arriving a day early. We will likely fly out of NY, possibly CT, thinking it would be a non-stop flight. I have horror stories of red eye flights, seating that splits the family, layovers for hours. What are you experiences ?......do you trust NCL ?. What hotel is recommended nearest he port ?

[Turtles06]

It should not be a challenge to fly from your location to Florida.  Personally, I want to select my own flights and have control over those arrangements; I don't see any reason to put NCL in the middle of that.  Keep in mind, also, that you may find the cheapest flights or a better selection of flights into FLL, not Miami, so look at those as well.  The Florida Departures board has tons of info on pre-cruise hotels in Miami; I suggest you look there:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

[hallux]

NCL will book the lowest fare, both for flight and seat location.  Be aware that selecting to arrive a day or 2 early ($25 pp) does not assure you'll get a later flight.  I booked air through the free at sea perk in October last year, including arriving a day early and I was still in LA by 11 AM, from the East Coast!

 

2 hours ago, Beer Belly said:

seating that splits the family

Once you have the confirmation numbers for the flights you can generally go to the airline's website or app and select your seats as long as they're within the same category.  I did this with Delta and American last year.

 

2 hours ago, Beer Belly said:

I have horror stories of red eye flights

both of my cruises last year had red-eye flights coming home, but those were coming East and there were few options unless I wanted to overnight.

 

When you book air through the promo they also automatically add transfers between the airport and port, even if you come in a day early.  You'd have to specifically ask to have that removed if you make alternate arrangements.

 

Additionally - you can't make changes to the flights, even on the day of.  When I disembarked from my cruise in the Fall last year, we were able to make it to the airport in PLENTY of time to make a much earlier flight but we weren't allowed to change our flight.

[tallnthensome]

No

[complawyer]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

NCL will book the lowest fare, both for flight and seat location.  Be aware that selecting to arrive a day or 2 early ($25 pp) does not assure you'll get a later flight.  I booked air through the free at sea perk in October last year, including arriving a day early and I was still in LA by 11 AM, from the East Coast!

 

Once you have the confirmation numbers for the flights you can generally go to the airline's website or app and select your seats as long as they're within the same category.  I did this with Delta and American last year.

 

both of my cruises last year had red-eye flights coming home, but those were coming East and there were few options unless I wanted to overnight.

 

When you book air through the promo they also automatically add transfers between the airport and port, even if you come in a day early.  You'd have to specifically ask to have that removed if you make alternate arrangements.

 

Additionally - you can't make changes to the flights, even on the day of.  When I disembarked from my cruise in the Fall last year, we were able to make it to the airport in PLENTY of time to make a much earlier flight but we weren't allowed to change our flight.

i always book our flights and hotels, whether it's an american port or a european port. go on booking. com indicate what city you want, and they will give you an entire list of hotel to choose from.  while we dont mind red-eyes to an american port (miami, new orleans, tampa,) we've had some close calls leaving los angeles. most of the ports above, have relatively inexpensive taxi fare from the airports to the ship. if youre sailing from miami, and flying onto lauderdale, you can go ongoogle and work out a shuttle to take you back and forth. we did this a few years ago. it's about $100. the driver took us to our hotel (embassy suites just across from miami airport, they had shuttle service to the ship-about $10, and after the cruise, the original shuttle service drove us back to ft lauderdale airport. there is also a holiday inn, and the yve hotel, in miami relatively close to the pier.

 

whenever we've sailed from a european port, i do the same thing... check booking.com, find a nice hotel in the departure city, you can always arrange taxi from the hotel to the pier.

 

we've done this in barcelona, venice, hong kong, hamburg and singapore.  we're hopefully going to sail from athens next april, and ive booked hotel there. also from amsterdam to copenhagen in july, and i also have hotels booked.also never had any problems getting cabs from the airport to my hotel, or the hotel back to the airport. 

 

you dont need ncl's help. wouldnt you rather pick and choose your flights and hotels. 

 

we've flown on delta, air canada, united, cathay pacific, all booked by myself. i will admit, im very anal when it comes to this.

 

hope this wasnt too boring, and answered your question

[Cruzinnana47]

Personally, because of the awful experience we had in 2019, I would NOT want to book flights/hotel through NCL again.

 

We booked a short 4-day cruise on the Sun which included stops to Key West & Havana (just weeks before our government banned travel again to Cuba).  Decided to add the special cruisetour being offered which included flights, pre-cruise hotel stay and a VIP tour of Daytona Int'l Speedway.  Unfortunately, NCL misrepresented what transportation costs they would cover in this package.  Ultimately, they only "paid" for the transfer from the Daytona Beach hotel at the end of our 3-day stay to the port (Port Canaveral) and transfer from the ship at the end of the cruise back to the airport.

 

We ended up being billed for the transfer from Orlando Airport to the hotel, and had to pay for taxi fares to and from Daytona Speedway ourselves.  After many calls to NCL & submission of receipts, we were finally reimbursed for the transfer to the hotel ($162), but they never gave us the money back for the taxi transportation to/from the speedway.  

 

Lesson learned.

[dexddd]

Mid '80s they had great air and hotel.  Now days, would not entertain.

[MoCruiseFan]

6 hours ago, Beer Belly said:

We are looking at a sailing out of Miami, which means a flight / hotel, we intend on arriving a day early. We will likely fly out of NY, possibly CT, thinking it would be a non-stop flight. I have horror stories of red eye flights, seating that splits the family, layovers for hours. What are you experiences ?......do you trust NCL ?. What hotel is recommended nearest he port ?

 

Only if you want to pay 2x the cost just to avoid booking your own hotel/flight

[deliver42]

For a short domestic flight such as yours, I would definitely book the flight myself, then go to Trivago and pick out a hotel and book that myself. This will save you a lot of money.

[Peachypooh]

We have flown from LGA to Miami and (before covid) there were numerous

non stop flights and very inexpensive. We always stay at the Marriott Biscayne

Bay. It's a short cab ride to the port and if you are flying in a day or two before

there are quite  a few very easy to do activities. One thing we did (for free!) was to

ride the trolley around to see downtown Miami. There is a stop

right in front of the hotel.We did get off at the Bayside

Marketplace but got back on and rode the loop and saw the sights. Full disclosure

we missed the hotel stop so had to do the whole loop again (20 min.) but it was still

fun. So I would just make the arrangements yourself.

[BirdTravels]

On 12/21/2020 at 1:42 AM, Beer Belly said:

We are looking at a sailing out of Miami, which means a flight / hotel, we intend on arriving a day early. We will likely fly out of NY, possibly CT, thinking it would be a non-stop flight. I have horror stories of red eye flights, seating that splits the family, layovers for hours. What are you experiences ?......do you trust NCL ?. What hotel is recommended nearest he port ?

For your specific instance, I would *not* book through NCL. The flights are easy and the hotels are easy. There are a wide range of downtown hotels at different price points. Anything on the beach is overpriced. If you need help, use a travel agent. 
 

We normally stay at the Downtown Hilton or Conrad. That is a preference and not a cheap preference. For our very last cruise before COVID, we stayed at the Gabriel which was expensive and a dump. 

[jamadeliz]

We had a great experience with NCL a year ago.  We had free flights from Boston to San Juan.  We deviated for $25 per person and booked our own hotel.  We have just booked another cruise for this summer (if we can travel) and go buy one get one airfare to Athens.  We deviated and got money back.  I am a bit nervous that the cruise may not go this summer.  We will see.  

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I never have, won't as long as I can still type and make reservations on my own. I would seldom use their transportation to and from the airport either. I can almost always do better on my own.

[hallux]

As you can see - it really depends on what you're paying, and how comfortable you are with the lack of flexibility with the flights.

 

In my case - I had booked my own flights in April and was OK with the times I took as there weren't a whole lot of options, and expected the same in October (of course, my travel companions in October hadn't been involved in that first trip).  I was able to book a balcony, solo, with flights through NCL for $60 more than booking a Studio and booking my own flights.  The balcony with flights required paying double fare, but that combined with the fee NCL was charging for flights from my home airport was about what the flights actually cost.  Since I was traveling with a couple that was doing the NCL air, this allowed us to get the same flights booked without me hoping the flight prices didn't go up by the time I knew which ones I needed.  We booked our own hotel, the free/reduced airfare program does not help with the hotel booking, at least on domestic trips.

[natefish95]

I did flights through NCL once and it was not horrible, but I wouldn't do it again. They originally booked us on American Airlines from Washington DC (DCA) to Miami. We had to call and adjust to flights the day before. We had to call and pay to upgrade to first class. It was just a hassle and I'd rather book the flights myself on my preferred airline. Also on the way back, we had a 10pm flight out of Miami and spend the entire day in the airport trying (without luck) to get on an earlier flight. 

 

If you're flying from the NYC area to Miami, you have a wealth of airline options, times, and prices. I'd book yourself. It's not hard to find good hotels in Miami either (I usually do the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon). 

[hallux]

11 hours ago, natefish95 said:

We had to call and adjust to flights the day before.

That really needs to be decided at the time of booking the cruise (or at least prior to final payment), and should be almost automatic for most people when a flight to the embarkation city is involved.  I'm actually surprised they changed your flights after they were ticketed, or were those just the placeholder flights that appear prior to ticketing?

11 hours ago, natefish95 said:

We had to call and pay to upgrade to first class

You honestly expected NCL to book you in first class?  That's unreasonable, IMO.  But once you get your reservation number it's certainly your option to pay to upgrade your seat if you wish.

[teacherman]

I am new to NCL and really don't understand all of this, because I have previously booked air several times through RCCL, Celebrity, and HAL.  We have always been offered choices of flights, airlines, and either main cabin, or first class.   This has always been for long international flights and the prices have always been far less than if I booked direct with the airline.  Hearing all of this about NCL makes me wonder why they are so different.

[hallux]

@teacherman the discussion is primarily surrounding NCL's offer of free or reduced-cost flights.  RCCL, Celebrity and HAL offer an option to book your flight through them with the cruise line acting purely as a travel agent where the cost for the flight is passed directly on to you (or added to your cruise fare). 

 

NCL's offer is different in that you're accepting that NCL is choosing your flights in exchange for a lower or possibly no additional cost above what your cruise fare is.

[teacherman]

Thank you.  Now I understand the discussion.  I did see some "second passenger flies free" offers.

[natefish95]

9 hours ago, hallux said:

That really needs to be decided at the time of booking the cruise (or at least prior to final payment), and should be almost automatic for most people when a flight to the embarkation city is involved.  I'm actually surprised they changed your flights after they were ticketed, or were those just the placeholder flights that appear prior to ticketing?

You honestly expected NCL to book you in first class?  That's unreasonable, IMO.  But once you get your reservation number it's certainly your option to pay to upgrade your seat if you wish.

Not sure how you're interpreting any of what I said as me expecting NCL to book us first class? That's why we called to upgrade...

 

We booked our cruise about 9 months out and said we'd like to fly first. At that time the flights were not available that far out so they told us to call back closer to departure. We called back once the flight information appeared on our account, so we called and were able to get upgraded. On that same call we had to pay a separate fee to fly in the day before. We couldn't change anything until the flight information appeared on our account. 

[casofilia]

We would never use a cruise line to book flights or hotel.

[Markanddonna]

We decided to go with the BOGO airfare for a sailing in the Eastern Med.  While we would like to stay just a bit longer, the incredibly inexpensive 11 day cruise with airfare that costs $349 pp from a midwestern city was too good to pass up.  We are pretty flexible and patient sorts. I normally wouldn't use NCL for airfare because of their conditions and the lack of control, but this trip is sort of a repeat of one we took last year, so we have have seen the major ports and sites.

Moral of the story: we all have different situations and reasons.  If this was my first trip to Israel and Greece, I would not take the NCL airfare.

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Markanddonna

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

I normally wouldn't use NCL for airfare because of their conditions and the lack of control, but this trip is sort of a repeat of one we took last year, so we have have seen the major ports and sites.

Moral of the story: we all have different situations and reasons.  If this was my first trip to Israel and Greece, I would not take the NCL airfare.

Quite right. I'd modify my advice from I'd never use NCL, to something like the above. If the airfare was included in a great bargain cruise or very low cost (BOGO) I'd reconsider "never".

[brovol]

I have done it both ways.  When we began cruising we booked the air, hotel and transfers through the cruise line, but probably the last 20 cruises we have been on we booked it all ourselves, and find that far superior.  First, you are in control, and have more flexibility.  Secondly, it is generally cheaper.  Also, you can go as many days early, or stay later, if you desire.  The best thing though is that you know exactly what your flights are as soon as you book it yourself, as opposed to having to hope, wait, and pray that you get decent flights when the cruise-line books it; and you wont know anything until just weeks before your cruise.  We book direct flights for ourselves, but the cruiseline might get you flights with multiple connections.

 

We like arriving at the port town a day or two before the cruise, and we book a hotel based on what we want to do, and where we want to be.  We have the ability to use our hotel points when we book ourselves. 

 

I say book that stuff yourself unless you get some promotional free flight offer from NCL.

[step78]

What about the "new NCL flight booking system"?

NCL called to offer flights, exactly the same price the airline shows (plus transfers and hotel). I'm allowed to select airline, date and flight, and will have to pay the regular price. Agent said thats something new.

Never had flight and hotel thru NCL, but if this true it will be an easy option to kill any risk a self-booking causes.