NCL AIR - LAYOVER & OTHER QUESTIONS

[victory2020]

I'm wanting to do their air since it's such a bargain & am traveling alone & coming in 2 days early. I looked & couldn't find anything on the website about length of layovers which I thought I read here once. Is there a maximum layover times especially for overseas flights? I'm coming in to Amsterdam from LAX & leaving out of Heathrow. From my research on booking sites it looks like direct flight to are hard to come by for trip over & direct flights from LHR are plentiful & cheaper than stop overs, but there are the flights with 10 hour layovers (usually a little more money). Any experience with these airports from anyone? I've used their air from LA to Rome & was happy with the flights but I know there can be problems

[LunarAquaQueen]

I actually ran into this, and still have questions myself, when researching whether or not NCL would have the option of sticking my DH and me on a red-eye or "stupid amount of stops" flight, for my regional airport to MCO, which is an 8 hour drive, but has zilllions of nonstops/commuters.

 

The answer, my friend, is, maybe, probably yes, so you/we can expect all kinds of fun layovers! 

 

Air Sea Program | Cruise Line Transfers, Air Ticketing, Charges & Cruise Documentation | Norwegian Cruise Line (ncl.com)

 

"Terms are governed by the individual air carrier ticket contract and NCL's Guest Ticket Contract. NCL reserves the right to choose the air carrier, routing, and city airport from each gateway city. Also, NCL reserves the right to substitute commuter service and/or charter air service for scheduled air carriers without prior notice. All terms and conditions governing NCL's Air Sea Program and the air transportation arranged by NCL will equally apply to such chartered air service. Flight schedules may not, in some cases, be the most direct, and connections, layovers and involuntary overnights in route may be necessary depending on the departure city and final destination . The cost of such overnight arrangements (food, lodging, transfers and items of a personal nature) will be the passengers' responsibility. Actual flight schedules, fare basis and applicable rules cannot be committed until airline tickets are issued. Airline tickets are issued on fares that are capacity controlled and highly restrictive. These airline tickets may not be reissued or exchanged for another carrier or routing. Airfares include all fees, surcharges, and government taxes."

 

AFAIK, you won't receive your flight info til about 30 days out. For example, we sail in 39 days, and are still patiently waiting on the flight info. Yay. 🙂 Still excited though!

[victory2020]

Thank you. I'm usually willing to gamble, especially out of LAX with so many flights but air travel has gotten so unpredictable lately. I may book my own there since it's so important & let them bring me back. I'll still save some money.

I would love to hear some recent west coast to Europe stories.

[jemz1949]

We originally booked using the NCL air offer.  We live in the U.S. and our cruise departure city is as well.  All of the current challenges of flight cancellations and delays were already stressing  me out and we still have 4 months before we sail.  Adding to my stress level were all of the unknowns as to what airline, what departure/arrival times, layovers, etc. that NCL will eventually book us on made it even worse.  Today I/we made the decision to cancel the NCL air and transfers and instead book our own nonstop air.  Cost my group extra bucks obviously but having some control versus none at all has already eased the stress level somewhat.  

Edited June 28, 2022 by jemz1949

[1975JEN]

We are flying from Seattle to Barcelona next week with NCL air.  We have a five hour layover in New York, definitely worth it to buy a day pass to the airport lounge!

Edited June 28, 2022 by 1975JEN

[hallux]

The terms of the AirSea program that @LunarAquaQueen posted MAY differ from those for the BOGO promo airfare.  THOSE terms are in NCL's promotional T&C's, here - 

https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

The layover/connections part for international travel is here:

For International flights, Norwegian Cruise Line will book guests' airfare with a maximum of two connections when possible; air schedules permitting.

 

Note that no maximum length of layover is indicated.

[KarimaJ]

We are flying Boston to Venice,  or quite as far as you are. But our layover in Europe is 1.5-2 hours so pretty good IMO. It is the red eye which is pretty common and what I would expect. We like coming in the morning so we have the day to explore.

[jkbec101]

Look if you're traveling from the US to Europe, you probably want a longer layover than you would if you were traveling domestically.  In some cases, you may be required to go through immigration or customs and you're going to want a bit of time to account for potentially long lines.  

If you end up with a really long layover, nothing says you can't leave the airport and tour whatever city for a few hours.

[SpacemanSpiff]

A lot of it also depends on the airport you are laying over at.  ATL, CLT, and FRA are ones I don't mind waiting in; DFW is kind of meh, and my home port of RIC would just plain stink if you had to lay over there.

 

On the whole, I'd rather go too long on a connection than too short (it seems that everything that originates here either has a four hour layover or a 45 minute layover), but that's my personal preference.

[victory2020]

I definitely don't mind up to 4 or 5 hour layover - just not 10 like a couple of flights were.  I actually got off the phone with the air department & the woman I talked to was very helpful. She told me Lufthansa just cancelled a bunch of flights in July which may be why people are waiting for assignments. She also said they usually use the local airline ie British Airways for London, Lufthansa or Air France for Amsterdam, or AA for Europe in general. They try to make layover around 4 hours & a real person looks at the flight schedule while they are assigning. 

On another note - do they ever have July 4th sales? Wondering if I should wait a couple of days to book

[julig22]

6 hours ago, victory2020 said:

 I'm coming in to Amsterdam from LAX & leaving out of Heathrow. From my research on booking sites it looks like direct flight to are hard to come by for trip over & direct flights from LHR are plentiful & cheaper than stop overs, but there are the flights with 10 hour layovers (usually a little more money). Any experience with these airports from anyone? I've used their air from LA to Rome & was happy with the flights but I know there can be problems

I'm flying to Stockholm next month.  They have me flying into Denver from Oregon (small regional airport), then Denver to Heathrow to Stockholm.  Return is Copenhagen to Reykjavik to Seattle to Oregon.  No long layovers - in fact I wish some were a little longer.  Glad I have Global Entry!

IcelandAir now flies direct to Reykjavik from several west coast airports, so they might be using that option more frequently now.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, victory2020 said:

On another note - do they ever have July 4th sales? Wondering if I should wait a couple of days to book

People will try to convince you that they do indeed have "special" sales.  Truth is, their sales rarely change, although they may change the wording - and the perks might change.

Unless the cruise you are wanting to book is less than 120 days out, you can book and hold the reservation for a few days- that would guarantee the current price.  Or you can book and if the prices go down before the final payment is due you just ask for the new pricing (could change the promos).

[victory2020]

8 minutes ago, julig22 said:

People will try to convince you that they do indeed have "special" sales.  Truth is, their sales rarely change, although they may change the wording - and the perks might change.

Unless the cruise you are wanting to book is less than 120 days out, you can book and hold the reservation for a few days- that would guarantee the current price.  Or you can book and if the prices go down before the final payment is due you just ask for the new pricing (could change the promos).

I am booking for this September so was just wondering if it would be beneficial to wait a couple of days. Doing solo & right now it's 150% - hoping a sale would eliminate supplement altogether. Apparently I'm am optimist. haha

[julig22]

4 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

I am booking for this September so was just wondering if it would be beneficial to wait a couple of days. Doing solo & right now it's 150% - hoping a sale would eliminate supplement altogether. Apparently I'm am optimist. haha

Never seen solo supplement as part of a sale.  Supplement might go lower, could happen at any time if capacity is low. Last time I checked, nearly everything through October was at 150%. 

I used to have a PCC who would send me a list but she's not around anymore to ask.

[Named-Tawny]

7 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Thank you. I'm usually willing to gamble, especially out of LAX with so many flights but air travel has gotten so unpredictable lately. I may book my own there since it's so important & let them bring me back. I'll still save some money.

I would love to hear some recent west coast to Europe stories.

If that is your plan, communicate with NCL about it before ticketing.

Generally, for return tickets on international flights, if you miss the outbound, the airlines will often cancel the inbounds automatically.  Assuming that they're the same ticket, and not just two one-ways.

[Crazy planning mom]

What airline do they usually use from the US to Athens?  Will be flying out of NYC area.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Crazy planning mom

[victory2020]

1 hour ago, Crazy planning mom said:

What airline do they usually use from the US to Athens?  Will be flying out of NYC area.

I'm wondering if it would be Turkish Air? When I flew into Rome it was Iberia. I would go to a booking site & check what airlines fly multiple planes into Athens - or maybe someone here has experience?

[victory2020]

18 hours ago, Named-Tawny said:

If that is your plan, communicate with NCL about it before ticketing.

Generally, for return tickets on international flights, if you miss the outbound, the airlines will often cancel the inbounds automatically.  Assuming that they're the same ticket, and not just two one-ways.

Yes, I would only book return with them at initial booking/payment. They say it is possible to do

[julig22]

11 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

Yes, I would only book return with them at initial booking/payment. They say it is possible to do

Yes, you can request just the return.  They will charge you half.  You can also use different gateways coming and going (I often book a stopover to visit relatives on my way back) - although that sometimes takes a little convincing/supervisor override.  New reps stick to the script, more seasoned ones know how to be a little more proactive.

[schmoopie17]

We used FF miles for our flight from Chicago to Rome. (Doing a TA back to New York, so only need a flight one-way). Got a nonstop flight, free drinks and because we're AA cardholders, we get free bags. Got a smoking deal...for hundreds less than what NCL quoted us...and we avoid possible multiple stops, possible layovers and paid bags.

[victory2020]

25 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

We used FF miles for our flight from Chicago to Rome. (Doing a TA back to New York, so only need a flight one-way). Got a nonstop flight, free drinks and because we're AA cardholders, we get free bags. Got a smoking deal...for hundreds less than what NCL quoted us...and we avoid possible multiple stops, possible layovers and paid bags.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to use miles going - I can get LA to AMS for 30K miles. Coming back I will use NCL air since the taxes on that flight are about the same price I will be giving NCL for the flight

[julig22]

On 6/28/2022 at 7:36 AM, victory2020 said:

 I'm coming in to Amsterdam from LAX & leaving out of Heathrow. From my research on booking sites it looks like direct flight to are hard to come by for trip over & direct flights from LHR are plentiful & cheaper than stop overs, but there are the flights with 10 hour layovers (usually a little more money). Any experience with these airports from anyone? I've used their air from LA to Rome & was happy with the flights but I know there can be problems

I just got my flight info for an August cruise, ending in Southampton.  Although it's not my final destination, I have a direct flight from Heathrow to LAX on AA. And then a direct flight home - first time in a really long time I haven't had to take 3 flights to get home!

I'd hoped for something later (flight is at 11:50) so I could take a post-cruise excursion but I knew from previous experience that most flights are early, so didn't really expect it to happen.

[victory2020]

48 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I just got my flight info for an August cruise, ending in Southampton.  Although it's not my final destination, I have a direct flight from Heathrow to LAX on AA. And then a direct flight home - first time in a really long time I haven't had to take 3 flights to get home!

I'd hoped for something later (flight is at 11:50) so I could take a post-cruise excursion but I knew from previous experience that most flights are early, so didn't really expect it to happen.

11:50 out of LHR sounds early. I guess since they booked it they have confidence they'll get you there in time? Is it code share with British air? I actually would like that flight. I'm thinking with the research I have done, I will get a direct flight on Delta or United. I did se the tour that takes you to London then the airport, I was hoping to do that but it doesn't seem likely.

Edited July 3, 2022 by victory2020
typo

[julig22]

41 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

11:50 out of LHR sounds early. I guess since they booked it they have confidence they'll get you there in time? Is it code share with British air? I actually would like that flight. I'm thinking with the research I have done, I will get a direct flight on Delta or United. I did se the tour that takes you to London then the airport, I was hoping to do that but it doesn't seem likely.

Its AA, no code-share.  Ship docks at 5am, so hopefully it's good.

[jamadeliz]

We are flying from Boston to Rome with a 1.5/2 hour layover in Rome and then one to Athens. On our flight home we are not stop from Athens.