NCL Raises fee to $400 in 2023 To Guarantee Air Travel With Family?!?

[mezabx]

A bit of a shocker today.  I booked 2 cabins for our family of 4 on a cruise departing from Athens Greece in May 2023.  Used the 2 for 1 airfare promo and saved a ton of money on flights.   However the travel agent informed me that NCL charges a fee to guarantee that both cabins will be on the same flights.   This is officially called the "Travel With Guarantee" program and the cost is increasing from $25 pp to $100 pp for 2023 cruises.

 

Really, a $400 fee to guarantee my me, my wife, and 2 kids will be on the same flight?    Normally I wouldn't mind but this is a flight from Kansas USA to Athens, Greece.  I expect 20 hours of travel and 3 flights to get there.

 

Buyer beware of this $400 penalty.  First time trying NCL after many cruises on Royal Caribbean and Disney.  Not off to a good start here.

 

This is kind of a bait and switch as, the terms on the NCL website says the fee is only $25.  Search for "Travel With Guarantee" at this link: see here: https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

 

 

 

[scooter6139]

Wonder if this has something to do with the Chaos of Air travel right now?

[njkate]

I get it but in the long run how much are you saving on flights versus booking 4 on your own? I’d it a wash then book your own if you’re still saving quite a bit worth it I guess 

[hallux]

50 minutes ago, mezabx said:

Buyer beware of this $400 penalty

To be fair - it's $100 per person.  You could call the old fee a "$100 penalty" if you wanted to make it sound extreme, when it's really $25 per person.  $100 per person does seem a bit high, especially when as recently as 2019 there was NO COST for this, but those folks making the flight bookings are working awfully hard these days trying to meet these requests.

 

Be happy they're offering it, some have had it requested and then later gotten a letter (as the air department was trying to book their flights) that it just couldn't be done due to the current state of air travel.  Their paid fees for the TWG were refunded and they were even offered a refund of the airfare portion if they wanted to cancel that and try booking on their own, SIX WEEKS before their cruise!  

[agrimm01]

1 hour ago, mezabx said:

A bit of a shocker today.  I booked 2 cabins for our family of 4 on a cruise departing from Athens Greece in May 2023.  Used the 2 for 1 airfare promo and saved a ton of money on flights.   However the travel agent informed me that NCL charges a fee to guarantee that both cabins will be on the same flights.   This is officially called the "Travel With Guarantee" program and the cost is increasing from $25 pp to $100 pp for 2023 cruises.

 

Really, a $400 fee to guarantee my me, my wife, and 2 kids will be on the same flight?    Normally I wouldn't mind but this is a flight from Kansas USA to Athens, Greece.  I expect 20 hours of travel and 3 flights to get there.

 

Buyer beware of this $400 penalty.  First time trying NCL after many cruises on Royal Caribbean and Disney.  Not off to a good start here.

 

This is kind of a bait and switch as, the terms on the NCL website says the fee is only $25.  Search for "Travel With Guarantee" at this link: see here: https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

I think the TA has it wrong.  Based upon the link:

All guests booked within a singular reservation will be booked on the same flight.

You and your kids are all on the same reservation, correct?

 

1 hour ago, mezabx said:

 

 

 

[agrimm01]

I think the TA has it wrong.  Based upon the link:

All guests booked within a singular reservation will be booked on the same flight.

You and your kids are all on the same reservation, correct?

 

[mezabx]

2 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Wonder if this has something to do with the Chaos of Air travel right now?

 

Perhaps, but the air travel chaos is now, but they wait until 2023 to enforce it.  Also, why would the current terms and conditions state $25 pp when they are actually charging $100pp.  See here:  https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

[MotownVoice]

These folks in another thread aren’t saying the “Travel With Guarantee” is going to $100pp in 2023.   They’re saying they were told the program has been canceled all together:

 

 

 

So what you’re paying isn’t part of the “Travel With Guarantee”.  What you’re paying is just a fee to get everyone on the same flight.    So you can’t go by the wording of that guarantee.  According to these folks it doesn’t exist anymore.   

[SeaShark]

So this increase is something that some TA claimed? Is there another source (like NCL) that can confirm this?

 

Are we sure that the TA saw $100 and thought it was pp instead of total ($25/pp x 4 = $100)??

[Old Fart Cruisers]

BEWARE DON'T TRUST NCL WITH THIS GUARANTEE!

 

On May 26th, we paid the extra $100.00 ($25.00 per person) for the 'Travel With Guarantee'  (code: TWITH) for a cruise from Southampton on August 14th.  We wanted to insure that we would would be on the same flight as our travel companions with a different booking number.  When we finally received our flight confirmations, they where on a nonstop British Airways flight Chicago/London.  We are on a little United Express flight Chicago/Toronto than Air Canada Toronto/London.  

We called NCL Air to tell them they have us on the wrong flight they told us nothing can be done. First the agent said that Travel With Guarantee was no longer available.  After almost two hours on the phone the agent said all he was authorized to do is refund the $100.00 that we had paid to GUARANTEE that we would be on the same flight.

 

Just BEWARE!

[HeatC]

On 8/5/2022 at 2:10 PM, mezabx said:

A bit of a shocker today.  I booked 2 cabins for our family of 4 on a cruise departing from Athens Greece in May 2023.  Used the 2 for 1 airfare promo and saved a ton of money on flights.   However the travel agent informed me that NCL charges a fee to guarantee that both cabins will be on the same flights.   This is officially called the "Travel With Guarantee" program and the cost is increasing from $25 pp to $100 pp for 2023 cruises.

 

Really, a $400 fee to guarantee my me, my wife, and 2 kids will be on the same flight?    Normally I wouldn't mind but this is a flight from Kansas USA to Athens, Greece.  I expect 20 hours of travel and 3 flights to get there.

 

Buyer beware of this $400 penalty.  First time trying NCL after many cruises on Royal Caribbean and Disney.  Not off to a good start here.

 

This is kind of a bait and switch as, the terms on the NCL website says the fee is only $25.  Search for "Travel With Guarantee" at this link: see here: https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

 

 

 

Actually it is $100 pp

[LGW59]

Really does not matter what any cruise line or airline does or implements for fees or costs, some are going to complain about everything.  Easy solution if you want the vacation just book it and don’t come here to start a whine fest, otherwise just stay home.

[Red-Sol]

Personally I have never seen a price using NCL airfare that I couldn't do better booking on my own. Maybe it depends upon where you are flying from and to...but for me NCL airfare is highly inflated.

[hallux]

20 minutes ago, Red-Sol said:

Maybe it depends upon where you are flying from and to...but for me NCL airfare is highly inflated.

and for me, booking the BOGO fare for a cruise from Canaveral next March would cost $366 through NCL (solo so I get 50% off) to fly from Albany.  Yes, on the BOGO deal the airfare you pay for is comparable or a little higher than booking it yourself but then the second one is free...

[DCGuy64]

48 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Really does not matter what any cruise line or airline does or implements for fees or costs, some are going to complain about everything.  Easy solution if you want the vacation just book it and don’t come here to start a whine fest, otherwise just stay home.

Agreed. If people are that upset about it, let them book their own flights. Due to the way NCL gets these deals, I suspect the $100 fee is to offset something NCL is having to pay anyway, essentially a pass-through fee. Anyway, it's just me and my wife, so this would never be an issue for us.

[pdmlynek]

Whenever someone is promising me something for a fraction of what product/service actually costs, I am very leery. 

 

I think that NCL doesn't provide air services to customers to lose money, but to make money.  NCL, just like every other company, will somehow make money off selling you their services.

[mjkacmom]

On 8/5/2022 at 4:09 PM, agrimm01 said:

I think the TA has it wrong.  Based upon the link:

All guests booked within a singular reservation will be booked on the same flight.

You and your kids are all on the same reservation, correct?

 

We are a family of 7, book 2 cabins, 2 different reservation numbers, 2 different accounts.

[Red-Sol]

49 minutes ago, hallux said:

and for me, booking the BOGO fare for a cruise from Canaveral next March would cost $366 through NCL (solo so I get 50% off) to fly from Albany.  Yes, on the BOGO deal the airfare you pay for is comparable or a little higher than booking it yourself but then the second one is free...

For me the last time I priced one out....flying from Rochester to Miami the price worked out to more than double than what I could get it for on my own...so then getting the second one free meant that I was only paying a small amount more for two than what I could get those for on my own. 😉 (In fairness for some reason Rochester is a very expensive airport to fly out of and we will often travel to other cities to catch flights)

Edited August 11, 2022 by Red-Sol

[Red-Sol]

50 minutes ago, hallux said:

and for me, booking the BOGO fare for a cruise from Canaveral next March would cost $366 through NCL (solo so I get 50% off) to fly from Albany.  Yes, on the BOGO deal the airfare you pay for is comparable or a little higher than booking it yourself but then the second one is free...

Duplicate

Edited August 11, 2022 by Red-Sol

[agrimm01]

26 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

We are a family of 7, book 2 cabins, 2 different reservation numbers, 2 different accounts.

When we cruised out of Athens last October we were 4 people, 2 cabins, 2 different reservation numbers.  We didn't pay the $25 pp to guarantee we were on the same flight.  We ended up on the same great flights.  This year we are scheduled for an Alaskan cruise.  4 people, 2 cabins, 2 different reservations.  We have terrible flights and are not on the same flights.  Like a box of chocolates.

 

[cruiseny4life]

@hallux, I remember we spoke about air awhile ago and I said I could find airfare from Syracuse cheaper on most cruises that I looked. Well, turns out you were right for the cruise we booked in March. Norwegian airfare (BOGO) is almost 50% cheaper than ONE ticket from Syracuse to New Orleans. Thanks for ensuring I was diligent about checking. 🙂 

[Old Fart Cruisers]

17 minutes ago, agrimm01 said:

When we cruised out of Athens last October we were 4 people, 2 cabins, 2 different reservation numbers.  We didn't pay the $25 pp to guarantee we were on the same flight.  We ended up on the same great flights.  This year we are scheduled for an Alaskan cruise.  4 people, 2 cabins, 2 different reservations.  We have terrible flights and are not on the same flights.  Like a box of chocolates.

 

 

"Like a box of chocolates" is exactly why we paid the extra fee for the Travel With Guarantee, just to insure that we would all be on the same flight.  NCL decided not to honor their GUARANTEE, put us on different flights, and would not correct it.  All they offered to do is refund the money that we paid for the GUARANTEE.