Airplane arriving one day earlier without my request

[mythstera]

NCL air program gave us ticket that is arriving one day (31st October morning) earlier in Rome for our cruise departing 1st November. I've never requested this. 

 

I actually won't mind coming a day early but how does that work? Do they pay us a hotel? Or do we need to hang out in the airport for 24hrs??

 

I've been trying to call the ncl air line, they tried to transfer me twice to some other air department but after an hour on hold ive been giving up. Ill try to call again next week. But was wondering if anyone had a similar situation.

 

P.s. according to google flight, airplane ticket were 300$ cheaper per person if we arrived one day early. I suspect this has something to do with all of this. But thats only my opinion

Edited September 4, 2022 by mythstera

[graphicguy]

You can do whatever you want.  I suppose could hang out at the airport.  Personally, I wouldn’t want to do that and would book a hotel to spend the night to be rested for embarkation day.  NCL only provides flights when you choose that option…not hotels.

 

As you say, you don’t mind coming in a day early.  You can get a brief view of one of the greatest cities in the world.  

 

So, make it a bonus 

[Purple_Pig]

Why wouldn't you want to arrive one day early on an international flight?

Book a hotel and enjoy the evening.

[complawyer]

most travel sites recommend getting in a day or more  early, especially on an international flight. rome is beautiful, and you would be doing yourself a favor, if you book a hotel for the night and leave for the port the next day. it might also relieve some jet lag.

 

finally, please remember that the port is about an hour away from rome, so give yourself some time to get there.

 

we were on a flight to venice from los angeles with a stop in atlanta.  it ws supposed to leave at 9:00 p.m. but didnt board until almost 11. we barely made the plane from atlanta, and of course, the gate was all the way at the other end. believe me, i was sweating bullets about missing the ship. 

from then on, i always go in a few days early.  we're leaving from southampton on sept 16th, and going into london 3 days early. the cruise ends in copenhagen and we're staying there for 2 days post cruise.

 

what's not to like about spending a few days in a foreign country exploring? we usually do our own airline booking so we can arrive in the departure city a few days early.

 

try it! you'll like it!

[Thunderbird19]

wow, Flying in a day early is smart, you are lucky!

Check with NCL and see if they will cover the cost of your overnight stay in Civitavecchia (the port from which the ship leaves) or Rome (which is furthur inland) as well as transfer to the hotel.  If they do great, and seems like they should since their travel planning is forcing you to incur overnight charges.  If they offer hotel in Rome ask them to also cover transportation to Port the next day.  
For the sake of simplicity, I think staying at the port would be great and you can enjoy exploring the city.

[julig22]

Where are you flying from?  I took a look at flights arriving in Rome on Nov 1 from Toronto and the pickins are pretty slim which would explain the 1day deviation.

[mythstera]

7 hours ago, julig22 said:

Where are you flying from?  I took a look at flights arriving in Rome on Nov 1 from Toronto and the pickins are pretty slim which would explain the 1day deviation.

 

Not far actually, from Montreal

 

8 hours ago, Thunderbird19 said:

wow, Flying in a day early is smart, you are lucky!

Check with NCL and see if they will cover the cost of your overnight stay in Civitavecchia (the port from which the ship leaves) or Rome (which is furthur inland) as well as transfer to the hotel.  If they do great, and seems like they should since their travel planning is forcing you to incur overnight charges.  If they offer hotel in Rome ask them to also cover transportation to Port the next day.  
For the sake of simplicity, I think staying at the port would be great and you can enjoy exploring the city.

 

Yup thats what i was thinking. I mean NCL is supposed to take care of the plane and transfer so if they force me to be there a day early, I'm expecting them to take care of the overnight charges and all the transfers as well. I'm gonna try to get hold of the air department after the long week end.

Edited September 4, 2022 by mythstera

[RD64]

7 hours ago, julig22 said:

Where are you flying from?  I took a look at flights arriving in Rome on Nov 1 from Toronto and the pickins are pretty slim which would explain the 1day deviation.

Flights from Canada to Rome or Venice in October are crazy this year. It is more expensive to fly this October than for comparable flights this past July. Just go and enjoy the extra day.

[odie1024]

You should be thankful that they are getting you there the day before your cruise as I am surprised you would not have asked to get there one day before boarding the ship anyway. If you follow these boards at all you will see the idiots who fly in the day of departure and miss their cruise. Why would this upset you?  I don't see why you think NCL should pay for your hotel. Even prior to Covid I always flew in 1 to 2 days early. I am flying from Boston to Tampa in February and flying in 2 days early just in case of bad weather or flight delays.

[mythstera]

7 minutes ago, odie1024 said:

You should be thankful that they are getting you there the day before your cruise as I am surprised you would not have asked to get there one day before boarding the ship anyway. If you follow these boards at all you will see the idiots who fly in the day of departure and miss their cruise. Why would this upset you?  I don't see why you think NCL should pay for your hotel. Even prior to Covid I always flew in 1 to 2 days early. I am flying from Boston to Tampa in February and flying in 2 days early just in case of bad weather or flight delays.

 

I am not in the same situation as you or as the "idiots" you're referring too. I am not booking my flights and transfers. Its NCL who's doing it for me and taking care of it. And if ever there's a delay or anything, it's all on them so I don't give. 

[vtgumby]

2 hours ago, odie1024 said:

You should be thankful that they are getting you there the day before your cruise as I am surprised you would not have asked to get there one day before boarding the ship anyway. If you follow these boards at all you will see the idiots who fly in the day of departure and miss their cruise. Why would this upset you?  I don't see why you think NCL should pay for your hotel. Even prior to Covid I always flew in 1 to 2 days early. I am flying from Boston to Tampa in February and flying in 2 days early just in case of bad weather or flight delays.

I have to chime in on this thought because I just arrived in Seattle today for our cruise on Tuesday and guess what, there were 14 people on the plane that didn’t make their cruise because our flight got brought back to the gate for maintenance issues and we cooled our heels for four hours at the airport. Bye bye Alaska for them.

Never ever take a chance on the airlines for important events like a major trip, a wedding, a funeral, etc. etc. etc. There are simply no guarantees and it’s insane to think about taking an international flight and arriving on the day of your cruise not to mention Rome is spectacular, you should go and spend a week there before the cruise!

[em-sk]

15 hours ago, mythstera said:

NCL air program gave us ticket that is arriving one day (31st October morning) earlier in Rome for our cruise departing 1st November. I've never requested this. 

 

I actually won't mind coming a day early but how does that work? Do they pay us a hotel? Or do we need to hang out in the airport for 24hrs??

 

 

If you want to stay at the airport, I would book the Hilton hotel that is connected to the airport terminal;. I have stayed their before and it quit and nice.  

 

However Rome is such a great walking city.  Staying in the city is a better option.   

[blueslily]

Man, as others have said, I would be thanking NCL for booking you a flight that arrives a day early. It's great that you don't mind that. It's a win for you.  Anyone that has seen anything about air travel lately or has traveled for cruises knows that this is a benefit to you and it is wise planning. The $300 less flight you saw would not even be a consideration for me. The possible drama of same day flights is worse. Even if NCL would take care of any issues, who wants that stress and lost cruise and vacation time. It's not worth it. 

 

If NCL pays for the hotel or NOT, this is in both situations a win. It's no fun starting a cruise with stress about a flight or hotel.  Book a hotel and enjoy Rome before your cruise. 

 

Have a great cruise 🌞

Edited September 5, 2022 by blueslily

[mjkacmom]

I could be wrong, but I don’t think having NCL book the flights is a guarantee of making the cruise, and I don’t think they are allowing passengers to catch up with the ship. 

[pickle11]

15 hours ago, mythstera said:

 

I am not in the same situation as you or as the "idiots" you're referring too. I am not booking my flights and transfers. Its NCL who's doing it for me and taking care of it. And if ever there's a delay or anything, it's all on them so I don't give. 

You seemed to be ok but yet are complaining.  What research did you do that would have allowed you to land and transfer the day of the cruise.  Where did you think you were going to spend the night the day before the cruise?  Or take the red-eye flight.  Did your package include air and hotel?

Like most people here I think you got lucky.  Now research fork up enough for a nice hotel and have a great time.

[Sailing12Away]

I love all the people who claim "you should spend xxx extra days in your embarkation port" as if they were the ones issuing us our PTO time. Some of us have limited availability and are not yet fortunate enough to be retired to spend as much time as we want wherever we want.

 

Having said that, I personally wouldn't ever try to do an international trip flying in on the day of the cruise. We've used NCL air to fly in on the day of when going from JFK-MIA, JFK-Honolulu, JFK-FLL all without issues (although one Miami fight cut it closer than we would have liked). 

 

Next trip tomorrow is from NY, just relying on the Uber driver to get us from home to the port. Then we're flying JFK-LAX same day of the trip. But international, we'll always go a day early.

[PATRLR]

I agree that going in a day early (at least) is the right thing to do.  Heck, we're arriving in Miami on Thursday for a Sunday cruise.  So I absolutely "get it" that what NCL has booked is a better option. 

 

But none of us are in the OPs shoes.  What if OP couldn't get the extra day off from work?  What if they are on a budget and the couple hundred dollars for a hotel means a couple hundred less they can spend during their vacation?  I'll assume the T&Cs for NCL air allow them to do what they did, but I know I wouldn't be pleased if it were me, especially if they don't pay for the hotel night (and I don't expect they will).

It's why I will never, ever use NCL air.

Let me ask all who responded this question:  If the OP had requested a 2 day deviation (come in 2 days early) and NCL put them in 3 days early, would you all still be saying "that's great, be thankful and just book a hotel"?

[complawyer]

sailiang12away.

 

going in a day early is just a precaution. if anything goes wrong, you may miss the ship. and thats a bummer way to start any vacation much less a cruise. i dont do this any longer, but in the past, if i were trying to get to the port the day of the sailing, i always tried to book the red eye the night before.

 

that being said however, we were flying from los angeles to honolulu. flight took off at 9 a.m. we were at the airport before 7. flight took off on time, but about 2-3 hours into our flight, the pilot announces that one

of the engines have died and we turned around and headed back to l.a.

 

finally arrived in honolulu at 2 a.m. or 5 am los angels time. had this been for a cruise, the ship would have been long gone, jfk to mia or lauderdale has enough choices to be safe. 

 

the real issue is why take the chance

[complawyer]

patrlr. in theory you are correct. but along with your what if's, what if the plane was delayed, flight cancelled, bad weather. there are so many things that can go wrong, why take the chance?

 

i would never presume to spend someone else money, but even if i'm booked into an inside cabin, i've still spent money to cruise. wouldnt you rather book a hotel for a night or 2, than risk missing the ship altogether. remember murphy's law!!!

[v3cruiser]

On 9/4/2022 at 8:44 AM, Purple_Pig said:

Why wouldn't you want to arrive one day early on an international flight?

Book a hotel and enjoy the evening.

Well said!

[Sailing12Away]

28 minutes ago, complawyer said:

the real issue is why take the chance

Because some of us don't have a choice. My first cruse of 2023 is a 15 night Panama Canal trip. I also have a 10 night Iceland trip booked for later that year on Prima. At the time, the job I had when I booked both trips gave me 25 PTO days/year. Now, my new job is only 20. 

 

So as it is, I need to either work remotely during my trip for some days in a completely different country/time zone, or take the time off without pay. To add extra days beyond that 'just in case' will cost me more money in work losses than the cost of the hotel. 

 

Some things just happen for a reason. The egregious types of delays none of us can avoid, and if they're severe enough to prevent me from going on a trip - I chalk that up to something in the universe warning me that it wasn't meant to be. Not to draw the casino folks into this, but the odds of me having an issue preventing me from catching a cruise leaving from the inland states flying in the same day are very low.

 

Part of that is because of where I'm flying out of and the fact that I have 3 big airports and nearly every airline carrier in existence at my disposal with flights as early as 5am. Folks in smaller towns with a single flight in/out don't have the same odds as me, don't have the same risks as me, and for them it's a better option to always go 1+ day early regardless of where they're leaving from.

[graphicguy]

Sounds like OP doesn’t have an issue with coming in the day before, as NCL has scheduled.  NCL has NEVER to my knowledge offered pre/post hotel stays as a “perk”.  So, the hand wringing about them doing it, even though they didn’t offer it is a moot point.

 

Now, whether the OP thought they could come in the day of the cruise as a steadfast part of NCL’s flight perk, is a debate able expectation.  But, if the OP does not want to stay in a hotel a day prior to embarkation, the choices are pretty limited.  Probably making the airport as a makeshift place to stay is the best out of the very undesirable options.

 

Obvious answer is getting a hotel for the night.  Or, dropping the flight perk from NCL and booking their own flights.

[eileeshb]

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

I could be wrong, but I don’t think having NCL book the flights is a guarantee of making the cruise, and I don’t think they are allowing passengers to catch up with the ship. 

Not so true… on my cruise out of San Juan earlier this year they held the ship departure time by an extra hour or so for one flight that was delayed and then another flight was even later so they arranged for those guests to meet up with the ship mid-cruise. They couldn’t get them to the first port of call in time to meet the ship so they flew them to the second port and put them up for a couple of nights while waiting for the ship to arrive.

 

but always ensure you have good travel insurance so you can get compensation if you do miss part/all of the cruise due to flight issues, or anything else.

Edited September 5, 2022 by eileeshb

[blueslily]

1 hour ago, eileeshb said:

Not so true… on my cruise out of San Juan earlier this year they held the ship departure time by an extra hour or so for one flight that was delayed and then another flight was even later so they arranged for those guests to meet up with the ship mid-cruise. They couldn’t get them to the first port of call in time to meet the ship so they flew them to the second port and put them up for a couple of nights while waiting for the ship to arrive.

 

but always ensure you have good travel insurance so you can get compensation if you do miss part/all of the cruise due to flight issues, or anything else.

 

Man, definitely sounds like something I would not want to go through, even if someone else is taking care of the arrangements and  paying for it. 

Edited September 5, 2022 by blueslily

[blueslily]

3 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

I love all the people who claim "you should spend xxx extra days in your embarkation port" as if they were the ones issuing us our PTO time. Some of us have limited availability and are not yet fortunate enough to be retired to spend as much time as we want wherever we want.

 

Having said that, I personally wouldn't ever try to do an international trip flying in on the day of the cruise. We've used NCL air to fly in on the day of when going from JFK-MIA, JFK-Honolulu, JFK-FLL all without issues (although one Miami fight cut it closer than we would have liked). 

 

Next trip tomorrow is from NY, just relying on the Uber driver to get us from home to the port. Then we're flying JFK-LAX same day of the trip. But international, we'll always go a day early.

 

I understand your point about PTO and varying leave amounts for different people. But, I thought the OP said in their post "I actually dont mind coming in a day early." I thought the issue was not agreeing to that in advance or not knowing in advance and they had a question about the hotel for that one night. I also understand that hotels in Rome can be costly. So, I get it. 

 

Regarding days off from work, I travel a bit more than my friends and family. I'm employed, not retired. I earn a set amount of leave each year and have to manage how I use it. Whenever anyone wants to travel internationally with me, we sit down and talk about leave time from work. That is as much a factor in planning as money is. When I was newer to this or younger, I would do tight planning due to having less leave time and money for traveling. Also, i just didnt think planes would not leave when they were supposed to or arrive when they were scheduled to arrive, lol. Now, I dont plan that way. For example, a friend is joinng me on the Symphony in December.  It will be their first cruise ever. We talked about the pre-travel day, the travel day, the cruise days, and the post-cruise days. It's all a part of the equation. In the past 2.5 years, we have learned that all kinds of things can happen that we are not fully in control of. Not to mention all the fun with cancelled one delayed flight recently. My friend is a disabled veteran, has a special needs young adult daughter, and has a deceased spouse. They already have tons of stress. PTO is not one I want on their plate during this hopefulky fun first time experience. So, we planned it so time off from work would not be another stressor. We booked when enough PTO was available to cover the front and back end. I understand that not everyone can do that. But, for people I care about, I do what I can to help reduce stress. And, for me, if I dont have the leave to take a trip that I want to go on without leave time being a factor or stressor, I wait until I have that time. To me, travel is a luxury, not a necessity, so I wait until I can do it comfortably. That's just me and how I roll now. We are all different.

 

I read the OP's question. I dont know if NCL will book and pay for their hotel. But, I'm glad for them that they have a flight scheduled for a day earlier. Hopefully they will arrive a day earlier. 

 

Enjoy your cruises. Also, I am not trying to be argumentative. I think that's wasteful, especially on the internet. Just sharing about my experience. 🙂