Flights through Norwegian

[Adventure_on]

Hello, We are planning to sail in March and with the crazy airfares we were considering locking in the flights through Norwegian. We would be flying from Tampa to San Juan and back.  

 

Has anyone here done this? Our biggest concern is the type of flights. Do they book unreasonable layovers? Example, it should really only be about a 2 hour-ish flight if it is direct. We are not interested in a 10+ hour trip. 

 

What is your experience with it? Any and all help is appreciated.

🙂 

[zqvol]

There is no telling what you might end up with, but it is reasonable to assume that you will not be non stop from Tampa, and could layover almost anywhere. 

[Turtles06]

There are numerous recent posts here complaining about the flight arrangements made by NCL.  They are booking the cheapest flights for you, not necessarily the best. If you want input into what is booked, you need to pay to go through NCL’s premium air department. 

[PapaGoose]

Not everyone complains. We just got our flight information today for our Feb Panama Canal cruise. Direct flight from Toronto to Panama City with a deviation of one day early and a connecting flight through Atlanta (1 hour 45 min layover) back to Toronto the day of disembarking. The times are fine and we paid just over $700 Canadian for the two of us. Going rate today for same flights was over $6,000 CAD. Sounds like it will work out pretty good as long as I didn’t just jinx myself….

[don't-use-real-name]

Always smart to arrive a day early (if possible using NCL AIR) -

Unless leaving from a MAJOR airport such as Atlanta or Miami with non-stop

service you don't want to be hassled with a connection flight(s) especially

when the weather is in flux or the airline NCL is routing you on is having

scheduling/labor issues.

There is an hour time zone difference between USA mainland and San Juan -

A 2-3 hour flight MIA or ATL to SJU - most ships sail between sunset and 9pm

After getting your luggage its about quick half-hour ride or less from the airport

to the Pan-Am pier - a bit longer to the old town piers - but traffic is as traffic does.

Not a problem - but put all this together it is best to have a cushion perhaps a

whole day cushion to work with.

 

On the return not so much a problem -

get your luggage (walk-off or checked) -

grab a cab -

and off to the airport for most any flights after 10-11 am

 

Flights to from Panama - I don't have idea - a whole nother ball (cruise) game

Readers ?  

[davencl]

We booked NCL flights to Aus/NZ for Jan. trip.  Got very good flights.  We're arriving a day early and leaving a day late.   Details are PDX to SFO, (3 hour layover in SFO)  SFO to SYD on United.  Return is on Hawaiian Air: AKL to HNL(3 hour layover in HNL),  HNL to PDX.   We saved $2500 booking with free airfare for second guest.   Very happy with these arrangements.

   Also booked NCL air for trip to Mediterranean in Aug.  saved around $1800. Won't know if we'll get lucky with this trip until next year some time.

   Trip to Aruba in March we booked on our own.  My dollar pain point is $1000.   It's worth it for me to book my own air if savings are less to get my preferred flights.   As many have said: No guarantee what you'll get with NCL air.

Edited December 12, 2022 by davencl

[dexddd]

We had great flights through the bogo air in September to LHR.

[northwoodsmom]

When we booked with our TA I made the choice of using the BOGO through NCL.  It was less of a hassle for me.  We received our flight information 60 days prior to our sailing (12/24).  We have a direct flight from MSP to Orlando on Delta the day before our cruise. Our return is late enough in the day where I won't feel rushed to run off the ship. I simply went onto the Delta app, pulled up the flight information, added our Sky miles numbers and picked our seats.  It was simple.  Do I know what is to come next week - no, but I choose to believe all will be well.

Happy Cruising!

[chloe173]

I think there's probably a bit of confirmation bias going on with the flights. I would say 80% of the posts (here, or on some of the FB groups I'm on) that talk about NCL Air are people complaining about the awful flights they get. But, if you got reasonable flights that were in line with your expectations, you probably wouldn't feel the need to go online and complain/rejoice about it. 

 

I will say that the more complicated your itinerary/booking/party is, the more likely you're going to run into issues. Are you a kid-free adult couple with no mobility issues who will be flying from one large US metropolitan airport to another, in which there are multiple direct routes between your two cities each day? You're going to be fine.

Are you a large family group booked across five different rooms on three different reservations, coming from all different cities, mammaw needs a wheelchair, somebody has a lap baby, and half of you are coming from a smaller-sized city that will almost definitely necessitate a layover somewhere, and you're flying to Europe? Proceed with extreme caution.

[reeinaz]

Look at flights on your own from Tampa to San Juan to get an idea of what's available and the price differential. That should give you some idea of what you would likely get. 

[wil e coyote]

1 hour ago, chloe173 said:

I think there's probably a bit of confirmation bias going on with the flights. I would say 80% of the posts (here, or on some of the FB groups I'm on) that talk about NCL Air are people complaining about the awful flights they get. But, if you got reasonable flights that were in line with your expectations, you probably wouldn't feel the need to go online and complain/rejoice about it. 

This. Exactly. There are plenty of posts on this board that will tell you to run far-far away from NCL Air, but those are people who have had problems. I believe (but don't have the data to prove) that there are many more people whose flights have been just fine. That has been our experience.

 

Just a little data: Airline on-time performance in the US is running about 77% right now. So every time you have a connection, there is a nearly 1 in 4 chance that your inbound flight will be late, and that might cause a problem if you have a tight connection. That also means there is a 1 in 4 chance your flight to the port city might be late, and if you have a tight connection to the ship, that might mean you miss the ship. In addition, the airlines have gotten much better at filling their planes, so there are fewer empty seats. That means that if you do miss a connection, or your flight gets cancelled, it's much more difficult (in general) to get on to another flight quickly.

All this is why many folks (rightly) suggest flying in a day or two early, so there is time to recover from delayed or cancelled flights. I also find that flying in a day early simply reduces my stress level. NCL Air will do this for you if you request it. 

Enjoy!