NCL Air Promo - Yes or No

[huxlemo]

There is an awesome bucket list Greek Isles and Italy cruise on the Breakaway July 15-25, 2023. Cruises out of Civitavecchia. There is a great deal that ends today with free air for the second passenger. We will be coming from Buffalo, NY. I’ve been reading pros and cons on whether to take advantage of this great promo. Anyone have any insight or experience with using NCL air to go to Rome? Do they fly you in the same day as the cruise or day before? Would you do it?

 

I need to make a decision today!

[AnitaVacation]

We did not have any issue's when we used it in November.  

[AnitaVacation]

You can request to arrive up to 2 or 3 days early... and stay a few days after... in fact, in the states, they give you a credit for doing so.... 

If we are flying in, or driving more than 6 hours, we almost always go a day ahead... so many things can go wrong.

Edited January 2, 2023 by AnitaVacation

[dpepper64]

We went to Rome on NCl air package.  I would plan going in 2 days early to relax when you get there.  Return the same day.  We had no issue.  Enjoy

[fredflint]

Yes just arrive early and make sure if they added transfers to your itinerary just have it taken off then fly out same day or if you want fly back the next day.  One word just because of where we were in Rio  our flight left at 11PM you could take a longggggggggg  tour with the cruise line and then wait at the airport for a while or do what we did and book a hotel for the day and use that to place our luggage and then do some sightseeing on our own.   

Best part about their flights is there are a lot of people on your same flight even when we flew 3 days early.    The bad part is you may have multiple stops due to them picking one airline and location to bring a large group of people into the US.  For us it was JFK airport which was OK  since they have global entry and it was a breeze to go thru no line at all!

[sacteach]

I'm using NCL air for the first time to fly to Orlando in March, so I'm not yet sure how good it works, I should be getting my flight info in the next couple of weeks.

 

However, I wanted to point out that the airfare promotion has been running continuously for the last couple of months and if it goes away for a day or two, it comes back. So, while they create the urgency that you must book TODAY, you'll often see the same promo tomorrow. Today it might say "2nd passenger flies free" and tomorrow it could say "50% off flights for passengers 1 and 2" which is the exact same promotion. 

[Medgirl2001]

Probably ok if it’s just two of you, or 1 cabin.  We had 7 cabins, and 5 cabins were coming from the Ontario, CA airport.  They booked the people in those 5 cabins on 4 different flights. It was a mess, because we all left NOLA at different times, 1:45, 2:40, 4:30pm, 7 pm, and arrived at 4 different times, 8pm, 9pm, 10:30 pm, and 12:40am the next day. (Those are the approx times without including the plane delays😬). When we called to try to get on same flights they wouldn’t budge. Getting rides to/from airports was a PITA!!  We’d never book air through NCL again unless just 1 cabin. 
 

The other 2 cabins were a family of 5 coming from San Fran airport.  They sent two of them on one flight, and the other 3 people on another flight with 2 stops, left at 4pm and didn’t arrive till midnight.

[trbarton]

4 hours ago, huxlemo said:

There is an awesome bucket list Greek Isles and Italy cruise on the Breakaway July 15-25, 2023. Cruises out of Civitavecchia. There is a great deal that ends today with free air for the second passenger. We will be coming from Buffalo, NY. I’ve been reading pros and cons on whether to take advantage of this great promo. Anyone have any insight or experience with using NCL air to go to Rome? Do they fly you in the same day as the cruise or day before? Would you do it?

 

I need to make a decision today!

Im not sure about Rome but I’m cruising on the Getaway on February 6 & when I looked into an inexpensive airfare from San Francisco to New York  I was told I would have NO control of what flight I would have & it might be a Red Eye.  Plus I wanted to arrive 3 days early & I would have to agree to their hotel at $ 1,000.  Of course I said NO.

 

Tom

[SleeStack1]

We opted out of the 'half-off' US domestic flight for our cruise.  Price savings was minimal (if anything at all) for us.  I like choosing the exact time and airline, minimizing stops, ...and using points to pay for it.

 

On the flip side, if itineraries change, its handy to have NCL handle those changes at no extra cost.

 

If a significant delay happens, we'll be on the hook for the cost (and/or insurance) involved. Admittedly, this is how most cruises w/o flights attached to them work anyway.

[hallux]

@Medgirl2001 understanding the promo is part of the deal.  NCL will only assure those in the same cabin are on the same flight.  They used to have the 'travel with guarantee' where you could pay additional to 'link' cabins to be sure you travel on the same flights but when there were all kinds of airline issues NCL dropped that option and even refunded that fee to people that had selected it but NCL couldn't honor it due to the issues with the airlines.

[Medgirl2001]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

@Medgirl2001 understanding the promo is part of the deal.  NCL will only assure those in the same cabin are on the same flight.  They used to have the 'travel with guarantee' where you could pay additional to 'link' cabins to be sure you travel on the same flights but when there were all kinds of airline issues NCL dropped that option and even refunded that fee to people that had selected it but NCL couldn't honor it due to the issues with the airlines.

I understand.  Just saying that unless you only have 1 cabin, I would not book air thru NCL.

[RocketMan275]

22 minutes ago, Medgirl2001 said:

I understand.  Just saying that unless you only have 1 cabin, I would not book air thru NCL.

I wouldn't book air through this promo even if I had only one cabin.

A NCL representative told me that since I was picky about my flights, not to book with NCL.

 

[jdc987]

My flights to MCO were on Delta (able to select $0 seats on delta.com, baggage $30 for checked), connection in Atlanta.  I was satisfied for the price I paid. 

[trbarton]

5 minutes ago, jdc987 said:

My flights to MCO were on Delta (able to select $0 seats on delta.com, baggage $30 for checked), connection in Atlanta.  I was satisfied for the price I paid. 

Were you able to select your flight’s/airlines?  What time of the day we’re your flights?

 

Tom😀

[jdc987]

7 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Were you able to select your flight’s/airlines?  What time of the day we’re your flights?

 

Tom😀

Flights were NCL Choice, no deviation requested, 1030 pm previous night outgoing, normal connection times, return 520 pm.

[Dw08700870]

I would not take NCL free flight promotion.

we are having a terrible experience now.  We are traveling back from Panama with friends.  We all have different flights.  We land at JFK at 11:37 P.M. and our friends will arrive 3 hours later at 2:30 A.M.

They will not make any changes.  It’s ruining our trip.

[wally4ever]

I've done two cruises using the NCL Air, and I was happy to let them deal with everything.  At the same time though, both itineraries involved short layovers, so if the first plane had been delayed at all, I'd have been in trouble.

[v3cruiser]

We took the free flight promotion on our upcoming cruise out of panama city and are happy with our flights provided we can get out of our home town without delay. we knew going in we may get bad flights or red eye flights. We are thankful for what we got as the flights they assigned to us would have been very expensive if we bought on our own. We have a two hour layover coming and going back. hopefully that is enough.

 

Ncl did not let us do a 2 day deviation for a Mediterranean cruise we booked in 2025 which we are uneasy about. They said its too early.  BUT, once again, we know the risk of getting bad flights with this promo and would never chose this promo for domestic flights within us or canada. even though we did use this promo to get to seward for an upcoming alaskan cruise. We know the risk and are willing to take it to go to extraordinary places. 

[Sailing12Away]

We're using NCL air in February and our flights are great. JFK to LAX leaving NY at 6am, getting to LA around 9:30am. Flight is on AA, and we were able to pay ~$50 each to upgrade to comfort plus.

Coming home from Miami our flight is at 11:30am on Delta. Again, able to upgrade our seats to comfort plus for a small fee, was able to go all the way up to business if we wanted to but that's a short flight and not needed. Happy with Delta coming home as we get free checked bags with my status.

 

We've done NCL flights a handful of times and never had an issue. If the price savings is significant, it's worth it.

[cruisinpips]

Our TA said no way, no how. When the promotion first began they had great reviews, but lately with all the airline issues, it has been a nightmare. If you have two reservations on the same cruise, likely not on the same flights. Absolutely no changes in flights or seats. That was the TA telling us that, she said book your own flights if you want to be together and have control over your travel. By the way, we book directly for flights, never booked air through her, so she’s not looking for commissions….she works for a cruise agency. 
 

[Sailing12Away]

3 minutes ago, cruisinpips said:

Absolutely no changes in flights or seats. 

The seat part is simply not true at all. Every flight I've taken through NCL air I have been able to select my seats and pay for an upgrade if desired.
 

The options available are all based on the specific airline. Some let you upgrade all the way up to first (Delta), other's only let you go from basic to comfort plus (AA) or exit row. Some airlines charge just for the convenience of not sitting in the middle seat, others don't charge a dime so long as your further in the back of the plane.

 

It's all based on the airlines - not NCL. But again, you absolutely CAN pick your seats - or at least I have been able to on my last 4+ trips.

[borgerboy@aol.com]

Only saved $75 round trip by using the air program, but very satisfied with the details. Leaving New Orleans at 1 pm and arrive Miami at 4pm, the  day before the cruise on southwest. Leaving Los Angeles at 6 pm arriving New Orleans at midnight on Delta. Couldn’t have found better flights myself. 

[hallux]

10 hours ago, Dw08700870 said:

They will not make any changes.  It’s ruining our trip.

Once the flights are ticketed they won't make changes.  Such is the risk when you allow the cruise line to book the flights - you have no control over the flight schedule and now that the "travel with guarantee" is shut down there is no assurance you'll be on the same flights as friends you may be traveling with if you're in different cabins.  NCL isn't chartering flights, they're booking tickets on regular flights based on pricing and availability when they book the flights and it's possible there weren't enough seats on a single flight in the fare class required to book you and your friends.

[laudergayle]

FWIW…NCL air promo is (or at least was for our upcoming cruise) using SWA.  With SWA you cannot pick your seats.  You can pay $20 pp each way for Priority Boarding…but that will generally put you in the middle of the pack.  And as of January 1st, they are boarding families before Priority Boarding.  2 checked bags are free…which is great IF THEY ARRIVE WHEN YOU DO.  We’re flying ATL to SJU in February.  What is a 3.5 hr flight will take us 6.5 hrs using NCL promo. They booked us on Southwest ATL/MCO/SJU.  With the recent disastrous SWA debacle, we booked our own flights on Delta. We basically threw away $550…but I feel confident we’ll make it the ship with luggage in tow.

[Redsky5292]

We've only used the NCL Air Promo for our Baltic Cruise three years ago.  We had a direct flight from Boston to Copenhagen and a direct flight return trip.  Flights were on Scandinavian Air and the service was great.  I think we paid $20 to pick out seats so that my husband and I could sit together.  I highly doubt we would use it for domestic flights though, as my husband likes to find the best deals he can.  I swear he should have been a travel agent instead of a teacher.