NCL Air Promo - Yes or No

[AnitaVacation]

8 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

NCL does not make you buy insurance just because you use their air promotion. I've used their air about 4-5 times and never once gotten insurance.

Thanks!  Good to know that they lied to me yet again!! My PCP (or whatever you want to call them) told me it was mandatory!!  I just checked it out on ncl.com and it only says 'highly recommended'.... 

[GirlWriter]

On 1/2/2023 at 5:20 PM, hallux said:

NCL will only assure those in the same cabin are on the same flight. 

Is this in writing anywhere? In reading all of the bad reviews of NCL Air, I was getting worried that they might put my minor son on a different flight from me and/or his dad. However, we are all in the same cabin / on the same reservation, so if this is something I can stop worrying about, I would love to know that! If the above is a written guarantee anywhere, please point me to it. Thanks!

[jules181]

You just need to be aware of what you're getting.  I've used NCL Air a few times and declined to use it just as many.  

 

You have to be good with the lack of control. Knowing that it may not be your preferred airline or routing. 

 

With my local airport being a major hub, I have a pretty good idea of what flights will be assigned and haven't had any surprises. 

 

The only times I've chosen not to use it is when I've either booked the cruise last minute or tacked on a business trip to the embarkation city where the two-day deviation wasn't enough.  

 

For the budget conscious traveller that is starting at the same airport as me it has always shown to be cheaper than anything I could book myself and has usually put me on my preferred airline. 

 

And when connections have come into play, they've never been longer than 90 minutes. 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, GirlWriter said:

Is this in writing anywhere?

In the T&C's for promotions - https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

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

[kjquilts]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

In the T&C's for promotions - https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

 

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

 

This is the section from the T&C's linked above

 

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

• Reservations must be booked, and the promotion must be added no less than 75 days prior to sailing to qualify for this promotion.
• A non-refundable fee of $100 per person applies to all guests in the stateroom, who are 2 years or older.

 

I've read the T&C's before and never saw the "A non-refundable fee of $100 per person applies to all guests in the stateroom, who are 2 years or older" wording  What does this mean ?

 

We are booked on 15 day NCL Star Trieste to Lisbon cruise in April.  We purchased the NCL air promo and paid the quoted air price.  There was no mention of $200 charge to fly in same plane. We've had 20 plus cruises on NCL and never used the air and I'm becoming extremely concerned after reading some of the horror stories.  We did do two day deviation on both ends but would like to enjoy our two days for sight seeing. 

 

Karen

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by kjquilts

[hallux]

@kjquilts I've seen that too.  I wonder if it's a precursor to the travel-with guarantee coming back as there was eventually a fee levied for that before it was ultimately discontinued.

[kjquilts]

18 minutes ago, hallux said:

@kjquilts I've seen that too.  I wonder if it's a precursor to the travel-with guarantee coming back as there was eventually a fee levied for that before it was ultimately discontinued.

 

They did for a while have a charge for travel-with but it was not for passengers booked in the same stateroom

[laudergayle]

1 hour ago, kjquilts said:

non-refundable fee of $100 per person applies to all guests in the stateroom, who are 2 years or older.

I was led to believe this was your cost if you decide to cancel the reservation through NCL.  

[lsmommy]

Thinking of booking 2 cruises  kind of as a back to back.

1st one from Rome to Rome cruise , and then a 2nd one 2 days later from London to Iceland, Would I be able to use the NCL air promo for one way Toronto to Rome from the 1st cruise and then Reykjavík to Toronto from the 2nd cruise? ( would have to book my own flight Rome to London)

[phillygwm]

Depends on your personal circumstances.  Personally, I wouldn't, because when I leave the ship I usually need to get home ASAP.  Others find the tradeoff of an inconvenient flight worth the cost savings.

 

I tell people to think about the most inconvenient flights possible and, if they're OK with that, go for it.  Yes, some people luck out and get something convenient but NCL is going to put you on the cheapest option so don't count on it.

[twinmommy08]

On 1/2/2023 at 9:23 PM, v3cruiser said:

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.

Right. My TA told me wait until the fares open for my travel dates (approx 350 days out) to request the deviation. She told me I could research flights and chose to remove the BOGO promo up until final payment if I find something better. 

[hallux]

27 minutes ago, twinmommy08 said:

and chose to remove the BOGO promo up until final payment if I find something better

As long as final payment remains at 120 days.  If they drop it back to 60 days again (for some reason) you are then past the deadline for that request.

[twinmommy08]

1 minute ago, hallux said:

As long as final payment remains at 120 days.  If they drop it back to 60 days again (for some reason) you are then past the deadline for that request.

Makes sense. I would think they would hold  the booked by date if they would make a change in the future as they did when they changed from 60 to 120. 
 

 

[julig22]

6 hours ago, lsmommy said:

Thinking of booking 2 cruises  kind of as a back to back.

1st one from Rome to Rome cruise , and then a 2nd one 2 days later from London to Iceland, Would I be able to use the NCL air promo for one way Toronto to Rome from the 1st cruise and then Reykjavík to Toronto from the 2nd cruise? ( would have to book my own flight Rome to London)

Yes, you can use 1 way flights.  I did it once for a B2B, no problem initially anyway.  However, you might want to consider initially booking flights individually and then cancel what you don't need before you make final payment.

I booked a B2B, then there were issues with one leg (long story, NCL cancelled one leg).  So when I tried to get the promo airfare both ways for the cruise I was still taking they said nope.  This was back when the BOGO airfare wasn't always offered, so it shouldn't be an issue if the promo is currently in effect - but you never know.

[greatestvalue]

On 1/2/2023 at 6:45 AM, huxlemo said:

Anyone have any insight or experience with using NCL air to go to Rome?

I just did air for the 1st time with NCL.  For the price they were able to offer, and what we would have had to pay for just 1 of us.

 

So we have our expectations set correctly - for the value they are providing, we are good with whatever they book us on.