Egads! A positive NCL Air experience??!!

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

Well, so far, at least.

 

Our upcoming April sailing on Prima out of NYC is our first experience with NCL, having sailed many times on Royal/Celebrity. It's also my first time taking any cruiseline's air program offer. Coming from Toronto, I took a chance that the multitude of daily flights out of YYZ would give me a decent chance of getting favorable flights. I requested a 2 day deviation, so we would be arriving in NYC on the Friday prior to a Sunday sailaway.

 

This morning -- 69 days out -- I received our Air Flight Confirmation. We will be flying YYZ->JFK direct on Delta, with both the outbound and return flight departing at 2:30 pm. 

 

I am very pleased with this flight arrangement! The 2:30 departure means we don't have to be at YYZ at an ungodly hour, though it would have been nice to arrive in NYC a few hours earlier to enjoy some extra time in that great city. We will still get to our hotel well before the dinner hour, giving us the opportunity to enjoy dinner and a show that night and have a full Saturday to explore.

 

Best of all, the promo on the flights was CAD$222 return for 2 people. Checking the exact flights this morning on Delta, if I were to book today it would cost CAD$912, so a savings of almost $700.

[9tee2Sea]

2 minutes ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

Well, so far, at least.

 

Our upcoming April sailing on Prima out of NYC is our first experience with NCL, having sailed many times on Royal/Celebrity. It's also my first time taking any cruiseline's air program offer. Coming from Toronto, I took a chance that the multitude of daily flights out of YYZ would give me a decent chance of getting favorable flights. I requested a 2 day deviation, so we would be arriving in NYC on the Friday prior to a Sunday sailaway.

 

This morning -- 69 days out -- I received our Air Flight Confirmation. We will be flying YYZ->JFK direct on Delta, with both the outbound and return flight departing at 2:30 pm. 

 

I am very pleased with this flight arrangement! The 2:30 departure means we don't have to be at YYZ at an ungodly hour, though it would have been nice to arrive in NYC a few hours earlier to enjoy some extra time in that great city. We will still get to our hotel well before the dinner hour, giving us the opportunity to enjoy dinner and a show that night and have a full Saturday to explore.

 

Best of all, the promo on the flights was CAD$222 return for 2 people. Checking the exact flights this morning on Delta, if I were to book today it would cost CAD$912, so a savings of almost $700.

I have a cruise on Jade staring Feb 13 ( just a few weeks away from Dubai- Athens.  I also requested 2 days pre/post cruise deviations.  I also could not be happier with my flights via NCL BOGO ( they arrived around the 30 day out period).    We fly Non-stop LAX to Dubai ( the only non-stop flight) on Emirates Air.  Arrive in Dubai on Feb 11 around 7:30pm. Two days to explore Dubai before cruise starts.  Leave Athens on March 5 ( after a 2 day post deviation).Fly Aegean Air ( Leave around 1:30pm) Athens to London Heathrow.  1.5 hour layover to change planes, then fly Non-stop on Virgin Atlantic back to Los Angeles

( arrive approx 8:00pm on March 5).  I saved over 1500.00 with the airfare promo.  It is nice to share good news stories.  So many Debbie Downers around.

[HuliHuli]

27 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Fly Aegean Air ( Leave around 1:30pm) Athens to London Heathrow.  1.5 hour layover to change planes, then fly Non-stop on Virgin Atlantic back to Los Angeles

Good luck with Aegean Air.  We flew that route from ATH to LHR this past summer and Aegean's not an on-time airline.  We arrived at LHR too late to make our connection and there was no Aegean agent on duty at the airport to assist us.  Nearly six months later we are still doing battle with them to refund the costs we incurred for an overnight stay (as required by European regs.).  I hope your flight is on time, otherwise brace for a challenge.

[9tee2Sea]

1 hour ago, HuliHuli said:

Good luck with Aegean Air.  We flew that route from ATH to LHR this past summer and Aegean's not an on-time airline.  We arrived at LHR too late to make our connection and there was no Aegean agent on duty at the airport to assist us.  Nearly six months later we are still doing battle with them to refund the costs we incurred for an overnight stay (as required by European regs.).  I hope your flight is on time, otherwise brace for a challenge.

Thanks for the heads up.  I might just be adding an unexpected night in London.  Haven't been there for a few years.  

[sassycruiser]

We are on the Epic 2/26.  We are traveling with our adult son but he made his own reservation.   Got our air before Christmas.  We are Southwest from Detroit to Chicago. Chicago to San Juan.   Son got his air yesterday - Delta direct from Detroit.  

[bortman23]

4 hours ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

Coming from Toronto

 

Honestly I feel like it's a no-brainer for those of us flying from YYZ to New York. There's a plethora direct of flights; the chances of getting one is very high. And the NCL Air cost seems like a win every time...

[Mic101680]

I'm so glad to hear you had a good experience! A group of friends and I took NCL up on their airfare as part of the free at sea package for our cruise in 2024 and I was a bit worried after reading all the negative reviews. 

[Uff da]

I posted on another air thread the other day that our experiences have been positive also. I have no issues with NCL air and will continue to book with them when it is a good deal to do so. I don't live in a city with an international airport. It's rarely cheap to fly anywhere from here so the savings are noticeable. No complaints here! 

[Kuiet-time]

I’m glad to hear there is some positive feedback. I’m cruising on the Norwegian escape in July. I am also traveling with family and we took the air flight package. Norwegian said they did not guarantee we all be on the same flight, but that we get there. I am worried because we are flying out of a smaller airport that they may send some of us to a larger airport about an hour and a half away. The bookings all say they’re leaving from my hometown however, I’ve read some horror stories about the cruise line sending them last minute, a few hours away to catch flights. A few people in my party have never traveled before and do not drive, so I’m hoping we don’t get split up too dramatically. I’m crossing my fingers when my flights are signed, they will be acceptable.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, Uff da said:

I posted on another air thread the other day that our experiences have been positive also. I have no issues with NCL air and will continue to book with them when it is a good deal to do so. I don't live in a city with an international airport. It's rarely cheap to fly anywhere from here so the savings are noticeable. No complaints here! 

It does seem that people are more likely to post if they have a negative experience.

 

We are booked with flights from Newark to London and from Iceland back to Newark. We are expecting them to be non-stop. Our TA could not guarantee it, but said it would almost surely be so.

[Diver2014]

6 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It does seem that people are more likely to post if they have a negative experience.

 

We are booked with flights from Newark to London and from Iceland back to Newark. We are expecting them to be non-stop. Our TA could not guarantee it, but said it would almost surely be so.

We are also booked on the Southampton to Iceland cruise this summer with air through NCL.   We've never had a problem using cruise line sponsored air so we're keeping fingers crossed but we also always fly in at least a day ahead.  People seem to enjoy posting their negative experiences while many more never say anything about all the positive experiences they've had, hence the title 'Cruise Critic'. 

[ontheweb]

3 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

We are also booked on the Southampton to Iceland cruise this summer with air through NCL.   We've never had a problem using cruise line sponsored air so we're keeping fingers crossed but we also always fly in at least a day ahead.  People seem to enjoy posting their negative experiences while many more never say anything about all the positive experiences they've had, hence the title 'Cruise Critic'. 

We are also flying in a day ahead.

 

If you are on the cruise leaving 8/6, I hope you join the roll call if you have not already joined.

[Diver2014]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

We are also flying in a day ahead.

 

If you are on the cruise leaving 8/6, I hope you join the roll call if you have not already joined.

We're going in July but thanks for the reminder about the roll call.

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

We're going in July but thanks for the reminder about the roll call.

You're welcome. And I hope you post some of your experiences either on board or when you return.

[Kuiet-time]

11 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

We're going in July but thanks for the reminder about the roll call.

I am going in July. What week will you be traveling??

[Diver2014]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

You're welcome. And I hope you post some of your experiences either on board or when you return.

When we return, I'll post my thoughts.  Really looking forward to this as I've always wanted to visit the land of my ancestors (Norway).  Plus, being onboard a 'new' ship really sweetens the deal. Thanks.

1 hour ago, Kuiet-time said:

I am going in July. What week will you be traveling??

July 16.  Can't wait!  

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It does seem that people are more likely to post if they have a negative experience.

That's why I made the post. After reading so many stories of bad routes, terrible flight times and general airline issues, I was very pleased to not only get my flights so far out, but also very favorable times and airports.

 

I thought others might like to know that its not all gloom and doom. If one is going to take the time to write about a poor experience, one should also take the same amount of time to write about a good one. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Diver2014 said:

When we return, I'll post my thoughts.  Really looking forward to this as I've always wanted to visit the land of my ancestors (Norway).  Plus, being onboard a 'new' ship really sweetens the deal. Thanks.

July 16.  Can't wait!  

I'll look forward to your thoughts about that cruise. It is really an incredible itinerary, which is why we chose it. We chose the dates that we did because we will have a wedding anniversary onboard.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

That's why I made the post. After reading so many stories of bad routes, terrible flight times and general airline issues, I was very pleased to not only get my flights so far out, but also very favorable times and airports.

 

I thought others might like to know that its not all gloom and doom. If one is going to take the time to write about a poor experience, one should also take the same amount of time to write about a good one. 

Good for you! I am also a big believer in if you are willing to criticize, you should also be willing to praise when it is deserved.

[lfdemt]

We are 51 days out from our cruise and still have not received our daughters air fare. Got a letter saying due to unpredictability of airlines they will be issued later. But since our room already got ours and now OP got there’s for a cruise even later than ours it makes me extra nervous. 

[thespiritmovesme]

We are using NCL BOGO for our April 2 cruise on the Sun with a one day deviation pre-cruise. We are quite pleased with our flights as we can rarely fly anywhere internationally without a layover somewhere. Our return is not ideal, but not horrid, considering what we paid for the air package. We can work around the return flight. This will be our third BOGO flight with NCL. We are ever hopeful.

[Goldenrosebags]

We're on the Feb. 13th cruise from Dubai also. We have NCL air. Always get it. Never had an issue. Flying in day of which is a little nerve wracking but didn't request a deviation in time. However, our layover is 5 hours which helps me feel more comfortable. Not arriving in Dubai until 7:30 p.m. though. Cruise leaves at midnight but still wish it was sooner.

[greatestvalue]

On 1/28/2023 at 7:23 AM, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

I am very pleased with this flight arrangement!

We just booked 6 people using NCL air for the 1st time. We have all agreed, we dont really care what flights we end up on as the cost of the flights NCL was offering are 50% of what we could have booked for just 1 of us.  I too looked and determined, they cant really do any worse than we could have done with the flight options available.  So glad, it has worked out for you and enjoy your cruise.  We go with the expectation that we do not have to cook, clean and we will be waited on hand and foot for the length of the cruise.  So we always have an awesome trip!

[truckswain]

On 1/28/2023 at 10:23 AM, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

 

 

I am very pleased with this flight arrangement! The 2:30 departure means we don't have to be at YYZ at an ungodly hour, though it would have been nice to arrive in NYC a few hours earlier to enjoy some extra time in that great city. We will still get to our hotel well before the dinner hour, giving us the opportunity to enjoy dinner and a show that night and have a full Saturday to explore.

 

Best of all, the promo on the flights was CAD$222 return for 2 people. Checking the exact flights this morning on Delta, if I were to book today it would cost CAD$912, so a savings of almost $700.

Our promo flights with NCL from Toronto to New Your were also excellent.  Direct flights and great times.

 

Our upcoming NCL cruise from Miami, our promo air was bad.  Air Transit is the airline and the return flight on Sunday gets in at 1 am Monday.  Nope and Nope, cancelled the promo air and booked by own flights.  Lesson learned.