Norwegian abandoned us

[LloydJr]

7 hours ago, complawyer said:

a number of people are ok with economy. with flights 8-10 hours or longer, i prefer a little more comfort, and i think it's worth the extra costs. it's like booking an inside cabin or a club balcony.  your preference. if youre only using the cabin to sleep  or change clothes an inside cabin is perfect. i admit to being ultra spoiled and want a little extra comfort

I want extra comfort.  I want $1000 extra dollars in my wallet.  What to do, what to do.....

[DCGuy64]

There are advantages and disadvantages to booking your own flights vs having a travel agent or the cruise line do it for you. There are also advantages and disadvantages to flying in early and flying business class vs economy. There are too many factors at play to make generalized statements about what's best, because it's very rare that I meet two people with exactly the same set of circumstances. I've met wealthy retirees who will spend a week in a place like Tokyo before a cruise in a suite, who flew first class and stayed in 5-star hotels, and I've met families who flew in the day of the cruise and had an inside cabin. No two people are the same.

[complawyer]

dcguy64. what youre saying is 100% correct, however, this post is chock full of writers lamenting about 

now they were abandoned by ncl, how their flights were screwed up by ncl etc. all i've added that was for over 20 cruises and the past 13 years, i've done my own booking and travel arrangement and never once had any problem with flights, hotels, transfers or cruises. in all that time, we had 1 close call, but still worked out.

 

i dont see any disadvantage to doing it all yourself, if you just take the time and use due diligence.

 

and its nice that you 've met family's that fly in the day of the cruise. (in the past i've also done it) the question is why take the chance, especially if you're departing from a foreign port. isnt it nice to take a few extra days to explore a foreign city. we've done this  in many different ports and countries, and i assure you they were all amazing!

 

 

[fastpitchdad]

IMO, the best thing is to book your own travel with an airline or alliance on which you have status and the easiest way to deal with irrops is to directly call them on a premium line (there are credit cards that help give you status). If you are at the airport, the next best thing is to get help from the Airline's lounge even if you have to buy a day pass but status will determine where you are in the pecking order for resolution. 

 

I had a crazy one once where my SEA-ORD flight went mx ahead of a Swiss flight ending at BCN for the largest mobile industry event in the world. United rerouted me (first leg was UA) and I made it on time but when I showed up for my Swiss return flight they said I no showed and canceled my return (the rerouting was on UA and LH). This was the first day people leave the show and they said the next available was in 3 days. I called the 1K line and after the Swiss gate agent and the United 1K rep yelled at each other for 10 mins the United rep told me to walk to Lufthansa and by the time I got there he would find a way to get me to FRA or MUC. When that was taken care of (no idea how he got me a seat on an extremely oversold flight) he said by the time I get to FRA he would figure out my route back to SEA. I even got a business class upgrade FRA-DEN. 

Edited March 14, 2023 by fastpitchdad

[DCGuy64]

14 hours ago, complawyer said:

never once had any problem with flights, hotels, transfers or cruises. in all that time, we had 1 close call, but still worked out.

If you've traveled that many times over that many years, I am amazed that you've never once had a single problem. I can't make the same claim, unfortunately: I've also traveled a lot and have had canceled flights, food poisoning, missed ports, lost luggage, you name it. You are very lucky!

14 hours ago, complawyer said:

the question is why take the chance, especially if you're departing from a foreign port. isnt it nice to take a few extra days to explore a foreign city. we've done this  in many different ports and countries, and i assure you they were all amazing!

Here's the answer to your question: because we don't all have the same circumstances, that's why take the chance. My wife and I both work full time, therefore we don't have unlimited vacation time, so when we go to Japan next month on our cruise, we only have enough time to fly in a day early (just to make sure we don't miss the cruise) and we come home the same day the cruise ends. I am a professional singer and we leave the day after Easter, which is the culmination of Holy Week. I sing literally every single day the week before, and forfeiting that income in order to fly earlier to Japan (and pay for hotel, food, etc for a week before the cruise) isn't something I can afford to do. I don't doubt at all that going early and exploring foreign cities is fun, in fact I love doing that. We always end up doing a European land-based vacation each year in addition to a cruise or two. But I have to emphasize again: not everyone is fortunate enough to have unlimited leave time from work (or be retired) and have deep pockets. If you do, that's awesome, be grateful for that. Just don't assume that your circumstances are everyone's.

[RocketMan275]

On 3/7/2023 at 5:43 AM, luv2kroooz said:

Good question. I don't know. We would never book air through a cruise line, just like we wouldn't book our travel insurance through the cruiseline.  But its the same with shore tours...all the lines push using them for the shore tours....convenience, safe tour operators, blah blah blah, etc. Then you read the fine print and realize the tour operators are third party independent contractors with no relationship to the cruise lines. It is a dirty, deceptive business. You really need to be an educated, informed traveler and take steps to look out for yourself....a great benefit of being part of cc community.

Re: tour operators.  The other secret is that on any given tour, there are people who booked through the ship and others who booked themselves with the operator.  If there is a problem the ship will/should wait for the ones who booked through the line but those who booked direct are on the same bus.

[RocketMan275]

On 3/7/2023 at 7:20 AM, EllieinNJ said:

I've flown air through Princess' EZ Air program twice, once to Europe and once to Florida.  It is so easy to pick out the exact flights you want, nonstop or connecting, day you want to arrive and depart.  If for some reason your flight changes and the time is not good, you can change it to a more convenient time.  If the price goes down you can cancel and rebook.  All up to 45 days before flight and you don't even have to pay until final payment.  Unfortunately NCL does not offer this so would not take a chance and book my air with them.

Same with Holland.  Used their air for a trip to Vancouver from Alabama.  Booked first class.  Took advantage of a couple of price changes and changed fligthts to get better arrival/departure times.

[Turtles06]

2 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Re: tour operators.  The other secret is that on any given tour, there are people who booked through the ship and others who booked themselves with the operator.  If there is a problem the ship will/should wait for the ones who booked through the line but those who booked direct are on the same bus.

Done lots of tours all over the world, and I’ve never been on a privately booked tour that also had people booked through the ship. 

[RocketMan275]

Just now, Turtles06 said:

Done lots of tours all over the world, and I’ve never been on a privately booked tour that also had people booked through the ship. 

It happens, particularly when there are large numbers of people on the tour.  

[DCGuy64]

29 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

It happens, particularly when there are large numbers of people on the tour.  

Oh yeah, absolutely happens all the time. Case in point: there's a great little zoo/animal preserve in Roatan that features sloths and monkeys. Same tour availability independently or through the cruise ship, we chose independent thinking they'd probably see more $ that way vs paying the cruise line. Same way with Costa Maya, an excellent tour company that does independent tours or group tours through the cruise line. If anything, I'd say MOST excursions work that way.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

Done lots of tours all over the world, and I’ve never been on a privately booked tour that also had people booked through the ship. 

Same here.  Might be on the same train or boat if part of the excursion but never the same transportation to/from the ship.

[julig22]

59 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

 If anything, I'd say MOST excursions work that way.

Not my experience whatsoever and I've probably taken well over 100 NCL excursions.  Yes, excursions may end up in a location with others but no actual TOURS that haven't been exclusive.  NCL does offer transportation and/or entrance fees to various attractions and in that case your private booking would appear to be the same.

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, julig22 said:

Not my experience whatsoever and I've probably taken well over 100 NCL excursions.  Yes, excursions may end up in a location with others but no actual TOURS that haven't been exclusive.  NCL does offer transportation and/or entrance fees to various attractions and in that case your private booking would appear to be the same.

Ours were on Carnival, RCL, MSC, and NCL, so it could differ from cruise line to cruise line. In any event, it always struck me as strange that two people could be on the same tour but have reserved, and paid for it, differently. YMMV.