Saint Greg's Alaska Jewel - Live - August 28, 2023

[Saint Greg]

2 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

@Saint Greg...I am betting your own bed is going to feel mighty good tonight...sleep well my friend.

Another journey safe in the books!

definitely 

 

[#55worktoplay]

@Saint Greg  thank goodness you made it. You must be exhausted!  Good night!

[Saint Greg]

27 minutes ago, detroitavant said:

I figured you're the type of guy who'd have airtagged it.

if it’s something I think is really worth it I would. The way I avoid lost luggage is booking direct flights as much as possible. I had the Alaska scare last year but since then I’ve been carrying on and off a lot more. Carrying on wasn’t an option this time with the train but I did carry off.

 

[princess76021]

Welcome back to the oven!!!

Hugs from Texas!!

[edspec]

Glad you made it home Greg.

[gregmarty]

So I have a silly question.  Why would you need to go through customs traveling from one Canadian airport to another?  

 

Also, thank you for the fantastic review.  I’ll be on the Jewel on the same route in a few weeks.

[Uff da]

8 minutes ago, gregmarty said:

So I have a silly question.  Why would you need to go through customs traveling from one Canadian airport to another?  

 

Also, thank you for the fantastic review.  I’ll be on the Jewel on the same route in a few weeks.

He didn't. He didn't go through customs in Vancouver so he had to go through customs in Toronto before he re-entered the U.S. It's really about declaring all the things you bought and them making sure you did not exceed the allowance and owe more money. 

[Cruisercl]

8 hours ago, Riles34 said:

Nothing with United affected Greg today. And someone with a brain wouldn't do a 30 minute layover with customs. Yes, things happen but this could possibly have been avoided with NCL not making that flight. At least Greg has made it home with a minor hiccup, could have been sleeping at Pearson! 

Ugh. Off topic...  @Saint Greg sorry for the intrusion on your excellent review.

 

I have never used NCL for air travel but maybe you can answer my question. Are you offered different flight options? Can you refuse a flight and have them re-do it? I am sure the cost is a factor for different flights.

IMO air travel now is a crap shoot no matter who books it. 

TIA.

[luvcruzing]

Thanks, Greg, for taking us along on your vacation.  As usual, it was a treat.  Sorry you had so much trouble getting home. Hope you're feeling at least a little better today after a good night’s sleep.  

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, Cruisercl said:

Ugh. Off topic...  @Saint Greg sorry for the intrusion on your excellent review.

 

I have never used NCL for air travel but maybe you can answer my question. Are you offered different flight options? Can you refuse a flight and have them re-do it? I am sure the cost is a factor for different flights.

IMO air travel now is a crap shoot no matter who books it. 

TIA.

No options. I paid an extra $25 for them to book my first flight two days before the cruise but I had no say on the flights. I picked two days early in case they booked a flight that was too late for me to catch the train on monday or too late for me to do anything in Anchorage on Sunday.
 

As soon as I got the flights I knew the return

was a problem.. Well first it was so late it caused me to take another vacation day I hadn’t planned on. I wanted to get home on Monday so I could work on Tuesday not leave at 11:45pm on Monday and spend Tuesday traveling. I also expressed my concern about the making the connection in Toronto. I had a lot of back and forth in June with my NCL vacation planner and the NCL air department.

 

Ultimately I was told by the NCL Air department that they can book flights with as little as 30 minute layovers. My options were to cancel my entire itinerary and get back 50% of my money (went down to 25% shortly after that) or cancel the return flight and book my own but I don’t get any refund.
 

The return flight was the more expensive of the two so financially those options were all bad and would’ve made it more expensive than me just booking my own reasonable flights from the start.

 

Now I have also done carnivals fly2fun. I used that to Barcelona. With that I got to pick my flight. I actually booked my cruise then a month later went back and added the flight. Someone else on here indicated Princess is the same as carnival so maybe it’s all carnival brands.

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Saint Greg

[Stowaway LFC]

So glad you finally made it home!  At least it's a short work week!  Looking forward to any final thoughts on your maiden NCL voyage!

[reveur15]

12 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Still there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like a nice Chevy Camaro 👌

Edited September 6, 2023 by reveur15
typo

[dallasdan]

@Saint Greg Thanks for another great live review.  I hope you are feeling better this morning.

[HBCcruiser]

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Princess is the same

Yes, Princess allows you to select your own flights from a list of choices, and allows you to add the flights later. So does Royal Caribbean. Both have worked out great for us. I will never use NCL for flights, though, due to too many nightmare stories like yours. 

[BohJang]

Glad you're finally home Greg.  Loved your review.

[VictorWI]

8 hours ago, gregmarty said:

So I have a silly question.  Why would you need to go through customs traveling from one Canadian airport to another?  

 

Also, thank you for the fantastic review.  I’ll be on the Jewel on the same route in a few weeks.

USA Pre-clearance in a few countries, Canada is one of them. Because his first flight was just Canadian domestic you would not be cleared by US customs there but would be on the leg heading to the US. It avoids having to go through customs at your first US airport. Notice that when he got to Chicago he simply went to his next flight.

[bluesea777]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

No options. I paid an extra $25 for them to book my first flight two days before the cruise but I had no say on the flights. I picked two days early in case they booked a flight that was too late for me to catch the train on monday or too late for me to do anything in Anchorage on Sunday.
 

As soon as I got the flights I knew the return

was a problem.. Well first it was so late it caused me to take another vacation day I hadn’t planned on. I wanted to get home on Monday so I could work on Tuesday not leave at 11:45pm on Monday and spend Tuesday traveling. I also expressed my concern about the making the connection in Toronto. I had a lot of back and forth in June with my NCL vacation planner and the NCL air department.

 

Ultimately I was told by the NCL Air department that they can book flights with as little as 30 minute layovers. My options were to cancel my entire itinerary and get back 50% of my money (went down to 25% shortly after that) or cancel the return flight and book my own but I don’t get any refund.
 

The return flight was the more expensive of the two so financially those options were all bad and would’ve made it more expensive than me just booking my own reasonable flights from the start.

 

Now I have also done carnivals fly2fun. I used that to Barcelona. With that I got to pick my flight. I actually booked my cruise then a month later went back and added the flight. Someone else on here indicated Princess is the same as carnival so maybe it’s all carnival brands.

 

That’s exactly the reason why we can’t/won’t and will never use NCL Air. We live in Bermuda and book our own air. We have several gateway airports in the US and we need to find and book suitable flights. Example we booked AA to go to Chicago via JFK to catch the Alaska Air to Anchorage and on way home after the Alaska Air from Anchorage to Seattle we caught the AA flights home via Charlotte. That’s two different gateway airports
 

So if we choose NCL Air we’d need to pick the one gateway - won’t work for us. 
 

I have always managed to find great deals for the long haul flights with one maybe 2 stopovers. 
 

 

[Destaw71835]

Thanks for the review! I hope that you feel better soon.

[Cruisercl]

4 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

No options. I paid an extra $25 for them to book my first flight two days before the cruise but I had no say on the flights. I picked two days early in case they booked a flight that was too late for me to catch the train on monday or too late for me to do anything in Anchorage on Sunday.
 

As soon as I got the flights I knew the return

was a problem.. Well first it was so late it caused me to take another vacation day I hadn’t planned on. I wanted to get home on Monday so I could work on Tuesday not leave at 11:45pm on Monday and spend Tuesday traveling. I also expressed my concern about the making the connection in Toronto. I had a lot of back and forth in June with my NCL vacation planner and the NCL air department.

 

Ultimately I was told by the NCL Air department that they can book flights with as little as 30 minute layovers. My options were to cancel my entire itinerary and get back 50% of my money (went down to 25% shortly after that) or cancel the return flight and book my own but I don’t get any refund.
 

The return flight was the more expensive of the two so financially those options were all bad and would’ve made it more expensive than me just booking my own reasonable flights from the start.

 

Now I have also done carnivals fly2fun. I used that to Barcelona. With that I got to pick my flight. I actually booked my cruise then a month later went back and added the flight. Someone else on here indicated Princess is the same as carnival so maybe it’s all carnival brands.

 

Thanks for the explanation. Not a good program at all for the customer. You were stuck with NCL's poor processes and planning. Certainly a lesson learned for me. I haved sailed with NCL alot but never their fly program.

So sorry this happened to you, good thing you are flexible, not everyone can be.

Glad you are home safe and sound.

Thanks again for the great live review and pictorial! 😊

[Saint Greg]

57 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

Thanks for the explanation. Not a good program at all for the customer. You were stuck with NCL's poor processes and planning. Certainly a lesson learned for me. I haved sailed with NCL alot but never their fly program.

So sorry this happened to you, good thing you are flexible, not everyone can be.

Glad you are home safe and sound.

Thanks again for the great live review and pictorial! 😊

 

They seem to book the cheapest flights so early morning or late night. I would've preferred stay the night in Vancouver and fly out the next morning to what I did. I guess one thing a person could do is pay another $25 and request a flight the day after the cruise. But there's still a chance they could still screw you and give you the 11:45pm flight out the day after the cruise then you have to take Wednesday off of work as well. You definitely have to be flexible to book with them.

[Saint Greg]

After that I am ready for a break from the airports. Fortunately four of my next five cruises I'm driving to. I will be flying to Miami in April for an ABC on Horizon.

[ZoeyVictoria]

I have not flown since 2014, my SO since 2012. We had a cruise out of San Juan booked pre-pandemic. Obviously it was canceled, and we hadn’t been able to talk ourselves into trying again.  Now we have booked a 13-night cruise from Tampa to Boston for next August/September. What are the chances that flying will have improved by then?  I am thinking somewhere in between slim and none. 

[Mommapadraig]

29 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

They seem to book the cheapest flights so early morning or late night. I would've preferred stay the night in Vancouver and fly out the next morning to what I did. I guess one thing a person could do is pay another $25 and request a flight the day after the cruise. But there's still a chance they could still screw you and give you the 11:45pm flight out the day after the cruise then you have to take Wednesday off of work as well. You definitely have to be flexible to book with them.

We have decided not to stay in Barcelona overnight after the cruise next April.I’m wondering if we’ll be lucky enough to get one of the 11:00 am flights (which is doable..we did it last time we ended in Barcelona.) or a 27 hour flight to get home. It’s a NCL crap shoot but right now it saves us 1500. I check airline prices all the time and so far it hasn’t changed.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Mommapadraig

[BohJang]

My homeport is Galveston and I think I have been to just about everywhere possible from there.  I wish that there were longer cruises from Galveston so I could explore more places without having to fly. I cruise mainly for destinations, not ships.  I despise flying.  I keep telling my husband that we should move to Florida so we could drive to all their cruise ports.  Maybe some day.

[ninjacat123]

37 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

After that I am ready for a break from the airports. Fortunately four of my next five cruises I'm driving to. I will be flying to Miami in April for an ABC on Horizon.

Looking forward to your upcoming reviews!  When and where is the next cruise?