NCL debarkation in Venice and Istanbul

[victory2020]

Hello, I am looking at two cruises on NCL that go from Barcelona (a port I have been to) and either Venice or Istanbul as departing airport. Looking at flights out of Venice I can do a really good one at noon which I am thinking is tight because of the distance of the new departure port? 

How far is Istanbul airport from the cruise port? How is the airport there?

[9tee2Sea]

cant tell you the distance..but I use Rome2Rio app.  Plug in beginning and ending point, gives you many options, as well as how long it takes for travel.  I think it even shows a nap for the travel options

[victory2020]

11 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

cant tell you the distance..but I use Rome2Rio app.  Plug in beginning and ending point, gives you many options, as well as how long it takes for travel.  I think it even shows a nap for the travel options

Wow, that's a really interesting app. Thank you

[mapleleaves]

I was on the Gem out of Trieste last yr. For pax with flights out of VCE at noon, there was an NCL transfer leaving at 7am.   For flights at 1pm, the transfer left at 8am.

VCE can be quiet chaotic. You usually need the full 3 hrs prior to departure time,  so I'd plan on being on the first bus out of Trieste, esp now that most cruisers are coming from Trieste or Ravenna which are 2-3 hrs away and they're being told to book flights after noon.

 

As for Istanbul, I have no personal experience but my relatives in the UK fly from there frequently. They say to give yourself 1hr for the drive, and be at the airport 3 hrs prior; a large and busy airport.

[victory2020]

44 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

I was on the Gem out of Trieste last yr. For pax with flights out of VCE at noon, there was an NCL transfer leaving at 7am.   For flights at 1pm, the transfer left at 8am.

VCE can be quiet chaotic. You usually need the full 3 hrs prior to departure time,  so I'd plan on being on the first bus out of Trieste, esp now that most cruisers are coming from Trieste or Ravenna which are 2-3 hrs away and they're being told to book flights after noon.

 

As for Istanbul, I have no personal experience but my relatives in the UK fly from there frequently. They say to give yourself 1hr for the drive, and be at the airport 3 hrs prior; a large and busy airport.

Thank you so much. I plan to have only carryon to give myself a little n more leeway in getting there

[European_CruiseGirl]

Istanbul is a minimum of 1 hour from cruise port to the airport. Depends on the weekday. If you arrive on a Sunday early morning it could take just one hour. But if you arrive on a weekday allow 2 hours to just get to the airport. 
 

And you really must be at the airport 3 hours before your flight. First security with long lines to even enter the airport, then check in, the passport with long lines, then security again…and then you might need to walk up to 30mins to reach your gate…

[surfone]

1 hour ago, mapleleaves said:

I was on the Gem out of Trieste last yr. For pax with flights out of VCE at noon, there was an NCL transfer leaving at 7am.   For flights at 1pm, the transfer left at 8am.

VCE can be quiet chaotic. You usually need the full 3 hrs prior to departure time,  so I'd plan on being on the first bus out of Trieste, esp now that most cruisers are coming from Trieste or Ravenna which are 2-3 hrs away and they're being told to book flights after noon.

 

As for Istanbul, I have no personal experience but my relatives in the UK fly from there frequently. They say to give yourself 1hr for the drive, and be at the airport 3 hrs prior; a large and busy airport.

We cruise on NCL in august,  we booked the air promo with NCL and when I received our flight info I was stunned at a 11am departure at VCE which is at least 2 hours away on a good day.  I called NCL air rep to revise since it would be almost impossible to make the flight, but they said "it fell in line with their terms of allowing enough time"  so my only option was to get a one day deviation to leave the following day.  The regular NCL rep could not believe they booked our flight at that time,  All good now we can visit downtown Venice for the day.  But, yes since no more cruising out of the Venice it is a pain now for embark at that port.

[mapleleaves]

5 minutes ago, surfone said:

 so my only option was to get a one day deviation to leave the following day.  The regular NCL rep could not believe they booked our flight at that time,  All good now we can visit downtown Venice for the day.  But, yes since no more cruising out of the Venice it is a pain now for embark at that port.

Yes, I flew out the following day also. I've had a few close calls at VCE and didn't want to end the trip worrying about my flight home. (however my flight was at 6am which was gruesome in it's own right! )   I booked a hotel by the airport so I rode FlixBus from Trieste to VCE for about 15E.  At the hotel I bought a ticket for the bus into Venice .... 1E and 30 minutes later I was at the Grand Canal.  Have a great trip !

[victory2020]

4 hours ago, surfone said:

We cruise on NCL in august,  we booked the air promo with NCL and when I received our flight info I was stunned at a 11am departure at VCE which is at least 2 hours away on a good day.  I called NCL air rep to revise since it would be almost impossible to make the flight, but they said "it fell in line with their terms of allowing enough time"  so my only option was to get a one day deviation to leave the following day.  The regular NCL rep could not believe they booked our flight at that time,  All good now we can visit downtown Venice for the day.  But, yes since no more cruising out of the Venice it is a pain now for embark at that port.

Last year I had NCL booked me on a 11:50am flight out of Heathrow when the trip from Southampton is over an hour. Was on the first bus & made it with plenty of time to spare

[9tee2Sea]

On 5/16/2024 at 8:49 AM, victory2020 said:

Wow, that's a really interesting app. Thank you

obviously I did not mean NAP  ( that would be a cool feature).  It was supposed to be MAP

[victory2020]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:51 AM, 9tee2Sea said:

obviously I did not mean NAP  ( that would be a cool feature).  It was supposed to be MAP

A nap app would be good, haha

[victory2020]

I am looking at flights out of Istanbul & most leave early in the morning. What have been your experiences flying back from Turkey to the US with NCL air?