terry&mike

Thank you all so much for your thoughts on this.

Spent some time checking routes and metal and Premium Economy reviews.

Ended up "holding" flights on a route I really liked, for a very good rate of $1706 pp with Princess EZAir using their Flexible Air for Premium Economy. On the international legs, I'm flying American Airlines operated by JAL on 2 legs going over in PE, and American Airlines operated by AA on return in PE.

(2 short flights from Baton Rouge to DFW Dallas are in regular Economy, of course.)

This way I can change my mind without penalty, or refare air if a price drop. 

Also, considering similar routing and times with United operated by ANA, which is my preferred as I have status with United, but the rate is currently a good bit higher.

Globaliser, that was a very good read, thank you for directing me to that post. And the links within were great. 

And Hallasm, thank you for your input. No worries about us all vying for PE seats on the same flights - some of us will be on the flight mentioned above in PE, some of us will be coming and going on other dates/times, some of us will be in other cabin classes. I'm just starting with this route and date request, and as Premium Economy is such a slippery fish, I knew I could get some personal experience here. 

We'll all meet up on January 6 in Singapore. 

Looking for some insight with those of you familiar with Premium Economy seating, and with routes to Asia. I am just beginning to research some options, and am looking for what airlines you believe have the better Premium Economy seats. We are not interested in the Economy Plus or similar product that just provides additional leg room inches, but more in the true Premium Economy product offered by airlines that provides a slightly better seat experience, and sometimes other perks. 

Lots of options out there in metal, such as JAL, Singapore, ANA, Eva, also United, American, etc.

We are a large group, about 25 people, traveling for approximately 3-4 weeks; some will travel on different days, different classes, different routes, of course, but many are focused on P.E.

Several of us are looking at this route:

Baton Rouge BTR- Singapore SIN, departing December 29; Tokyo HND or NRT - Baton Rouge BTR departing January 23.

Date options include can depart as early as December 28, or a few days after December 29; can return home a day or 2 later from Tokyo. 

Airport options include flying out of New Orleans MSY, or out of Houston IAH, but will need to factor in parking costs for duration. 

I've been watching for the NCL transatlantics, Europe to US, to be posted for October/November 2020, as all the other cruise lines have posted theirs. We will be in Portugal and Spain for a month in October and plan to sail back. We're currently booked on RCCL for a November crossing, but I'd like to see what NCL comes out with.....

Diamond just left a 14 day dry dock in early February for some upgrades and refurbishment - 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/20326-diamond-princess-debuts-after-drydock-updates.html

I received an email yesterday from NCL with instructions on how to book guests with an air deviation for 1-2 days before the cruise, and/or 1-2 days after the cruise. It stated that due to demand they were adding this feature to the Free/Reduced Air perk. There is a $50 per person deviation fee, and you do not have to use hotels booked through NCL. 

This email was for travel professionals, so was not sent to the general public.

Your travel agent or NCL should be able to book this new program for you. The transfers are auto added in, but there will be no transfers provided, so the transfers need to be manually taken out by the booking agent (it's a simple un-check box on the computer, but requires the extra step); make sure you check them on this.

You can pay a small fee to customize your air with Regent, this will allow you to have some say over the routing. Worth every penny. You have to be 330 days or less out.

On Delta, if you purchase Basic Economy rather than Main Cabin Economy, you will be able to select your seats at online check in based on what is available at that time. They may be together or may not, as it will be based on that flights seating and what is available. I'd not buy that class for myself, and I would advise a family to not even consider it.

On 2/6/2019 at 8:04 PM, HRHMadonna said:

 

I would love to know what cruise agencies are offering one free cabin for every 8 cabins booked.  I have organized 19 group cruises over the past 19 years:  2 were with Celebrity, 3 were with Royal Caribbean and 14 were with Princess.  All three cruise lines provided one free berth (minus taxes & port charges) for every 8 cabins booked.  I'd love to find the deal you're getting on free cabins.

As someone "in the business", I can confirm you are getting the correct information. Premium category cruise lines (Princess, RCI, Celebrity) give 1 berth credit for every 8 cabins booked. There are rare exceptions where a certain cruise will offer a reduced TC credit of 1 berth for every 6 cabins booked. You can also use your group points on some sailings to buy down your TC credit, to either 1 berth for every 7 cabins, or 1 berth for every 6 cabins. Luxury cruise lines offer lower TC credit bars, often 1 berth for every 6 cabins. River cruises offer still lower TC credit bars, usually 1 berth for every 5 cabins, and occasional promotions of 1 berth for every 4 cabins, with the lowest I've ever seen is a rare river cruise promotion of 1 berth for every 3 cabins. 

8 hours ago, Ashland said:

Thanks so much....this is often a question many of us have had. We've done this on Celebrity Eclipse in Dublin. We actually got to the ship around 6:00pm but noticed many coming onboard with luggage much later in the evening. We're due to do this also in October in Quebec City with RCI Adventure and have read that you must arrive by 4:30pm that first night to be allowed onboard or will have to wait until the next morning. It made us rethink our plans and arrive a day ahead.

 

I appreciate your personal experience and your contact info for this situation.

I'm not saying they will always grant what you are requesting, or that the instructions on boarding will be for when you want, but that this is the process to request an exception. In the case of Princess, the exception was denied and so we altered our plans. In the case of Royal the exception was granted and specific instructions were given to us in writing. In both cases, we emailed the department that handles this and it took several days for a response.

12 hours ago, Ashland said:

Do you have personal experience doing this with Celebrity or RCI ?

I have personal experience doing this with RCI and with Princess, but not with Celebrity.

Please contact Celebrity and request an "embarkation day/time exception" to be granted. They will give you the email address and you'll have to request it in writing for your husband. If they grant the request they will send it to you in writing, this will give you specific instructions on when he can board and the process. He'll need to have this printed out and with him. 

Yes, they can link the reservations. Just give them a call.

One thing to consider, as you mentioned she is on a "layover" - if she checks her bags at the initial check in and this is all one ticket, she will not have access to her bags in Hong Kong at they will be checked through. If this is separate tickets for these legs she will have access to her bags in Hong Kong.

Just mentioning it in case she needs to bring a small carry on with things she'll need to overnight in the hotel. 

Just checked, Vueling has a flight on Nov. 3, 2:10p-3:50p, direct Basel to Barcelona, $68.40 usd for Optima (gives you a bag and a seat). You could wait for a sale and get it slightly cheaper, but I probably would not bother. 

I did this exact thing last year, and used Vueling for a direct flight between Barcelona and Basel. Its a low cost European carrier.My flight cost about $55 usd. 

Thank you for the link to the reviews - I hadn't even thought about checking the review section!

I have recently booked on an October, 2020 sailing with Emerald Waterways (Lisbon & Secrets of the Douro) because the special group pricing was too good to pass up. I have sailed on several river cruise lines in the past, mostly Viking, but not an Emerald yet. 

If anyone out there has recently sailed with Emerald, especially on their Portugal sailing, I would love to hear your thoughts and experience.

I'd go with the 3:30pm for the peace of mind.

8 hours ago, mthomp5 said:

Bummer...then probably not likely either for our cruise on 4/27/19.

 

P.S. Love your avatar!

7 hours ago, PlopPlop said:

 

I’ll be sure to update the progress after the cruise but you never know.... maybe they will surprise us and get it together. 

 

Thank you! Your avatar is adorable as well.... and Kingsley, our avatar, agrees! 😍

I'm following this because I'm sailing on Royal in May, but I really think I'm following it because I want to see both of your avatars!!! I have a 15 year old yellow lab sweetheart, Bailey, who is approaching "moving on from us" and your avatars make my heart swell up!!!

You did not imagine it. China is the fastest growing travel market, with millions of "new tourists" with money to spend and an interest in seeing the world. Cruises and land tours are their preferred travel style. Travel companies are spending a great deal of money to market to this giant, previously untapped market. 

I would imagine you will need to have your agent do it. As I am both the agent and the guest, I called Princess directly in my situation.

Sometimes you have to call to have them push the amount back to your credit card.

It depends on the cruise line, the deal they made with the cruise line, and how often they are actively booking in to the group. A TA with a good relationship with the line or with their BDM (line rep) can hold a block of cabins for a good bit of time.

There are times when a travel agent will have group space held on a ship