Norwegian Airport Transfers

[sailawaybellaluna]

We'll be flying into Seattle Seatac airport and arriving at 10am for our sailing onboard the Joy which departs at 5pm.

 

I was told that I can book a transfer through Norwegian for $20/person and that a representative would meet us at baggage claim. 

 

Since there are only two of us traveling, this is basically the same price for an Uber and I'd probably prefer booking it through Norwegian. My question is: will this be a huge bus/shuttle that we'll have to sit on for an hour or more while they fill it up in each terminal?I'm not expecting a private transport for that cost, but I'd also prefer not to be at the airport for hour(s). 

 

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[BirdTravels]

Yes. You wait until they get a full bus to go to the port. At 10 am, there is probably a lot of people arriving, so you won't have to wait more than an hour. 

 

If the price is the same as an Uber, Uber it or Lyft it. 

Edited July 22, 2019 by BirdTravels

[cruisinsc1]

Just get an Uber.

[hallux]

In LA they used tour buses and loaded some at each of the terminals (7 at that airport) as the bus went around the road.  How organized the NCL folks are will determine how quickly this goes.

[alreadypacked]

In my experience in Florida, Los Angeles, and NYC, they are full size coach buses.

 

But it seems like how well the operation runs varies from port to port...

 

Have used the NCL transfers roundtrip from FLL (Fort Lauderdale) to Port Miami many times without issue (and once in LA). Bus fills up quickly and you're on your way. Staff seems to have a roster with documentation regarding passenger's flights (or in our case, no flight since we live locally and therefore will be disembarking the bus at Terminal 1), bags are loaded on the bus (by port personnel) based on what terminal you'll be disembarking. Very smooth process.

 

NYC was a totally different story. Staff and bus driver had no idea what airlines passengers were on (or, indeed, what terminals the various airlines left from). The bus driver alone was loading the bags into the cargo hold of the bus--all the while, an NCL staffer was yelling at passengers to "be sure you know what terminal your carrier leaves from" so the driver can load your bag into the proper compartment.

 

Many passengers were older, unfamiliar with Laguardia, without smartphones and had no idea what terminal their carrier was in. DH looked up the info for them as we stood in line waiting to hand over our luggage and board the bus.

 

When you book transfers through the cruise line, you have to provide info such as airline, flight number, destination...

 

Why this info was unavailable to staff at Manhattan terminal is beyond me.  Anyway, after well over an hour, we were on our way to Laguardia.

[debbyfelse1963]

has anybody had experience with buying the transfers but coming into airport 2 days early. Do they do the transfer from the hotel to the port or how is that handled. Thx for any input we are doing transatlantic next year and have arranged to go into NYC 2 days early

[hallux]

28 minutes ago, debbyfelse1963 said:

has anybody had experience with buying the transfers but coming into airport 2 days early.

I did 1 day early in LA, but was in a hotel with a free airport shuttle.  I just shuttled back to the airport on the morning of embarkation and picked up the cruise line shuttle there.  The cruise line likely won't make a tour of the city collecting passengers from various hotels, the transfer is usually from the airport.

 

If your hotel is near the airport, just do as I did and get back to the airport to hop on the shuttle.  If your hotel is nowhere near the airport, cancel your cruise transfer and taxi or Uber/Lyft to the port from the hotel directly.

[zqvol]

On 7/21/2019 at 10:33 PM, sailawaybellaluna said:

We'll be flying into Seattle Seatac airport and arriving at 10am for our sailing onboard the Joy which departs at 5pm.

 

I was told that I can book a transfer through Norwegian for $20/person and that a representative would meet us at baggage claim. 

 

Since there are only two of us traveling, this is basically the same price for an Uber and I'd probably prefer booking it through Norwegian. My question is: will this be a huge bus/shuttle that we'll have to sit on for an hour or more while they fill it up in each terminal?I'm not expecting a private transport for that cost, but I'd also prefer not to be at the airport for hour(s). 

 

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

It will be a full size bus. How long you have to wait depends on how quickly people are arriving.