Free air to LGA arrives at noon, time to get to port?

[DanSgt]

Actually arrives at 12:15PM on a Sunday. Must disembark plane,collect luggage and find NCL shuttle. I figure waiting for luggage and all, be on the bus by 1pm. Traffic on a Sunday afternoon could be light,  so my question is how long before I'm on board the ship? Any guesses? I can't fathom earlier than 2:30pm.

[mking8288]

SInce it's NCL's Free/Reduced Air bundled with ground transfer, they should wait for you & know that you are in-bound in their flight/manifest.  Ship sail at 3 or 4 p.m. ??

 

Depending on what airline & terminal you are coming in on that Sunday, you might need to gather your luggage & take a free but short shuttle ride over to a remote parking lot to transfer to the cruise terminal bus or motorcoach.  If your short 90 minutes to 2 hour ORD lands on-time or early, I would say 1:15 to 1:30 will be more likely before it leave for MCT.  Correct about early Sunday p.m. traffic - expect 45 to 60 minutes via bus route, slower than taxi/car service/Uber.  

 

My best guestimate - between 2:30 to 3 p.m. to fast track thru security & pier check-in, before hitting the gangway.  Probably too late for even a late, quick lunch, maybe barely JIT for mandatory life/safety drills - pack a snack or energy bar - you will be ready for a p.m. snack in the buffet or O'Sheehan's as they will reopen once the drill is done/over. 

 

One of CC regulars recently had a similar hair-raising experience flying in, late landing at LGA but he managed to find the NCL shuttle & they waited, and got onboard to sail ... before they yanked the gangways & get ready to drop the lines. 

[DanSgt]

Thanks for your info, you hit my issues right on the head. The additional information is that we arrive on a flight from ORD on United. And yes, the ships scheduled departure is 4pm. I don't know much about what terminal we land at but I am curious about your saying we might have to take a shuttle to a remote parking lot for our bus. Is that a shuttle from the airport or an NCL shuttle?

[mking8288]

Got it - UA flights (95%) typically used Terminal B (a/k/a "old" main or central central ... expanded United Club & others like AA & Air Canada, etc. use the gates) ... there are shuttle/meet up locations across the skywalk in the new/expanded multi-story parking lot, signage is good. Luggage carousal is downstairs at street level - elevators/escalators & walk back upstairs ... whatever your NCL transfer instructions are.  

 

The ground shuttle to the satellite lots are run by LGA airports, basically 2 routes - NCL's ground agent, once you find/meet her/him - will tell you what the protocols are for that day, as everything at the airport are subject to change, usually with some advance notices but not always.  It is possible that they might - might not - be using a van or mini-bus that can wait at T-B's parking lot, impossible to guess ahead.  

 

See this long running link on the East Coast forum about the latest & suggested URL links to keep track - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2310823-la-guardia-411-congestionconstruction-issues/page/4/#comments  

 

Here's link to that recent CC thread about flying into LGA ... Murphy's Law applied, but it worked out.  Flying home is less of a pain & much easier.  

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2672109-last-minute-623-escape-to-bermuda/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-57793066

 

Ships sailing out of NY are known to get delayed & sometimes, b/c they are waiting for pax on late arriving flights booked by NCL, but not for independent flyers.  

 

[Alatraveler1]

If NCL feels 4 hours is enough to get from LGA to port, I'm expecting that my free air FROM port TO LGA should also be doable in around 4 hours.  So, I'm going to expect a flight time around early afternoon.  Not the 8-10 p.m. departures others are reporting that get them home at midnight or later.

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Alatraveler1
clarify

[Peachypooh]

My only advice is to check to see if there are any street festivals, marathons, parades, etc.

on that Sunday. If yes you probably will have better luck if you get in a time crunch to arrange

for a car service. The cars talk to each other and advise other drivers how to navigate around

the problem areas. That would only apply if you don't have to take one of the shuttles to

the arranged ride area (with construction that is constantly changing). If yes than just go with the shuttle.

[njhorseman]

21 hours ago, Alatraveler1 said:

If NCL feels 4 hours is enough to get from LGA to port, I'm expecting that my free air FROM port TO LGA should also be doable in around 4 hours.  So, I'm going to expect a flight time around early afternoon.  Not the 8-10 p.m. departures others are reporting that get them home at midnight or later.

 

Your expectations probably aren't realistic because NCL is likely going to book flights with the cheapest fares they can get. They have to try to get you to the ship on time, but they're under no obligation to get you home by any particular time so the choice of return flights will be based on economics. 

[Alatraveler1]

18 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Your expectations probably aren't realistic because NCL is likely going to book flights with the cheapest fares they can get. They have to try to get you to the ship on time, but they're under no obligation to get you home by any particular time so the choice of return flights will be based on economics. 

Yes, you are right, $$$ not customer is all that matters.  I completely understand that, and one of the main issues is that the airfare I could have booked on my own three weeks ago without consolidator/bulk purchase discount is most likely less expensive and on a far better schedule than what they will pay when they finally get around to ticketing.  How do I know?  Discussions with airline personnel.  I paid in full six weeks ago including a "reduced airfare" amount per passenger, they were not understaffed to the point they couldn't take my reservation and $$$. Why not ticket me at that time? 

 

Their decision will be based on economics and so will my future decisions.  Mainly to not consider NCL "free perks" when determining the comparative value of cruises between cruise lines.  I've enjoyed most aspects of my NCL cruises, but the nickel and diming and "creative pricing" is getting old.  Unfortunately, my other preferred lines are busy adopting similar practices.  Sigh.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Alatraveler1