NCL Free Air, Help Please

[Judes95]

Hi, We are going on the Breakaway Feb 22, 2020.  My Nephew and his wife are flying in from Rochester, NY

the day of the cruise, with a layover and not landing in MCO until 11AM.  First off, I am shocked they did not

get direct flight and isn't 11AM landing cutting it close and hopefully all goes well??  They tried calling NCL air reservations and are told

they can't have it changed. 

 

Any Advise??

 

Thanks so much,

Judy    

[cheeseclan]

The only thing I can tell you is that there are no direct flights from Rochester to Orlando.   I cannot comment on NCL air department and the logic of booking this flight.  
Could they have asked to go in the day before?

[navybankerteacher]

“NCL Free Air” —- that says a lot.  

 

How valuable do you expect something to be if it is “Free”?

[MCC retired]

Not sure what time they are sailing but 11am arrival at MCO should be okay if all goes well .

Retrieve bags , board transport for a 40 minute ride to the port .

And yes , the day before would have been much better , especially when connecting flights are your only option .

[evandbob]

Pack light, use carry on luggage only and don't wait for the luggage carousel.  You don't need lots of special changes on NCL, it's very casual.

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, Judes95 said:

Hi, We are going on the Breakaway Feb 22, 2020.  My Nephew and his wife are flying in from Rochester, NY

the day of the cruise, with a layover and not landing in MCO until 11AM.  First off, I am shocked they did not

get direct flight and isn't 11AM landing cutting it close and hopefully all goes well??  They tried calling NCL air reservations and are told

they can't have it changed. 

 

Any Advise??

 

Thanks so much,

Judy    

Flying from Rochester in mid-winter and expect all to be "on time"? This story now takes over for the best reason to always fly in at least one day before.

Since it's too close to departure to expect any reasonable changes, call NCL's air dept. and see if he can pay for an "air deviation."

[Maleficent's Dad]

2 hours ago, cheeseclan said:

The only thing I can tell you is that there are no direct flights from Rochester to Orlando.   I cannot comment on NCL air department and the logic of booking this flight.  
Could they have asked to go in the day before?

Southwest flies direct from ROC to MCO.

[smplybcause]

21 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Flying from Rochester in mid-winter and expect all to be "on time"? This story now takes over for the best reason to always fly in at least one day before.

Since it's too close to departure to expect any reasonable changes, call NCL's air dept. and see if he can pay for an "air deviation."

 

You have to do that before they book your flights. The flights are now subject to whatever cancellation rates the fare has which may be 100%.

[cheeseclan]

14 minutes ago, Maleficent's Dad said:

Southwest flies direct from ROC to MCO.

Sorry i do not fly SWA that much so did not know they flew direct.  I am not sure what airlines NCL uses but think it is only Delta, American, UAL.

[Judes95]

Thank you all.  They have small children and did not want to leave them with others another day, that's why they opted for same day arrival.  Hopefully all works out, fingers crossed!!

 

  

[julig22]

To some extent, they are covered if they are delayed getting to the ship since NCL made the arrangements.  One advantage of using them for flights.  Ship will wait for the shuttle and they will check you in onboard if really late- remember that there is a 2hr window between final boarding and sailing.  Miss the drill and you do a make-up drill later.

[smplybcause]

7 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Ship will wait for the shuttle

 

Ship sometimes waits for the shuttle. There is a point where NCL is going to sail without people that paid for transfers. Also, doesn't help if your flight is canceled not delayed. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

18 minutes ago, julig22 said:

To some extent, they are covered if they are delayed getting to the ship since NCL made the arrangements.  One advantage of using them for flights.  Ship will wait for the shuttle and they will check you in onboard if really late- remember that there is a 2hr window between final boarding and sailing.  Miss the drill and you do a make-up drill later.

You may want to reread the T&Cs regarding "provision of air."

[julig22]

28 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

You may want to reread the T&Cs regarding "provision of air."

I said somewhat covered.  Meaning shuttle will wait within reason and ship will wait for the shuttle.  I've seen it happen.  Ship most likely will not wait if you've made your own arrangements.

They obviously won't wait if your flight is cancelled but the airport greeters have your flight info and can check arrivals, etc.  If your NCL flight is cancelled, you call NCL to find out what to do.

[hallux]

12 hours ago, Maleficent's Dad said:

Southwest flies direct from ROC to MCO.

Except that's limited service.  On Feb. 22 there's only one direct flight, which arrives at MCO at 2:40 PM, way too late.  Even with a transfer, the earliest SWA arrival from ROC to MCO is 11:10.

 

I actually thought similarly - SWA flies direct between ALB and MCO, but the earliest that arrives is, again, 11 AM (oops, depends on the day, that day it's a 10:10 arrival).

[sanger727]

I don't know how NCL's free air works; but alot of cruise lines that allow you to book cruise and airfare together offer a "to ship' guarantee where even if a long delay causes you to miss the original sailing, they will cover your costs to fly on to the next port including hotel stays. Does NCL's free air include that?

 

Of course, that only does you any good if everyone has passports...

Edited January 14, 2020 by sanger727

[hallux]

5 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

Does NCL's free air include that?

I'll let you decide for yourself, here are the T&C's for the promo (easily found with a Google search). https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions#air

With that out there - it doesn't explicitly say the cruise line is responsible for getting you on board even if it means another flight to the first PoC, but it also doesn't seem to say they are not responsible for it either.

[PortFees45]

15 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

“NCL Free Air” —- that says a lot.  

 

How valuable do you expect something to be if it is “Free”?

It's not free, just like the "free drink package perk" isn't free. 

[jgris90]

This exact same thing happened to me .... we were booked 85 days out not expecting to get ticketed less then a week after purchasing the cruise. 

 

We were flying out of Toronto and got into Orlando at 11:45 ....... which left us limited time for error and in winter that super risky. NCL wouldn't change the flights to the day before even though i offered to pay the change fee . 

 

They said if we were delayed we would meet them at the first port with a airport which was day 3 in our case. They will not gaurentee they ill wait i think that is dependent on how late the flight is .

 

We booked separate flights the day before --- did not want to take that risk .