Booking airfare through NCL - no or go?

[julig22]

1 hour ago, farjar said:

How does the BOGO air work if the departure port and the debarkation port are different? The cruise we are looking at leaves San Pedro and finishes in Colon, Panama.  Our closest airport is San Diego.  When I do a mock booking and use San Diego airport it gives me a cost of $299 airfare and $150 ground ($75 pp)  Is the airfare to fly both of us from Colon to San Diego? Is the ground transportation fee for the pier in Colon to the Colon airport? I'm confused because NCL asks for "the departure airport" but Colon is not listed.  San Diego is listed but it is our "return" airport.  Any info would be appreciated.

You would just enter your home airport - they figure out the rest.  You would have to look at the invoice to see if $299 is each or both - most likely it's both with bogo.  The ground is NCL bus from the airport to the port, then port to airport after the cruise.  Since you don't need to fly to SD, then they are probably only figuring a one way ticket and shuttle but you should verify that's the case.

[chingnael]

For those who took the airfare promo, When did you receive your tickets? I was told between 45 -60 days. I’m on day 50 and don’t have it yet. 
 

I need to know my flights, so I can book same flight for 3rd person that joined us late when the air promo window had closed. 

[julig22]

25 minutes ago, chingnael said:

For those who took the airfare promo, When did you receive your tickets? I was told between 45 -60 days. I’m on day 50 and don’t have it yet. 
 

I need to know my flights, so I can book same flight for 3rd person that joined us late when the air promo window had closed. 

You probably need to figure 45 days, especially due to the shortened final payment date - they aren't going to book flights until after the cruise is paid for.  For my last cruise, some of the flight info (just gateways) showed up on the summary page in MyNCL.

[chingnael]

@julig22thanks for the reply. I just need to exercise more patience. I’m close to the 45-day mark. 
 

I’m afraid that knowing the gateways is not helpful, as our aim is to fly the same flights. 

[julig22]

7 minutes ago, chingnael said:

@julig22thanks for the reply. I just need to exercise more patience. I’m close to the 45-day mark. 
 

I’m afraid that knowing the gateways is not helpful, as our aim is to fly the same flights. 

If you booked through a TA or PCC, once the gateway info appears, you might be able to reach out and get the flight info from them if you haven't gotten an email.  All you need is the flight locator code and 1 of the airlines on your reservation and you can go to the airline to get the full itinerary, plus choose your seats.

[jkrislc]

I'm 43 days out from our cruise, but 40 days out from departure as we're going in 3 days early. While our departure flights appeared in our summary again, they've already changed, but the return flight info still isn't there. I called my TA given that the normal time frame is 45-60 prior to the cruise. She called NCL and they said it would be the next day, but we still haven't received anything yet. The did tell her, though, that the airfare is taking longer than normal to be released to the travelers.

Edited November 20, 2021 by jkrislc

[MoCruiseFan]

On 11/2/2021 at 1:16 PM, MeHeartCruising said:

You may of used this service that NCL also apparently offers…Premium Air.

 

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/premium-air

 

However, it is not the same service you get with the Free/Reduced airfare promotions that we’ve been seeing for the last year or so.

 

2 different service offerings. 

 

Yes he may HAVE done that...

[jtdlmc]

On 11/3/2021 at 8:20 PM, aimee0715 said:

I'm surprised that people had to pay an extra fee to come in a day early.  I booked my cruise a couple weeks ago by calling NCL.  The agent asked me if I wanted to fly in the day of or up to two days early.  Initially, I said day of but before I hung up, I changed my mind and opted for the day before.  He said that I would be eligible for a $25 credit per person on my bill for flying in early and it removed the $50 per person for transfers.  I have not ever used a cruise line for my flights so I'm in the dark about how this works.  Sounds like they just book the flights and let us know when they are?  Is there anything that I need to be doing?  

We also got a credit for booking a deviation.  When my TA initially inquired about it the agent said there was a fee.  She requested to speak to a supervisor who confirmed that there would be a credit.  I had also called the call centre and was told there is a charge to deviate.  It seems the customer service agents don’t know about it.  

[Pebbs48]

On 11/20/2021 at 2:58 PM, chingnael said:

For those who took the airfare promo, When did you receive your tickets? I was told between 45 -60 days. I’m on day 50 and don’t have it yet. 
 

I need to know my flights, so I can book same flight for 3rd person that joined us late when the air promo window had closed. 

We recently received our flight information at the 41-42 day mark.  Airfare does seem to be taking a few days longer than usual.  YMMV

[reeinaz]

32 minutes ago, jtdlmc said:

We also got a credit for booking a deviation.  When my TA initially inquired about it the agent said there was a fee.  She requested to speak to a supervisor who confirmed that there would be a credit.  I had also called the call centre and was told there is a charge to deviate.  It seems the customer service agents don’t know about it.  

The credit is part of the current air promo. Generally there is a fee to deviate, even with the air promo.

[jkrislc]

We received ours last night. We have nonstop flights both ways, which is good, but the flight to the cruise is a redeye. We're fine with that as it will give us more time precruise, but it's odd that our friends on the same sailing and booked nearly at the same time our on completely different flights. There's is a daytime nonstop flight going to the cruise. Their return flight also leaves earlier (12:35 vs 5:00), but they connect in Chicago whereas we have a nonstop, so we only get in about two hours later without the hassle of a layover and potential weather-related issues.

 

We were booked on United going out but Delta on the return. Both show up on Delta's site, but seats and whatnot have to be done through each airline separately. The only real issue I had was that they sent the ticket numbers for the flights, but not the confirmation number. Delta allows you to log in with either; however, United only lets you log in with the confirmation number, so I had to chat with an agent to get that from them.

 

We were able to upgrade our seats without a problem and apply frequent flyer numbers, so that's all good.

[kenzie]

Contemplating a cruise from Port Canaveral on Escape February disembarking then flight to Los Angeles to get Bliss the next day. Only need a flight from MCO to LA, when would NCL arrange the flight and will they take into account us disembarking and needing time to get the flight from MCO, or do we stay overnight in Orlando and fly the day of the Bliss cruise? 

 

[julig22]

24 minutes ago, kenzie said:

Contemplating a cruise from Port Canaveral on Escape February disembarking then flight to Los Angeles to get Bliss the next day. Only need a flight from MCO to LA, when would NCL arrange the flight and will they take into account us disembarking and needing time to get the flight from MCO, or do we stay overnight in Orlando and fly the day of the Bliss cruise? 

 

My guess is that it depends on which cruise the flight is attached to.  A flight at the end of the first cruise would get you to LA later that day.  A flight attached to the 2nd cruise would either be a red eye or early morning same-day flight (taking into account time differences).

Since the cruises aren't linked, doubtful they will link them.

[kenzie]

21 hours ago, julig22 said:

My guess is that it depends on which cruise the flight is attached to.  A flight at the end of the first cruise would get you to LA later that day.  A flight attached to the 2nd cruise would either be a red eye or early morning same-day flight (taking into account time differences).

Since the cruises aren't linked, doubtful they will link them.

Hi, I am from the UK, I am not sure of your terminology, what is Red-eye, sorry for my ignorance. My worry is if I did fly on the day of disembarkation from the first cruise, I could potentially have a flight that was too early to get from disembarkation.

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by kenzie

[julig22]

2 hours ago, kenzie said:

Hi, I am from the UK, I am not sure of your terminology, what is Red-eye, sorry for my ignorance. My worry is if I did fly on the day of disembarkation from the first cruise, I could potentially have a flight that was too early to get from disembarkation.

 

 

 

Red eye is basically an overnight flight that gets you to your destination in the early morning.

Getting to LA shouldn't be too much of an issue ( you have a 3hr time difference in your favor).  I was assuming you were using the airfare promo but I don't know how that works for you.  If I were booking in the US and letting NCL book my flights based on the cruises I was taking, I would book the flight from MCO to LA based on the LA cruise because their goal is to get you there in time for the cruise.  But because of the time difference, you might just get an early morning flight, so it just depends on where you want to spend your "layover" time.

[Dgibson531]

A big NO for me.  I booked one reservation for five staterooms for a 2022 carribean cruise with flights included.  My reservation linked all five cabins which they told me would guarantee that we would all travel together.  Everything went great, so we did the same thing for a 2023 Mexican Rivera cruise, booking in July 2022.  Same deal, one reservation, five cabins including flights.  Received our flights and we are split on flights going and coming home. The return trip has three couples stuck in the airport for 14 hours!  Contacted the airline, NCL and Costco Travel.  NCL told me that they stopped linking reservations, although no one could tell me when that happened.  NCL was outright rude when I contacted them to try to get everyone on the earlier flight.  Costco was sympathetic and said they no longer book the cruise/flight packages with Norwegian.  The airline wanted to charge over $700 per person to change the flight.  Costco told me that NCL will only make flight changes 72 days or.more prior to sailing - but we didn’t get our airline itinerary until 30 days prior.  Disappointed that Costco didn’t tell me that our reservations couldn’t be linked as they were before, when I specifically mentioned them being linked.  Will never sail with NCL again because of their terrible customer service people.  Not sure what to do with Costco, I have another cruise for three cabins on a disney cruise in June, and planning another for spring next year.  Not sure if I will ever book again with Costco, but am definitely done with Norwegian!

[RocketMan275]

14 hours ago, Dgibson531 said:

 Not sure if I will ever book again with XXX, but am definitely done with Norwegian!

Just book your own air.  You will have the same issues with most all cruise lines if  you use their air.

[NikiPinkston]

We got our flight arrangements at 67 days out, non-stop from San Diego to Seattle on Alaska, which is the airline that I would have chosen myself. I normally like to personally make all of our arrangements (although we have an amazing NCL PCC who's very helpful), so it was our first time using NCL air, but I figured "how bad could it be?" We got the one day deviation and the $25 credit each for coming in a day early, and we booked the Seattle Marriott Waterfront for that night (not through NCL) as the location is amazing as it's right across the street from Pier 66 where we embark. I would typically pick the first flight of the day so that we could spend the day in Seattle, but our flight gets in at 4:00 p.m. and our return flight doesn't leave SEA-TAC until 6:55 p.m. on disembarkation day. So, I made lemonade out of lemons and booked an excusion for that day that will drop us off at the airport, so we'll still get to do some sightseeing. I had to laugh as NCL had the two of us in window seats a row apart on opposite sides of the plane - I figured they must just be place holders and they assumed that I would change the seats, which I did. I went to Alaska's website and, using the confirmation code, upgraded our seats to premium. With the BOGO airfare price, the cost of the upgraded seats and the disembarkation excursion, we're still saving about $200 over the current airfare for the same seats. 

[julig22]

36 minutes ago, NikiPinkston said:

We got our flight arrangements at 67 days out, non-stop from San Diego to Seattle on Alaska, which is the airline that I would have chosen myself. I normally like to personally make all of our arrangements (although we have an amazing NCL PCC who's very helpful), so it was our first time using NCL air, but I figured "how bad could it be?" We got the one day deviation and the $25 credit each for coming in a day early, and we booked the Seattle Marriott Waterfront for that night (not through NCL) as the location is amazing as it's right across the street from Pier 66 where we embark. I would typically pick the first flight of the day so that we could spend the day in Seattle, but our flight gets in at 4:00 p.m. and our return flight doesn't leave SEA-TAC until 6:55 p.m. on disembarkation day. So, I made lemonade out of lemons and booked an excusion for that day that will drop us off at the airport, so we'll still get to do some sightseeing. I had to laugh as NCL had the two of us in window seats a row apart on opposite sides of the plane - I figured they must just be place holders and they assumed that I would change the seats, which I did. I went to Alaska's website and, using the confirmation code, upgraded our seats to premium. With the BOGO airfare price, the cost of the upgraded seats and the disembarkation excursion, we're still saving about $200 over the current airfare for the same seats. 

FYI - NCL does NOT book seats.  They book 2 tickets that are totally unrelated as far as the airline is concerned.  If seating is assigned when you log into the airline site, they were assigned by the airline.

[NikiPinkston]

8 minutes ago, julig22 said:

FYI - NCL does NOT book seats.  They book 2 tickets that are totally unrelated as far as the airline is concerned.  If seating is assigned when you log into the airline site, they were assigned by the airline.

Ah, yes, I've read that here before. Thank you for clarifying. Still thought that it was funny!

[julig22]

On 2/27/2023 at 3:16 PM, Dgibson531 said:

A big NO for me.  I booked one reservation for five staterooms for a 2022 carribean cruise with flights included.  My reservation linked all five cabins which they told me would guarantee that we would all travel together.  Everything went great, so we did the same thing for a 2023 Mexican Rivera cruise, booking in July 2022.  Same deal, one reservation, five cabins including flights.  Received our flights and we are split on flights going and coming home. The return trip has three couples stuck in the airport for 14 hours!  Contacted the airline, NCL and Costco Travel.  NCL told me that they stopped linking reservations, although no one could tell me when that happened.  NCL was outright rude when I contacted them to try to get everyone on the earlier flight.  Costco was sympathetic and said they no longer book the cruise/flight packages with Norwegian.  The airline wanted to charge over $700 per person to change the flight.  Costco told me that NCL will only make flight changes 72 days or.more prior to sailing - but we didn’t get our airline itinerary until 30 days prior.  Disappointed that Costco didn’t tell me that our reservations couldn’t be linked as they were before, when I specifically mentioned them being linked.  Will never sail with NCL again because of their terrible customer service people.  Not sure what to do with Costco, I have another cruise for three cabins on a disney cruise in June, and planning another for spring next year.  Not sure if I will ever book again with Costco, but am definitely done with Norwegian!

So you are mad at NCL because Costco didn't keep you informed?  When you book through a TA, NCL will not work with you, as they no longer have any connection to your reservation.  So if you call NCL and try to work with them, they aren't going to help you because they can't.  While I'm not necessarily a fan of NCL customer service, you probably got "terrible customer service" because you should have been calling Costco.

[Denversail]

As a control freak who would never let anyone else book my flights this entire thread makes me cringe. Yikes

[NikiPinkston]

1 hour ago, Denversail said:

As a control freak who would never let anyone else book my flights this entire thread makes me cringe. Yikes

Yep, that's pretty much me. Not sure that I would do it again!

[blackbr]

We are cruising from Rome to Barcelona next April for our 15th anniversary. The airfare promotion was part of the deal.  We used NCL for our flights once for a Caribbean cruise and the flights they booked were excellent, would have cost us a lot to book ourselves.

 

That said I did a business class flight search on Kayak (direct book on American) and I’m finding awesome deals.  I’m wondering if we get a cruise fare reduction if we book all of our own flights.  Gotta wait for NCL to open but I’m surprised that question isn’t answered on this thread.  

[julig22]

6 hours ago, blackbr said:

We are cruising from Rome to Barcelona next April for our 15th anniversary. The airfare promotion was part of the deal.  We used NCL for our flights once for a Caribbean cruise and the flights they booked were excellent, would have cost us a lot to book ourselves.

 

That said I did a business class flight search on Kayak (direct book on American) and I’m finding awesome deals.  I’m wondering if we get a cruise fare reduction if we book all of our own flights.  Gotta wait for NCL to open but I’m surprised that question isn’t answered on this thread.  

Not the way it works. The BOGO fare is a "free" perk, absorbed into the current rates - just like the drink and meal packages, whether you use them or not. But if you remove the airfare, you obviously don't pay those fees.

However, if you remove the airfare it opens up the possibility of getting FCC if there is a price reduction after final payment and after the airfare promo is removed (currently 110 days).  Sometimes the prices are reduced at that time.