Adding NCL Cruise Air after Final Payment

[gvgseg]

I am booked on NCL Encore for 7/31/22 with final payment already made. Can I still add on the Cruise Air promo at this point? It says that for Encore sailings you must notify of date deviation by 60 days out (currently at 74). Flights from Orange County/Ontario/LAX to Seattle are currently around $480 at the lowest. NCL's rate is $358 which translates to $268pp for my party of 4 after you take out the free 2nd person.

 

Also, I am considering only adding the airfare for the one way return trip so that I can have more control over my flight up to Seattle. It looks like the T&C say that it will just be 50% of the roundtrip rate. Can anyone confirm this?

[FlyerTalker]

In that these are NCL specific questions, you can probably get more responses on the NCL board.

 

OTOH, to really get the correct answers:  Contact NCL directly, or through your travel agent.

[gvgseg]

Can now confirm that I was able to get the 2nd person free promo on a one way ticket at 50% of the round trip rate.

 

$358 * 50% = $179 pp for one way Seattle to Orange County.  2nd person free makes it $134 pp for our family of 4

 

Now just need to find a good deal for the one way flight to Seattle

[ECOHEN69]

On 5/26/2022 at 12:13 AM, gvgseg said:

Can now confirm that I was able to get the 2nd person free promo on a one way ticket at 50% of the round trip rate.

 

$358 * 50% = $179 pp for one way Seattle to Orange County.  2nd person free makes it $134 pp for our family of 4

 

Now just need to find a good deal for the one way flight to Seattle

Do not book any flights with NCL air promo.  It’s been nothing but a disaster.  It’s a gimmick.  You don’t save any dollars in the long run and they don’t ticket the air until a few weeks before sailing.  We are to go in a July 3 Norwegian star cruise out of Southampton and still not ticketed.  We chose departure out of Miami so we would be able to get a nonstop and instead of a nonstop to heathrow they are sending us to gatwick which is a good 40 minutes farther to London.  It’s also not nonstop.  Here’s the kicker.  They had my wife and I departing on June 30th for the July 3rd cruise which we requested and then had my daughter on a flight without us 2 days later.  It’s a total disaster!!  Take an air credit and do yourself a 

favor and pick your seats at time of booking cruise.  You are only causing yourself aggravation.  NCL is the worst cruise line of them all and very disorganized.  Take it from me as I’ve been on 50 cruises.

 

 

[ECOHEN69]

On 5/18/2022 at 5:09 PM, gvgseg said:

I am booked on NCL Encore for 7/31/22 with final payment already made. Can I still add on the Cruise Air promo at this point? It says that for Encore sailings you must notify of date deviation by 60 days out (currently at 74). Flights from Orange County/Ontario/LAX to Seattle are currently around $480 at the lowest. NCL's rate is $358 which translates to $268pp for my party of 4 after you take out the free 2nd person.

 

Also, I am considering only adding the airfare for the one way return trip so that I can have more control over my flight up to Seattle. It looks like the T&C say that it will just be 50% of the roundtrip rate. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Do not book any flights with NCL air promo.  It’s been nothing but a disaster.  It’s a gimmick.  You don’t save any dollars in the long run and they don’t ticket the air until a few weeks before sailing.  We are to go in a July 3 Norwegian star cruise out of Southampton and still not ticketed.  We chose departure out of Miami so we would be able to get a nonstop and instead of a nonstop to heathrow they are sending us to gatwick which is a good 40 minutes farther to London.  It’s also not nonstop.  Here’s the kicker.  They had my wife and I departing on June 30th for the July 3rd cruise which we requested and then had my daughter on a flight without us 2 days later.  It’s a total disaster!!  Take an air credit and do yourself a 

favor and pick your seats at time of booking cruise.  You are only causing yourself aggravation.  NCL is the worst cruise line of them all and very disorganized.  Take it from me as I’ve been on 50 cruises.

 

 

 

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[hallux]

On 6/8/2022 at 4:28 PM, ECOHEN69 said:

They had my wife and I departing on June 30th for the July 3rd cruise which we requested and then had my daughter on a flight without us 2 days later.

Were you booked on the same reservation number?  If not - are you POSITIVE that your daughter had the same deviation request?  Also - NCL offers the "travel with guarantee" that allows people on separate reservations to be linked so their air can be booked together.  This used to be free but now there's a small fee for it.

 

On 6/8/2022 at 4:28 PM, ECOHEN69 said:

and instead of a nonstop to heathrow they are sending us to gatwick which is a good 40 minutes farther to London.

and if you've read the T&C's of the promo you would know that this is a possibility!

 

Norwegian Cruise Line reserves the right to select an alternate airport within 60 miles based on itinerary, choose the air carrier, routing and city airport from each gateway city

 

Directly from https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions  Oh, that also means they could have booked you out of FLL if FLL had flights servicing the region you were flying to, even though you picked Miami.

[Globaliser]

On 6/8/2022 at 9:28 PM, ECOHEN69 said:

... gatwick which is a good 40 minutes farther to London ...

 

This bit, at least, is simply not true. Gatwick is every bit as much a London airport as is Heathrow. It's a bit like complaining about being flown to Newark instead of JFK for New York City.

[Zach1213]

2 hours ago, Globaliser said:

This bit, at least, is simply not true. Gatwick is every bit as much a London airport as is Heathrow. It's a bit like complaining about being flown to Newark instead of JFK for New York City.

 

I would say it's not not true. Like everything else, it depends where you're going in London. But, for example, at this exact moment in time, the drive time from Gatwick to Westminster Abbey is 1h33 from Gatwick, and 1h0 from Heathrow. Using transit, the same trip is 45 minutes from Gatwick (using Gatwick Express) and 41 minutes from Heathrow (using Heathrow Express). So, depending on where they're going and what mode of transit, Gatwick can add quite a bit of time...or not. But I do agree that Gatwick is very much as much a London airport as Heathrow. 

 

Newark is funny because, if you're going in to Manhattan, it's pretty much always quicker to use Newark despite it being in a different state. I'll do everything I can to avoid JFK or LGA if I am going in to Manhattan. If I am going to Brooklyn, Queens, or Long Island, then it's a very different story of course. 

[Globaliser]

4 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

So, depending on where they're going and what mode of transit, Gatwick can add quite a bit of time...or not.

 

That's just a consequence of the fact that the two airports are in different places. The complaint was that Gatwick is in itself more poorly located than Heathrow. That is simply not true.

 

Although going from Gatwick to central London by road is a proposition that resembles one of Dante's Circles of Hell. For most people, there are better ways of doing this. I think I can get from Gatwick to my central London office faster than from Heathrow.

[gvgseg]

On 6/8/2022 at 1:28 PM, ECOHEN69 said:

Do not book any flights with NCL air promo.  It’s been nothing but a disaster.  It’s a gimmick.  You don’t save any dollars in the long run and they don’t ticket the air until a few weeks before sailing.  We are to go in a July 3 Norwegian star cruise out of Southampton and still not ticketed.  We chose departure out of Miami so we would be able to get a nonstop and instead of a nonstop to heathrow they are sending us to gatwick which is a good 40 minutes farther to London.  It’s also not nonstop.  Here’s the kicker.  They had my wife and I departing on June 30th for the July 3rd cruise which we requested and then had my daughter on a flight without us 2 days later.  It’s a total disaster!!  Take an air credit and do yourself a 

favor and pick your seats at time of booking cruise.  You are only causing yourself aggravation.  NCL is the worst cruise line of them all and very disorganized.  Take it from me as I’ve been on 50 cruises.

 

 

Our flight was booked 56 days out and at a much cheaper rate than what I would have paid if I booked directly with Alaska Airlines. As soon as I received my flight email from NCL, I logged into Alaska site and changed our seat assignments. So far no complaints. 

[FlyerTalker]

39 minutes ago, gvgseg said:

Our flight was booked 56 days out and at a much cheaper rate than what I would have paid if I booked directly with Alaska Airlines. As soon as I received my flight email from NCL, I logged into Alaska site and changed our seat assignments. So far no complaints. 

 

And there you have it,

 

 

[pugrads]

On 6/8/2022 at 4:28 PM, ECOHEN69 said:

Do not book any flights with NCL air promo.  It’s been nothing but a disaster.  It’s a gimmick.  You don’t save any dollars in the long run and they don’t ticket the air until a few weeks before sailing.  We are to go in a July 3 Norwegian star cruise out of Southampton and still not ticketed.  We chose departure out of Miami so we would be able to get a nonstop and instead of a nonstop to heathrow they are sending us to gatwick which is a good 40 minutes farther to London.  It’s also not nonstop.  Here’s the kicker.  They had my wife and I departing on June 30th for the July 3rd cruise which we requested and then had my daughter on a flight without us 2 days later.  It’s a total disaster!!  Take an air credit and do yourself a 

favor and pick your seats at time of booking cruise.  You are only causing yourself aggravation.  NCL is the worst cruise line of them all and very disorganized.  Take it from me as I’ve been on 50 cruises.

 

 

We just booked our Greek Isles cruise for 2023 & got the free air option but after going through the details with the agent on the phone, I have concerns given we have NO control over which flights are chosen & we were told upgrades were NOT available at our expense. We won't pay in full until January so we have some time to see what air rates will be & if we should just forego the NCL air/hassle & pay for 2 tickets on our own, even if it costs more.  

 

ECHOHEN69 - When you say "take an air credit" what does that mean?  Or does that even apply in this case?

[hallux]

19 minutes ago, pugrads said:

& we were told upgrades were NOT available at our expense

This is at the discretion of the airline servicing the flight.  Delta allows cabin upgrades once you have the record locator, UA and AA may as well.  International airlines seem to be more selective in that regard.

[FlyerTalker]

6 hours ago, hallux said:

This is at the discretion of the airline servicing the flight.  Delta allows cabin upgrades once you have the record locator, UA and AA may as well.  International airlines seem to be more selective in that regard.

 

Correction:  this is dependent on the fare rules of the ticket that you have purchased.  It is not dependent on the airline, as DL has fares that are not upgradeable with either miles or money.   And almost always, you cannot know the fare basis or fare rules for the ticket until after it is purchased from the cruiseline.

 

Further, just because there is a locator does not mean that the reservation is ticketed.  Until you have a 13 digit ticket number, you are just a "reservation", which may or may not allow you other options such as seat requests.

[Rick&Jeannie]

On 6/27/2022 at 10:48 AM, pugrads said:

We just booked our Greek Isles cruise for 2023 & got the free air option but after going through the details with the agent on the phone, I have concerns given we have NO control over which flights are chosen & we were told upgrades were NOT available at our expense. We won't pay in full until January so we have some time to see what air rates will be & if we should just forego the NCL air/hassle & pay for 2 tickets on our own, even if it costs more.  

 

ECHOHEN69 - When you say "take an air credit" what does that mean?  Or does that even apply in this case?

Our last cruise with NCL was booked with their air promo.  It just happened to be our second NCL cruise...the first having been booked with the air promo that ended up being a DISASTER  (for the air...cruise was great)!  I called NCL and had them cancel the air promo...got about $1400 back.  I booked my own air.  Yes...I ended up paying more but I will never again cede my control of booking over to someone else.  Coincidentally both cruises were Greek itineraries.

[smtr467]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:51 AM, hallux said:

Were you booked on the same reservation number?  If not - are you POSITIVE that your daughter had the same deviation request?  Also - NCL offers the "travel with guarantee" that allows people on separate reservations to be linked so their air can be booked together.  This used to be free but now there's a small fee for it.

 

and if you've read the T&C's of the promo you would know that this is a possibility!

 

Norwegian Cruise Line reserves the right to select an alternate airport within 60 miles based on itinerary, choose the air carrier, routing and city airport from each gateway city

 

Directly from https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions  Oh, that also means they could have booked you out of FLL if FLL had flights servicing the region you were flying to, even though you picked Miami.

We  had ours and our friends traveling with us booked with NCL air and we just got a letter stating that they cannot guarantee that we will fly on the same plane even though we paid the extra to be insured we would fly together.  Big disappointment.  We booked a direct flight with American and are paying a lot more, but it's nonstop, we have our seats and know exactly when we are flying so we can set up ground transportation.  Now we'll have to wait for NCL to credit back our flights.

 

[hallux]

4 hours ago, smtr467 said:

We  had ours and our friends traveling with us booked with NCL air and we just got a letter stating that they cannot guarantee that we will fly on the same plane even though we paid the extra to be insured we would fly together.  Big disappointment.

Well, at the time of my post, a month ago, the option was there.  At least NCL offered refund of the TWG fee AND the option to cancel the airfare option.  I've said it in another thread - air travel right now is a sh*t-show.  Passengers on one Delta flight were actually offered $10K to get bumped due to over-booking.  If I was on that flight my arm would have gone up so fast I might have dislocated my shoulder.