NCL Flights

[Empehi]

Has anyone been happy or at least not disappointed in the flights they received from an NCL promotion?

Are the flights basis economy .... where you have to pay for seats, bags etc?

 

Thanks ....

 

e

[FlyerTalker]

Never sail NCL, so I can't specifically comment.

 

One thing you MUST do.  Read all the fine print, both on the promotion AND the general terms and conditions for cruiseline provided air.  Understand EXACTLY what you are getting, and more importantly, what you are NOT getting.

 

And remember....there is no free lunch.

[hallux]

I used the reduced airfare promotion in 2019, for my October cruise on NCL.  While I didn't have the BEST flights, I knew what to expect (based on reading here, reading the terms of the promo AND having done self-booked flights for a similar cruise earlier in the year) and got pretty much what I expected.

 

Depending on the airline you might be able to select your seats within the parameters of the booked fare (I was able to on American and Delta), checked bags are on you and it even says that in the promo terms.

 

https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

Anything consumed above the promotional benefit will be the responsibility of the guest at prevailing rates.

[thera]

We received our flights (American) for our Sept cruise on NCL and were pleasantly surprised.  Times are quite good.  I hope nothing changes, but you know how that goes these days.  😏  We were able to pick our seats (tickets assigned were basic economy, upgrade to main cabin for a cost).  Checked bags are extra.

[6rugrats]

You could find out if they book Basic Economy, can't you?  I would take a hard pass on those tickets.

Edited August 3, 2022 by 6rugrats

[Tooncamp]

We just received our flight information. They booked economy seats for us. As soon as I got the information I got on Delta and picked our seats. Our return flight is on Alaskan air and they assigned our seats. I’m in a window seat and my husband is across the aisle in a window seat. We will just ask the person in the middle seat if they would like a window seat or check available seats when we get back to Seattle. 
The times we received were great. We arrive in Seattle at 12:30 and we have a nonstop flight back leaving at 11 so we were very happy with that. We are flying in the day before our cruise. 

[WineKatz]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:50 PM, Empehi said:

Has anyone been happy or at least not disappointed in the flights they received from an NCL promotion?

Are the flights basis economy .... where you have to pay for seats, bags etc?

 

Thanks ....

 

e

We are booked economy  coming from Tahiti to San Francisco  in November on a chartered French B flight. We would love to change to premium class but it seems after tickets are purchased you can not change anything until you arrive at airport to leave.  Very nervous about how tight the seating is for such a long flight! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

they booked us 

[FlyerTalker]

French Bee is a discount airline, where everything is ala carte.  Enjoy your bargain.

 

FYI, you could have bought the same route on United.

[Zach1213]

15 hours ago, WineKatz said:

We are booked economy  coming from Tahiti to San Francisco  in November on a chartered French B flight. We would love to change to premium class but it seems after tickets are purchased you can not change anything until you arrive at airport to leave.  Very nervous about how tight the seating is for such a long flight! 

 

 

they booked us 

 

It's definitely going to be tight. It's not so much the 32" seat pitch, which is the same as you would have on the United 787-9 that also flies that route, but it's the 16-17" seat width, which is quite a bit narrower than the United plane. French Bee does stuff 410+ people in their A350-1000s, which is 70-90 more people than other airlines (albeit with a different seating setup, including first class pods, on airlines like BA and Cathay Pacific).

 

Definitely be aware of all of the extra fees on French Bee. A friend of mine flew them last month on this route, and wasn't aware of all of the extras. He was...not pleased. And as a very broad shouldered guy, the seat width was troublesome. 

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, Zach1213 said:

It's definitely going to be tight. It's not so much the 32" seat pitch, which is the same as you would have on the United 787-9 that also flies that route, but it's the 16-17" seat width, which is quite a bit narrower than the United plane.

 

What? Someone's put 10-abreast into a 350? It was bad enough when 10-abreast started going into the 777 (5.86m cabin width, originally 9-abreast). Then airlines started putting 9-abreast into the 787 (5.5m, originally 8-abreast) - and I have heard horror stories from cabin crew about what happens there (and once briefly seen it myself). But 10-abreast into a 350 (5.61m, normally 9-abreast) must be hell on a different scale.

[Zach1213]

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

What? Someone's put 10-abreast into a 350? 

 

French Bee and Air Caraibes are both putting 10-abreast on the A350s...and then throwing them on 8-12 hour routes across the ocean. Crazy French...I am not sure how many other airlines are doing 10-abreast on their A350s...I know Delta, Cathay, BA, Iberia, Finnair, South African and even Fiji Airways are all doing 9-abreast. If even those crazy, cheap South Africans can do 9-abreast, why can't the French?!?! 🙂 (I am Namibian, it's my hobby to pick on South Africans)

 

When it comes to economy longhaul seating, I don't think anything will be better than the 2-3-2 on the 767s. 

[WineKatz]

19 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

French Bee is a discount airline, where everything is ala carte.  Enjoy your bargain.

 

FYI, you could have bought the same route on United.

 

[WineKatz]

As I had stated before we did not book these airlines but NCL did. The other flights are fine but never heard of French B. Any advice from other passengers on this flight or has flown economy  on this airline before would great!

[6rugrats]

Reviews here:

https://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/french-bee/

[FlyerTalker]

5 hours ago, WineKatz said:

As I had stated before we did not book these airlines but NCL did.

 

Fact is....you chose to have NCL book your flights.  You could have booked your own - you didn't.

 

Caveat emptor.  In spades.

 

 

[Zach1213]

15 hours ago, WineKatz said:

As I had stated before we did not book these airlines but NCL did. The other flights are fine but never heard of French B. Any advice from other passengers on this flight or has flown economy  on this airline before would great!

 

I mentioned earlier that my friend had recently flown this route, so I texted him for some more info. Here's what he said:
 

• Legroom was fine for economy, but seats were uncomfortably narrow. Even his wife, who has pretty normal dimensions (versus him, who is very fit but broad shouldered), was fairly uncomfortable. 
• He was aware of the extra fees for seats, meals, and bags, but they still seemed a bit overkill. Pretty much everything is an extra fee. The food, he said, was decent. 
• French Bee hasn't put extra lavatories in, despite extra seats, so expect a sometimes lengthy wait for them in peak times. Plan accordingly. 
• Inflight entertainment was present, but not great. Rather limited selection of movies/TV. If you have an iPad or some other way to stock your own movies, probably recommended to go that direction. 
• Crew were pretty friendly, but don't expect to see them a ton in non-meal times. 

[WineKatz]

 

 

Thank you. 

[Sea Hag]

On 10/3/2022 at 5:59 PM, 6rugrats said:

Reviews here:

https://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/french-bee/

Wow! Some angry people there, and I don't blame them.

[BoozinCroozin]

We had them on our only NCL cruise. It was the only way we would have been able to cruise. The flights were on Delta and the times could not have been better. The bigger issue is that we went out of New Orleans which had no direct flights. Spent pretty much 2 days flying or at airports.

[AlanRRT]

I recently had a transatlantic cruise on the Prima, using the NCL air.  My experience:  Los Angeles to London Heathrow, via Rome.  This flight was on ITA airlines, formerly Alitalia.  We flew directly over London to Rome, had a two hour layover then on to London.  I'm assuming it was cheaper than a direct flight.  Baggage was free, typical 50 pound limit for the checked bag, one overhead bag, and an under seat bag.  It was an economy class.  I have no complaints other than the previously mentioned roundabout route.  The cruise ended in New York, the flight was out of Newark, New Jersey.  Baggage was also free, and economy class on Delta.  The shuttle bus took us directly to the airport from the ship, but our flight wasn't until 8:30 pm.  If I could have figured out what to do with our luggage, I would have skipped the shuttle, spent some time in New York, and taxied to the airport.  As it was, we got to spend all day waiting at the airport.  When we checked in, we had the option of going standby on one of three earlier flights, but we'd be taking a gamble.  Why NCL chose the late flight, I'm guessing because it was cheaper.  We landed in Los Angeles at 11:30 pm.  I wasn't willing to chance of driving 35 miles home with a good chance of not staying awake, so we got a hotel.

We did take advantage of deviating the flight for two days prior to the cruise.  This really meant only one day in London, as the first day was getting from the airport to the hotel, getting dinner and going to bed.  We spent the next day in London, then the next getting to the port in Southampton.  Two days is the maximum deviation NCL allows.

Not a horror story, but not the most convenient itinerary.  On the plus side, the price for the two of us was $599, about a third of what I would have paid if I'd have booked myself.  Then there was the added cost of the hotel at the end.  Is it worth saving the money of the flight for the inconvenience?  You'll have to decide for yourself.

[zdcatc12]

On 10/30/2022 at 10:43 PM, AlanRRT said:

  The cruise ended in New York, the flight was out of Newark, New Jersey.  Baggage was also free, and economy class on Delta.  The shuttle bus took us directly to the airport from the ship, but our flight wasn't until 8:30 pm.  If I could have figured out what to do with our luggage, I would have skipped the shuttle, spent some time in New York, and taxied to the airport.  As it was, we got to spend all day waiting at the airport. 

In the future, FYI there are numerous luggage storing businesses around the Penn Station area in NYC. I have used them before. You could have taken the train over and back and just left your luggage there for the day.

[junglejane]

On 8/2/2022 at 5:39 PM, FlyerTalker said:

Never sail NCL, so I can't specifically comment.

 

One thing you MUST do.  Read all the fine print, both on the promotion AND the general terms and conditions for cruiseline provided air.  Understand EXACTLY what you are getting, and more importantly, what you are NOT getting.

 

And remember....there is no free lunch.

This is so true. We took an NCL cruise in September with a BOGO air promo. $249 for 2 people to fly PHX-BOS and then home from Quebec. I failed to carefully read the fine print -- and as @FlyerTalker says you have to read both the promo terms and the regular T&C for NCL air. The outbound flight was a red-eye connecting at ORD, and the return flight was from Montreal and we were on our own to get to Montreal from Quebec because we'd done a deviation. If I had carefully read the fine print I would've realized this would happen because both possibilities (red-eye for a West to East flight) and return flight from Montreal, were disclosed. My fault for not looking. Never again. 

PS - We had a good experience with Princess EZ Air where we paid for business class.