NCL Air Fails

[billslowsky]

7 hours ago, tedbearz said:

Flight Assistance While Traveling En-Route (Pre and Post Cruise)
In the event that your flight is changed or cancelled by the airline due to mechanical, inclement weather, strikes or any other involuntary reason, you should immediately advise an airline representative at the airport that you are a guest of Norwegian Cruise Line, and you are on your way to join a cruise. ally join the ship.

 

"Oh by all means, the rest of you 130 passengers need to stand aside so that these extra special guests can make it to their cruise."  Sure, that'll happen.

[MotownVoice]

3 hours ago, billslowsky said:

 

"Oh by all means, the rest of you 130 passengers need to stand aside so that these extra special guests can make it to their cruise."  Sure, that'll happen.

Depends on who’s  got more cash to make it happen.  
 

A 5 1/2 billion dollar cruise line?

 

Or a bunch of poor saps who just spent their whole wad on roundtrip coach.  

Edited August 6, 2022 by MotownVoice

[billslowsky]

47 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

Depends on who’s  got more cash to make it happen.  
 

A 5 1/2 billion dollar cruise line?

 

Or a bunch of poor saps who just spent their whole wad on roundtrip coach.  

The gate agent with 100+ upset passengers won't care about your cruise.

[MyTMo777]

On 8/4/2022 at 10:33 AM, MotownVoice said:

Unreliable airlines is precisely why you WOULD let your cruiseline handle it.

If something happens, they fix it.

 

I looked repeatedly through the NCL terms and conditions to see where this is denied or confirmed, and could find nothing. Do you have a source that tells exactly what NCL would do to "fix it?" Get you to the first port at no charge to you? Refund your cruise and flights? There's a big difference there.

[MyTMo777]

13 hours ago, tedbearz said:

Seems like the NCL policy is vague on the actual help they will provide.

 

Flight Assistance While Traveling En-Route (Pre and Post Cruise)
In the event that your flight is changed or cancelled by the airline due to mechanical, inclement weather, strikes or any other involuntary reason, you should immediately advise an airline representative at the airport that you are a guest of Norwegian Cruise Line, and you are on your way to join a cruise. In most circumstances, the airline can arrange alternative flights at the airline counter, so you can get to the ship or the hotel destination. Please notify NCL through the "Flight Assistance Hotline" (contact numbers below) as soon as possible if a delay or cancellation. Please provide the agent with the new flight information, if applicable. Please note that air tickets cover flights from and to the vessel. Failure to travel on the outbound flight may resolve in automatic cancellation of the return flight.

 

RCCL Policy for comparison

 

Guest purchasing airline tickets through Air2Sea who experience travel disruptions do indeed receive assistance. With our Assured Arrival program, we have a dedicated group of professionals in the Emergency Travel Team standing by to provide air re-accommodation, and to provide hotel and ground transportation if needed. Even though we monitor your flights, we ask that you check with the airline while at the airport prior to contacting the Emergency Travel Team. The Emergency Travel team will work with you to find accommodations on the next available flight. In some instances, same day viable flight options may not be available, and in those instances we accommodate you to the next available port where you may legally join the ship.

This is helpful, but where did you find that paragraph? It's frustrating to me that I spent an hour searching the NCL site and Googling key words (which took me to NCL pages that I couldn't find on their website myself) and I didn't find that paragraph at all. Where on their website do you find ALL the fine print - I mean the really fine print - about every aspect of your cruise?

[MotownVoice]

2 hours ago, billslowsky said:

The gate agent with 100+ upset passengers won't care about your cruise.

The airline executives will be telling the gate agent what to do in deference to one of their biggest clients…the airline.    There’s your imaginary scenario.   And then there’s just cold, hard, obvious reality.  

[billslowsky]

2 hours ago, MotownVoice said:

The airline executives will be telling the gate agent what to do in deference to one of their biggest clients…the airline.    There’s your imaginary scenario.   And then there’s just cold, hard, obvious reality.  

So with that if it gives you some sense of security.  Don't forget to tell them you're in Haven too.

[hallux]

8 hours ago, MyTMo777 said:

This is helpful, but where did you find that paragraph?

I'd be curious as well.  I used Google to search using the entire paragraph (well, the first 32 words of it as that's apparently the limit for Google) and none of the results on the first page were from NCL (but this thread was the top result).

Edited August 6, 2022 by hallux

[JIMESOPUS]

15 minutes ago, hallux said:

I'd be curious as well.  I used Google to search using the entire paragraph (well, the first 32 words of it as that's apparently the limit for Google) and none of the results on the first page were from NCL (but this thread was the top result).

@MyTMo777 @hallux

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/airsea

bottom section

[Keata]

On June 26th I was to fly to FLL for my cruise out of Miami.  I used NCL Air.  Air Canada cancelled the 1st leg of my journey which meant I could not arrive in time to board the ship.  I called the "emergency air line" quoted above at 4:00AM and they said they couldn't get me on any flight to get to the ship. They told me to go home and deal with the regular reservations department when they opened at 9 AM. Reservations said too bad your penalty is $1,400 go to your insurance company to get compensated.  Had I been able to fly the day before I would have.  For my next 2 cruises I am flying in early the day before. 

[Markanddonna]

23 minutes ago, Keata said:

On June 26th I was to fly to FLL for my cruise out of Miami.  I used NCL Air.  Air Canada cancelled the 1st leg of my journey which meant I could not arrive in time to board the ship.  I called the "emergency air line" quoted above at 4:00AM and they said they couldn't get me on any flight to get to the ship. They told me to go home and deal with the regular reservations department when they opened at 9 AM. Reservations said too bad your penalty is $1,400 go to your insurance company to get compensated.  Had I been able to fly the day before I would have.  For my next 2 cruises I am flying in early the day before. 

So sorry to hear about your experience, but many others hopefully learned the realities of flying at this time.  I had two horrendous days of flight cancelations and delays this week. The airlines made an effort, but the weather and the domino effect of every other flight around the country affected my trip. I do believe that passengers who would miss their connecting flight being allowed  to deplane right before takeoff caused our problems on day two. The airline took about 30 minutes to locate their luggage in the cargo hold, causing our delay which set off a chain of events. I think you need to be very lucky to have on time flights this summer.

[Keata]

@Markanddonna thank you for your kind words.  Flying is terrible right now.  People need to plan for the worst and actively manage to succeed. After this 1st fail, hubby and I used NCL Air for a Joy sailing out of New York.  We went carry on only and are both Nexus/Trusted Travellers.  We had no issues and only a 15 minute delay to the ship.  Coming home, NCL put us on a late in the day flight - I knew that was going to be a problem so we went to the airport early and were on stand by for an earlier flight.  We got on and were home at 4 PM.  I did track the flight I was original on.  It was delayed and I would have missed my connection home resulting in a hotel stay until the next morning.  Next NCL Air is a transatlantic from Lisbon to RIO.  Have an air deviation on both ends of the trip.  As a Canadian you can not beat the price of the NCL Air and that is why I will continue to use it with built in deviations to help with the unexpected right now.   

[pdmlynek]

On 8/4/2022 at 1:57 PM, Markanddonna said:

...

So, what did I learn?  Plan an extra day in your flight plans. I also realized that there is a serious domino effect with all the employees. Some people's delays cause the baggage handling problems. Best to try to do only carryons.   I wouldn't have been allowed to leave at CVG if I had checked luggage.

 

Also, don't count on the Apps working properly. Be sure to take all your airline passwords, numbers, and try to have a print back up. Keep those cell phones charged!  There will often be no agent at the airport to help you.  Or, you might be in long lines.

 

We have a flight to a cruise in Europe on Oct 30. Barring weather problems, it should be okay. We sail on Nov. 3.  For many reasons, I didn't accept the 2/1 NCL airfare offer.  I want to control my flight details and be able to plan.

 

I think that these are correct lessons. 

 

Schedule a day ahead arrival if traveling on the same continent, and 2 days ahead if traveling to another continent.  You'll enjoy another day or two at a far away location.

 

Travel light, have everything printed out, and have fun.