NCL BOGO Free airfare - sit next to cabin mate and opportunity to upgrade airline seats

[KCfromMontana]

Flying NCL BOGO Free airfare for cruise in Mediterranean in just over 3 months. For those who have flown international from US to Rome or other overseas airport:

 

1. How many of you were able to sit next to your cabin mate on the plane?

2. Also were any of you given the opportunity to upgrade your seats to something better than Economy?

3. How long before the cruise did you receive your tickets for international flights?
 

We know this is the chance we take flying NCL airfare but praying for best as we await getting our airline tickets. There is no possible way we could have gotten close to flight prices so saving at least a couple thousand over booking our own. 
 

Thank you!

[surfclam2003]

Got our flights from Orlando to Anchorage 72 days out. We were able to upgrade to premium economy and got seats next to each other.

 

Problem is there are 4 going on the cruise and inlaws have flight out night before us.😔

[CruiserJ03]

5 hours ago, KCfromMontana said:

Flying NCL BOGO Free airfare for cruise in Mediterranean in just over 3 months. For those who have flown international from US to Rome or other overseas airport:

 

1. How many of you were able to sit next to your cabin mate on the plane?

2. Also were any of you given the opportunity to upgrade your seats to something better than Economy?

3. How long before the cruise did you receive your tickets for international flights?
 

We know this is the chance we take flying NCL airfare but praying for best as we await getting our airline tickets. There is no possible way we could have gotten close to flight prices so saving at least a couple thousand over booking our own. 
 

Thank you!

NCL will book same reservations on the same flight and have had no issues in selecting seats or paying for seat upgrades through the airline once you have the confirmation code. Usually the official flight is 45 days from cruise embarkation. You may get some placeholder flights ahead of that date and also changes later if something is happening with the airlines.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

11 hours ago, surfclam2003 said:

Got our flights from Orlando to Anchorage 72 days out. We were able to upgrade to premium economy and got seats next to each other.

 

Problem is there are 4 going on the cruise and inlaws have flight out night before us.😔

How did you go about upgrading?

[surfclam2003]

I just went on airline site and picked our seats. Just had to pay the extra. We weren't able to go to business class but that's ok. Got bigger seats and alcohol included. Get on earlier and dedicated upper bin. Flying Alaskan Airlines.

[davencl]

Picking seats was a mixed bag for me.  United let me pick seats and upgrade to Australia/NZ but flight back was on Hawaiian which didn't let me pick seats until check-in.  Turned out just fine however.  So it appears to depend on which airline NCL books..

[9tee2Sea]

14 hours ago, KCfromMontana said:

Flying NCL BOGO Free airfare for cruise in Mediterranean in just over 3 months. For those who have flown international from US to Rome or other overseas airport:

 

1. How many of you were able to sit next to your cabin mate on the plane?

2. Also were any of you given the opportunity to upgrade your seats to something better than Economy?

3. How long before the cruise did you receive your tickets for international flights?
 

We know this is the chance we take flying NCL airfare but praying for best as we await getting our airline tickets. There is no possible way we could have gotten close to flight prices so saving at least a couple thousand over booking our own. 
 

Thank you!

used BOGO for our cruise from Dubai-Athens ( Left /Arrived LAX.Los Angeles).  Once I got my airline info, I went onto the airlines website, paid for upgraded seats. We both sat together.  Got an email from the airlines to bid on a better upgrade ( like first class).  I bid cheap, so i didn't get it ( I knew I would not). Please keep in mind the airlines baggage allowance ( Size and weight ).  Some overseas airlines will not let you put your carry on in the overhead bin unless you pay.  Get a portable luggage scale to weigh everything, that way you will not be surprised with heavy overweight fees.

[Roimont]

On 7/10/2023 at 11:10 AM, 9tee2Sea said:

used BOGO for our cruise from Dubai-Athens ( Left /Arrived LAX.Los Angeles).  Once I got my airline info, I went onto the airlines website, paid for upgraded seats. We both sat together.  Got an email from the airlines to bid on a better upgrade ( like first class).  I bid cheap, so i didn't get it ( I knew I would not). Please keep in mind the airlines baggage allowance ( Size and weight ).  Some overseas airlines will not let you put your carry on in the overhead bin unless you pay.  Get a portable luggage scale to weigh everything, that way you will not be surprised with heavy overweight fees.

Can you please tell me what airline(s) did they use for Dubai?  How many stops?  I am looking at their Middle East cruise.

 

[9tee2Sea]

19 minutes ago, Roimont said:

Can you please tell me what airline(s) did they use for Dubai?  How many stops?  I am looking at their Middle East cruise.

 

We flew from Los Angeles non-stop to Dubai (15-17 hours).  NCL put us on Emirates Airline  (2 day deviation).  Once we got our ticket info, I went to the airlines website to purchase seat upgrades ( exit row).  Our cruise ended in Athens ( another 2 day deviation).  We flew back from Athens- Los Angeles with 1 stop ( change planes) in London.   Do a search of flights from your home airport - Dubai and you will get an idea of cost, plus stops, and which airlines go that route.  Using NCL saved me about $2,000.  So even if i had 1 stop, I could live with that.  Have fun, it was a great cruise and an extraordinary adventure.  We did all NCL shore excursions ( even overnights in Luxor and Israel).  

[Roimont]

22 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

We flew from Los Angeles non-stop to Dubai (15-17 hours).  NCL put us on Emirates Airline  (2 day deviation).  Once we got our ticket info, I went to the airlines website to purchase seat upgrades ( exit row).  Our cruise ended in Athens ( another 2 day deviation).  We flew back from Athens- Los Angeles with 1 stop ( change planes) in London.   Do a search of flights from your home airport - Dubai and you will get an idea of cost, plus stops, and which airlines go that route.  Using NCL saved me about $2,000.  So even if i had 1 stop, I could live with that.  Have fun, it was a great cruise and an extraordinary adventure.  We did all NCL shore excursions ( even overnights in Luxor and Israel).  

Thanks so much for this information.  If we are lucky enough to get similar flights I would very happy.