Saint Greg's Alaska Jewel - Live - August 28, 2023

[Saint Greg]

12 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

This may sound weird but depending on where your window is..I have this thing pushing into my arm.

 

 

The girl in front of me has her window further back so her arm fits in that window cup. 

 

For that look out for rows where you have two windows. I get two windows but I also get the hump

 

[dallasdan]

The good thing it should be down to 100 degrees outside when you land.

[Saint Greg]

This is a time where the parking is going to work out for me. If you book for 8 days and 1 hour they still charge you the same as nine days. So I just do 9 days and my parking is good until tomorrow morning.

 

 

[Uff da]

Do you still have a long drive after this? Oh, my. 

I can sympathize with the customs/missed flight thing. We were coming back from Costa Rica through Houston and customs was 2 hours long. Then the hour in customer service to get rebooked. I felt fortunate there were still flights available because we live in a place with a regional airport with limited flights. Instead of getting home mid afternoon, we finally got here at midnight. 

 

[depplep]

It could always be worse. There could have been no more flights going out of YYZ and you get stuck overnight. 

[pbxtech]

Thanks for another Great Live.

[Uff da]

19 minutes ago, depplep said:

It could always be worse. There could have been no more flights going out of YYZ and you get stuck overnight. 

True enough. Flying has become a sport that the passengers seem to be losing. He'd have probably had more options without the United stoppage. I'll bet there are a lot of unhappy people flying today. 

[BohJang]

Good Luck Greg - I hope there are no more surprises before you make it home.

[Uff da]

1 hour ago, Etta1213 said:

When I asked my travel agent about what would be my first solo cruise and first ncl, she strongly urged me to avoid ncl. Said their c service s...s.

That's funny because if you watch any of the YT vloggers that are also travel agents, it's RCCL they hate dealing with. 
I've dealt with NCL customer service on my own a lot and I've not had any issues. 
Now, when it comes to NCL Air, it pays to read the terms and conditions. They clearly state they book the flights and if you encounter issues, you are to go to the airline to resolve it. 

[Riles34]

1 minute ago, Uff da said:

That's funny because if you watch any of the YT vloggers that are also travel agents, it's RCCL they hate dealing with. 
I've dealt with NCL customer service on my own a lot and I've not had any issues. 
Now, when it comes to NCL Air, it pays to read the terms and conditions. They clearly state they book the flights and if you encounter issues, you are to go to the airline to resolve it. 

Yea but don't book a flight with a 30 minute layover where the person has to go through customs!!! I will never let them book a flight for me after this one!! That is someone who easily said, not my issue!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

25 minutes ago, Uff da said:

That's funny because if you watch any of the YT vloggers that are also travel agents, it's RCCL they hate dealing with. 
I've dealt with NCL customer service on my own a lot and I've not had any issues. 
Now, when it comes to NCL Air, it pays to read the terms and conditions. They clearly state they book the flights and if you encounter issues, you are to go to the airline to resolve it. 

My PCC at NCL of 14 years has always told me from the first day they started booking air, not to do it.  Last month she said she tells ALL her customers not to do it because it’s rare she has a happy customer when they have insisted on doing it anyway.   She told me there had been talk at corporate of discontinuing the program since it’s turned into such a PR nightmare for the,   I’m way too controlling to allow someone else to book mt air, it’s just too important.

[Uff da]

6 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

My PCC at NCL of 14 years has always told me from the first day they started booking air, not to do it.  Last month she said she tells ALL her customers not to do it because it’s rare she has a happy customer when they have insisted on doing it anyway.   She told me there had been talk at corporate of discontinuing the program since it’s turned into such a PR nightmare for the,   I’m way too controlling to allow someone else to book mt air, it’s just too important.

We've done it 4 times without issues including an international flight to Panama and back. Stuff happens. There is no guarantee you won't have your own issues, you can't control everything even if you book on your own. Flying is not fun these days.
My biggest issue was exactly what happened to Greg today, missed flight in Houston because customs took so long. I thought I had plenty of time, apparently I did not. That was not an NCL flight. 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Uff da

[Shaded Lady]

2 minutes ago, Uff da said:

We've done it 4 times without issues including an international flight to Panama and back. Stuff happens. There is no guarantee you won't have your own issues, you can't control everything even if you book on your own. Flying is not fun these days.
My biggest issue was exactly what happened to Greg today, missed flight in Houston because customs took so long. I thought I had plenty of time, apparently I did not. That was not an NCL flight. 

But where in all the holy he((& of air travel does anyone think it makes sense these days to only have 40 minutes between transfers? In an international airport? from one country to another? It's not something anyone would consciously schedule on their own- there's a good reason for that! It's STUPID!

 

NCL has a LOT to answer for selling such a mess...

[depplep]

Ridiculous. I've just barely gotten through customs in Miami many times at 2hrs. 2 1/2 hrs.  is my comfort zone.

[Mommapadraig]

We have ncl air booked on a cruise out of Rome next April. We end in Barcelona. Our PCC also is not a fan but I told her if the prices go down before FPD we’ll remove the flights and pay for them ourselves. Unfortunately right now they are still twice the price. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky and get good flights. If not we are all retired so we don’t have a back to work date. 

[Uff da]

4 minutes ago, Shaded Lady said:

But where in all the holy he((& of air travel does anyone think it makes sense these days to only have 40 minutes between transfers? In an international airport? from one country to another? It's not something anyone would consciously schedule on their own- there's a good reason for that! It's STUPID!

 

NCL has a LOT to answer for selling such a mess...

I did not say what happened to Greg was right. That was a little too close. I do get tired of all the blanket statements about NCL air from people who have not done it though. "I heard from so and so" is not very credible in my book. 
Guess what? Lots of people like to complain and be negative, very few take the time to tell you the good. Customer service takes the brunt of that negativity. 

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, dallasdan said:

The good thing it should be down to 100 degrees outside when you land.

They said 102 

[Saint Greg]

[4hunters]

5 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

They said 102 

We've had a break from the heat here in Phoenix over the past week or so.  Only been in the 90's and just touching 100.  🙃😐

Edited September 5, 2023 by 4hunters

[Saint Greg]

 

[Saint Greg]

[Saint Greg]

 

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, Uff da said:

Do you still have a long drive after this? Oh, my. 

I can sympathize with the customs/missed flight thing. We were coming back from Costa Rica through Houston and customs was 2 hours long. Then the hour in customer service to get rebooked. I felt fortunate there were still flights available because we live in a place with a regional airport with limited flights. Instead of getting home mid afternoon, we finally got here at midnight. 

 

Not bad

[Saint Greg]

The big question is did my suitcase make it. I know it wasn’t on the flight I missed. It had to follow me with the short turnaround in Chicago.

 

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Saint Greg

[Uff da]

2 minutes ago, Riles34 said:

We all first hand witnessed what NCL air did to Greg and the ridiculous flight they booked. I don't think anyone was truly hating on NCL other than myself saying that the person who booked it clearly doesn't care. Other people have explained their personal experience with NCL service. You clearly are defensive about them and they can do no wrong. I can agree that I feel as though a lot of cruisers believe they are entitled and the cruise line should bow down to them, and therefore go onto chats to bash them. Who knows!

 

Looks like Greg has just about made it home!

I do not think they can do no wrong. I said it was too close. I'm not sure what other flight options were available for him to be booked on, but he got the double whammy when United shut down today. 
We are all one delayed flight or one long custom line away from the same thing happening to us at any time. It has and it will again. We nor NCL can control customs or the airlines. That is just how it is. Houston customs was a nightmare for us, Atlanta was a breeze. You never know what's going to happen.