Questions about booking Rome/Greek Isles itinerary

[michelle-nh]

I’ve tried searching, but am not really finding current info, so thought I’d ask…

 

We are planning to book the 11-day Mediterranean/Greek Isles cruise on the Epic for next August. We’ll be celebrating my birthday and our 37th anniversary. I’m expecting our TA to have a good Black Friday special that gets us lots of OBC, so will probably be booking this week and need to make some decisions.
 

We fly out of Boston-Logan. I would like to fly into Rome at least 2 days ahead but ideally get directly home at the end of the cruise. We’ve never used NCL’s BOGO airfare or transfers before, so that’s what I’m wondering about. We don’t have an unlimited budget and I’d rather save $ on things like this to use it at tours at each port, but I’m also really nervous about giving up control of our flight plans.

I’d usually be inclined to watch for the lowest airfare for a reasonable flight time/layovers and book myself. The best I’m finding at the moment would be around $1100 PP/RT. That’s with a direct flight going, but the equivalent return flight is pretty early in the AM (10:30), which would be cutting it scarily close (wouldn’t it?). But there is one flight at 12:30 with a 4-hour layover in Paris that looks good, same price. We went on a Mediterranean cruise five years ago and know Rome is close to an hour from port, so there are transfers to the port to think about too.

 

I just ran a search on NCL and it looks like they’d charge about $1500 more if we go with BOGO airfare, so going with that would save us about $700 at today’s prices (which Google flights say are lower than usual). So, here are my major questions:

 

1) It looks like the best flights (with reasonable layovers) are also the lowest priced, so I’d guess that is what NCL would book. But is this a reasonable assumption?  How likely is it that they’d book us on something with multiple layovers or some crazy layover times instead?

 

2) How about transfers to and from port? It sounds like they might be included if we go with BOGO? Is this true? If not, if we have to arrange that ourselves, what would we expect to pay to/from Rome/port? 
 

3) I’ve read nightmare stories about using NCL for flights, but mostly that has to do with people flying in the same day as the cruise. We should be fine going two days ahead shouldn’t we? 
 

Any advice?

 

[European_CruiseGirl]

1. Having worked for a long time for an airline I wouldn’t assume that automatically. Those bookings are handled at a completely different group department which will book whatever they notice might not book well otherwise. You might get a good flight. On the other hand you might get a truly horrible flight connection although better ones would be available. The price an individual pax pays is completely different to what this type of cruiseline booking dept will pay. 
 

2. In any case NCL will have return cruise port to airport transfer available for purchase so you don’t need to arrange anything yourself. That is an non issue and the cost is reasonsble. Btw the 10:30AM flight is too early. 
 

3. You should be fine but of course as mentioned above the flight times can be suboptimal. Lets say your cruise leaves on Saturday and you plan on leaving on Wednesday to have Thursday-Friday in Rome arriving in Rome on Thursday morning. Well your NCL flight schedule might be such that even if you leave on Wednesday you might arrive in Rome only late on Thursday evening or even Thursday-Friday night effectively missing one day. For example Boston Logan to Rome via Lissabon. Leaves 10:55PM on a Wednesday and arrives in Rome on Friday (!) local time 00:05AM. Compare it to a flight that leaves from Boston Logan at 6:00AM on a Wednesday via Chicago and arrives in Rome at 07:55AM on Thursday. Thb as a former airline employee who used to work at sales I strongly encourage everyone to book their own flights instead of booking via a cruiseline. 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[SoloAlaska]

If you can book your flights for cheaper and have better control then do it on your own.

 

It’s not a tough transfer from the Civi to the airport. I wouldn’t book a flight before 1:00 at the earliest personally. 1hr+ transfer time, 3hrs before flight due to it being international, what time your going to be able to get off the ship considering potential delays etc. I add a buffer of 1hr for delays at port.

 

if your planning on self assist disembarking then that gives you some flexibility but not everyone is capable of that based on the amount of luggage they have and their physical ability.

[schmoopie17]

If you book the BOGO airfare, NCL automatically adds the transfer (and a fee of $150) to the airport.

 

You can arrange better transport to the airport on your own...especially if traveling with more than two people...with Stefano's Rome Cabs, or other reputable transport companies. This is what we have done and will do again next fall. You can call and have the transfer (and the fee) removed.

 

Our last flight leaving Rome left at 11:00am and we had no problem. But, as they say...YMMV.

[michelle-nh]

If I book with air included and then find a better price on it, can I cancel the air portion of the booking without penalty?

[schmoopie17]

2 minutes ago, michelle-nh said:

If I book with air included and then find a better price on it, can I cancel the air portion of the booking without penalty?

Yep. As long as before final payment. We did exactly that last week when we found a better deal using miles.

[ontheweb]

One thing to note---the transfers that they include for $75 per passenger (though you can remove them) are from the airport only. So, to use them with your deviation, it makes sense to either have a hotel by the airport, be prepared to get to the airport on the day of the cruise, or delete them and book your own transportation.

 

This past summer we sailed a cruise from Southampton and did not intend to schlep our luggage to London, so with our 1 day deviation, we booked a hotel by the terminal that our flight was going to.

[michelle-nh]

13 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Yep. As long as before final payment. We did exactly that last week when we found a better deal using miles.

Perfect! Decision made, then. 
 

And yes, thanks to those who clarified transfers. It does sound like I’m better off canceling that portion…at least on the way to the port at the start.

[LoveThatCorgi]

On 11/19/2023 at 11:49 AM, michelle-nh said:

Perfect! Decision made, then. 
 

And yes, thanks to those who clarified transfers. It does sound like I’m better off canceling that portion…at least on the way to the port at the start.

 

On 11/19/2023 at 10:45 AM, schmoopie17 said:

 

You can arrange better transport to the airport on your own...especially if traveling with more than two people...with Stefano's Rome Cabs, or other reputable transport companies. This is what we have done and will do again next fall. You can call and have the transfer (and the fee) removed.

We used Stefano's RomeCabs last summer for transportation from the airport to the hotel in Rome and again a couple days later for the trip from the hotel to the port.  The service was great!  We chose to pay in advance via PayPal, so when the driver arrived to pick us up, everything was already taken care of.  The driver knew where we were going, and there was no payment to deal with - super easy.   

[G-DawgMN]

On 11/19/2023 at 10:49 AM, michelle-nh said:

Perfect! Decision made, then. 
 

And yes, thanks to those who clarified transfers. It does sound like I’m better off canceling that portion…at least on the way to the port at the start.

 

 Remember that the cruise port is around an hour from Rome, so take that into consideration when you do your planning and cost comparisons of transfers.

 

  My latest experience with NCL air was in the US, I was changed $278 for flights, the ones they booked were $1900 if we had booked them ourselves.

 

 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 Remember that the cruise port is around an hour from Rome, so take that into consideration when you do your planning and cost comparisons of transfers.

 

  My latest experience with NCL air was in the US, I was changed $278 for flights, the ones they booked were $1900 if we had booked them ourselves.

 

 

Sounds like a great deal. 😊

[G-DawgMN]

12 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Sounds like a great deal. 😊

Sometimes you roll the dice and win. I normally book my own flights but have won with NCL Air the two times I have used it. 

[itsnotjustme]

On 11/19/2023 at 9:06 AM, michelle-nh said:

1) It looks like the best flights (with reasonable layovers) are also the lowest priced, so I’d guess that is what NCL would book. But is this a reasonable assumption?  How likely is it that they’d book us on something with multiple layovers or some crazy layover times instead?

I would in no way count on that.  They could give you a Turkish airlines flight that overshoots Rome by 2 hours, and then face a long layover and a 2-3 hour flight backwards, or budget airlines where you need to pay for items that may be included in the fares you find.  For that price difference, I would prefer to have full control of my flight selections.  But that is for me, and the time is more important than the $$.

 

On 11/19/2023 at 9:06 AM, michelle-nh said:

3) I’ve read nightmare stories about using NCL for flights, but mostly that has to do with people flying in the same day as the cruise. We should be fine going two days ahead shouldn’t we? 

Two days before is a nice margin.  Unless we are driving to the port (Baltimore or New York) we always leave margin for a 24 hour delay.  And if we want to visit the embarkation city, we fly 2-3 days early.

 

Best of luck in your plans.

[CCJack]

On 11/19/2023 at 9:06 AM, michelle-nh said:

1) It looks like the best flights (with reasonable layovers) are also the lowest priced, so I’d guess that is what NCL would book. But is this a reasonable assumption?  How likely is it that they’d book us on something with multiple layovers or some crazy layover times instead?

 

As others have said, I would not count on this.   Consider you are looking 9 months in advance, and those direct / good flights likely have plenty of room and prices are reasonable.   When NCL books your BOGO flights it will be 30 days prior to departure and many of those seats will be gone so the airline will raise those prices for those desirable flights, thus NCL likely will put you on cheaper flight combinations (that no one else wanted)

 

I am all about saving money on domestic flights, I can sit in a middle seat to Florida.   But for trips across the pond, I want more control.    Besides very long layovers, I would also be concerned about very short layovers that I would not book for myself.  I am surprised if you go to a travel site and look at what combinations they pull up for you, sometimes it is a little as 45 minute layover in a big airports like Frankfurt  or Amsterdam.  That is too tight for me, considering there could also be passport control, etc.

 

Your choice to fly in 2 days early is a good choice though.   You will get there if you go BOGO, but personally I like to book my own flights.    

[SoloAlaska]

28 minutes ago, CCJack said:

As others have said, I would not count on this.   Consider you are looking 9 months in advance, and those direct / good flights likely have plenty of room and prices are reasonable.   When NCL books your BOGO flights it will be 30 days prior to departure and many of those seats will be gone so the airline will raise those prices for those desirable flights, thus NCL likely will put you on cheaper flight combinations (that no one else wanted)

 

I am all about saving money on domestic flights, I can sit in a middle seat to Florida.   But for trips across the pond, I want more control.    Besides very long layovers, I would also be concerned about very short layovers that I would not book for myself.  I am surprised if you go to a travel site and look at what combinations they pull up for you, sometimes it is a little as 45 minute layover in a big airports like Frankfurt  or Amsterdam.  That is too tight for me, considering there could also be passport control, etc.

 

Your choice to fly in 2 days early is a good choice though.   You will get there if you go BOGO, but personally I like to book my own flights.    

45 minutes in Frankfurt is absurd. When I flew to Frankfurt we had an “air gate” and it took us over 1.5 hours to get from the gate to the terminal. Now I avoid the airport completely. Control over flights especially international ones is important to me.