Really peeved....

[Avery's mom]

Just got the air assignments for my 12-16 POAm. From California, no less, we don't get in to HNL until 6pm. And that is if the flight from SFO is on time. (Let's be realistic here - a 2:30pm flight from SFO? On time??) So, basically I won't get to the ship until right before sailing if I am lucky. As I am traveling with a party of 6 I wanted to make reservations as soon as I arrived, but the reservation desk will be closed at that point. So, will I be SOL for making dinner reservations the next morning?? I am traveling with 2 disabled, diabetics and a 3 year old, so waiting for meals is not something that I am looking forward to doing. I planned making reservations for the whole week as soon as I got onboard, yet now it seems that this will be impossible. And, no we are not staying in a suite with butler assistance, so I can't rely on that to help us. I did ask about upgrading to one from my less-than helpful travel agent, yet was told that no can do. No upsells, no upgrades, no changes of any kind (didn't learn that until after he had my $$).

Does anyone have some advice for me??

 

TIA!

[Toyz711]

i am sure someone will have the number for guest services, you should call and talk to them about the diabetics/disable. but the main thing to know is that there is food somewhere at all times, a snack here and a snack there between or waiting for the "big" meal. i am just sorry you don't have a TA that you find easy to talk to...bummer on that. if you do a search on upsells and upgrades..you can't ask for them. they are "given" out by the NCL fairy. (random calls if available). sorry you are so upset.

if nothing else, when you do get on the ship...ask to talk to the person in charge (hotel director, guest services..who ever) i will bet that someone will help you out.

[Cuizer2]

All of the reservations will not be full after the first night. When you call in the moring you'll be able to make all the reservations you want.

 

If getting to the ship early is important, then booking air through NCL was probably not the best idea. This is another reason I don't book air through the cruise line.

[snorkelsue]

I would suggest to anyone taking any cruise to try and do a pre-cruise hotel stay. I did one at the Marriott through NCL and it was wonderful. I arrived Saturday afternoon, and had until Monday morning to unwind and get ready for the cruise. You can do Pearl Harbor, etc, relax on the beach. You are taken directly to the ship, and you get there early enough to do all of these pre-booking dinner things. if that is what important to you. I wish I had booked a post-cruise stay of at least one night. Its a lot of hassle to get off the boat, get luggage, get to airport, etc when everyone else is trying to do the same thing. It went smoother than I expected, but next time that is what I will do.

[Retired not Expired]

I would suggest to anyone taking any cruise to try and do a pre-cruise hotel stay. I did one at the Marriott through NCL and it was wonderful. I arrived Saturday afternoon, and had until Monday morning to unwind and get ready for the cruise. You can do Pearl Harbor, etc, relax on the beach. You are taken directly to the ship, and you get there early enough to do all of these pre-booking dinner things. if that is what important to you. I wish I had booked a post-cruise stay of at least one night. Its a lot of hassle to get off the boat, get luggage, get to airport, etc when everyone else is trying to do the same thing. It went smoother than I expected, but next time that is what I will do.

 

Good advice. Cruise air normally fills the seats on the least popular routes and times. Flying in a day or two in advance, it's no big deal, but same day means most will arrive just a few hours or less from the sail time.

[garycarla]

Over and over and over people post on these boards to NOT use Cruise Air, yet people keep doing it. I guess maybe the rates are that good. As mentioned elsewhere, going a day or two early really makes for a better vacation, if you can get the time off.

[Baitman19]

If you did book your arifare thru NCL, then if the plane is late, the ship will wait. If you booked it thru your TA, then hopefully it will be on time.

 

You're stressing way to much about the dinner reservations. Just see the Matre`D and he'll take care of your special needs. That's what he's there for.

 

Relax, you're going on a cruise.

 

Happy Sailing,

Monty

[Shawnee Indian]

Based on my recent EAST COAST NCL Spirit cruise - You WILL Be SOL on Dinner Reservations.

 

Guests were snapping these up @ 2PM..........

 

Sorry........:mad:

[mitsguy2001]

I thought that for an extra fee, you could change your flight times to a flight that better suits you. Or does only Disney allow that?

 

Although I agree that it is a bad idea to book flights through the cruise line, I don't think that people continually saying that is going to help the orignal poster at this point, so I don't know why people keep posting that to this thread.

[Retired not Expired]

I thought that for an extra fee, you could change your flight times to a flight that better suits you. Or does only Disney allow that?.

 

I don't know if NCL has that or not but it might be something to check and see. I believe RCCL calls it custom air and cost $50 PP. You may have to do some research and have a flight or two to see if they are available for change.

[paulabr]

this is a question about your flight, were you able to get seats together? and I'm surprised that you got your air a month ahead of time. My TA said it would only be 10 days before. We are on the Wind on jan 10 cruise, what was your return air times.

you might get the reservations you want, because other people will be on the same flight. Not everyone will get there early.

[1tuckersmom]

Just got the air assignments for my 12-16 POAm. From California' date=' no less, we don't get in to HNL until 6pm. And that is if the flight from SFO is on time. (Let's be realistic here - a 2:30pm flight from SFO? On time??) So, basically I won't get to the ship until right before sailing if I am lucky. As I am traveling with a party of 6 I wanted to make reservations as soon as I arrived, but the reservation desk will be closed at that point. So, will I be SOL for making dinner reservations the next morning?? I am traveling with 2 disabled, diabetics and a 3 year old, so waiting for meals is not something that I am looking forward to doing. I planned making reservations for the whole week as soon as I got onboard, yet now it seems that this will be impossible. And, no we are not staying in a suite with butler assistance, so I can't rely on that to help us. I did ask about upgrading to one from my less-than helpful travel agent, yet was told that no can do. No upsells, no upgrades, no changes of any kind (didn't learn that until after he had my $$).

Does anyone have some advice for me??

 

TIA![/quote']

Avery`s mom, sounds as tho you have a TA like the one I USE to have.

NO LONGER :D

[Avery's mom]

Thank you to everyone who volunteered their opinions regarding my plight. After much discussion with my traveling party, we decided to do without NCL's "free" air. It's not free if it costs you in time, money for a hotel and aggravation!! We booked our own air today at times that are much, much more convenient for everyone,from our home airport, for less that NCL charged us and that will get us to the ship at 1pm. Yes, this is costing us $2700 out of pocket, however, my mom and MIL said it was worth it to not have to drive 500 miles, stay in a hotel on both ends and worry about both mobility scooters getting on the connecting flights and to the ship in time. So, the trip that was supposed to be a steal, has turned out to be a royal pain before we even get onboard.

 

Thanks to everyone for letting me vent and offering helpful advice.

[uneamie]

Over and over and over people post on these boards to NOT use Cruise Air, yet people keep doing it. I guess maybe the rates are that good. As mentioned elsewhere, going a day or two early really makes for a better vacation, if you can get the time off.

 

 

Hmm...I doubt that someone who is new to this board with only 15 post of her own would know that this information has been posted over and over and over. Many of us are regulars and some are not. We regulars are suppose to have patience and steer the newbies in the right direction not make them feel bad because they don't know what we know from coming here so often. :rolleyes:

[refman]

If you did book your arifare thru NCL, then if the plane is late, the ship will wait. If you booked it thru your TA, then hopefully it will be on time.

 

You're stressing way to much about the dinner reservations. Just see the Matre`D and he'll take care of your special needs. That's what he's there for.

 

Relax, you're going on a cruise.

 

Happy Sailing,

Monty

i`m not sure if the ship will wait or not, sometimes they will arrange to get you to the next port which would be extremely inconvienent. best advice is go in a day or two early.

[Avery's mom]

Ok.....so I admit, I have been a lurker first and a poster second. Big deal. One thing that I like about CC is that there are so many helpful people on here to help those not in the know. In fact, I have learned quite a lot from the gentle souls who deign to help a new poster. For those of you who presume to think that I have not thought of going a day or two early, think again. Long story short - My MIL has almost finished her 6 months of chemo for ovarian cancer. We didn't even think we were going to be able to go on this trip. (She has always wanted to go to Hawaii, yet just retired last August and then got sick) So, when her counts got low enough, she said go ahead and book the trip. Her doctor wanted to doublecheck her counts before we go, and the only available appointment was the day before the trip. So, while I guess the rest of us could go ahead early, we chose to accompany her when she could travel. This is her trip. The rest of us are trying to make it as comfortable as possible for her.

 

Thanks again to all who have been so kind.

[garycarla]

Glad you were able to make some changes in plans. Another hint is to go online with the airline and make YOUR OWN seat assignments ahead of time. No sense waiting to see what is left.

[Cuizer2]

Although I agree that it is a bad idea to book flights through the cruise line, I don't think that people continually saying that is going to help the orignal poster at this point, so I don't know why people keep posting that to this thread.

 

So that the next person who reads this will not make the same mistake.

[bubiesmom]

This is one of the reasons why I booked air on my own. I read the boards and wanted to be in charge of my own air. I am flying in a day early and I found a good price with the flight times I wanted. The only thing I have to worry about is December weather in Chicago (LOL)....

[Cosmopolitan]

Thank you to everyone who volunteered their opinions regarding my plight. After much discussion with my traveling party' date=' we decided to do without NCL's "free" air. It's not free if it costs you in time, money for a hotel and aggravation!! We booked our own air today at times that are much, much more convenient for everyone,from our home airport, for less that NCL charged us and that will get us to the ship at 1pm. Yes, this is costing us $2700 out of pocket, however, my mom and MIL said it was worth it to not have to drive 500 miles, stay in a hotel on both ends and worry about both mobility scooters getting on the connecting flights and to the ship in time. So, the trip that was supposed to be a steal, has turned out to be a royal pain before we even get onboard.

 

Thanks to everyone for letting me vent and offering helpful advice.[/quote']

 

Happy to hear it all worked out for you.

 

Wishing you calm seas and beautiful sunsets:)

 

You are a strong person.

[Avery's mom]

this is a question about your flight, were you able to get seats together? and I'm surprised that you got your air a month ahead of time. My TA said it would only be 10 days before. We are on the Wind on jan 10 cruise, what was your return air times.

you might get the reservations you want, because other people will be on the same flight. Not everyone will get there early.

 

Paula,

I live about 500 miles from Burbank, CA. The only air gateway that was avail. was Burbank, so we took it, and I requested that the TA put in the request for a NS flight thru the Premium Air Desk. On my 2nd call he said that there were to be no changes, in fact he said that NCL even charges $50 to add my Latitudes # to the booking after the initial call!! So, I told him that most likely NCL would route us from BUR to SFO and to request that we be re-ticketed at WHATEVER IT COST to originate out of SFO. He still said no can do. So, he said to call 30 days prior to sailing for my air assignment and see what could be done at that point. So, I called and was given the assignment of a 10:45am departure from BUR to (guess where?) SFO. Lay over for 2 hours in SFO (where I wanted to go from in the 1st place) to connect to HNL - then hope to get there on time. Oh, and I'm supposed to do this with 2 disabled women and my 3 year old. Then, we were to depart HNL at 11:40 pm, getting us into SFO, to connect to BUR at 9:50am. Then, on Christmas Eve, I would have to drive the 500 miles back home. So, upset as I was, I called United and asked if I could re-ticket with them. They said that I could -the tickets were even refundable! Yet, I would have to call my TA to make the change. TA says that NCL has to make the change. So, I call the Premium Air desk myself and talk to a nice lady who told me that if I had placed my request prior to being ticketed, that it would have been possible, yet after ticketing there are no changes, even for a fee. So, I even called American Express to dispute the air portion of the cruise - that is being worked out as we type. My TA (who hung up on me yesterday) really dropped the ball on this one. I will never use a TA again based on price alone. Especially reading about how some of you have TAs that go to bat for you and get OBC for you -I got a real goober.

[shoreguy]

Avery's mom

 

Get a new TA - ASAP, This might have been fixed with a little work and persistence on there part. Red Flag #1 you can pick up the phone and add your Latitudes number yourself no fee. No different then changing any info on your registration form except NCL has to do it.

 

Flights have been changed for good reason with a little work. I am taking the Pearl from the UK on 2 Dec. I called on Oct 27th and found out my flights and got an email with the details at 2:27pm. They had my son leaving FL early afternoon flying to Chicago, laying over, and getting to London in 14 hours. :mad:

 

I had a non stop from my local airport - perfect:)

 

2:30 - Called my PCC to work the issue and then called and asked for a supervisor in Premium Air (they book all flights not just special requests) and left voicemails.

 

3:30 - call back from premium air agreed it was not the best they could do. Since it was Friday She indicated I might not here from anyone else until Monday.

 

4:20 - call from agent with 3 other options for his flight.

 

4:36 - new email with flight info Tampa- Miami- London.

 

You may have spent $2700 in in my view only because your TA did not do all they could do. The agent in Miami has no idea of the issues you face with the assigned flights. You are just names in a hat.

 

In your case I would have even tried to leverage the access desk to help fix the fights.

 

Guests with Special Needs - accessdesk@ncl.com

 

The key is you or your TA have to get beyond the front line if you need any company to bend the rules. Even though I had checked every few days prior to the 27th to get my flight detail they said not booked yet, Checking the airline webpage I was ticketed on the Oct 16th. Not sure how you would know you have a problem to fix until after your flights are ticketed.

[7SeasLover]

I've used cruse air and I've booked my own air. I've done pre-cruise stays and also arrived the same day as sailing. In every instance I much prefer to arrive at lest 1 day before a cruise. If nothing else it gives me peace. It's awful to start one's cruise vacation with anxiety, turmoil, and frustration. I just won't do that any more.

 

I have never found cruise air to be competitive - it's merely a "convenience" for those who just want to book once and be done with it. You'll find other threads here about splitting up families because cruise air didn't get seating together (that's the pits). I had to separate from my husband on a flight from LAX to Hawaii (not a cruise flight though) and I was most disappointed.

 

Glad that you bit the bullet and booked your own. At least you'll have peace of mind albeit a lighter pocketbook.

 

Leaving out of Burbank, eh? I work next door to Bubank---I'd be happy to go in your place! :eek: (Just kidding.)

 

Bon voyae!

[shoreguy]

I have never found cruise air to be competitive - it's merely a "convenience" for those who just want to book once and be done with it. You'll find other threads here about splitting up families because cruise air didn't get seating together (that's the pits). I had to separate from my husband on a flight from LAX to Hawaii (not a cruise flight though) and I was most disappointed.

 

Glad that you bit the bullet and booked your own. At least you'll have peace of mind albeit a lighter pocketbook.

 

 

Not competitive :eek: Lets see Tampa to London, Miami to Tampa including transfer to Southampton ($75) for $320 total. I could not come close to finding one way air for $245. Check out the air fares to HI from NCL you normally can't touch them yourself.

 

Granted the routing might not be the best in some cases. I agree flying in a day or two early is the best for peace of mind. If I have to fly in the day of the cruise my first choice (if competitive) is cruise air. At least they know when you are running late. Some peace of mind.

 

In this case I would not be surprised that SF United flight is full of NCLA passengers hubbing in from all over the country. It may in fact be a full plane charter.

 

As far as splitting up families that is the result of the passenger or TA not completing their booking. NCL does not assign seats. It is up to the passenger to call or go online to pick seats, select special meals, and add FF numbers

 

Seat Assignments & Special Air Service Requests

NCL cannot confirm seat assignments. We recommend that you or your travel professional contact the airlines directly for seat assignments. Specific air service requests such as special meals or the addition of frequent flyer numbers to your airline records should be made directly to the airlines.