Airfare opinion?

[danixbanani]

I've posted before that myself and 4 girlfriends are planning on booking the March 1, 2009 sailing of the Pearl out of Miami. 2 of us are flying from NYC and the rest are flying from the Boston, MA area. We know that to be safe we SHOULD book airfare through NCL but it's about 800-1000 MORE just for airfare! I find that to be a bit ridiculous but we think its a risky game to play for early March. We don't want to miss our boat! We're considering just flying down the day before the cruise. My question is, what is everyone's opinion on airfare through NCL? Should we suck it up and do it? Or should we book on our own? We want to book soon and we're not sure what to do.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[ZoneHPH]

I've posted before that myself and 4 girlfriends are planning on booking the March 1, 2009 sailing of the Pearl out of Miami. 2 of us are flying from NYC and the rest are flying from the Boston, MA area. We know that to be safe we SHOULD book airfare through NCL but it's about 800-1000 MORE just for airfare! I find that to be a bit ridiculous but we think its a risky game to play for early March. We don't want to miss our boat! We're considering just flying down the day before the cruise. My question is, what is everyone's opinion on airfare through NCL? Should we suck it up and do it? Or should we book on our own? We want to book soon and we're not sure what to do.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

sounds like you answered your own question. fly down the day before. the later you wait for an answer from the boards those plane fares will go up. i don't think you'll have major weather issues in march. but that's just my opinion.

 

me personally...i would fly out on the last flight out after work...spend an entire day in miami...then the next morning just take your time getting there.

[mpk218]

sounds like you answered your own question. fly down the day before. the later you wait for an answer from the boards those plane fares will go up. i don't think you'll have major weather issues in march. but that's just my opinion.

 

me personally...i would fly out on the last flight out after work...spend an entire day in miami...then the next morning just take your time getting there.

 

I second !!!

[gja360]

I always go down the day before and stay overnight in Miami. This way there are no worries about bad weather and then the morning of your cruise you wake up refreshed and ready for your cruise!:)

[howard6933]

I agree with the other posters about flying down the day before the cruise.

Be sure to check out the so-called low cost airlines such as Jet Blue, Air Tran, Southwest, etc etc. Chances are that what could save over NCL

air would cover your hotel in Miami. Do your homework and you may come out way ahead of the game. Good luck!!!!!! ;)

[ZoneHPH]

oh i forgot to add...might want to price airlines to miami or fort lauderdale. FLL is not that far from miami. i think it's like 30min away? i don't recall...but the last time i cruised out of miami...that's where i flew into.

[gja360]

oh i forgot to add...might want to price airlines to miami or fort lauderdale. FLL is not that far from miami. i think it's like 30min away? i don't recall...but the last time i cruised out of miami...that's where i flew into.

Yeah I did that as well... saved a nice amount of money!

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Agreed! Fly down the day before, and stay overnight. Agree with the idea to check both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. It's what we're doing in April. I got a great rate on the Hyatt in Miami for 4 of us, but I know that some people use Priceline and get fantastic deals. Worth checking.

 

Enjoy!

[jollycruise]

Fly in a day early and book your own air. Also try as other posters have stated flying into Fort Lauderdale. Miami International Airport in a total mess and we will never fly into there again.

[blindrid]

I'm personally not a big fan of cruise line air accomodations. I want to do things on my schedule and pick my carrier. That's not even getting into potential price savings do it your self.

 

I'm not sure why people think there is better protection going through the cruise line. Just buy travel insurance and everything taken care of. We go down the day before, try to get direct and never had any problems (knock on wood)....

[Bigdog49]

I'm not sure why people think there is better protection going through the cruise line. Just buy travel insurance and everything taken care of. We go down the day before, try to get direct and never had any problems (knock on wood)....

 

Travel insurance will not get the days onboard lost back. The only time I would even consider NCL air is if I have to fly in the day of the cruise.Like others have posted - FLY IN THE DAY PRIOR.

 

Here is an example of better protection. Several years ago I was flying in a day early. Onboard my flight were over 20 passengers booked with NCL for a Norway cruise leaving that day at 4pm. 8am ontime departure so plenty of time. Not. We got to Maryland, alarm in the cockpit, back to Newark greeted by fire trucks.

 

The net we got a new plane and landed in Miami at 4:30 pm. There were 4 NCL reps at the gate hustling their passengers out of the airport and to the waiting ship. They will not always wait but with your own air they will never wait.

[ZoneHPH]

Travel insurance will not get the days onboard lost back. The only time I would even consider NCL air is if I have to fly in the day of the cruise.Like others have posted - FLY IN THE DAY PRIOR.

 

Here is an example of better protection. Several years ago I was flying in a day early. Onboard my flight were over 20 passengers booked with NCL for a Norway cruise leaving that day at 4pm. 8am ontime departure so plenty of time. Not. We got to Maryland, alarm in the cockpit, back to Newark greeted by fire trucks.

 

The net we got a new plane and landed in Miami at 4:30 pm. There were 4 NCL reps at the gate hustling their passengers out of the airport and to the waiting ship. They will not always wait but with your own air they will never wait.

 

yes...in general...it's just a risky proposition to fly on the day of sailing. plain and simple. and weather may not always be the reason.

[Impala]

We cruised on NCL out of Miami in February. We went in the night before. Even though it was a late flight, we were able to sleep in late, have some breakfast and even walked to a store to buy a 12 pack of Pepsi. We chose a Holiday Inn that had transportation from the airport. The port isn't far from the airport.

 

About Noon we took a shuttle to the port. The hotel had a schedule for it. It wasn't part of the Holiday Inn. I think we paid about $10 each. From the port back to the airport we took a taxi for abour $20 plus tip.

 

There is a Holiday Inn that has transportation to the port but I can't remember which one. If you want to check them out just go to Holiday-Inn.com

 

We always go in the day or night before just in case. I believe the cruise airfares are expensive. Even when they include transfers to and from the ship you can usually do it so much cheaper.

 

Miami is a crazy airport. You just have to be patient. It's worth it in the end.

 

If you fly on Southwest, they do not fly into Miami. The go to Fort Lauderdale. There is a shuttle between there and Miami but I don't know how much it is.

 

However you get there, have a great time.

[Globaliser]

We know that to be safe we SHOULD book airfare through NCL ...

Not sure why you think that it would be "safe" or "safer" to do this. After all, the great myths of cruise air are that the ship will wait for you if you're late, and that the cruise line will get you to the next port if you do miss the ship. It's not true (although the cruise lines and airlines often work hard to make sure that passengers are OK): see myriad posts on the Cruise Air forum about this.

[chrisbd1]

The first time I made our airline reservations, I made it for the day of our cruise. After thinking on it, I changed it to the day before. Southwest Airlines tickets were actually cheaper for a Saturday flight, than for a Sunday flight. The difference in the price was enough to justify a cheap hotel, that had a free shuttle from the airport. We also had a credit with Southwest for the difference in the ticket. That credit went toward our flight to Seattle, 5 months later. Since we'd paid for the NCL shuttle to take us from the airport to the dock, it was a simple matter for us to take the shuttle back to the airport and catch the NCL shuttle on Sunday.

[terrymtex01]

Here is what we do. We calculate how long of a drive it is from Dallas to where ever our cruise is going to port out of. If it is a one day drive, we book our flights for one day early. If it is a two day drive, we book our flights for arriving two days before the cruise. (We can get pretty much anywhere in the US that we would port out of in two days). The reason we do this is if we get to the airport and there is some problem, like the problem American Airlines had a month or so ago where they were canceling flights, we still are able to drive to the port we are leaving from and not miss our cruise. Exhausted maybe, but not sick that we missed the boat.. (no pun intended)

 

I know not every one can do that because of work, etc.. and there have been times we have only been able to fly out the day before when I really wanted us to fly out two days before, but when you can do it, it's worth it in my book.

[retired rascal]

not sure why you think it's 'safer' to book through ncl. we flew from california to miami to board the pearl. booked our own flights as we had frequent flyer miles. we went early to make sure no weather delays would mess up the trip....it made embarkation day much more relaxed and fun....ditto coming home. we stayed over the night we got off the pearl and flew home the next morning. just makes it all a longer vacation and less stressful one.:)