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1 hour ago, SailorMan20 said:

So I got reduced air for My cruise in December of 2020 on The NCL Encore. I will be flying to Miami from Little Rock. I am  wondering what Airline NCL uses?

Based on what I've read in other posts NCL uses American, Delta, Air Canada and Alaska for sure.  I've seen they don't use Southwest or United.  Don't know about any others.

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On 11/25/2018 at 8:44 AM, Markanddonna said:

I called today to inquire about the offer's flexibility. I was told that NCL airfare could flex perhaps two or three days before or after. You aren't told about the details of your flight until about 60 days before the cruise. So, if you are flexible and think it is a good deal, it might be an okay choice. 

Our flights are already available and we are more than 3 months out. I am not very happy at all. Our TA is working on a better schedule for us. We leave here at 5am which means we have to be picked up by about 3:30am or no later than 3:45 or spend the night at the hotel near our airport. Coming home we are not scheduled to leave MIA until about 4pm and will get to our final destination about midnight I think. To add to all this, we are on a different airline than our friends who are traveling with us. They have great flight times as well 

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On 7/3/2019 at 1:12 PM, jbethel11 said:

Apologies to bump this thread, however I am confused. How much are the baggage fees for NCL's free at sea? Am I only allowed to bring a carry-on and personal item, and nothing else?

NCL doesn't determine baggage fees, that's all dictated by the airlines. It will depend on the airline they book you with. Most allow a carry on and personal item, then you pay $30-40 for each checked bag.

On 7/3/2019 at 1:50 PM, SailorMan20 said:

So I got reduced air for My cruise in December of 2020 on The NCL Encore. I will be flying to Miami from Little Rock. I am  wondering what Airline NCL uses?

I was booked on American my first time with NCL handling the flights, and will be on Alaskan when I go to Hawaii in a few weeks (also booked by them).

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23 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

To add to all this, we are on a different airline than our friends who are traveling with us. They have great flight times as well 

What times were you hoping to get? They have to get you in early to ensure you make the ship, and typically won't fly you home until after noon to account for delays on the back end.

 

Is your friends reservation linked to yours? Are they too doing the free air promo? If not, I'm not sure why you would expect NCL to know you wanted to travel with them.

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1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

What times were you hoping to get? They have to get you in early to ensure you make the ship, and typically won't fly you home until after noon to account for delays on the back end.

 

Is your friends reservation linked to yours? Are they too doing the free air promo? If not, I'm not sure why you would expect NCL to know you wanted to travel with them.

ok, to answer your questions, yes, the reservations are linked together and yes, both include NCL's air promo. Oh course we are aware we have to get an early flight. I am not arguing, but as a frequent cruiser and a parent of two retired air line employees, I pretty much realize how early we have to leave, but we do not have to leave at 5am. Even 7 would get us there in plenty of time.

 

Now for the good news: our wonderful TA was able to get us on the same flight with our friends. We will be departing XNA at just past 6am. Coming home is still up in the air. Our TA is trying to get that one adjusted as well. Life is good and most things do work out. 

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16 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

ok, to answer your questions, yes, the reservations are linked together and yes, both include NCL's air promo. Oh course we are aware we have to get an early flight. I am not arguing, but as a frequent cruiser and a parent of two retired air line employees, I pretty much realize how early we have to leave, but we do not have to leave at 5am. Even 7 would get us there in plenty of time.

 

Now for the good news: our wonderful TA was able to get us on the same flight with our friends. We will be departing XNA at just past 6am. Coming home is still up in the air. Our TA is trying to get that one adjusted as well. Life is good and most things do work out. 

After 2 hours on the the phone she was able to get up on the same flight (Delta) coming home with our friend. The reason it was so important to us was our friend's husband is driving us to the airport and if we were on flights leaving at different times we would have to drive ourselves or pay a taxi. Now we are all set. She did play on NCLs sympathy. She told them we were elderly which is true and we were Plat plus...It worked. I guess she could have thrown in stock holders as well 😉

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I just booked a sailing on the Bliss roundtrip Seattle.

 

Airfare from NYC would have been $305 at the absolutely lowest, and the fare isn't flexible at all- no changes even with fees.  I would have to pay at least $100 more for that flexibility, which I was worried about after sailing the Epic in February that arrived in Orlando late enough to miss my flight.  With the Reduced Airfare promo, NCL charged me $199 for JFK-SEA round trip, and an additional $25 to arrive 2 days early so I can attend a friend's baby shower.  I'm happy with this rate since its obviously a pretty decent savings on what I expected to pay just to get there for the baby shower.  I'm 65 days out, so should receive itinerary any day now.  So far, I'm pretty pleased, so lets just see what itinerary I get!

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  • 3 weeks later...

We are scheduled to take Caribbean cruise out of Miami in August booked late roughly two weeks ago. Accepted all free perks, Airfare included. Not really impressed....

 

Flying from Charlotte, NC scheduled to arrive Miami. 19 days out. Received following itinerary information. Leave CLT 7:30 am. Arrival time Miami 9:30 AM. Ship departure as expected 4pm. Not really worried about that as it seems like there is plenty of time to get to ship (with some wiggle room for delays). 

 

Real heartache is return home on Sunday. Ship scheduled to dock around 7 AM..... departing flight from Miami scheduled for 10:50 PM to Atlanta with 2.5 hour layover. Final arrival time Charlotte - Monday morning 5:50 AM. We can drive from Miami to Charlotte in about 12 hours. Don't see the point in flights taking almost 24 hours. Especially since Charlotte is an AA hub and there are flights to and from Miami virtually every hour.

 

Called immediately upon receiving itinerary to see if schedule could be changed. "No, sorry. All bookings are final". Not terribly upset by this as I was completely aware of warnings when booking. Just didn't expect scheduling outcome to be quite this ludicrous.

 

To add insult to injury, called NCL to upgrade to next highest suite two days after making reservation. Quoted the expected additional per person cost PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $600.00 because upgrade would not include airfare perk. ????? 

 

In the end have used frequent flier miles to travel back on our schedule. Never using airfare perk again.

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24 minutes ago, HerrTrigger said:

To add insult to injury, called NCL to upgrade to next highest suite two days after making reservation. Quoted the expected additional per person cost PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $600.00 because upgrade would not include airfare perk. ????? 

After a certain date (I believe 45 days), the airfare perk disappears, so given you booked roughly 2 weeks ago, you just made the cutoff period. 

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jbethel11,

 

You are right after a certain date the airfare perk does disappear. Which is exactly what happened in the this case.

 

All I was trying to say with above comment is that the airfare had already been paid when original reservation was made two days prior to looking at change in cabin/stateroom. For the sake of discussion let's say the perk value is built into the cost of the room (nothing is really free). Then that same value is built into any room as two days prior both cabins/suites were offering the  same perk. It was already paid. So my question is, if rooms did not drop in price over those two days (which they did not) why would I now need to pay for a perk I already paid for? There is was no change in the cost of the perk or the cost of the cabin.

 

To make this even more interesting, when told there would be an additional charge of $600.00 to keep the perk, I requested to just drop the perk as it was not worth $600.00 to me. I could get there much cheaper than that. Perhaps there is a flaw in my logic but if I have to pay for a perk, I should be able to decline it. NCL response was, no cannot drop perk as it has already been booked and paid for. 

 

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25 minutes ago, HerrTrigger said:

NCL response was, no cannot drop perk as it has already been booked and paid for. 

Which further supports your claim here:

25 minutes ago, HerrTrigger said:

For the sake of discussion let's say the perk value is built into the cost of the room (nothing is really free). Then that same value is built into any room as two days prior both cabins/suites were offering the  same perk. It was already paid.

 

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On 11/23/2018 at 2:33 PM, HeroG said:

 

>I was quoted an airfare of $365 plus $77 transfers from Montreal to San Juan.  I don’t think I could ever come close to >beating that price on my own.  It is very risky flying in the same day but they are taking all the risks.  If I miss the ship sure I >won’t be happy but then it’s their responsibility to get me to the next port.

Alas, NCL is not "taking all the risks" when they book the airfare on this deal. I missed my connecting flight due to a 4 hour weather day, and missed embarking in Barcelona a few weeks ago. I met the ship in Naples, but NCL was absolutely no help (and they did nothing to get me to the next port), even though they did the flights. I "saved" by doing the cruise air, but not at all worth it from my opinion.  

Edited by drstats
misqoute
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We used the airfare option last April sailing out of New Orleans. We flew in 2 days early. We were very happy with the flight, transfers, and hotel. Every thing went very smoothly. We are booked next year sailing out of Rome, and we have the same set up; flight in 2 days prior, transfers, and hotel. We are hoping for the best after reading some of the comments. 

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I have a linked reservation with my son and DIL, and we have connecting rooms. When we booked the reservation with reduced air, NCL gave us separate flights. I need to travel with my son & DIL due to hearing problems and mobility issues. NCL would not change it. I asked what about teens who are connected to their parent's room, are they given a separate flight? Pam in reservations told me, "No, not for teens."  So, it is at their discretion who gets put together and who doesn't, which is discrimination. The air program is a lure, and it's not worth the gamble of finding out so close to your cruise that you can't travel together, and that it's too late for a refund. They really need to work on this "promo". A travel agent just did an NCL Webinar that said you can add "travel with" to your air request, and Pam in NCL reservations told me there is no such thing, although it's clearly stated on the Webinar (see below).  And please don't tell me I can book my own air.... I'm doing this now.

Travel With AIR Webinar.png

Edited by JaysMom2
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On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 8:33 PM, JaysMom2 said:

I have a linked reservation with my son and DIL, and we have connecting rooms. When we booked the reservation with reduced air, NCL gave us separate flights. I need to travel with my son & DIL due to hearing problems and mobility issues. NCL would not change it. I asked what about teens who are connected to their parent's room, are they given a separate flight? ".

 

The website says all guests on the same reservation, from the same airport, will be on the same flight.   Is it considered a different reservation since they are different cabins?  

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53 minutes ago, DeBlonde1 said:

 

The website says all guests on the same reservation, from the same airport, will be on the same flight.   Is it considered a different reservation since they are different cabins?  

 

I was told that a reservation is one cabin, and doesn't include connecting rooms. "On the same reservation" means you're all in the same room. I'm in a connecting cabin with my son and DIL, and we have the "travel with air" clause entered into our combined reservation. My son & DIL are on a flight together and I have a different one. I asked if I could swap flights with one of them since I can't travel alone, and was told by Pam in reservations, "No you can't, you would have to switch rooms with one of them and that would be a cancellation and then a new reservation." I asked what if teens have a connecting room with their parents, are you going to give them a separate flight? She said, "Of course we wouldn't separate teens from their parents." My question then: why is NCL discriminating against disabled, elderly, and any other guests who are also in a connecting room? Any connecting room should apply to all.

Edited by JaysMom2
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39 minutes ago, JaysMom2 said:

 

I was told that a reservation is one cabin, and doesn't include connecting rooms. "On the same reservation" means you're all in the same room. I'm in a connecting cabin with my son and DIL, and we have the "travel with air" clause entered into our combined reservation. My son & DIL are on a flight together and I have a different one. I asked if I could swap flights with one of them since I can't travel alone, and was told by Pam in reservations, "No you can't, you would have to switch rooms with one of them and that would be a cancellation and then a new reservation." I asked what if teens have a connecting room with their parents, are you going to give them a separate flight? She said, "Of course we wouldn't separate teens from their parents." My question then: why is NCL discriminating against disabled, elderly, and any other guests who are also in a connecting room? Any connecting room should apply to all.

Call back and ask for a supervisor. If she won't help you is it possible for you to just forget about the free air

and book flights with your son and DIL yourself? I know it is an expensive alternative and I wouldn't be too happy doing it

but if forced to I would.

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46 minutes ago, Peachypooh said:

Call back and ask for a supervisor. If she won't help you is it possible for you to just forget about the free air

and book flights with your son and DIL yourself? I know it is an expensive alternative and I wouldn't be too happy doing it

but if forced to I would.

Unfortunately, supervisors are no help in this matter. Of course we can all book our own air. But, since NCL is offering free/reduced air in order to lure customers, it should work for everyone who chooses a cruise offering it. We're not a huge group asking to fly together. We're 3 people in 2 connecting rooms.

Edited by JaysMom2
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I have used the free air perk a few times.  Getting someone from premium air to respond has been impossible.  As someone else said, after 30minutes or so, I give up.  Sent numerous emails to premium air and they never responded - I had wanted to delay my flight home so that I could take a NCL-offered post-cruise excursion. 

 

If you actually get to talk to a human, you also have to take what they tell you with a grain of salt.  I sometimes return to a different airport but was told that NCL doesn't allow that.  Wrong, they do, as I have done it on more than one occasion.  So I've found it best to work with a TA in order to cut through the red tape - they seem to be able to talk to someone who actually knows how things work (and I get extra perks through the TA!)

 

On my last cruise, I didn't get my flight information until about 45 days prior to sailing.  It finally showed up after sending yet another email to premium air asking if anybody was alive and reading emails - still no response, but e-docs finally showed up the following day.

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Now we're thinking of going 1 day ahead of the cruise. Even if they put us together and gave us either one of the present flights, we wouldn't get to Tampa until 12:30 pm on one, and 3 pm on the other. Sonya in the air dept told me that if we request a "deviation" to arrive 1-2 days early, it's $25 per person and we'll be on the same flight, but I have to do it through reservations. I'm thinking I might go that route. We were first in line on one cruise, and boy, was that nice, exploring the near-empty ship!

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On 1/27/2019 at 12:39 PM, hollytown said:

I will never book my airfare thru ncl again.  Even if it is free. I just posted a comment on how to file a formal complaint that tells my ordeal with booking air thru them. As far as the transfers everyone is saying they've been quoted, I was told that our transfers were free with the airfare. That was completely incorrect. We were charged $46 each way per person. This was on a pride of America sailing.

I just went through an ordeal with NCL on the "free airfair" also. I will think very hard about using it again. The reps from the "premium" air group are nice, but can't do anything. The supervisors are rude.

 

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39 minutes ago, robnmo said:

I just went through an ordeal with NCL on the "free airfair" also. I will think very hard about using it again. The reps from the "premium" air group are nice, but can't do anything. The supervisors are rude.

 

I had the same experience. The "free air" is good for 2 people reserving one room. Add one more room for a family member, and you're out of luck.

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Exactly. My wife and I are cruising with our children, 16 and 13 and my 75 yr old mother-in-law.

One cabin for us and the other cabin for our children and their grandmother.

They booked our return trip at different airports. I may have had this issue taken care of. We just need to check the edocs.

Not a great experience.

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20 hours ago, robnmo said:

Exactly. My wife and I are cruising with our children, 16 and 13 and my 75 yr old mother-in-law.

One cabin for us and the other cabin for our children and their grandmother.

They booked our return trip at different airports. I may have had this issue taken care of. We just need to check the edocs.

Not a great experience.

 

I know, I'm biting my nails over this issue. It's totally ruining the anticipation I have for the cruise.

 

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