Airfare with cruise package

[TNcruising02]

I am looking into a cruise on NCL that's a 7-Day Western Mediterranean from Rome.  I live in Tennessee. As part of the perks, a reduced rate airfare is included.  I priced it out and Norwegian lists the airfare as only $999 per person. That is less expensive by $500 to $600 than if I were to book my own tickets.

Can someone explain how this works?  I've never flown overseas, but I know that my husband will not be comfortable in a seat if it is like a regular economy airline seat.  When we fly, we always upgrade the seats to comfort or an exit row.  I assume the seats that Norwegian will purchase will be economy and that they are probably the same size as most airlines.  Will we have any option to upgrade to seats with more leg room?

Also, how long before the cruise will let us know when we will fly?  Do they normally fly people out two days before sailing if flying them from the US to Rome?  Thanks for any information.  My sister-in-law just asked me if my husband and I would like to join them on a cruise this September. It would definitely be a dream cruise for me.

Edited April 9, 2019 by TNcruising02

[Pduaime]

We booked the reduced airfare with our Panama Canal cruise out of Miami next February.  We booked with a travel agent who told us we would get our flight assignments about 60 days prior and, at that time, she would take are of contacting the airline to get us seat assignments.  I'm sure we'll end up having a connection, which will make our flights should only be 2-3 hours, so we probably won't bother to upgrade our seats.   We paid an extra $25 for an "air deviation" to fly out the day before our flight.  I think I might have read somewhere that we could have gone up to two days before for the same $25, but I'm not positive.   

[Nola26]

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

I am looking into a cruise on NCL that's a 7-Day Western Mediterranean from Rome.  I live in Tennessee. As part of the perks, a reduced rate airfare is included.  I priced it out and Norwegian lists the airfare as only $999 per person. That is less expensive by $500 to $600 than if I were to book my own tickets.

Can someone explain how this works?  I've never flown overseas, but I know that my husband will not be comfortable in a seat if it is like a regular economy airline seat.  When we fly, we always upgrade the seats to comfort or an exit row.  I assume the seats that Norwegian will purchase will be economy and that they are probably the same size as most airlines.  Will we have any option to upgrade to seats with more leg room?

Also, how long before the cruise will let us know when we will fly?  Do they normally fly people out two days before sailing if flying them from the US to Rome?  Thanks for any information.  My sister-in-law just asked me if my husband and I would like to join them on a cruise this September. It would definitely be a dream cruise for me.

NCL will book your flights. Seat selections are made with the airline and any upgrade fees will be paid directly to the airline. 

 

As for the airfare try nearby airports to see if your rate can be even lower. We are driving an hour from home and saving $400pp on the airfare. We are on the east coast so we have more options. 

 

I also would not hesitate to call NCL to book. This is a pricey trip so you'll want to make sure you understand the details. 

 

Our Mediterranean cruise starts in Barcelona and we are really excited, even 5 months out.

[TNcruising02]

Thanks for the advice.  I will definitely check nearby airports as it is always more expensive to fly out of the closest one.  Taking a trip like this makes me nervous because it is much more complicated than one leaving from a US port.  How many days early are you going to leave for your trip?  When I cruise in the US, I always fly to the port a day before the trip.  For a trip that leaves outside of the country, I have no clue.  

It makes me lean towards using NCL's airline, but I am nervous that I won't have an opportunity to upgrade to seats with more leg room.  My husband would not be happy with a regular seat on that long of a flight. He is very tall and regular seats are miserable, especially when the person in front of him reclines.

That is a good idea about calling directly.

I hope you have fun on your trip!  Going on a Mediterranean cruise has always been a dream of mine.

[helpwanted]

We booked the air thru NCL for our Mediterranean cruise in April.  We fly out of Newark night before to Rome on United.   We were only able to upgrade to Premium Economy due to NCL buying bulk airfare.

[Nola26]

18 minutes ago, helpwanted said:

We booked the air thru NCL for our Mediterranean cruise in April.  We fly out of Newark night before to Rome on United.   We were only able to upgrade to Premium Economy due to NCL buying bulk airfare.

Thanks, we're flying from Newark to Barcelona in August. Thanks for the  news on United I would be fine with that upgrade. 

[helpwanted]

Your welcome.  We are also booked on British Airways home with layover in Heathrow

[TNcruising02]

47 minutes ago, helpwanted said:

We booked the air thru NCL for our Mediterranean cruise in April.  We fly out of Newark night before to Rome on United.   We were only able to upgrade to Premium Economy due to NCL buying bulk airfare.

Thank you.  How is the leg room in premium economy?

[Laszlo]

16 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Thank you.  How is the leg room in premium economy?

On Lufthansa the premium economy gives you another 4 inches of room which is a make or break with me being 6'3. I'm not sure about other airlines but these seats only make up about 5% of the total seats onboard an Airbus A350 which is largely used for long haul flights from the US to Europe

 

I would find out exactly what you are flying including the type of aircraft and go to seat guru to see what your options are. I couldn't upgrade coming back from Croatia last year and I have to say the "Economy" seats are terrible if your a tall or "Large" person. The only thing that saved me was not having a person in the seat next to me

 

Personally I would fly in at least 2 days before the cruise.

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2019 by Laszlo

[TNcruising02]

1 minute ago, Laszlo said:

On Lufthansa the premium economy gives you another 4 inches of room which is a make or break with me being 6'3. I'm not sure about other airlines but this seats only make up about 5% of the total seats onboard an Airbus A350 which is largely used for long haul flights from the US to Europe

Thank you for this information.  I might need to book the airline tickets myself and not risk being able to upgrade after NCL books the tickets.  My husband is also 6'3" and he would not be happy if we couldn't get seats with the extra leg room. It is a make or break deal for him too on such a long flight.

How many days is advance of a cruise do people usually feel comfortable booking in the case of a cruise that requires flying overseas?  Do people book their return tickets on the day the cruise returns?

[Hampton99]

We usually fly in at least 2 days in advance.  We find we need the time to adjust to the time difference and the fact that most flights from the US to Rome are overnight which is also an interruption is sleep schedule.  I would recommend premium economy on most airlines, we purchased ours from Boston via British airways for $1100 for August.  You might want to try booking on a US carrier, jetblue, Southwest, delta, to an east coast international airport and separately booking an international flight.  Might save some money.

[Laszlo]

14 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Thank you for this information.  I might need to book the airline tickets myself and not risk being able to upgrade after NCL books the tickets.  My husband is also 6'3" and he would not be happy if we couldn't get seats with the extra leg room. It is a make or break deal for him too on such a long flight.

How many days is advance of a cruise do people usually feel comfortable booking in the case of a cruise that requires flying overseas?  Do people book their return tickets on the day the cruise returns?

Like I said I would give yourself two full days. This will enable you to catch up on sleep and maybe see some some. Your flight leaving for Europe will leaving anytime between 7-10pm depending what you fly. Good luck trying to get some decent sleep. I'm assuming you'll be flying in from TN to Newark or JFK that afternoon. Coming back a lot of flights leave late morning early afternoon. So leaving the ship and getting your flight is not a big deal

 

You can find decent prices. My wife and I flew last June to Croatia from Newark via Frankfurt for a total of $1500 round trip for the two of us. We had a 4 hour layover in Frankfurt, for a one hour layover the price was another $1000

Edited April 9, 2019 by Laszlo

[TNcruising02]

1 minute ago, Hampton99 said:

We usually fly in at least 2 days in advance.  We find we need the time to adjust to the time difference and the fact that most flights from the US to Rome are overnight which is also an interruption is sleep schedule.  I would recommend premium economy on most airlines, we purchased ours from Boston via British airways for $1100 for August.  You might want to try booking on a US carrier, jetblue, Southwest, delta, to an east coast international airport and separately booking an international flight.  Might save some money.

Those are great suggestions.  When I priced regular seats on Expedia, just to get an idea of the cost of basic seats, they came to $1500 to $1600 per seat.  I don't know how much that price will fluctuate.  I am going to price it like you are suggesting.  I have never flown overseas, so  this is all new to me and makes me a bit nervous.  I am definitely out of my comfort level!  The thing I have going for me is that my brother and his wife will be on this cruise and they have been overseas many times.

[Laszlo]

6 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Those are great suggestions.  When I priced regular seats on Expedia, just to get an idea of the cost of basic seats, they came to $1500 to $1600 per seat.  I don't know how much that price will fluctuate.  I am going to price it like you are suggesting.  I have never flown overseas, so  this is all new to me and makes me a bit nervous.  I am definitely out of my comfort level!  The thing I have going for me is that my brother and his wife will be on this cruise and they have been overseas many times.

 

Download the "Hopper" App. I have found it has given us some great prices and booking options. Ironically our last booking (direct) with Lufthansa was the cheapest way to go. I would also check with your local travel person. They sometimes have deals you can't normally get. Their can be a huge price difference by going with 1 stop instead of non stop. 

[TNcruising02]

Thank you, Laszio.  Your advice is very helpful.

[Nola26]

I called today and changed our departure so we'll arrive a day ahead. We now have the opportunity to experience Barcelona; excited. Now I have to figure out our hotel situation. 

 

By the way we cancelled the NCL transfer since we are not going from plane to ship. We put that money towards the deviation fee so our price is exactly the same. By policy we could have made it 2 days, but I cannot spare that time from work and don't want the extra expenses of another day in Barcelona.