New Free Air Offers

[cruisekitty22]

Is this a good deal?  We would have to fly from Hartford to Florida.  But is the free air fare only for one person?

[All-ready2cruise]

It says, "2nd guest flies free" 

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-deals/choice?intcmp=pro_hp_AIRFAS1020

[ColeThornton]

Read the Terms and Conditions!

[klfrodo]

No, not a good deal.

Would never use a cruise line air promotion for domestic flights. Would consider for international flights

1 person pays regular (published) rate and the 2nd is free. (ask yourself how many times in your life has something been "free")

 

If truly interested in learning about cruiselines offer air travel, read this link. It's an old link, but is as true today as it was 10 years ago. I'm not saying that cruiseline air is all bad, just be aware and make an educated decision.

 

 

[sfaaa]

Prices have gone way up from last week. No thanks for the 'free' flight. I'll pay my own way.

[MeHeartCruising]

41 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Prices have gone way up from last week. No thanks for the 'free' flight. I'll pay my own way.

 

Depends on the cruise.  Fare prices on 2 that I have booked for Oct. 2021 are the exact same as last week.  The airfare is offered at $950 for me from Pittsburgh (to Venice, Italy).  If there were 2 of me going on the cruise, it MIGHT be a worthwhile trade to lose the 2 perks additional perks I would give up to get a second person to fly for free.  Those perks are rather unimportant to me.  But since I'm traveling solo, it's not worth me having to pay $950 more for airfare + lose 2 perks.  My biggest issue is that for international travel, I'm not going to give up my control over flights and seats for that deal.  I'm figuring I will end up paying at least $1250 for my airfare unless I get lucky.

[cwtravel]

I am looking at a November 2022 Med cruise from Athens. The fare is about $800 which if for two is not bad. I am calling to see if Premium Economy (the real type on most international airlines) or Business is available.

 

This is assuming this sailing even happens😲

[phillyguy31]

Booked for July 2022 for a med cruise. When compared to the price I already have the total increase was about 1500 for 2 people plus I loose 2 perks. Which normally wouldn't bother me but for Europe and the distance some of the cities are from the ports I might opt for the cruise line tours. If I do 4 tours that is another 200, plus my wife needs Wifi that will add another 100 since I can now upgrade it cheaply. Plus the add on of wanting to fly in early. This one doesn't pay to change. Between now and the final payment there will be dozens of various offers...I'll wait.

[NCMtnBoys]

We did switch to this offer yesterday for a Med cruise departing Barcelona and ending in Venice late next September into October. Air prices for that timeframe aren't available yet, however I did a mock air booking as close to our travel dates as I could get and found air to be just over $1000 per person from CLT to BCN and VCE to CLT.  The BOGO air price through the cruise line was $899 for person 1 and $0 for person 2. No taxes or fees or anything for person 2. We also paid a $50 deviation fee to be able to select our travel dates because we know we want to arrive in Barcelona one day early and stay one night in Venice at the end of the cruise. Our cruise fare was $328 higher per person as well, and we did lose two perks, which is not a big deal to me. We had the beverage package as one of our perks and the gratuities for that were $396 for two. We're not big drinkers so eliminating that was fine for us, as we probably really wouldn't have benefitted much from it anyway. We kept the specialty dining and $50 per port shore excursion credit. We were also able to retain our Caesar's Rewards 20% discount. In the end, we're paying around $1100 ($550 per person) more than what we had booked to get in to this BOGO air promotion, but that is probably about half of what we'd have to spend for two round trip airfares on our own. This will be our first time using cruise air and I was pleasantly surprised at their reasonable air price for person 1. I figured they'd charge an outrageous amount for person 1 to make up for the "free" air for person 2.

 

Edited October 14, 2020 by NCMtnBoys

[Cruise4Twos]

On 10/13/2020 at 4:17 PM, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Depends on the cruise.  Fare prices on 2 that I have booked for Oct. 2021 are the exact same as last week.  The airfare is offered at $950 for me from Pittsburgh (to Venice, Italy).  If there were 2 of me going on the cruise, it MIGHT be a worthwhile trade to lose the 2 perks additional perks I would give up to get a second person to fly for free.  Those perks are rather unimportant to me.  But since I'm traveling solo, it's not worth me having to pay $950 more for airfare + lose 2 perks.  My biggest issue is that for international travel, I'm not going to give up my control over flights and seats for that deal.  I'm figuring I will end up paying at least $1250 for my airfare unless I get lucky.

As an FYI you can pick your seat(s) just not the flight(s). Once you get the airline confirmation code, go into the airline's website in order to pick your seat.

[klfrodo]

1 hour ago, Cruise4Twos said:

As an FYI you can pick your seat(s) just not the flight(s). Once you get the airline confirmation code, go into the airline's website in order to pick your seat.

That's not a guarantee. Depends on how the ticket fares were negotiated.

Most of the time? Yes. To imply all of the time on consolidator tickets is less than true.

And 100% of the time, selected seats are not guaranteed no matter who you buy the tickets from.

Edited October 14, 2020 by klfrodo

[DaCruiseBug]

NCL is more of a joke now than ever before. Their prices are just garbage. Last week I booked an AquaClass (spa balcony) cabin on the Celebrity Apex (brand new ship) in April for $2,200 out the door for 2 people with a beverage package. The cheapest 7 day Caribbean sailing in a standard balcony on NCL runs close to $3,000. You'd be crazy to pay those prices for NCL quality when the competition offers much more for substantially less.

[Cruise4Twos]

Pricing is dependent on the type of cruise. Yes their Caribbean cruises seem to be overpriced. Although many of their overseas cruises are at great prices and they have itineraries that I can't find on the other general (not premium) cruise lines.

Also with NCL I trust what I can see. For this new promotion, they're still offering the past guest offer but they've increased the cruise pricing. The problem with the airfare is that the cruises I've booked are so far in the future that airfare pricing hasn't been determined. I'm not going to lock into a deal without knowing the price. I saw what they did when offering balcony at at oceanview prices. They just raised the price of the oceanview to be the same price as the balcony. Without seeing prices they could just raise the price for 1 ticket to what it would cost for 2 tickets.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Cruise4Twos
added content

[MeHeartCruising]

2 hours ago, Cruise4Twos said:

Pricing is dependent on the type of cruise. Yes their Caribbean cruises seem to be overpriced. Although many of their overseas cruises are at great prices and they have itineraries that I can't find on the other general (not premium) cruise lines.

Also with NCL I trust what I can see. For this new promotion, they're still offering the past guest offer but they've increased the cruise pricing. The problem with the airfare is that the cruises I've booked are so far in the future that airfare pricing hasn't been determined. I'm not going to lock into a deal without knowing the price. I saw what they did when offering balcony at at oceanview prices. They just raised the price of the oceanview to be the same price as the balcony. Without seeing prices they could just raise the price for 1 ticket to what it would cost for 2 tickets.

 

I don't follow you.  On this current promotion, during the cruise booking process, you select your air departure city and the amount of the airfare is shown to you before your book.  For my October 2021 cruise out of Venice, they would charge me $950 for the roundtrip airfare.  I'm solo, but if there were 2 going, it would be 2 for $950 in airfare (hence the value).  I don't think they can/will change that airfare price at a later date for those booking with these current terms.  Or Did I misunderstand you?

[Cruise4Twos]

2 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

I don't follow you.  On this current promotion, during the cruise booking process, you select your air departure city and the amount of the airfare is shown to you before your book.  For my October 2021 cruise out of Venice, they would charge me $950 for the roundtrip airfare.  I'm solo, but if there were 2 going, it would be 2 for $950 in airfare (hence the value).  I don't think they can/will change that airfare price at a later date for those booking with these current terms.  Or Did I misunderstand you?

You did misunderstand me but, it's irrelevant now. The NCL rep I talked to yesterday said that there wasn't airfare pricing because they were too far out. She must have been misinformed because there's pricing in the system now. They also changed the past guest offer from 15% off and an extra point per day to just and extra point per day so my past deal without airfare is a better deal.

[DaCruiseBug]

1 hour ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

I don't follow you.  On this current promotion, during the cruise booking process, you select your air departure city and the amount of the airfare is shown to you before your book.  For my October 2021 cruise out of Venice, they would charge me $950 for the roundtrip airfare.  I'm solo, but if there were 2 going, it would be 2 for $950 in airfare (hence the value).  I don't think they can/will change that airfare price at a later date for those booking with these current terms.  Or Did I misunderstand you?

 

Not sure where you're flying from but in October a flight from the east coast to Italy generally costs about $500-600 per person. So the savings are minimal plus you'd get to choose exactly which flight you're on.

Edited October 15, 2020 by DaCruiseBug

[murcor]

6 hours ago, Cruise4Twos said:They also changed the past guest offer from 15% off and an extra point per day to just and extra point per day so my past deal without airfare is a better deal.

Noooo.........I thought the past guest offer of 15% off was for the month of October. 
Im disappointed I missed it 

[Sailing12Away]

I've gotten lucky with their airfare promotions in the past, with free flights for both of us from JFK to San Juan. Just repriced the 3 cruises I have booked for April 21, Oct 21 and May 22 - I'm still ahead of the game on each cruise by ~$2000 and would be giving up my 5 perks in exchange for just 2 perks and discounted air. 

 

So for me, this new promotion is worse than what I booked at originally. Other times it has been better, so it all depends. Just confirms that I need to keep booking early and price checking often.

 

I'm still bitter about my cancelled New Zealand cruise, that was the deal of the century. I booked that 2 years in advance and for 2 of us in a mini suite with included air from JFK to AUK, then back home from SYD to JFK was less than $4,000 total for a 10 night cruise with all 5 perks. The airfare alone is more than half that price. 

[thepla]

Not sure if this is what is said.

 

I have trip booked 5 day Seattle to Alaska. It seemed great as cruise fare was same..

 

EXCEPT quoted fare that was same is now sail away fare. My cabin is $150 per person more. Air said 99.50 but was 199 when I clicked through so it is buy one get on but they quote average based on two.

 

In my case it seems to be $500 more and lose two perks to get "free" air ORD-SEA which may or may not be a better deal but this cruise is many months in advance. Not worth it to me.

[Jerseygich]

On 10/13/2020 at 10:00 AM, klfrodo said:

No, not a good deal.

Would never use a cruise line air promotion for domestic flights. Would consider for international flights

1 person pays regular (published) rate and the 2nd is free. (ask yourself how many times in your life has something been "free")

 

If truly interested in learning about cruiselines offer air travel, read this link. It's an old link, but is as true today as it was 10 years ago. I'm not saying that cruiseline air is all bad, just be aware and make an educated decision.

 

 

 

[Jerseygich]

Thanks. I was just looking for this kind of info

[Jerseygich]

On 10/14/2020 at 4:50 PM, phillyguy31 said:

Booked for July 2022 for a med cruise. When compared to the price I already have the total increase was about 1500 for 2 people plus I loose 2 perks. Which normally wouldn't bother me but for Europe and the distance some of the cities are from the ports I might opt for the cruise line tours. If I do 4 tours that is another 200, plus my wife needs Wifi that will add another 100 since I can now upgrade it cheaply. Plus the add on of wanting to fly in early. This one doesn't pay to change. Between now and the final payment there will be dozens of various offers...I'll 

Edited October 29, 2020 by Jerseygich

[Jerseygich]

On 10/14/2020 at 4:50 PM, phillyguy31 said:

Booked for July 2022 for a med cruise. When compared to the price I already have the total increase was about 1500 for 2 people plus I loose 2 perks. Which normally wouldn't bother me but for Europe and the distance some of the cities are from the ports I might opt for the cruise line tours. If I do 4 tours that is another 200, plus my wife needs Wifi that will add another 100 since I can now upgrade it cheaply. Plus the add on of wanting to fly in early. This one doesn't pay to change. Between now and the final payment there will be dozens of various offers...I'll wait.

Did the $1500 increase include the airfare?

[phillyguy31]

When I added it up it came up to about 1500 difference including air, however I just looked again and it is now higher.