Pros and Cons of using NCL air to Tahiti

[spookey]

We are booked on the 12 day NCL French Polynesia/Hawaii Cruise and was wondering if anyone had good or bad experiences with using the flights.  Its quite cheap.

[tony s]

NCL flights in past haver been good. Also if you miss the boat due to plane late arrival,they are on the hook to get you there.

[jebhoward3]

A long time ago in 1993 my DH and I took a cruise Tahiti to Hawaii on Princess Cruise Lines and it was a chartered flight from LA to Tahiti.  I know it was a long time ago and a different cruise line - just letting you  know it might be a chartered flight that they put you on.  Our flight was very nice.

[njkate]

I've never taken NCL air BUT the price was way to good for me flying from Savannah to pass up. Just doing a mock air booking as far out as I could because cruise is too far out I saved $2500, that more then enough covers hotel and a tad of sight seeing in Honolulu as I'm flying in 2 days prior. My cruise is Honolulu to Tahiti. Plus, my cruise is May 2022 and if something happened that NCL cancels the cruise I would be totally refunded and not have to deal with any airline

[jbcallender]

When we booked for last year, which was cancelled, the connecting flights were all to be named airlines, Delta and American and LAX to Tahiti was Air Tahiti on 787 aircraft. You could upgrade to business class and first class if available and you wished to do so.  I rebooked for 2022 and took the air again with NCL.

  

[dumbth]

Wow, that is surprising they revived this trip, which I had reserved twice before. It omits the Marquesas now and does things in a bit odd order. Arghh, now to wrestle with temptation, but thanks for the heads up.

[Named-Tawny]

Right now, the BIG advantage of booking air through the cruiselines is that if they cancel the cruise, you don't need to worry about your flights.

If you book flights on your own, and the cruise gets canceled, eg, 6 months out, you have to deal with the airline's cancellation policies.

[anyman]

On 2/11/2021 at 9:09 AM, spookey said:

We are booked on the 12 day NCL French Polynesia/Hawaii Cruise and was wondering if anyone had good or bad experiences with using the flights.  Its quite cheap.

 

Hope not anything bad, cause we're booked on the 11/14/2022 Cruise out of Tahiti, and NCL is flying us there.

 

Al

[njkate]

13 hours ago, Named-Tawny said:

Right now, the BIG advantage of booking air through the cruiselines is that if they cancel the cruise, you don't need to worry about your flights.

If you book flights on your own, and the cruise gets canceled, eg, 6 months out, you have to deal with the airline's cancellation policies.

That above and the pricing is why I took NCL air on this cruise. I'm Hawaii to Tahiti

[julig22]

On 2/11/2021 at 6:56 AM, jebhoward3 said:

A long time ago in 1993 my DH and I took a cruise Tahiti to Hawaii on Princess Cruise Lines and it was a chartered flight from LA to Tahiti.  I know it was a long time ago and a different cruise line - just letting you  know it might be a chartered flight that they put you on.  Our flight was very nice.

I was scheduled to fly to Tahiti last March.  Sadly it was the first of many cancelled cruises.  But it was a charter that got in very early.  From the advance information we were given, it appears that they set up a tent where you can leave your luggage.   Shuttle doesn't leave for several hours but you can spend the time at the open-air market.

[spookey]

I've been told by my PCC that you can't do air deviation to Tahiti.  Anyone else aware of this.  Would like to go in a day or two early but was told that I could not.

[julig22]

10 minutes ago, spookey said:

I've been told by my PCC that you can't do air deviation to Tahiti.  Anyone else aware of this.  Would like to go in a day or two early but was told that I could not.

Since they often do charters, that makes sense.

[dumbth]

4 hours ago, spookey said:

I've been told by my PCC that you can't do air deviation to Tahiti.  Anyone else aware of this.  Would like to go in a day or two early but was told that I could not.

 

If you reverse the order of the of the trip, you may be able to get more time in Tahiti. I believe they dock in late afternoon now but oddly don't have official disembarkation until the next morning. So that's potentially 15 extra hours, and it doesn't have to be for decadent wee hour activities. I remember making use of an isolated overnight in a tropical island, and it was pure serendipity watching people diving for fish with underwater lights and such. It was a more innocent time, but maybe kayak along a lighted waterfront with a throwaway inflatable if you must... brainstorm a bit.

Edited February 14, 2021 by dumbth