May be a dumb airfare question

[NCLGirl2013]

Good day!

My husband and I want to do something special for our 10 year wedding anniversary in 2023. He has always wanted to go to Europe and we both love cruising so I was looking at a 10-Day British Isles From Copenhagen to London: Ireland & Northern Ireland cruise for late 2023. 

We would be getting an inside cabin with all perks (dining and beverage)

NCL is offering their 30% and 2nd guest fly free for this particular cruise right now. This would leave us with a flight from Nashville (BNA) for a total of $1164 for both of us. This is the breakdown
 

Guest Name	Air	Hotel	Travel Protection	Transfers	Guest Total
Guest 1	$949.00	$0.00	$0.00	$107.50	$1,056.50
Guest 2	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$107.50	$107.50

 

My dumb question is: does this include the flight at the end of cruise back to the United States as well? Or is it just the flight TO the cruise?

The flight is from Nashville BNA to  Copenhagen, Denmark  and then the return flight (?) London (Southampton), England to Nashville BNA. 

Does that sounds about normal price wise? 

 

[MeHeartCruising]

Yes, the prices in this promo are round trip prices.  So it's a pretty good price for the airline component of the trip.  If the overall price of the cruise package is acceptable, then you're good to go.  You probably want to read the various postings on the forums about what you get for the airfare.  It's main cabin seating.  You don't have control over which flights they choose for you.  Which means you don't control which route/stopovers you may have, etc.  You can't control which airline they choose.  But once you get your assigned flights, you can contact the airline directly and use any points or benefits you might have with that airline.  You can also change seats and upgrade and such using your own money.  All-in-all, if those are acceptable conditions, the price you're paying for 2 to fly round trip to Europe and back is pretty decent.

[pmatawan]

Sometimes it's a good deal & sometimes not. You could book the cruise with airfare and cancel the airfare portion before final payment if you find a better price or routing. You will also likely have to pay for checked bags if the airline charges, so add that into the cost. If you want to fly in early or stay after your cruise, there is a limit to 2 days prior or after the cruise & you will be charged a deviation fee of ($25-$50). Be aware that NCL will buy the cheapest ticket and it might involve a non-direct route where a direct non stop route may be available. Lots to consider.

 

[IRMO12HD]

You can also request that the transfer fees be removed; if you're comfortable with arranging your own transportation from the airport to your hotel (if you request a deviation) and/or from the airport to the port and port - airport (if you're not requesting a deviation), you'll probably be ahead by doing the transfers on your own.

[hallux]

40 minutes ago, pmatawan said:

if you find a better price or routing

You don't know the final routing until after final payment for the cruise and the flight ticketing is completed.  Will NCL show placeholders on the reservation?  Absolutely, but those are not guaranteed to be the flights.

[NCLGirl2013]

Thank you! This is very helpful information. We are not picky about layovers or flights, BUT what if NCL schedules a flight that would cause us to miss the ship departing? Do they have a buffer to prevent that? As in, they wont do a flight that cuts it within a certain amount of time to the cruise. 

Has anyone cancelled the airfare before final payment but after booking and been successful? Does it cancel your other promotions that you got when originally booking?

[pmatawan]

5 minutes ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

Thank you! This is very helpful information. We are not picky about layovers or flights, BUT what if NCL schedules a flight that would cause us to miss the ship departing? Do they have a buffer to prevent that? As in, they wont do a flight that cuts it within a certain amount of time to the cruise. 

Has anyone cancelled the airfare before final payment but after booking and been successful? Does it cancel your other promotions that you got when originally booking?

They will schedule you to arrive in time for the cruise but you are on your own if flight is delayed. Yes, I have cancelled NCL air before final payment & you retain all other perks.

[julig22]

26 minutes ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

Thank you! This is very helpful information. We are not picky about layovers or flights, BUT what if NCL schedules a flight that would cause us to miss the ship departing? Do they have a buffer to prevent that? As in, they wont do a flight that cuts it within a certain amount of time to the cruise. 

Has anyone cancelled the airfare before final payment but after booking and been successful? Does it cancel your other promotions that you got when originally booking?

They will attempt to wait for you if you are using the ncl shuttle - think they waited a couple hours in NOLA when flights were delayed.  That would depend on how tight the schedule.

I believe you can cancel flights up until they are actually booked, even after final payment.  But you have no way of knowing when they actually book.  But definitely before final payment (although that was when it was 120 days).

Airfare is not attached to other perks, so wouldn't cancel anything else.  That only happens if you actually rebook.

Disclaimer: how it worked pre-covid.

[JamesIowa]

1 hour ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

Thank you! This is very helpful information. We are not picky about layovers or flights, BUT what if NCL schedules a flight that would cause us to miss the ship departing? Do they have a buffer to prevent that? As in, they wont do a flight that cuts it within a certain amount of time to the cruise. 

Has anyone cancelled the airfare before final payment but after booking and been successful? Does it cancel your other promotions that you got when originally booking?

you can also have ncl change your flight to arrive a day or two earlier, or depart a day or two later. In the past it was a $25 fee. You can still take their airport transfer even if you land a day earlier, which may or may not be convenient/cheaper or give you extra piece of mind (generally speaking taxis in Europe can be expensive).

I have found the flights/scheduling to be pretty good from my experience. Good luck and have fun! No matter how long you’re there for, I’d recommend a Rick steves guide.

[hallux]

26 minutes ago, JamesIowa said:

you can also have ncl change your flight to arrive a day or two earlier, or depart a day or two later. In the past it was a $25 fee

But this MUST be done before flights are booked.  Once the flights are booked they're locked in...

[teacherman]

I don't understand how NCL can do this for a 2023 cruise since air schedules and prices usually come out only about 11 months early.  I have never used NCL air arrangements, but they seem a lot less "friendly" than other cruise lines' air programs.  But they do offer the "One Flies Free" perk sometimes.

[MeHeartCruising]

1 hour ago, teacherman said:

I don't understand how NCL can do this for a 2023 cruise since air schedules and prices usually come out only about 11 months early.  I have never used NCL air arrangements, but they seem a lot less "friendly" than other cruise lines' air programs.  But they do offer the "One Flies Free" perk sometimes.

NCL does not book your flights until much closer to sail date.  NCL either has advance price protection agreements with airlines to ensure they know what they will eventually pay for the flights or they have others ways to hedge their bets (historical pricing models, insurance policies, etc).  I’m sure they won’t be losing money on the arrangement.

[Sailing12Away]

9 hours ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

Thank you! This is very helpful information. We are not picky about layovers or flights, BUT what if NCL schedules a flight that would cause us to miss the ship departing? Do they have a buffer to prevent that? As in, they wont do a flight that cuts it within a certain amount of time to the cruise. 

Has anyone cancelled the airfare before final payment but after booking and been successful? Does it cancel your other promotions that you got when originally booking?

I've experienced (or nearly experienced) both of your situations. We were flying NY to Miami and our flight was delayed. Nearly 3/4 of the plane were cruise passengers on various ships trying to catch our boat. NCL customer service on the phone was horrendous, but when we finally landed in Miami there were tons of NCL agents at baggage claim herding all of us into shuttles to catch our various ships. We were on the Jade, and the Breakaway was sailing that day as well. They told us as long as they're still there, the boat is waiting for all of us and we're fine. 

 

By the time we got to the port it was a ghost town, but that just made for easy check in and walking right onto the ship. I think we pulled away from port within 10-15 mins of us getting on board. If we had in fact missed the ship, they would be responsible for getting us to the next port of call. In our case it was a short 5 day cruise, so it wouldn't have been worth it.

 

For your 2nd question, we did that for our now cancelled New Zealand trip. Originally had the "discounted" air promo booked, but we wanted to spend more than 3 days post cruise in Australia before heading home. Couldn't do that with the promo, so we dropped it and got flights on our own. They removed the cost of the flights and transfers from our balance with no issue.

[Trimone]

Did a mock booking:

 

[NCLGirl2013]

10 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

I've experienced (or nearly experienced) both of your situations. We were flying NY to Miami and our flight was delayed. Nearly 3/4 of the plane were cruise passengers on various ships trying to catch our boat. NCL customer service on the phone was horrendous, but when we finally landed in Miami there were tons of NCL agents at baggage claim herding all of us into shuttles to catch our various ships. We were on the Jade, and the Breakaway was sailing that day as well. They told us as long as they're still there, the boat is waiting for all of us and we're fine. 

 

By the time we got to the port it was a ghost town, but that just made for easy check in and walking right onto the ship. I think we pulled away from port within 10-15 mins of us getting on board. If we had in fact missed the ship, they would be responsible for getting us to the next port of call. In our case it was a short 5 day cruise, so it wouldn't have been worth it.

 

For your 2nd question, we did that for our now cancelled New Zealand trip. Originally had the "discounted" air promo booked, but we wanted to spend more than 3 days post cruise in Australia before heading home. Couldn't do that with the promo, so we dropped it and got flights on our own. They removed the cost of the flights and transfers from our balance with no issue.

This was very very helpful! Good to know from first hand experience! I really appreciate you sharing! 

[NCLGirl2013]

6 hours ago, Trimone said:

Did a mock booking:

 

Oh goodness! So definitely looking cheaper to do NCLs airfare 😲

[teacherman]

It is "cheaper" but if it is your first time in Copenhagen, and you have the time, there are some nice things to do and have a little time to get over the jet lag before beginning the cruise.  To me, the departure port, especially in Europe, is also part of the cruise and offers many things to do.  The last time we were there, we were able to enjoy some nice restaurants, touring the city, and even a Bon Jovi concert.  Just saying there are so many things to experience.  Either way, I hope you have a great trip.

[NCLGirl2013]

9 hours ago, teacherman said:

It is "cheaper" but if it is your first time in Copenhagen, and you have the time, there are some nice things to do and have a little time to get over the jet lag before beginning the cruise.  To me, the departure port, especially in Europe, is also part of the cruise and offers many things to do.  The last time we were there, we were able to enjoy some nice restaurants, touring the city, and even a Bon Jovi concert.  Just saying there are so many things to experience.  Either way, I hope you have a great trip.

Thank you! I think we are going to pay the extra fee and fly into Denmark early and stY in London a couple days later