NCL FREE AIRFARE: 11:57pm Flight.

[Cmikel]

Received our airline tickets for our Alaska cruise 90 days out. We leave Vancouver at 11:57 pm and don't make it home to Arkansas till noon the next day. (11:59pm for departing flights is NLC's cutoff time in the terms and conditions so there is nothing that we can really do about it, but it still is aggravating that they booked us on such a late overnight flight).  We will survive, but It is going to be a rough night. Hope this helps someone else. Again, it's not the end of the world for us but we will not use a NCL airline promotion again. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

That's why I *refuse* to use cruise line air.  Those prices can very often be appealing...but you lose so much in the way of "control" over your destiny.  If a mistake is to be made...I prefer it to be *my* mistake.  That way, I at least have some kind of chance to fix it.  Sorry you've learned this lesson the hard way.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Oh...and welcome to Cruise Critic!  I just noticed your message count.

[Oakman58]

Yes, when you use a cruise line to provide your flight, you're buying a pig in a poke.  I fly out of St. Louis and the price NCL usually offers isn't much better than when I purchase tickets myself.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@Cmikel

 

We have cruised a great deal but have never used NCL as we are not certain if we could as we live in New Zealand.   BUT we have read so many negative comments/threads and talked to so many negative people on cruises who have that we wouldn't even consider it.

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, Cmikel said:

Received our airline tickets for our Alaska cruise 90 days out. We leave Vancouver at 11:57 pm and don't make it home to Arkansas till noon the next day. (11:59pm for departing flights is NLC's cutoff time in the terms and conditions so there is nothing that we can really do about it, but it still is aggravating that they booked us on such a late overnight flight).  We will survive, but It is going to be a rough night. Hope this helps someone else. Again, it's not the end of the world for us but we will not use a NCL airline promotion again. 

Get a hotel room for the day and explore Vancouver, then enjoy a nice dinner. You will enjoy it. 

[PhillyTravelBug]

Welcome aboard! It’s rough. Did a red eye from Philadelphia to Iceland last summer and got 2 hours of sleep at most. It’s definitely not the end of the world, just aggravating.

[NikiPinkston]

You can definitely save some money using the BOGO airfare, but our experience last year with undesirable flight times made us swear off ever using it again, too. We really like picking our own flights and didn't enjoy the lack of control over our travel plans. We always fly into our embarkation port the day before, and we didn't get in until the evening, losing the opportunity to explore. Conversely, after disembarking, even with participating in a ship-sponsored shore excursion, we had to wait hours at the airport for our very late flight home. This year, we're again doing the same itinerary (Alaska), and we've booked our own flights. It's just not worth it to us.

[cincicruisers]

1 hour ago, Cmikel said:

Received our airline tickets for our Alaska cruise 90 days out. We leave Vancouver at 11:57 pm and don't make it home to Arkansas till noon the next day. (11:59pm for departing flights is NLC's cutoff time in the terms and conditions so there is nothing that we can really do about it, but it still is aggravating that they booked us on such a late overnight flight).  We will survive, but It is going to be a rough night. Hope this helps someone else. Again, it's not the end of the world for us but we will not use a NCL airline promotion again. 

Thanks for sharing.  I will not use NCL flights.

[hallux]

1 hour ago, zqvol said:

Get a hotel room for the day and explore Vancouver, then enjoy a nice dinner. You will enjoy it. 

This.  Or find a local tour company and do an 'excursion' that will take up much of the day.  I did one that went up the Sea to Sky Highway to Horseshoe Bay, Shannon Falls, the Sea to Sky Gondola and Brittani Beach Mine.  That got me back into downtown Vancouver around 3, but they wouldn't take my bag on the bus.  For my bag, it just took a tip to the concierge at the Pan Pacific Hotel (attached to the cruise terminal) and my bag was secured for the day.  I grabbed dinner, grabbed my bag then walked down to the train station to take the Sky Train out to the airport.

 

Stanley Park also looks really nice, I didn't get there.

Edited March 5 by hallux

[Cmikel]

24 minutes ago, hallux said:

This.  Or find a local tour company and do an 'excursion' that will take up much of the day.  I did one that went up the Sea to Sky Highway to Horseshoe Bay, Shannon Falls, the Sea to Sky Gondola and Brittani Beach Mine.  That got me back into downtown Vancouver around 3, but they wouldn't take my bag on the bus.  For my bag, it just took a tip to the concierge at the Pan Pacific Hotel (attached to the cruise terminal) and my bag was secured for the day.  I grabbed dinner, grabbed my bag then walked down to the train station to take the Sky Train out to the airport.

 

Stanley Park also looks really nice, I didn't get there.

Thank You everyone for such wonderful ideas on how to make the most of the situation! A extended day tour and dinner would make the most of our extended time in Vancouver, but the hotel option and exploring from hallux might be a good option as well. 

[Yesimapirate]

Almost all medium haul flights west to east are either early morning or late at night.   Otherwise they'd reach their destination in the middle of the night.   

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, Cmikel said:

Received our airline tickets for our Alaska cruise 90 days out. We leave Vancouver at 11:57 pm and don't make it home to Arkansas till noon the next day. (11:59pm for departing flights is NLC's cutoff time in the terms and conditions so there is nothing that we can really do about it, but it still is aggravating that they booked us on such a late overnight flight).  We will survive, but It is going to be a rough night. Hope this helps someone else. Again, it's not the end of the world for us but we will not use a NCL airline promotion again. 

We love saving money with the BOGO offers. We're retired and to us, it is just an extension of the cruise one more night. We normally stay on the ship until later, and head over to the airport and spend the day wandering the airport and relaxing and reading (like we had done on the ship). Find some fast food for lunch and a restaurant for dinner. Alternately, we get a pass to an airport lounge and spend the day there. We sleep well on the red eye. Passed out almost as soon as we get seated on the plane. 

[Maanio]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

We love saving money with the BOGO offers. We're retired and to us, it is just an extension of the cruise one more night. We normally stay on the ship until later, and head over to the airport and spend the day wandering the airport and relaxing and reading (like we had done on the ship). Find some fast food for lunch and a restaurant for dinner. Alternately, we get a pass to an airport lounge and spend the day there. We sleep well on the red eye. Passed out almost as soon as we get seated on the plane. 

Maybe that's the age, I don't think the average person passes out in a plane lol

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Oh...and welcome to Cruise Critic!  I just noticed your message count.

They've actually been here longer than you.

[DCGuy64]

Most people who use NCL's BOGO air love it and use it frequently. But unlike the OP, they don't post about it, which leaves many with the impression that it's unpopular and a bad product. That simply isn't true.

[G-DawgMN]

14 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Most people who use NCL's BOGO air love it and use it frequently. But unlike the OP, they don't post about it, which leaves many with the impression that it's unpopular and a bad product. That simply isn't true.

 

 I'm 2 for 2 on getting really good flights. Both have been direct with Delta. Also our most recent flights to New Orleans were exactly what we would have picked. Us purchasing them when NCL did would have cost us $1000 each, we got them for $250 total.

 Now I'm under no illusion that we might get bad flights at some point, but typically it's worth the money savings.

 

 

[RocketMan275]

14 hours ago, Cmikel said:

Thank You everyone for such wonderful ideas on how to make the most of the situation! A extended day tour and dinner would make the most of our extended time in Vancouver, but the hotel option and exploring from hallux might be a good option as well. 

A point to consider.  Day rooms and day long excursions might be  a nice way to spend the day, they do have costs.  So, do the cost of the NCL (and yes, they do have costs) plus the extra costs of another day in Vancouver exceed the cost of the flights  you might book  your self?

[Asawi]

7 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

A point to consider.  Day rooms and day long excursions might be  a nice way to spend the day, they do have costs.  So, do the cost of the NCL (and yes, they do have costs) plus the extra costs of another day in Vancouver exceed the cost of the flights  you might book  your self?

I was thinking along those lines as well. Vancouver is crazy expensive! But also very nice, so maybe worth it. 😄 

[hoops71]

I have use NCL air many times and have had great success for the most part.  The only exception was out of Seattle after an Alaskan cruise.  Our flight left at 11:59pm, the absolute deadline!

I will say that we live near a major hub Dallas/Fort Worth which I think helps, but we have saved a lot of money on airfare through NCL.  I have found international flights to be quite the bargain through the NCL promotion with decent to excellent flight times.  We have done London roundtrip, Rome/Lisbon on the Viva, and about to take off for Tokyo/Seoul on the Jewel in two days.  Each of those trips we saved over a thousand on airfare and about half with direct flights.(never more than one stop)  

On domestic flights I am more careful.  First because it is not as big a price benefit.  Second, if its on the West coast is is easier for NCL to put you on a red eye to save money.  If the cruise is out of eastern port and the price savings are significant I might consider it.  That being said you are always locking in price now and forecasting for later.  

[hallux]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

A point to consider.  Day rooms and day long excursions might be  a nice way to spend the day, they do have costs.  So, do the cost of the NCL (and yes, they do have costs) plus the extra costs of another day in Vancouver exceed the cost of the flights  you might book  your self?

It's not so much the costs - what flights are available for the route the OP needs?  When I was there I self-booked the flight (well, a TA booked for me) and the options were to rush off the ship and hope to make the airport in time or take the late flight.  Doing a quick look at flights from Vancouver to Little Rock on a random Saturday in June, the latest flight that gets there the same day is 12:40 PM, all the rest result in getting home the next day.  NCL is also not likely to book those, based on the cost of the flight.

[RocketMan275]

14 minutes ago, hallux said:

It's not so much the costs - what flights are available for the route the OP needs?  When I was there I self-booked the flight (well, a TA booked for me) and the options were to rush off the ship and hope to make the airport in time or take the late flight.  Doing a quick look at flights from Vancouver to Little Rock on a random Saturday in June, the latest flight that gets there the same day is 12:40 PM, all the rest result in getting home the next day.  NCL is also not likely to book those, based on the cost of the flight.

Most booking via NCL are doing so for the cost savings.  The question is, how much of a savings remains if one  has too book a room in Vancover, a tour, plus other expenses for the day?

I agree with the point about the availability of flights. Many destinations from Vancouver require routing through Seattle.  I recently cancelled our second Alaska cruise because of the terrible flights.  

[hallux]

39 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The question is, how much of a savings remains if one  has too book a room in Vancover, a tour, plus other expenses for the day?

A tour, as I did, would not require a room.  My tour, in 2019, was under $130 for one person.  A $10-15 tip (or it was a flat $5 fee per bag? it's been 5 years) to the concierge at the Pan Pacific should be good for a couple bags storage for the day.

[itsnotjustme]

On 3/5/2024 at 3:33 PM, Cmikel said:

We leave Vancouver at 11:57 pm and don't make it home to Arkansas till noon the next day.

Thank you for helping me suppress the urge to use the cheap NCL air.

[njkate]

On 3/5/2024 at 5:00 PM, zqvol said:

Get a hotel room for the day and explore Vancouver, then enjoy a nice dinner. You will enjoy it. 

Yes, our flight was around 10pm and we booked our own but heading east the cut off for flights is in the area of 11am which we thought would be cutting it close. Then flights heading east are at night! We booked a day rate at hotel and just relaxed. I booked the hotel right in the airport