Connecting flights in Dublin to Amsterdam on Norwegian and Aer Lingus

If it is all on one ticket, you will not have to retrieve any bags. They should be tagged to Amsterdam. Land in Dublin, then proceed to your departure gate. In Amsterdam, you will go through Schengen Immigration and get your passport stamped then to luggage carousels, get your bags and walk out through the "Nothing to Declare" door.

If you booked two separate tickets, I'd be worried. What does Norwegian say?

I believe that Norwegian says you need to retrieve your luggage first and recheck it. Is this uncommon?

It reads like you are flying on 2 separate airlines, Norwegian Air into Dublin and Aer Lingus out to Amsterdam. Is this correct
If yes, then you need to retrieve your bags (or manage with carry on only) because these 2 airlines are not partners.
I like Norwegian a lot, but they changed a flight time which necessitated my needing to rebook to the previous day in order to make my connecting flight on BA because I then didn't have enough time between flights. I had to pay the change fee to NA and pay for the overnight near Gatwick.
All this is to say that I think you need more cushion in Dublin. My rule (which I had violated in the above story) is no less than 2 3/4 hours between flights. And I personally may need to increase this as security becomes more lengthy and challenging going forward.
Have a great trip!

There is no airside connection in Dublin even without checked bags ... well there is sort of but you need to go through a passport inspection and security so it isn't really any different. At least Norwegian and Aer Lingus operate from the same terminal (2) so you don't need to shuffle that as well. Immigration time is the always uncertain variable.

Most European no-frills airlines have no connections with anything, often including their own flights. Ryanair, for instance, offers "round trip" tickets on its website but actually sell a pair of one-ways, at the same price as if you purchase them individually. If you take two flights in a row, there is no guaranteed connection. These airlines won't even compensate if you miss the second because the first arrives too late. No doubt there could be exceptions but it remains a basic issue to keep in mind when you shop.

I just looked and Norwegian is in Terminal 1 and Aer Lingus is in Terminal 2. How awful is this going to be?

Choosing a seat as far forward in the plane as possible might help ... at least you'll be among the first off the plane and toward the head of the line for passport control/security.

We had a connection in Dublin but didn't have to change terminals since our flight from EWR to Dublin and Dublin to Munich were on one ticket. This is the reason I will usually pay more to have one ticket....I'm always so afraid we'll miss a connecting flight then be financially responsible for rectifying the issue.

If necessary, pay a little extra on your first flight to sit up close and have an early boarding position. And do not check a bag, just bring a carry on. If you are an early boarder there won't be an issue finding room for your carry on and being up front will enable you to get off the airplane faster. I would also mention the tight connection to your flight attendant. Perhaps that will help?

I should mention that we will definitely have checked baggage because we are traveling with our college-aged son who is about to start a year abroad in Amsterdam. He will have two suitcases that we are checking.

I am a nervous wreck now over this connection. What is the worst that can happen. FWIW, I looked at the e-tickets and it is just one piece of paper...not sure if that means anything. We absolutely need to go to a different terminal and we absolutely need to collect baggage and re-check it.

"What is the worst that can happen."

You have to buy new ticket(s) from Dublin to Amsterdam

I looked at the e-tickets and it is just one piece of paper

Did you buy from the airline or from something like expedia? If its the latter, I am not liking your chances of getting "help" if for some reason you miss the 2nd flight.

Are you still in a free re-booking/cancellation period? If so you may want to re-do your flights and give yourself more time in between

We bought the tickets on Tuesday night so I think the re-booking period ended already. The tickets were purchased through Kayak.com.

We bought the tickets on Tuesday night so I think the re-booking period ended already. The tickets were purchased through Kayak.com.

Sometimes Kayak will direct you to the airlines to make purchases...and sometimes they direct you to a third party selling airline tickets. It sounds like this is the latter due to the fact that you are on 2 different airlines. What's done is done at this point. All you can do is hope for the best but be prepared with a back up plan should you need it. It may be totally fine!

Perhaps you could look into shipping your son his stuff and have him make do with carry-on in the short term. This would eliminate the time you would have to spend retrieving and re-checking bags and improve your odds of making the flight connection.