Internet On Cruise?

[COcheesehead]

Be forewarned: on any ship I've seen, it's not only expensive, but also S-L-O-O-O-W.

Yes, so much so that you don't even want to bother with it.

 

[calico1597]

We are going to Alaska next summer, trip home is a cruise on the Princess Lines. Any comments about internet for that trip?

 

[SteveNU]

This article spells out the current availability and cost for internet on all of the cruise lines. It is expensive and I have only bought it a few times over the years.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=45

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We've sailed with Celebrity (aka X) a handful of times, most recently this past October for a Mediterranean cruise. Unfortunately, we didn't bother grabbing a lot of info on Internet access this cruise but I'm under the impression Celebrity is upgrading the Internet infrastructure for faster speeds marketed under the name "Xcelerate".

One of the pamphlets we got in the daily advertised Unlimited Internet access for $29/day and accessible to "Facebook, FaceTime, Skype, YouTube, Netflix, & more." I've used the slow on ship Internet on past sailing and yes, it's really slow. But if they're advertising YouTube and Neflix usage, I would suspect they are confident of the bandwidth they can deliver.

For onboard Internet access on X, you may want to try to get cruise with "perks". X offers perks such as Unlimited Internet, drink packages, free gratuities, onboard credit, etc for certain sailings and promos. You might be able to get your travel agent to throw a perk in too.

If you don't get a roaming package, I'd recommend installing Skype and getting the $2.99 unlimited calling back to the States so you have the option of calling when connected to wifi in port.

As mentioned the cruise terminals are one place to check for wifi. I'm not sure if there's any stores like McDonalds or Starbucks in you ports of call you can grab wifi from. If you spend some beach time managed by a resort, they may have wifi hotspots.
I'd also suggest checking out the destination forums on CruiseCritic to see if there are any posts on safe wifi hotspots.

A more complex option (you'd have to have an unlocked phone, you wouldn't have your own phone number, etc.) might be to purchase a local prepaid data sim and add a roaming plan to it. Digicel looks like a carrier that has wide coverage in the Caribbean.

 

[gerntz]

We are going to Alaska next summer, trip home is a cruise on the Princess Lines. Any comments about internet for that trip?

Yep. Did this Summer on Princess & it's expensive (I think) & slow. Issue is connections have to go thru satellites - limited capacity & time for signals to travel. And connections got dropped. It's not the cruise lines' fault actually. They all could do a better job of explaining & warning of this.

 

[Sunset]

How expensive is the wifi on a cruise ship? Has anyone ever used it? We will have a cruise in two weeks and there is a teenager with us and wifi connection for gaming is a must.

ha ha ha ha ha...... Oh what did children do in the ancient times of 1980 or 1990 and before.
Toss the teenager overboard and be done with it.

Why are you taking a teenager on a cruise if their nose is stuck to a screen, just leave them at home and send them picture of the trip, it will be just as good.

Teens seem to be addicted to screens like crack, time to break free.

Have the teen pay the Internet themselves, should run only about $500 for a week, perhaps $3,000 if they use the roaming on their phone !!

 

[Bestwifeever]

We are planning on a 7 day cruise next year, out of Puerto Rico will visit Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Maarten, & the US VIs. Celebrity cruise line wants a crazy price for phone & internet on the cruise. I just want to check the occasional email, have family with medical issues and want to stay in touch....

Even without Internet on the ship, your family back home can always call the ship if an emergency arises (just like in the olden days)! I found this information on a random website:

Friends or family can reach you 24 hours a day via Celebrity’s Satellite Service. Your friends and family can contact the ship by calling (877) 266-1020. From outside the U.S., they can call (732) 335-3296.

The cost is $7.95 USD a minute and can be charged to American Express®, MasterCard®, Visa®, Discover® or Diners Club®. From outside the U.S. additional long distance charges will also apply. Calls are limited to 10 minutes.

 

[Danmar]

I dont think I would take a cruise without good internet. Cost be damned. I use it to keep connected to family, read my newspapers, keep on top of my portfolio. Heck even chat on sites like this. Nothing to do with "work" of course since I've been retired 10 years. When internet first became available in suites we thought it was really wonderful to sit on the balcony and read the morning paper with a coffee. I'm really not trying to get away from anything when on vacation.

 

[bUU]

We are going to Alaska next summer, trip home is a cruise on the Princess Lines. Any comments about internet for that trip?

We were considering Princess but decided to go with Holland America (for 2018, not 2017). Regardless, I did just check coverage for VZ in AK.

Juneau and Skagway look pretty well covered with 4G LTE Data Coverage. Ketchikan looks suspiciously not well covered. By that I mean the coverage map makes it look like the city itself is well covered, except there is a dead zone by the port, and for a block or two around the port in all directions. See attached image.

I researched Holland America's on-board Internet and my biggest concern isn't so much the price or the slowness but how both of those things combine with how they meter the service: They charge by the number of minutes you are logged in to their provisioning server, rather than based on some usage metric such as MBs. They make you log in to their provisioning server from your device (so no way to use a MiFi) to start using the service, and make you log out from to their provisioning server from your device to stop using up your "minutes" of service time. If you forget to log out, or have trouble logging out, your "minutes" get used up without you getting any benefit from them. As such, I wouldn't even consider such a service except if as the unlimited service (which I believe would cost me $249, and it cannot be shared with my spouse; we'd have to switch off using it).

 

[CardsFan]

We are going to Alaska next summer, trip home is a cruise on the Princess Lines. Any comments about internet for that trip?

We did the Alaska cruise on Princess this past July (R/T out of Seattle). Did not buy internet. We had good service for both phone and internet when in port (ATT). Princess does have a neat free option. It allows you to text your travelling companions on board, and to check the itineraries for onbord and off board activities.

 

[bUU]

We've never failed to find free wifi in coffee shops or simply in the port on cruises we've been on.

This was what I checked next (after Verizon 4G LTE coverage). Among other options:

In Juneau, the pubic library offers free wifi. There's a coffee shop ("Heritage Coffee") two blocks north of the port that also offers free wifi.

In Ketchikan, there's a coffee shop ("Good Coffee") about a block from the port that offers free wifi. There's also free wifi at the McDonalds in the Bar Point area. (There's a Starbucks there as well, but I don't know about their wifi. Apparently, in Alaska, a lot of Starbucks are just outposts in groceries, and they won't have wifi.)

Skagway seems to be problematic. I found lots of discussions about folks being unable to find free wifi there.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Calico, we took that cruise with Princess last summer but I didn't need internet that trip. I would never cruise with them again. WE were on the Grand Princess which is really old. The ship leaked so they had buckets in the halls. Someone we knew had their room flooded. The tether boats also leaked from the top so it was raining inside and out. The only decent food was in the main dining room. The buffets were old and cold. The entertainment was good. The toilets kept getting plugged up and out of service so big lines to use the bathrooms. From now on we are sticking to RC.

 

[explanade]

Airlines have plans to put faster Internet, usually offered by outside companies.

Really surprised the cruise lines don't try to cut deals with the same vendors.

 

[mpeirce]

Airlines have plans to put faster Internet, usually offered by outside companies.

Really surprised the cruise lines don't try to cut deals with the same vendors.

Many have. You just have to shop around.

 

[bUU]

I suspect we'll see deployment of faster internet on different paths on airlines versus cruise ships, given how much airlines are used for business travel as compared to cruise lines.

 

[explanade]

I suspect we'll see deployment of faster internet on different paths on airlines versus cruise ships, given how much airlines are used for business travel as compared to cruise lines.

Well if they can amortize it over more potential customers, maybe they can bring down costs and offer pricing that would entice leisure customers, resulting in much great volume of people using the service.

 

[bUU]

Of course, but the difference in demand will almost ensure that the two venues will traverse the path at different rates.

 

[HFWR]

One-time cruiser here, on the Carnival Triumph, which, a few months later, became infamous for the "Poo Cruise". Sorry I missed that, though a friend from w*rk got to experience it firsthand. But I digress...

Internet access was slow and expensive. I opted for a few logins on an as-needed basis to post a few photos, but otherwise didn't use it. The few minutes of usage wasn't terribly expensive, though I don't recall the exact cost offhand.

I'm not very trusting of free, open internet access...

 

[explanade]

Princess Cruises line fined $40 million for deliberately dumping oil and waste from one of their ships and trying to cover it up.

U.S. Justice Department Fines Princess Cruises $40 Million for Pollution - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

When I was googling this article, I typed in Carnival Cruises instead and there were many stories about millions in fines for other cruise lines.

Are they deliberately dumping and paying fines repeatedly as a cost of doing business?

 

[FIREmenow]

Well if they can amortize it over more potential customers, maybe they can bring down costs and offer pricing that would entice leisure customers, resulting in much great volume of people using the service.

Maybe they don't want folks spending hours a day locked up in their rooms on the "interwebs".

Better to force them out to spend money on excursions, etc...

Just a thought.

 

[explanade]

True, and if Internet was fast and cheap, a lot of people would be staring at their phones during meals and all those events that they schedule.

So maybe they wouldn't have to schedule as many of those on-board events and activities.

BTW, I hear on river cruises, the paid on-shore excursions are mandatory?

 

[mpeirce]

BTW, I hear on river cruises, the paid on-shore excursions are mandatory?

Not in my experience - which is with Viking. There's always a free excursion at each stop, plus paid ones that do more (like wine/beer tasting, go further afield, etc).

Some people arrange their own activities as well. We did this in Vienna and it worked out great. And there were always people who stayed on board ship.

Other companies obviously may vary.

 

[braumeister]

Not in my experience - which is with Viking. There's always a free excursion at each stop, plus paid ones that do more (like wine/beer tasting, go further afield, etc).

I was impressed by that last year on Viking. There was no discrimination between the free and paid excursions at each stop; all were treated the same. We're going to do another one next year.

 

[calico1597]

Calico, we took that cruise with Princess last summer but I didn't need internet that trip. I would never cruise with them again. WE were on the Grand Princess which is really old. The ship leaked so they had buckets in the halls. Someone we knew had their room flooded. The tether boats also leaked from the top so it was raining inside and out. The only decent food was in the main dining room. The buffets were old and cold. The entertainment was good. The toilets kept getting plugged up and out of service so big lines to use the bathrooms. From now on we are sticking to RC.

We are sailing on the Island Princess in June. I just read the reviews, mostly decent! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Teacher Terry]

WE paid 180 for 13 days of internet on RC. The only reason is because I was teaching my class. Otherwise we just are unconnected from the world when we go. Also on Princess some of the staff was rude. That never happened on RC.