No WiFi on Cruise??!!

[braumeister]

That's expensive alright.

We were on a Hurtigruten ship in Norway recently and the wifi packages were pretty reasonable:

1 day = $5.71
3 days = $14.28
5 days = $22.85
11 days = $45.70

Not fast enough for streaming, but plenty good enough for casual web surfing and email. Those rates were for two devices and we had no complaints.

 

[explanade]

Not bad considering Norway.

How much was the food on board?

I thought it was interesting, you board those ships late at night and they are timed to reach major ports in the morning or something like that.

So it might work as a good way to tour the Norwegian coast and fjords but I saw those big cruise ships docked at the end of fjords like Geiranger and they were causing visual haze over the fjord with their exhaust.

 

[braumeister]

Not bad considering Norway.

How much was the food on board?

I thought it was interesting, you board those ships late at night and they are timed to reach major ports in the morning or something like that.

So it might work as a good way to tour the Norwegian coast and fjords but I saw those big cruise ships docked at the end of fjords like Geiranger and they were causing visual haze over the fjord with their exhaust.

Food was free, of course. And I have to say that it was the best food I've ever had on any ship. Absolutely outstanding.

I would take the Norwegian coastal cruise again any time. The ship we were on only had about a 500 person capacity with fewer than 200 cabins. A wonderful trip!

 

[hotwired]

It's like 1980s 56k dialup and like a dollar per minute, or some ludicrous amount. What DD really means is that she's not willing to use the horrible excuse for internet that cruise ships have, haha. But phone service does end once you're a few miles out.

 

[Lewis Clark]

We spent two weeks on a Viking Ocean cruise about 18 months ago. Overall a great trip!

The first week, the wifi speed was slow to very slow most of the time, but ok at times. The second week, the wifi was so overloaded and slow that it was often unusable. I was not trying to stream - just doing email.

 

[RetMD21]

We didn't pay Holland America for wifi n the Alaska cruise last year since we were in port nearly every day and we could use data for email. Our T-mobile plan has unlimited talk, text and data so we were fine for the stop in Victoria BC. We found enough to do that we didn't miss the internet.

 

[ziggy29]

We didn't pay Holland America for wifi n the Alaska cruise last year since we were in port nearly every day and we could use data for email. Our T-mobile plan has unlimited talk, text and data so we were fine for the stop in Victoria BC. We found enough to do that we didn't miss the internet.

We just got back from a week in Alaska, round trip from Seattle. We have an AT&T MVNO and our phones and data worked fine in all the Alaskan ports we visited -- Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Yeah, nothing in Victoria because it doesn't have international roaming, but that was one day. We called home a couple times (my FIL lives in our basement and was taking care of our dog for us) just to make sure everything was OK and that there was nothing he wanted us to get while we were up there.

Internet wifi packages are coming down in price, though in reality if all I wanted to do was putter online, why spend nearly $3000 on a cruise vacation for slower Internet on the ship? On the ship we just sailed on (Ruby Princess), the unlimited package was $60 for the whole week.

 

[2017ish]

We recently did our first (non-diving liveaboard) cruise with back to back weeks in the Galapagos. The boat did not offer wifi (14 passenger capacity). We did have cellular connection with Google Fi two or three days though.

 

[Wincherr]

Your daughter has inherited cheapness from someone and it going without WiFI .

It’s OK to unplug. And do you know what it costs on a cruise and how limited it is?

 

[target2019]

It’s OK to unplug. And do you know what it costs on a cruise and how limited it is?

It varies from cruise line to cruise line. I think we were in the worst case (same as Al's daughter). What I recall was 3 tiers on Holland America. Internet search has all of the answers.

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

Ours was:

Fees: Holland America has three wireless internet packages on offer. The Social plan costs $14.99 per day and allows you to connect to Facebook, WhatsApp and other popular social websites and applications. The $24.99/day Surf plan allows access to email, news, sports and more. The Premium plan, for $29.99 per day, additionally supports audio/video calls and streaming on top of email, websites and apps. You can save by buying a seven-day package: The Social Plan is $69.99, Surf Plan is $99 and Premium Plan is $139.99.

This is what's going on. There is at least one satlink, which is nothing like a fiber link on land. Additional equipment is required, and I'd expect that on a big boat there is a mess of equipment as well as crew that manages this. Several thousand people banging on that service, and you can see it is a serious undertaking. Of course other boats have other challenges due to small scale and other factors.

 

[Paulz]

Cruise ship data prices are VERY expensive. Data rates were obnoxious. There was a plan you could buy, but the data cap was very low and the cost was more than what I pay at the house for the entire month (ie 300mb for $59, etc.)

 

[target2019]

One can piece together the components that make up the complete system. Here's some background on the satellite itself that may be in use. Wonder what it costs a cruise business to connect to this baby?
https://www.maritime-executive.com/...te-technology-helps-overhaul-cruise-ship-wifi

 

[FIREarly]

The cruise ships also charge their employees for WiFi and work them nearly 24/7/365. DW and I made sure to tip the server(s) that we regularly used and they were also super friendly so they deserve it.

If you can, catch the stand-up comedy acts while on the cruise. Also, try to enjoy the cruise. You might enjoy stepping away from WiFi for a short period.

 

[Nemo2]

DW and I made sure to tip the server(s) that we regularly used and they were also super friendly so they deserve it.

We eat exclusively in the buffet - sit pretty much in the same area - put together a bunch of envelopes with $5 apiece and handed them to the regular greeters and table cleaners.

They were all surprised and happy, (more at the recognition than the small amount of money)....worth it just for the smiles.

 

[explanade]

Well satellite connections have limited bandwidth to share among hundreds or even thousands of passengers?

So that pricing is really to limit the number of people who'd buy those connections.

But airliners also use satellite connections and they'll happily sell you $30 or more a flight connection.

 

[Moemg]

It’s OK to unplug. And do you know what it costs on a cruise and how limited it is?

I do know because I have purchased it on a few cruises . My SO runs an online business so He needs to stay connected . On our transatlantic we paid $8 a day and had good connectivity .We also paid the same price for our cruise to Cuba on an old ship and also had a great connection.

 

[TromboneAl]

DD is back. She had a great time, and, contrary to my expectations, had no trouble with boredom or with in-laws overexposure.

Interesting to hear that the bars were open and free 24/7, yet she didn't notice anyone who was obviously drunk.

The only limit on alcohol is a max of fifteen drinks within twenty-four hours.

 

[target2019]

DD is back. She had a great time, and, contrary to my expectations, had no trouble with boredom or with in-laws overexposure.

Interesting to hear that the bars were open and free 24/7, yet she didn't notice anyone who was obviously drunk.

The only limit on alcohol is a max of fifteen drinks within twenty-four hours.

On that line, free drinks was an extra option. Someone is telling me $200 per week, per person.

It sounds like they were taken care of very well by his parents.

 

[Music Lover]

Why do people on cruises need WiFi? I thought people took cruises to get away and relax.

It's possible to get away and relax and to also spend a few minutes a day keeping in touch with friends and family.

In fact, some people may have a hard time relaxing if they can't stay in touch with aging parents or their children. When we were in Florida my GF called her mother every day and had a 5 minute conversation...peace of mind for her considering that she had fallen twice in the previous few months.