Carnival Hub App. Does it work on the ships well?

Hello all,

I see Carnival has this new app called the Carnival Hub. I'm just guessing it's new as I've not cruised since 2015. I'm wondering if it works well on the ships and also if the Chat feature is worth purchasing? I would like a way for me and my mother who is cruising with me to communicate on the ship. We leave next week.

Thanks much! :)

We were on the Sunshine a couple of weeks back and it worked great for us. I think it is a home run for Carnival for the Fun Times and menus alone. I will miss it on my upcoming Royal cruise. We did not use the chat because we are joined at the hip anyway now that our kids are grown and don't always come along. We did meet people who used it and they gave it good reviews.

Hello all,

 

I see Carnival has this new app called the Carnival Hub. I'm just guessing it's new as I've not cruised since 2015. I'm wondering if it works well on the ships and also if the Chat feature is worth purchasing? I would like a way for me and my mother who is cruising with me to communicate on the ship. We leave next week.

 

Thanks much! :)

So far on the ships I've sailed it has worked well although the chat feature has a bit of a lag.

Just remember that you both have to purchase the app ($5 for length of the cruise) for the chat feature.

We used the feature on the Valor last September. Based on our experience, the answers to your questions are no and no. Others may have different experiences.

We got it for the chat app so we could all communicate on the ship. Yes there was a lag time...sometimes hours!

It works great. We use it to remind us of everything that we want to do. In the past we would always forget something but the app reminds us. Also the chat feature is great because no more time spent trying to find your companion. I am sure they will add lots more functionality in the future.

I just wish the other cruise line that I like would get on board with this technology in their fleet.

Oh wow sounds good.

We were on the Sunshine a couple of weeks back and it worked great for us. I think it is a home run for Carnival for the Fun Times and menus alone. I will miss it on my upcoming Royal cruise. We did not use the chat because we are joined at the hip anyway now that our kids are grown and don't always come along. We did meet people who used it and they gave it good reviews.

Hours? :o

We got it for the chat app so we could all communicate on the ship. Yes there was a lag time...sometimes hours!

We used the chat feature on the Breeze at the beginning of June and it worked well for us.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

Ok I think we will get the chat feature since it's only $5 each.

Thanks.

Its a good app and worked well on the COnquest in JUne

Worked wonderfully on the Vista in January.

Worked for me on The Freedom last September. Will be getting it again on The Breeze and I love that they added the menus to it. Now I don't have to walk down to the dining room to see what is for dinner that night.

Just remember to leave the app open. When you close the app, it causes the lags in the chat function.

DH and I used it on the Triumph a couple of weeks ago, and on the Dream in April, and it worked great for us both times. Fun Times is on there, as well as the opening times for different things on-board. Chat worked well for us, from what I can remember. I liked that we could see if anything changed in the itinerary. We had a show that was moved to a different night due to rough waters on the Triumph. Having the Fun Times on the Hub App was very handy for that.

We just got off the Fascination on Sunday. 7 of us had the Chat feature. It worked well for some, and not so well for others. Mine did not work well, so I had to keep refreshing it, and check to make sure my message was sent. DH had downloaded his app right before we went, and his had the menus on it.

Based on this....what I think happened is that I had an older version of the app. My parents had sailed last year and used it, but never updated theirs. Theirs didn't work well. One of my daughters updated it right before, and hers worked well.

My advice is to either update it right before you go, or else download it right before you go. I think I should have uninstalled and reinstalled right before I went, as I checked for updates but didn't see them listed.

In any case, for us it was still worth the $5 per phone to use it. My 17 y.o. was on another deck with her older sisters, and I was able to check to make sure she was back each night when I woke up at 3 or so (yes, she stayed out every night til about 3, except the last one she came in at 4). She would just text me when she made it back to her cabin, and that worked well, as I didn't want to have her sisters be her "keeper."

worked well for our group of 8 last week on the Vista, chat lagged a bit on different phones at times...but well enough that we always knew what each other was doing....

everything else from the fun times to the menus were awesome.

We used it in late 2015 and it worked well! Looking forward to it with all the bells and whistles they've just added to it!

We used the app a whole lot on the Breeze last summer and it worked really well. Sometimes there was a bit of a lag in the chat feature if you were in an area where the internet didn't work very well (like in the cabin). But we noticed that if you were in popular high traffic areas it worked well. And as another cruiser commented, keeping the app open helps tremendously. Just being able to check your account (and daily purchases), see the daily events going on, see what's for dinner, see where everything is on the interactive map, see what restaurants are open (and where they are), and make purchases like botomless bubbles, cheers, or pictures makes it well worth the cost. Everything works really well except there's sometimes a little bit of a lag (occasionally) on the chat feature. But it's still well worth the extra cost. My family of four had no problem keeping up with each other and meeting up for dinner or shows. Before the app, keeping in touch was a big mess.

The app worked very well on the Breeze and was a pleasure to use. I wish I could say the same for the wifi.

It's great. Using it now. The menu is about 75% accurate but the chat feature is great. I use it a whole lot more than I thought I would. Just to be able to toggle between devices on a shared wifi plan is terrific.

So do you need to buy the internet package to use the Hub app? I don't need the wifi for anything else and we will not need the chat as we will basically be doing everything together. Just trying to figure out if we will need the internet package and which of the 3 would be required just to access the Hub app. We basically want the fun times and dinner menu access.

Thanks.

No, just to use the app for menus and such is free.

It's $5 per device to add the chat function.

The internet packages are separate from the hub app.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

No, just to use the app for menus and such is free.

It's $5 per device to add the chat function.

The internet packages are separate from the hub app.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

thanks a bunch

Ok thanks I may uninstall and then reinstall again next week just in case.

We just got off the Fascination on Sunday. 7 of us had the Chat feature. It worked well for some, and not so well for others. Mine did not work well, so I had to keep refreshing it, and check to make sure my message was sent. DH had downloaded his app right before we went, and his had the menus on it.

 

Based on this....what I think happened is that I had an older version of the app. My parents had sailed last year and used it, but never updated theirs. Theirs didn't work well. One of my daughters updated it right before, and hers worked well.

 

My advice is to either update it right before you go, or else download it right before you go. I think I should have uninstalled and reinstalled right before I went, as I checked for updates but didn't see them listed.

 

In any case, for us it was still worth the $5 per phone to use it. My 17 y.o. was on another deck with her older sisters, and I was able to check to make sure she was back each night when I woke up at 3 or so (yes, she stayed out every night til about 3, except the last one she came in at 4). She would just text me when she made it back to her cabin, and that worked well, as I didn't want to have her sisters be her "keeper."