What Websites Can I Access on the Mid-Range Ship Wifi Plan?

This question (regarding wifi) may have been asked already but I didn't do a search so not sure. This is my first post ever on this site. Some background. We are avid globe trotters but we typically avoid cruises since we are very independent travelers and we don't like the idea of being trapped on a boat for days at a time and we also don't like the idea of having just 8 hours in a city. We like to spend at least several days/nights in a place to really get a feel for it. We take the big international trip (usually Europe or Asia) every year at the end of August/September so we were looking for something easy and kind of mindless for our usual spring trip this year since both my husband and I have been so busy with work and we just wanted something easy that we didn't have to put a lot of thought into. We live within 50 miles of a cruise ship terminal so he suggested we go on a cruise. I was kind of meh at first but the more I thought about it the more appealing it became since it is easy. So, my husband, our 3 year old and myself are booked for an April 2018 cruise to the Bahamas. I have been on exactly one cruise in my life but it was 12 years ago and I don't even think that onboard wifi was an option back then.

My question is this. What websites can I access if I purchase the mid-level ship wifi plan? I am an entrepreneur so not being able to check email and perform other internet searches of random sites while we float at sea for four days is pretty important to me. Kudos to people who have the luxury of unplugging when they travel but I don't have that luxury, and I like it that way. The Carnival site says that you can access email if you buy the mid-level plan as well as news and financial sites but I would like to know if the entire web, minus video streaming, is available with that package.

Being able to do google searches and pull up random sites while I lie in bed at night is also important to me since we will not be doing any ship sanctioned shore excursions. If we can trek across Europe and Asia with no tour guide we can certainly handle Key West and Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas on our own, and for a lot less than what the ship is charging for excursions. I want to be able to research all of these ports on demand as we are floating. Even when we go to Europe or Asia for a month I don't plan my trip out in advance (other than where we are flying in and out of) and this will be no different, so that is why I would like to be able to access sites all across the net from my cabin.

Also, has anyone ever done the 7 day Galveston/Key West/Freeport/Nassau cruise before? How close to the shore do you stay once you get to Key West? I ask because we always travel with a Skyroam device (a portable global hotspot) that works off of cell towers for $8 a day that you can connect up to 5 devices to at once. We will be using that while on land (with the exception of Key West since we can use our cell phones there without roaming) but if I can get a cell signal on that I can use it on the boat too. It just depends on how close we are to shore. For what I have read, if you are within a mile of shore the Skyroam will work. That means it won't work on the leg from Galveston to Key West and then the leg from Nassau to Galveston but it might work when we get into the Bahamas, depending on how close the ship stays to shore. From what I read you are not able to make Skype or Facebook messenger calls via the ship wifi even if you buy the most expensive package but I can make Skype and Facebook messenger calls if I can get a connection on Skyroam. I won't pay to use a satellite phone on board the boat unless it's an emergency but being able to make business calls (for free) via Skype and also call my oldest child who lives in Europe (we talk daily) via Facebook messenger would be nice. Anyone know how close the ship stays to land when it's on the Key West/Freeport/Nassau portion of the cruise?

I'm not expert in this, but since no on else answered, I'll say I highly doubt it's a matter of websites being blocked. It's just the speed isn't that great so websites that require more bandwidth, such as streaming video, are going to have problem.

But I stand ready to be corrected by anyone more knowledgeable.

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152/~/carnivals-wi-fi-service-and-hub-app

What plans are offered?

We have upgraded our communications technology to the latest, state of the art systems and guests now have access to much faster speeds at an affordable price! Our ships feature awesome internet plans.

Social Wi-Fi Plan

Access the most popular social websites and applications including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, SnapChat and the most popular airline sites. Does not include access to most websites and email. Does not support access to video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora), iMessage or Skype. Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $4.00 USD per day | Onboard price: $5.00 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: not applicable.

Value Wi-Fi Plan

Access popular social websites, email and applications including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, SnapChat and the most popular airline sites as well as news, entertainment (not including streaming sites), sports, weather, banking and finance. Post pictures of your trip and make your friends jealous. Faster speeds than the Social Plan. Does not support Skype or video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora). Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $10.25 USD per day | Onboard price: $12.00 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: $16.00 USD.

Premium Wi-Fi Plan

Our Premium Wi-Fi plan provides you access to all sites under the Social and Value Plans at the fastest possible connection on board (3 times faster than the Value Plan). Our Premium Plan also supports Skype calling where coverage allows. Does not support video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora). Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $14.88 USD per day | Onboard price: $17.70 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: $25.00 USD.

Guests can upgrade from one plan to another and can use multiple devices per plan, including their smart phone, laptop or shipboard Internet cafe but only one device can be used at a time.

I'm not expert in this, but since no on else answered, I'll say I highly doubt it's a matter of websites being blocked. It's just the speed isn't that great so websites that require more bandwidth, such as streaming video, are going to have problem.

 

But I stand ready to be corrected by anyone more knowledgeable.

Yes certain websites and apps are blocked. Well it’s more like certain websites and apps are accessible.

There is a thread from last year where a guy did speed tests for all the plans and the best he ever got was barely 4g LTE speed so be prepared for that. As far as access, I read that they block porn and gambling sites but I forget where I read it so I it might not even be for here - I do remember googling stuff with the middle plan and I don't remember not getting access to anything I was looking for but if something was blocked I might have just chalked it up to lousy connection. I'll see if I can find that thread and make sure of the speeds.

Edit to add~I couldn't find the exact speedtest post I was thinking of but I found a post by coevan where he did the speedtest and the best he ever got was barely 2megs down. Now this was over a year ago but I doubt they have improved the network infrastructure much since then.

There is a thread from last year where a guy did speed tests for all the plans and the best he ever got was barely 4g LTE speed so be prepared for that. As far as access, I read that they block porn and gambling sites but I forget where I read it so I it might not even be for here - I do remember googling stuff with the middle plan and I don't remember not getting access to anything I was looking for but if something was blocked I might have just chalked it up to lousy connection. I'll see if I can find that thread and make sure of the speeds.

The Value Plan does allow for pretty much all access with few exceptions where the Social does not. I’ve had both. As far as Premium having faster speeds it seems like when a ton of people are using the internet on the ship, that makes them practically identical. I upgraded onboard from Value to Premium, noticed zero difference and got a refund. I wasn’t the only one and others have also reported on here as well. While in theory and maybe when the majority of people onboard are sleeping the Premium is faster, as far as other times they are the same. At least that’s been my experience.

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152/~/carnivals-wi-fi-service-and-hub-app

 

 

What plans are offered?

 

We have upgraded our communications technology to the latest, state of the art systems and guests now have access to much faster speeds at an affordable price! Our ships feature awesome internet plans.

Social Wi-Fi Plan

Access the most popular social websites and applications including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, SnapChat and the most popular airline sites. Does not include access to most websites and email. Does not support access to video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora), iMessage or Skype. Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $4.00 USD per day | Onboard price: $5.00 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: not applicable.

 

Value Wi-Fi Plan

Access popular social websites, email and applications including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, SnapChat and the most popular airline sites as well as news, entertainment (not including streaming sites), sports, weather, banking and finance. Post pictures of your trip and make your friends jealous. Faster speeds than the Social Plan. Does not support Skype or video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora). Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $10.25 USD per day | Onboard price: $12.00 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: $16.00 USD.

 

Premium Wi-Fi Plan

Our Premium Wi-Fi plan provides you access to all sites under the Social and Value Plans at the fastest possible connection on board (3 times faster than the Value Plan). Our Premium Plan also supports Skype calling where coverage allows. Does not support video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora). Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $14.88 USD per day | Onboard price: $17.70 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: $25.00 USD.

 

Guests can upgrade from one plan to another and can use multiple devices per plan, including their smart phone, laptop or shipboard Internet cafe but only one device can be used at a time.

I read this on the Carnival website before I posted my question. It's pretty ambiguous the way it's written. With the way it's written it seems like only certain websites (news, entertainment (not including streaming sites), sports, weather, banking and finance) are accessible in addition to the social media sites that you can access with the cheapest plan and that buying the most expensive plan only gets you a slightly faster speed of the same websites that the mid grade plan offers. I am curious if you can access any website on google just as long as it's not porn or something like Netflix. I would also like to know if a page has a video on it will the text of the page load but not the video? Or if there is a video on the page will the page just not load at all?

I was hoping that someone who has actually bought and used the wifi plans onboard a Carnival ship could tell me their experience which is why I posted here. Since there are so many people who are members here that have been on tons of cruises.

There is a thread from last year where a guy did speed tests for all the plans and the best he ever got was barely 4g LTE speed so be prepared for that. As far as access, I read that they block porn and gambling sites but I forget where I read it so I it might not even be for here - I do remember googling stuff with the middle plan and I don't remember not getting access to anything I was looking for but if something was blocked I might have just chalked it up to lousy connection. I'll see if I can find that thread and make sure of the speeds.

 

Edit to add~I couldn't find the exact speedtest post I was thinking of but I found a post by coevan where he did the speedtest and the best he ever got was barely 2megs down. Now this was over a year ago but I doubt they have improved the network infrastructure much since then.

Hi. Thanks so much for your input! This is exactly the type of input I was hoping to get on this thread. I won't be trying to access porn or gambling sites and that's for sure. =D As long as I can get on my company website, do any work related research I need to do (and it's all commercial real estate and finance based) and also research various things about the Bahamas I will be good. Thanks again for your input!

Just keep in mind it is VERY slow. My DS had to buy the FULL plan this past spring break so he could research an assignment that was to be completed over break (what kind of Professor does this!?!?). He said he would never spend the money for it again - even though it allowed him to communicate with his GF. Based on his experience, I am thinking you will spend a lot of your vacation waiting on internet.

As for Key West, you are docket at the pier and will have whatever internet/cell you would have on land.

The Value Plan does allow for pretty much all access with few exceptions where the Social does not. I’ve had both. As far as Premium having faster speeds it seems like when a ton of people are using the internet on the ship, that makes them practically identical. I upgraded onboard from Value to Premium, noticed zero difference and got a refund. I wasn’t the only one and others have also reported on here as well. While in theory and maybe when the majority of people onboard are sleeping the Premium is faster, as far as other times they are the same. At least that’s been my experience.

Thank you for you input! This is the kind of info I was looking for! Personal experience with the service. Thanks so much.

Just keep in mind it is VERY slow. My DS had to buy the FULL plan this past spring break so he could research an assignment that was to be completed over break (what kind of Professor does this!?!?). He said he would never spend the money for it again - even though it allowed him to communicate with his GF. Based on his experience, I am thinking you will spend a lot of your vacation waiting on internet.

 

As for Key West, you are docket at the pier and will have whatever internet/cell you would have on land.

Thanks for your input!

Yes, our cell phones will work in Key West. And we are using our Skyroam portable wifi device while in the Bahamas. It's only $8 a day for unlimited wifi and you can connect up to 5 devices at once to it. I have used it all over Asia and Europe and it's fast and amazing. It works off of cell towers though so you have to be near a cell tower to use it. Otherwise I would just use it on the ship too.

Just keep in mind it is VERY slow. My DS had to buy the FULL plan this past spring break so he could research an assignment that was to be completed over break (what kind of Professor does this!?!?). He said he would never spend the money for it again - even though it allowed him to communicate with his GF. Based on his experience, I am thinking you will spend a lot of your vacation waiting on internet.

 

As for Key West, you are docket at the pier and will have whatever internet/cell you would have on land.

Exactly what I needed, thank you. Myself and my spouse are also students and they don't do spring breaks at this particular school. (Nor Winter, boo). We will absolutely have to use our laptop and login to class. I guess we'll bite the bullet for the full plan and make efficient use of our class room time.

Actually, I think I'll have some of the work done but posted on those days so that we each get credit for time sensitive material being delivered within the appropriate time frame.