Internet Package Options Terrible!

Staying in touch with my family is very important to me when I cruise. In the past I have been able to buy enough minutes to be able to email, text, or FaceTime with them every few days without breaking the bank.

Celebrity’s new internet package offers unlimited for a 14/day cruise for 287.00, or 19.95 an hour, or 24.95 for 24 hours. None of these options address most cruisers’ needs. Do I want to be on the Internet for an hour straight, or for 24 hours when I’m on vacation? NO!

All I need is 5 -10 minutes a day to be in touch with my family

100-200 minutes would be perfect for me. Instead there is no reasonable choice to meet my needs.

Celebrity needs to go back to minutes for purchase that can be spread out throughout a cruise not compressed into a limited, short time period.

I hope that Princess and HAL have not discontinued blocks of internet minutes for purchase.

Celebrity offers free 90 and 240 minute internet packages to Elite and Elite + cruisers. There may be more offered for purchase once you board.

Staying in touch with my family is very important to me when I cruise. In the past I have been able to buy enough minutes to be able to email, text, or FaceTime with them every few days without breaking the bank.

 

 

 

Celebrity’s new internet package offers unlimited for a 14/day cruise for 287.00, or 19.95 an hour, or 24.95 for 24 hours. None of these options address most cruisers’ needs. Do I want to be on the Internet for an hour straight, or for 24 hours when I’m on vacation? NO!

 

 

 

All I need is 5 -10 minutes a day to be in touch with my family

 

 

 

100-200 minutes would be perfect for me. Instead there is no reasonable choice to meet my needs.

 

 

 

Celebrity needs to go back to minutes for purchase that can be spread out throughout a cruise not compressed into a limited, short time period.

 

I hope that Princess and HAL have not discontinued blocks of internet minutes for purchase.

Oceania: internet included at no extra cost.

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I would talk to them when you’re on board about getting a minute based package. Surely they would sell you one?!

This post makes me thankful for the free internet package we received last month. Wouldn’t have wanted to pay that much.

Oceania rocks re the internet. I have been spoiled!!!

I'm not loving the Celebrity Internet options......I'm hoping to find free WiFi while in port (or for purchase of a drink)....

Oceania rocks re the internet. I have been spoiled!!!

 

I'm not loving the Celebrity Internet options......I'm hoping to find free WiFi while in port (or for purchase of a drink)....

Try once on board. Sometimes there are other options available. Also, if you have any Captain's Club standing there are discounts available if you are not yet Elite level, and higher discounts and/or free minutes as you go higher.

I was under the impression that when you have one hour, the minutes debit until you log off. So if you use ten minutes, next time you log on you start at a balance of 50 minutes. That's how it was with the 90 minute perk on Azamara and Celebrity when we last sailed them earlier this year. Did that change?

Yea free unlimited internet on Oceania. Plus Concierge cabins & above get three free bags of laundry.

This really stinks. I was looking for the same exact thing. Why should you be forced to do the unlimited plan? It's really a shame the don't offer something.

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Yea free unlimited internet on Oceania. Plus Concierge cabins & above get three free bags of laundry.

Concierge class on Celebrity gets no free bags of laundry. Are you referring to Oceania?

... if your sailing is port intensive, then there may be no issues because most ports will have places where wi-fi can be used. If it is sea days intensive i.e. a TP or TA, then this is another issue.

Maybe you will want to consider another line which has internet offerings as you like it, right now.

bon voyage

A cheaper social media package would be great. We don't have Wifi included next time and I'm leery to spend $200 to have it, especially since we will have cell coverage in our ports. Carnival's package gives you access to most social media and airline sites for something like $3.50 per day. Extremely reasonable. It would also boost their lacking social media presence. We were happy with the full Wifi onboard in the past, but I'm not sure I would pay out of pocket for it.

Concierge class on Celebrity gets no free bags of laundry. Are you referring to Oceania?

Yes. Didn't the last paragraph of my post say on Oceania?

Yes. Didn't the last paragraph of my post say on Oceania?

Sort of but I hadn't had my coffee yet!

Sort of but I hadn't had my coffee yet!

Wow. You're one dedicated CC'er. lol

A cheaper social media package would be great. We don't have Wifi included next time and I'm leery to spend $200 to have it, especially since we will have cell coverage in our ports. Carnival's package gives you access to most social media and airline sites for something like $3.50 per day. Extremely reasonable. It would also boost their lacking social media presence. We were happy with the full Wifi onboard in the past, but I'm not sure I would pay out of pocket for it.

Hey fellow Chicagoan (and someone named Paul!) - I fully agree. I've always thought they could benefit from a social media package and it would definitely help their marketing. I think Carnival was quick to jump on it due to their cruise pax demographic but Celebrity should take note and definitely leverage the social media aspect. Plus for cruisers it is a great benefit as you can use Facebook messenger, snapchat, Instagram, etc. to message family or even work colleagues.

Hey fellow Chicagoan (and someone named Paul!) - I fully agree. I've always thought they could benefit from a social media package and it would definitely help their marketing. I think Carnival was quick to jump on it due to their cruise pax demographic but Celebrity should take note and definitely leverage the social media aspect. Plus for cruisers it is a great benefit as you can use Facebook messenger, snapchat, Instagram, etc. to message family or even work colleagues.

Chicago Paul! Just noticed you're going to be sailing soon AGAIN. I follow you on Instagram. Look forward to your posts. Have a great time.

:D

Staying in touch with my family is very important to me when I cruise. In the past I have been able to buy enough minutes to be able to email, text, or FaceTime with them every few days without breaking the bank.

 

Celebrity’s new internet package offers unlimited for a 14/day cruise for 287.00, or 19.95 an hour, or 24.95 for 24 hours. None of these options address most cruisers’ needs. Do I want to be on the Internet for an hour straight, or for 24 hours when I’m on vacation? NO!

 

All I need is 5 -10 minutes a day to be in touch with my family

 

100-200 minutes would be perfect for me. Instead there is no reasonable choice to meet my needs.

 

Celebrity needs to go back to minutes for purchase that can be spread out throughout a cruise not compressed into a limited, short time period.

I hope that Princess and HAL have not discontinued blocks of internet minutes for purchase.

Do you have that many days at sea, that you can't wait till you are in port?

If you have a hand held device, why not wait till you get into Port & use the free services which most of the crew use..

When I was on our big cruises & had to keep in touch, with the family, that is what I observed the crew doing in all our ports..:cool:

I did not have a hand held & purchased about 100 minutes several times on our last long cruise, but waited until we boarded the ship to purchase it..

When I was on the Summit in October, Celebrity offered 250 minutes for $99. This offer was made on the ship. Not sure it's available online.

I agree: Celebrity’s internet options ARE terrible. To add insult to injury: the pricing is almost twice as high as Royal Caribbean’s for the same internet system (Vroom (sp?) or Xcelerate) designed and installed by same company at about the same time.

I figure that the Celebrity’s prices are higher because they are trying to recoup the capital investment by a certain rate per year, and there are few fewer users on Celebrity than on Royal Caribbean.

I understand the economics. Just wish they would try another model to see if they might gain more users. Probably still would be higher as most of Celebrity’s ships have fewer cabins. [emoji17] oh well.

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I agree: Celebrity’s internet options ARE terrible. To add insult to injury: the pricing is almost twice as high as Royal Caribbean’s for the same internet system (Vroom (sp?) or Xcelerate) designed and installed by same company at about the same time.

 

I figure that the Celebrity’s prices are higher because they are trying to recoup the capital investment by a certain rate per year, and there are few fewer users on Celebrity than on Royal Caribbean.

 

I understand the economics. Just wish they would try another model to see if they might gain more users. Probably still would be higher as most of Celebrity’s ships have fewer cabins. [emoji17] oh well.

 

 

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... and quite possibly fewer passengers (overall) using the service than RC?

bon voyage

Agreed its a bit of robbery, given work and family obligations while back home, I did purchase unlimited for a 14 day upcoming cruise. I didn't want to spend port time looking for Wifi myself.

I just spoke with Captain’s club rep, after having spoken with other reps over the past several days.

She affirmed that the only options are the unlimited, the 1 hour for 19.95, and the 24 hour for 24.95.

I asked if I could spread out the hour or the 24 hour over several days. The answer - NO! So in essence a guest is charged for continuous use that is very difficult to use- the middle of the night. Whoever came up with this pricing is clueless regarding the cruise experience. I also asked if I could purchase the “Elite” 90 minutes! NO.

This will be my 42 cruise, my 7th with Celebrity. and the first time I will be DENIIED an Internet package that offers cruisers reasonable options that meet individual needs.

The mature cruiser loves to be removed from ordinary daily activities, does not need nor want to be continually connected as the younger generation needs to be, but at the same time wants to be in touch with family just to know that everything is okay. We don’t need to be on social media, nor post photos of our every movement, or meal. That can wait til we return home.

I just spoke with Captain’s club rep, after having spoken with other reps over the past several days.

She affirmed that the only options are the unlimited, the 1 hour for 19.95, and the 24 hour for 24.95.

 

I asked if I could spread out the hour or the 24 hour over several days. The answer - NO! So in essence a guest is charged for continuous use that is very difficult to use- the middle of the night. Whoever came up with this pricing is clueless regarding the cruise experience. I also asked if I could purchase the “Elite” 90 minutes! NO.

This will be my 42 cruise, my 7th with Celebrity. and the first time I will be DENIIED an Internet package that offers cruisers reasonable options that meet individual needs.

 

The mature cruiser loves to be removed from ordinary daily activities, does not need nor want to be continually connected as the younger generation needs to be, but at the same time wants to be in touch with family just to know that everything is okay. We don’t need to be on social media, nor post photos of our every movement, or meal. That can wait til we return home.

To be sure, I might be considered a 'mature cruiser' based on age, you cite in the post, yet I run/own/operate several businesses and have a few family members who are very ill...

Everyone, who needs to know, knows how to contact me in case of an emergency, without fail.

As such, one might think that I would want to be connected 24/7 'in case', well no, if something dire happens and I Am on the open seas, how will I ever get back at a moments notice?

As well, I find that my cell service works well in foreign ports just fine, one does not need wifi at all, although there are OTA & roaming charges for not using wifi, I understand and accept that if I Am not looking for 'free' or 'cheap'.. In fact, if you leave your cell phone on and not on Airplane Mode, you may be able to receive text messages while on the open seas, not too often, but you can. Your carrier may charge exorbitantly for this as it is out of the normal service area.

There are options for connecting either via data or voice or both, the choice is yours ultimately whom it is you want to pay or not pay. It is NOT fully the cruise line issue, but ours to choose accordingly.

If some of us consider this a basic necessity (connectivity anytime/anywhere/cheap) then it is quite possible that cruising X, at this time, may not be for us. It is quite understandable and acceptable, to be sure.

btw - I have been on half the number of sailings as yourself and do remember a time when mobile phones did not exist and then when they did. One could purchase or rent a World Phone which uses satellite to connect if it is that important to be able to connect anytime or anywhere. Issue solved.

bon voyage

When I was on the Summit in October, Celebrity offered 250 minutes for $99. This offer was made on the ship. Not sure it's available online.

WOW, that's a lot of money. I got unlimited VOOM - Surf and Stream on RCCL Anthem for 12 days for only $107.00. Granted it was a sale, but RCCL is always having a sale on internet and dining packages pre-cruise.