Jump to content

To those who have use ncl social media package


Rsavtechcruise
 Share

Recommended Posts

My wife used it a few weeks ago. We have android phones, so I can't answer anything iOS related.

 

Facebook and FB Messenger worked great to communicate, not only with each other, but also with family/friends back home. However, videos embedded in FB did not work (streaming is not supported on this package)

 

Email apps did NOT work. She has a couple and neither worked until we got to port and she was able to turn data on.

 

She doesn't use other social media platforms, so I can't comment on how well they work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What apps have worked from your phone when using it

 

Does iMessage work

Does iPhone mail or gmail app work

How well did Facebook and Facebook messenger work

 

What else worked or did you find didn’t work

 

Last summer on the Epic iMessage worked, no e-mail at all, Facebook was insanely slow, and messenger was ehh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the old plan, iMessage worked. It was one of the few things that did. You could not use email, Facebook in anything other than text only mode, and much of anything else. Essentially, it was worthless.

 

Now, supposedly, they've rethought that and come out with a real "Social Media" package, which allows you to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media (along with, one hopes, the old services like iMessage.) I have already bought this for my May NCL Sun cruise, will let you know :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you upload photos to social media?

 

I could not get anything to upload, my daughter did manage to send some photos to her friends. I found it more frustrating than it was worth though so gave up pretty easily. Since we were in port almost everyday I would just upload things to social media when in port and keep my phone in airplane mode on the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could not get anything to upload, my daughter did manage to send some photos ...
Odds are that, the ship's server hardware/router, etc. probably has firewall blocking some of the UDP/TDP ports, limiting the social media functions to simple text messaging and SMS, as that's intended. To upload/download - the next tier is required over ship's satellite WiFi.

 

As you've noted & for others, pictures can wait or do it in ports/in range of land towers ... just beware of possible roaming charges billed if you exit "Airplane" mode and usage are subject to add-on fees.

 

It's not clear whether all ships have converted fully to and launched the newest 3-tier paid WiFi inTERnet plans ... as recent as last November, the Breakaway (and, the Gem) - their product wasn't differentiated and once connected, uploading & downloading was fine, images, videos, emails & attachments, etc. ... except for streaming, of course.

 

Will be on the Gem again, pretty soon ... going to find out, check & test to see what's new, if any since 2017 for us.

 

Plus, anyone using Ooma's mobile app, we've migrated some of our VoIP functions away from Skype, it should work as I love its HD Voice quality but not 100% sure yet ... my feeling is that it should work just like other WiFi calling apps ... cutting the cords at home, de-bundling our Triple Play (off-topic, pocketing the savings ... enough to pay a good chunk of our monthly cellular bills, LOL)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

I've just returned from a week on the Norwegian Dawn. We purchased the social media package, mostly for our 15-year-old daughter, who could not be away from her SnapChat for a whole week.

 

We were very satisfied with it. No, we could not watch videos, and no, we could not post pictures. But Facebook messenger worked, and we were able to communicate with family at home using that. Very helpful. And I did like posting about our vacation, which is something I have never been able to do before from a cruise ship.

 

We bought one package. My daughter was the one who used it most; but I could and did use it also. I would log on, and it would tell me another session was in use and did I want to end that session? And I would end that session (often to complaints from my daughter) and then I logged on, did my quick perusal of my social media, and logged off.

 

Husband liked it because he could use Facebook and Twitter to get the latest sports scores. We were at sea when Aretha Franklin died, and we were able to get the news from Twitter. In fact I did a few quick searches for other things on Twitter, similar to the way I might use Google, and got the info I was looking for.

 

It was unlimited. I ran into a few people who had purchased minutes, and they had to be aware of their use. We did not.

 

It was only slow on our last evening (presumably because people were trying to use up their minutes.) Otherwise we were satisfied with the speed. And, if anyone cares, my daughter was on an iPhone and I was on an Android phone. No difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It fascinates me the differences in experiences people are having with this package.

 

I recently had it on the Escape and it worked great for me for Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. I uploaded hundreds of photos and also a few videos. I had a few issues with playback on videos at times, but that's about the only real problem I recall. However I had friends on the ship who couldn't get anything to work properly. For info, I have a very new, high spec, Android phone.

 

I could also access my Dropbox files, and discovered at the end of the week that I could access my Gmail account via the app and could also use Google to search for airport information... I should not have been able to access these, so I'd not assume these will work for others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the past, before the new packages, imessage would work if you were on wifi but not signed in. Just for short messages, no pics or videos. Friends who work in IT say that apple designed imessage to be really hard to block, so it usually can sneak through. Don't know if that's still the case.

 

I frequently used imessage this way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...