Purchase Internet Now or Onboard?

[Iamcruzin]

Hi!

I was thinking about prepurchasing some Internet service and wanted to know if anyone knew if they had a better deal on board or if the 120 minutes for $58.95 (a bonus of 20 minutes) was the way to go.

:o

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

 

 

Unless they have changed it since last year, this is the same deal you get onboard when you sign up on the first day. Last year on CB we just signed up in our stateroom using our netbook. I might prepay for the internet before we leave just to have one less item on my acct.

[rjack22]

No, you do get extra bonus minutes for pre-buying an Internet package. There is an advantage in buying a package in advance.

[apeller]

Someone started a new thread based on this topic. Thought I would link it for those who haven't seen it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1129111

 

First post by SCMEXICO says:

Caution when pre purchasing internet minutes I spoke with Princess today to order internet minutes for my cruise based on a post on this board. I assumed that I could order the package and get credit for it with my CC perk when they billed it on the ship. I specifically asked the CSR if I could do this and she told me NO. A pre-purchase is a separate deal. You can only get your CC benefits on board. So be careful what you buy as you may not get the CC credit.

[DannyBoy78]

Thanks to all that have been asking all the right questions- and thanks for the responses. I have been looking for internet info for months now and have found very little information regarding this topic.

 

I can across this information from someone posting live from Crown Princess:

 

LIVE from the Crown Princess Jan 23rd-30th

 

For those who need to know, Plats and Elites will not be getting the extra minutes for buying an internet time plan on the first day. It specifically says so in the Patter.

 

Hope that helps someone out there.

[mommy2jays]

Does anyone know how close to sailing the internet package can be pre- purchased? I definitely am going to do it, but I want to wait as close to the sail date as possible.

Thanks!

[caribill]

They will start charging you by the minute when your package runs out (they say they do not want to cut you off abruptly - aren't they so kind). Not sure whether or not there is any warning - (probably not). I know I keep track of my minutes to avoid this from happening.

 

When you sign on, it will tell you how many minutes are left and ask if you want to purchase more minutes.

 

It also says that if you run out of minutes during that session, it will continue and charge you at the package rate for that session only. Next time you will need to buy a new package or pay by the minute.

[nelina]

We are sailing next week on the Crown and I just called Princess about the internet packages. The packages offered on the gifts page are for internet café only. If you want wireless internet on your own laptop, you need to buy it onboard and the packages are different. Got a quote of 55$ for 100 minutes.

 

Marc

[Iamcruzin]

We are sailing next week on the Crown and I just called Princess about the internet packages. The packages offered on the gifts page are for internet café only. If you want wireless internet on your own laptop, you need to buy it onboard and the packages are different. Got a quote of 55$ for 100 minutes.

 

Marc

You would think that Princess would have that information posted on the web page. That makes a difference to me since I bring my netbook with me so I can use the iternet in my room. I guess I will wait until I am onboard to purchase it.

[breezyb45]

You would think that Princess would have that information posted on the web page. That makes a difference to me since I bring my netbook with me so I can use the iternet in my room. I guess I will wait until I am onboard to purchase it.

Hi there! I have just read all the postings here and now I am confused. Prebuying an internet package is only if you use it in the internet cafe? This does not apply for using you own computer in your room? Please straighten me out.

Kathy

[Doug R.]

You would think that Princess would have that information posted on the web page. That makes a difference to me since I bring my netbook with me so I can use the iternet in my room. I guess I will wait until I am onboard to purchase it.

 

We both need to call Princess on this to verify. It is not uncommon for different Princess reps to give different answers. I would hate to have to fight you for a terminal on our cruise in May. :D We are bringing our netbook also.

[rjack22]

I don't believe it! It doesn't make sense. Internet minutes are Internet minutes. Princess reps don't always know the right answer. I will let you know this weekend as I will be on the Coral Princess and I have already purchased my Internet package.

[Iamcruzin]

I don't believe it! It doesn't make sense. Internet minutes are Internet minutes. Princess reps don't always know the right answer. I will let you know this weekend as I will be on the Coral Princess and I have already purchased my Internet package.

 

Thanks I look foward to your reply.

[Iamcruzin]

We both need to call Princess on this to verify. It is not uncommon for different Princess reps to give different answers. I would hate to have to fight you for a terminal on our cruise in May. :D We are bringing our netbook also.

 

I forgot who we were dealing with. My wife uses the internet to answer any questions that may come up at work or to keep in touch with the kids at home. Last time we purchased the smallest package and we didn't use up our minutes until the very end. I was posting on Facebook as we sailed into Brooklyn. This year the kids will be with us so we will use even less. We will both be platinum after this trip. At that point we will have more than enough minutes combined and I won’t have to worry about buying extra.

[asnaleah]

I didn't know you could do it either, so you are not alone Colo & others.

 

If I were you, I'd pre-buy the minutes. Some ships will give you the bonus minutes when you start up the service on the first day and some won't. It can be a hassle sometimes having to get those bonus minutes.

 

I wish I'd known this before. It would save time and money. Thanks for the info.

[apeller]

I don't believe it! It doesn't make sense. Internet minutes are Internet minutes. Princess reps don't always know the right answer. I will let you know this weekend as I will be on the Coral Princess and I have already purchased my Internet package.

 

When you buy a package, you can use the minutes in both the internet cafe and on your laptop. There is no difference and it comes out of the same pool of minutes.

[ClassyShots]

I don't believe it! It doesn't make sense. Internet minutes are Internet minutes. Princess reps don't always know the right answer. I will let you know this weekend as I will be on the Coral Princess and I have already purchased my Internet package.

 

Hi Robin,

 

What did you find out about the Internet minutes? You had pre-purchased the Internet package, did you see a better deal the first day? And were you able to use your Internet package in your cabin?

 

Hope your cruise went well and thanks for the current info on this. 64 days and counting down.

Jonna

[RocksNoSalt]

I see lots of posts when the conversation is about internet minutes, and buying them on the first day and getting extra. When we were on the Crown over Christmas, the manager told us that you could not get the extra minutes if you were already a member of the Captains Circle. We bought the 150 minute package that is free for Platinum, but got no extra. This might be a ship by ship decision....

 

Mike

 

Same thing happened to me on the Caribbean Princess last year. No extra minutes for a Platinum member...

[apeller]

Same thing happened to me on the Caribbean Princess last year. No extra minutes for a Platinum member...

 

It is definitely a ship by ship thing. As others in the past have said, don't expect to get the extra minutes, but you might luck out.

[paul929207]

I think the official policy is that you do not get bonus minutes for using the Elite/Platinum credit to buy internet minutes. Some internet cafe managers may not understand or follow this policy.

[caribill]

I think the official policy is that you do not get bonus minutes for using the Elite/Platinum credit to buy internet minutes. Some internet cafe managers may not understand or follow this policy.

 

It may have more to do with the sophistication of the software on the ship. If you get the bonus minutes, it will show up immediately and you will see it when you first sign off. If you do not get the bonus minutes you will see that when you sign off. (See this by number of minutes used and minutes remaining)

 

To not give the bonus minutes to elite/platinum, the software must recognize that you are in this category. Looks as if on some ships it can do this and on some ships (as recently as last month) it cannot.

[onebzyldy]

I have just printed out the form, is it best to call Princess or fax them? (Personally I would rather call and give credit card information by phone :o) Can someone quote me the prices for internet minutes on boarding day (I know it must be somewhere on these boards, but am being a bit lazy today :rolleyes:) This is so good to know that we are able to pre purchase internet minutes, does anyone know if this is a new thing ??

Happy Cruising........

DonnaF :D

[Ms. Alpha]

I stumbled onto this when I was looking at ordiering liquor and soda packages. I found that the extra minutes package was double what you get for the first day sign up. Still have one more cruise before we qualify for free minutes.

 

One other note. DH was running low on minutes so he bought another 100 minute package late in the cruise. Then on the second to last day they offered smaller packages so keep this in mind (DH said he didn't realize how few days were remaining when he purchased the minutes)

 

It turns out we used almost all of them anyway as we were on line over 30 minutes trying to print our boarding passes on the last morning. (Our fault, we were waiting for a response while there was anothe window open that we didn't notice that was asking us about checking bags)