Pre-Purchase Internet?

[MauiGOOT]

We've never used on-board Internet because we have always cruised near ports so could take advantage of internet cafes or free wi-fi as available on land. We'll be taking the cruise On Pacific Princess from Tahiti to Honolulu in April, so no land nearby for about 5 days. I run a business and have to check email periodically. We are a cruise away from getting a complimentary internet package.... so it sounds as though we'll need to purchase some minutes.

 

Princess offers internet packages for pre-sale... has anyone done this? Is it a better deal than waiting? It seems to me there is a special offering the first day on board for an internet package, but I can't remember any details. On their website, they want about 41 cents per minute (plus the $3.95 activation fee) if you buy 240 minutes by purchasing ahead of time.

 

Is the satellite service between Tahiti and Hawaii really slow? Is internet speed also dependent on size of ship, due to sheer volume of people attempting to use it? Pacific is a small ship with only about 600 passengers.

 

We plan to bring our own laptop and I know how to conserve minutes by preparing email off line, for instance, but how long does the average connection and normal email download take? Anyone know? :confused:

 

Thanks for any help!

~Lis

[paul929207]

You get more minutes for a given price by pre-purchasing a package.

[rjack22]

I agree! The best deal is pre-cruise purchase.

[yvr49]

We have a 5-day getaway coming up in the Caribbean, and an 11-day Baltic in May. I will need to check emails daily but I don't expect to need as much as 120 minutes over the 5 days. If I buy the package and don't use all 120 minutes, can I transfer the balance to be used on our 11-day cruise?

 

Second question: when we did our Greek Isles cruise last spring we did not buy the ship's Internet, but we were able to find free WiFi everywhere in restaurants and cafés we encountered. I'm wondering if it will be the same in the Caribbean - ports of call are Princess Cays & Grand Turk. Am I correct in thinking it won't be as easy to access free WiFi in those spots?

[Astro Flyer]

We have a 5-day getaway coming up in the Caribbean, and an 11-day Baltic in May. I will need to check emails daily but I don't expect to need as much as 120 minutes over the 5 days. If I buy the package and don't use all 120 minutes, can I transfer the balance to be used on our 11-day cruise?

You cannot carryover minutes to a later cruise although I have had minutes rollover on b2b cruises.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[Duane T]

We've never used on-board Internet because we have always cruised near ports so could take advantage of internet cafes or free wi-fi as available on land. We'll be taking the cruise On Pacific Princess from Tahiti to Honolulu in April, so no land nearby for about 5 days. I run a business and have to check email periodically. We are a cruise away from getting a complimentary internet package.... so it sounds as though we'll need to purchase some minutes.

 

Princess offers internet packages for pre-sale... has anyone done this? Is it a better deal than waiting? It seems to me there is a special offering the first day on board for an internet package, but I can't remember any details. On their website, they want about 41 cents per minute (plus the $3.95 activation fee) if you buy 240 minutes by purchasing ahead of time.

 

Is the satellite service between Tahiti and Hawaii really slow? Is internet speed also dependent on size of ship, due to sheer volume of people attempting to use it? Pacific is a small ship with only about 600 passengers.

 

We plan to bring our own laptop and I know how to conserve minutes by preparing email off line, for instance, but how long does the average connection and normal email download take? Anyone know? :confused:

 

Thanks for any help!

~Lis

 

I just got off the Golden Princess last week. I prepurchased the 200 Minute package and got 40 minutes credited to my account after I registered at the Internet Café on the ship. You have to tell the Internet Café manager/tech that you prepurchased and they'll add the 40 minutes. I did all my email's and write-ups offline. Then I jumped online and downloaded/uploaded emails, and cut/paste write-ups (e.g. cruisecritic comments). My sessions normally lasted only 7 to 10 minutes.

 

One interesting fact I learned on this last cruise is that the Internet gateway for Princess was hubbed in New Jersey. With the Artic Vortex storms that hit the northeast, the hubbed was out of service and the ship had NO INTERNET and NO CELLPHONE service for the last day of the cruise (which was bad timing as flight cancellations caused a lot of people to scramble to make alternate flight arrangements).

 

Like any internet hub, internet access was slow during the day when a lot of people were on. I found the best time to connect was late at night to early the next morning.

[Pam in CA]

You will probably use more minutes than you think. The most efficient way to use your package is to download your email, sign off, read and respond offline, resign on and send. Best times are before 8am, during dinner and late at night. Many things can affect satellite reception (other than a polar vortex) such as weather, where the ship is in relation to the satellite coverage area. It's never guaranteed. And, if someone is Skyping or using FaceTime, or uploading/downloading photos, the Internet will be slow or non-existent for everyone else.

[chrismch]

Just off the Caribbean Princess and was very frustrated with the internet service. It was fine on port days, but when I tried it on two sea days it took me 10-20 minutes just to sign into my email. Then couldn't delete the read ones. Heard other users had the same complaint. Also for those needing to print boarding passes, it took forever -- and your internet time was still ticking away while you were waiting for it to go through. If you went past your alloted minutes, you were in for a surprise for that extra expense. Would have been upset if I had paid for it, but it was a perk for my status.

[caribill]

Also for those needing to print boarding passes, it took forever -- and your internet time was still ticking away while you were waiting for it to go through.

 

It is rare that you must print your boarding passes on the ship as they can easily be printed at the airport.

 

So it will not take as much time (though it may be slow with many people doing so) to check in from the ship and do the printing at the airport. For those onm Southwest, the suggestion is the same. Check-in to get that boarding number, but wait for the airport for the printout.

[caribill]

Princess offers internet packages for pre-sale... has anyone done this? Is it a better deal than waiting? It seems to me there is a special offering the first day on board for an internet package, but I can't remember any details. On their website, they want about 41 cents per minute (plus the $3.95 activation fee) if you buy 240 minutes by purchasing ahead of time. Pricing is the same on the ship as if purchased in advanced. Difference is that you get twice as many bonus minutes if you book in advance.

 

Is the satellite service between Tahiti and Hawaii really slow? Is internet speed also dependent on size of ship, due to sheer volume of people attempting to use it? Pacific is a small ship with only about 600 passengers. Speed depends on how many are using it at the same time. Availability depends on the necessary satellite being in range. Satellite coverage is usually spotty over areas of the ocean with few if any inhabitants.

 

We plan to bring our own laptop and I know how to conserve minutes by preparing email off line, for instance, but how long does the average connection and normal email download take? Anyone know? :confused: It varies by the number of users. I have had slower-than-snail-paced speed when trying at 5 PM and so-fast-you-cannot-believe-it speed at 2 AM when there are few other users.

 

 

See above in red

 

One other tip. If the signal is poor in your cabin, prop open the cabin door a little with the trash can. Reception will usually improve that way.

[catergirl]

:)so i usually set up my account on the first day when you usually get bonus minutes. so you get more bonus minutes if you pre book? can i pre book with platium status? i know the minutes vary for cruise length...we are going on a 31 day and both platium, how much time are we allowed? thanks martha

[caribill]

:)so i usually set up my account on the first day when you usually get bonus minutes. so you get more bonus minutes if you pre book? can i pre book with platium status? i know the minutes vary for cruise length...we are going on a 31 day and both platium, how much time are we allowed? thanks martha

 

Each person with platinum status gets free minutes (and no $3.95 setup charge) based on the number of days in a cruise. If the cruise is a b2b, then the number of minutes is based on each segment.

1-7 days = package with 150 minutes

8-20 days = package with 250 minutes

21+ days = package with 500 minutes

 

So if your 31 days is a single segment, you would each get 500 minutes.

If it is multiple segments, figure using the info above.

 

On some ships these unused "free" minutes can be carried over to the next segment. On some they cannot. It is up to the Internet Cafe manager. If yours is a b2b, speak with the manager before the end of a segment.

 

There are no bonus minutes associated with the platinum package of minutes.

 

You cannot order the platinum package before boarding the ship. When you first sign on to the Internet while on the ship, it will inform you of the minutes you qualify for. It will also give you the opportunity to purchase an upgrade to a larger number of minutes, an opportunity you do not get later in the cruise.

 

If you do pre-purchase a package, your platinum benefit cannot be used to offset the cost, so there is no reason to make such a purchase unless you expect to really be using a large number of internet minutes while onboard, your Platinum minutes + any additional minutes you purchase.

[devine5829]

Where do you pre pay for the internet minutes?

[caribill]

Where do you pre pay for the internet minutes?

 

Packages are described here. http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/communications/index.jsp

 

Call Princess to purchase or FAX an order in.

[dscoggin]

Any recent advice (2018) about pre-purchase of Internet on the Royal Princess? Is it cheaper to buy before you embark or on board the ship?

Thank you!

Donna

[IECalCruiser]

Any recent advice (2018) about pre-purchase of Internet on the Royal Princess? Is it cheaper to buy before you embark or on board the ship?

 

Thank you!

 

Donna

Look in your Cruise Personalizer and you will see that you will get from 20 to 80 bonus minutes if you pre-purchase. If you wait until you are on board you will only receive half of the bonus minutes and after the first day you receive no bonus minutes.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[TriumphGuy]

One thing we did to save on minutes was to compose emails and replies in a text editor or Word and then connect and copy/paste them into an email. This did seem to help. We managed to get through a cruise with 9 sea days using the smallest internet package with this technique.

However, if you want to do Facebook or browse sites, all bets are off. Personally, we enjoyed being "disconnected" from all that.

[Astro Flyer]

One thing we did to save on minutes was to compose emails and replies in a text editor or Word and then connect and copy/paste them into an email. This did seem to help.

 

That’s a good idea & we use a slightly different procedure to conserve minutes.

 

We go online to download our email; sign out; compose replies offline & “send” which puts them into the Outbox; next time we sign in they’re automatically sent.

[Haboob]

Any recent advice (2018) about pre-purchase of Internet on the Royal Princess? Is it cheaper to buy before you embark or on board the ship?

Thank you!

Donna

 

As a general rule, better deals pre-cruise, but unable to use OBC to order internet until boarded.

 

*BUT*...

 

Princess is re-jiggering internet at sea based upon new satellites being available (in a test last

Feb, Regal was able to establish 1 separate internet movie connection for almost every other

person aboard: 1,500 streams and 3600 pax), but learned the hard way of several gotchas

about which satellites could be received where.

 

Depending on which ship and where the ship is going, you may get offered buy-the-minute,

or unlimited minutes but restrictions on sites, or totally unlimited, or some mixture, or no

internet offers at all (hopefully because they're still trying to figure out what they can offer).

 

Worse, offers (or their absence) have been changing somewhere in their fleet weekly if not daily.

[dscoggin]

Has anyone tried using WhatsApp on the Royal Princess using the Internet pkg.?

[pablo222]

Princess is re-jiggering internet at sea based upon new satellites being available (in a test last

Feb, Regal was able to establish 1 separate internet movie connection for almost every other

person aboard: 1,500 streams and 3600 pax)

 

So what?

 

I'm sure that every person on the Regal TA, who discovered they had no connectivity at all, was able

to still enjoy reading that statistic.

[Haboob]

So what?

 

I'm sure that every person on the Regal TA, who discovered they had no connectivity at all, was able

to still enjoy reading that statistic.

 

When you trim context from a quote, courtesy is to at least include ellipses ("..."), no?

 

((Lest we ignite a flamewar, expect no further comment on this))

[brt49]

I booked a 14 day cruise that is also two 7 day cruises. I am getting 2 credits, do I get a new set of platinum minutes on the second leg?

 

Sent from my 2PYB2 using Forums mobile app

[IECalCruiser]

I booked a 14 day cruise that is also two 7 day cruises. I am getting 2 credits, do I get a new set of platinum minutes on the second leg?

 

Sent from my 2PYB2 using Forums mobile app

You should.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[caribill]

 

Depending on which ship and where the ship is going, you may get offered buy-the-minute,

or unlimited minutes but restrictions on sites, or totally unlimited, or some mixture, or no

internet offers at all (hopefully because they're still trying to figure out what they can offer).

 

Based on this thread https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=56479884&posted=1#post56479884 about pricing on the Grand Princess, Princess is not offering unlimited internet at all.

 

What they are offering are three packages with different daily limits of how many MB you can use.

 

Social 200 MB/day

Surf 300 MB/day

Premium 500 MB/day

 

So what you are paying for if you get more than the Social package is not faster speed, just more MB per day. For many people, the amount of surfing they might do each day can be handled by the Social package.