Making Video Phone Calls On Board? Best App to use?

[Angiet2]

Hi All,

 

Leaving on Allure this Sunday (yay!) and just realized that my FaceTime does not work... I plan on buying the unlimited internet package and need to stay in touch with work/home while away. Does anyone have another video chat app that they have had success with, on board, using the ship's wifi?

 

I have an iPhone 5.

 

Thanks so much!! Really appreciate the help, since my techie skills are a bit low! :)

[Clarea]

I've read that Skype works, with varying quality.

 

You might want to plan to do the video stuff while off the ship using land based internet.

[JasonV1]

I would rely on VoIP (Skype, others) only if you are on the ship. Allure won't get the satellite Internet upgrade until after the refurb (I believe) so video quality will be horribly laggy (most likely), but voice should be better.

[rtazz17]

Yeah as said above..Why do you need video.. Just use voice.It will prolly just end up being more of a pia then anything.Streaming (facetime or any app similar)will not work well.Internet is extremely slow.Less them 1mbps.Considering I get 30mbps at my house and will still sometimes lag 1mbps is nothing.

Edited November 4, 2014 by rtazz17

[mrbanks7474]

Hi All,

 

Leaving on Allure this Sunday (yay!) and just realized that my FaceTime does not work... I plan on buying the unlimited internet package and need to stay in touch with work/home while away. Does anyone have another video chat app that they have had success with, on board, using the ship's wifi?

 

I have an iPhone 5.

 

Thanks so much!! Really appreciate the help, since my techie skills are a bit low! :)

 

I just read that the Allure does have the faster land speeds available now. I was on the Oasis for the Halloween sailing, and was able to FaceTime under the current speeds on it.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[thrifty99]

I'm on the Allure now and used FaceTime on my iPhone 6 to video chat with my son back home this week. We were surprised at how well it worked. We only tried it once so not sure if during heavier use times if it would work as well.

 

I am using the middle tier of the 3 speeds they offer now (not the newest higher speed as that was too expensive).

 

For one device, here are the prices for the 7-day Allure cruise:

 

Basic plan: $150

Premium plan: $160

Premium Plus plan: $280

 

They say the Premium plan is 4 times as fast as the Basic Plan. They suggest the Premium Plus for streaming movies and video calls.

 

When I ran a Speed test, it was right at 2Mb per second download and 1Mb per second upload. Not sure how accurate those tests are on a ship using satellite connection.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[thrifty99]

See my recent post "Allure Internet pricing Nov 2014" for a copy of the pricing sheet they gave me for the Internet packages.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Angiet2]

Thanks a bunch, for the helpful responses!!

 

What a great community!

 

Angie