Internet

[dickinson]

We will be sailing next month on the Grand 15 day to Hawaii. I have seen on Princess' website what their internet packages are and the extra minutes you get if you buy it in advance. However, I did read someone's review recently (I think they might be Elite and we will be Platinum) where when they logged in for the first time they were offered a package of 850 minutes for $85. Sounds like a steal of a deal and they claim it was not a typo. They said I should wait til I get onboard the ship to purchase. Purchasing before then is a lot more expensive.

 

My question is what are other people's experiences? What were you offered when you first logged on and what is your status? Were you Platinum? I would like to know what to expect. Thanks.

[Kamloops50]

If you are elite or platinum . You'll be offered package for free.

On a 15 day Hawaii cruise you'll be offered 250 minutes free.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Kamloops50

[geoherb]

If you are Platinum or higher, wait until you board the ship. You'll get your free minutes (150 for cruises up to 7 days long, 250 for cruises 8-20 days long, and 500 for cruises 21+ days long). When you sign up the first time, you can extend the number of minutes inexpensively. On one of our cruises, DH purchased an additional 100 minutes for $25. Remember that each of you receives the free Internet minutes if you're both Platinum or higher.

[JF - retired RRT]

If you are elite or platinum . You'll be offered package for free.

On a 15 day Hawaii cruise you'll be offered 250 minutes free.

If there are 2 of you and you are both Platinum that is a total of 500 minutes. We have done this cruise 3 times and 500 minutes was almost exactly right for checking e-mail, a quick check of CC and making sure our bank balances were correct.

Service can be spotty in the middle of the ocean and it is very sloooow.

[-Lew-]

850 minutes for $85 or 10¢ per minute just doesn't seem right. I would not depend on seeing internet minutes offered at that price.

 

Use your free internet minutes first and if you need more, purchase a block of minutes at that time. I wouldn't recommend buying in advance unless you have a pretty good idea what your usage will be.

 

Lew

[dickinson]

Thanks all! I did not realize that we EACH get the free internet minutes. I was thinking it was just for the cabin. Not sure why. Anyways… dh gets up much earlier than me (maybe 4 or 5 am) and going on the internet to read the hometown newspaper etc gives him something to do. Our past couple of cruises the internet was not too bad at that hour although I don't know about the middle of the Pacific.

 

If we each get the free minutes for Platinum then I guess dh needs to get his own log in to Princess. I don't remember what was needed to log in other than cabin # but I guess it was a Princess log in.

[-Lew-]

 

If we each get the free minutes for Platinum then I guess dh needs to get his own log in to Princess.

You'll each create your own login when you first sign on to your onboard internet account. Users do not need a Princess website login, if that's what you were referring to.

 

Lew

[xlxo]

where when they logged in for the first time they were offered a package of 850 minutes for $85.

 

Hmm....

• 850minutes works out to 14hrs. Remember to use Airplane mode to ensure there is no unwanted background activity (app updates? email checking?)
  
• What is the Princess speed like? Is it like your home broadband? Or is it very slow like 2G speeds? To compare DCL is based on "quantity". You get 1gb for $89. When it's quantity based I used speedtest to find it working like broadband at 24 Mbps!
  

[skynight]

Hmm....

• What is the Princess speed like? Is it like your home broadband? Or is it very slow like 2G speeds? To compare DCL is based on "quantity". You get 1gb for $89. When it's quantity based I used speedtest to find it working like broadband at 24 Mbps!
  

 

No not like broadband. Speed is generally slow as it is by satellite and also depends on how many passengers are actually logged on and what they are attempting to do on line. Sometimes it is like the old dial up service. The best time to use the internet is during the overnight hours.

[elliair]

Hmm....

• 850minutes works out to 14hrs. Remember to use Airplane mode to ensure there is no unwanted background activity (app updates? email checking?)
  
• What is the Princess speed like? Is it like your home broadband? Or is it very slow like 2G speeds? To compare DCL is based on "quantity". You get 1gb for $89. When it's quantity based I used speedtest to find it working like broadband at 24 Mbps!
  

 

Compared to what I have with Comcast, the ship's internet is slower than any dial-up I've ever had. You would think in this day and age of technology, that they could get it to go faster. But on the other hand, the slower it goes, the more minutes you'll purchase. I use strictly my free minutes and after that I won't pay for additional minutes.

[paul929207]

If your husband will be reading the hometown paper, he may want to look for a way to download it. With the current Princess internet, it is connect time that determines the cost. So if he is idle or appears to be idle while reading, he will still be using minutes.

[dickinson]

This is what is posted on the Princess website about purchasing internet minutes in advance:

 

Internet Access

Perfect for those who like to stay in touch or need to manage their affairs on a daily basis in order to put their minds at ease. Help a passenger relax and fully enjoy their Princess vacation by giving them Internet access for news, information and web-based email.

 

120 minutes

Item #6038 – $72.95

(Includes $69.00 for internet time plan + $3.95. One time activation fee)

(Includes 20 bonus minutes for

prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

 

240 minutes

Item #6039 – $102.95

(Includes $99.00 for internet time plan + $3.95. One time activation fee)

(Includes 40 bonus minutes for

prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

 

460 minutes

Item #6302 – $162.95

(Includes $159.00 for internet time plan + $3.95. One time activation fee)

(Includes 60 bonus minutes for

prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

 

680 minutes

Item #6301 – $202.95

(Includes $199.00 for internet time plan + $3.95. One time activation fee)

(Includes 80 bonus minutes for

prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

 

Sounds like people are saying that we will be offered a better deal at first login because we are Platinum? Or are better deals offered to everyone? I think I read somewhere that when you are onboard the ship the bonus minutes are cut in half. However that was before I read the Live from about the woman who just spent 10 days in French Polynesia and spent $85 for 850 min at sign in. She claimed it was no typo.

 

When we take our little 4 day cruise on Feb 10 (it will make us Platinum) we won't have any free minutes. Should we buy in advance or wait til on the ship? I could live with my free minutes on the Hawaii trip just to check email but dh is not so flexible because of his early rising with not much to do.

[Pam in CA]

If you are not Platinum yet, buy the Internet in advance as you'll get more minutes.

 

If you are Platinum or Elite, DO NOT pre-purchase the Internet. You won't get the minutes and you won't get a refund. Wait until you board. If you think you'll need more than the combined 500 minutes, you'll have the option to purchase more than your 250 minutes at your first log-in for an incremental cost. If you don't do that and you're running out of minutes, you'll have the option to purchase more.

 

Reading a newspaper or website online can use up a lot of minutes. If you can't download and read offline, I'd take quick screenshots of the pages and read them offline.

[dickinson]

If you are not Platinum yet, buy the Internet in advance as you'll get more minutes.

 

If you are Platinum or Elite, DO NOT pre-purchase the Internet. You won't get the minutes and you won't get a refund. Wait until you board. If you think you'll need more than the combined 500 minutes, you'll have the option to purchase more than your 250 minutes at your first log-in for an incremental cost. If you don't do that and you're running out of minutes, you'll have the option to purchase more.

 

Reading a newspaper or website online can use up a lot of minutes. If you can't download and read offline, I'd take quick screenshots of the pages and read them offline.

 

Thanks Pam. We will be Platinum after our 4 day cruise on the Crown. We get off Feb 14 and then get on the Grand on the 17th. Hopefully that is enough time for them to recognize that we are Platinum.

 

I have already looked up what is needed for us to be able to download the newspaper. If not then that is a great idea of taking screen shots although that would involve a lot of shots.

 

You said if a person was Platinum or Elite they won't get the minutes if they pre purchase and no refund. Wow… it should say that on their website. I wonder how many people this happens to. I also wonder why they would not get what they pay for.

[jollyjones]

I was just on the recent Grand Hawaii cruise and as an Elite, I got 250 free minutes and could (and did) purchase another 250 on the first day for $75. This I almost came to regret because the internet was slower than I have ever known it - even by cruise ship standards, even by Grand Princess standards (this was my 6th cruise on her) even by Hawaii and trans-Pacific itineraries standards (I've done both before, several times, on the Sapphire). Loading each page, even ones with little content, was painfully slow and many times failed because the connection dropped out altogether. I know to try and log in at unpopular times when there may be fewer people sharing the bandwidth but it still didn't help.

I like to be able to keep in touch with things at home while I'm travelling but I gave up on this cruise because the terrible connection was just too frustrating. Fortunately, the TV signal was OK so I could watch the BBC news to follow world events.

Edited January 5, 2015 by jollyjones

[24639]

I was just on the recent Grand Hawaii cruise and as an Elite, I got 250 free minutes and could (and did) purchase another 250 on the first day for $75. This I almost came to regret because the internet was slower than I have ever known it - even by cruise ship standards, even by Grand Princess standards (this was my 6th cruise on her) even by Hawaii and trans-Pacific itineraries standards (I've done both before, several times, on the Sapphire). Loading each page, even ones with little content, was painfully slow and many times failed because the connection dropped out altogether. I know to try and log in at unpopular times when there may be fewer people sharing the bandwidth but it still didn't help.

I like to be able to keep in touch with things at home while I'm travelling but I gave up on this cruise because the terrible connection was just too frustrating. Fortunately, the TV signal was OK so I could watch the BBC news to follow world events.

 

I was just on the most recent sailing on the Grand and this was my experience as well. I was able to connect once out of five attempts and then the connection was lost within five minutes. I gave up at that point and never bothered again. Thank goodness for the free minutes or I would have asked for the charges to be reversed.

[Pam in CA]

You said if a person was Platinum or Elite they won't get the minutes if they pre purchase and no refund. Wow… it should say that on their website. I wonder how many people this happens to. I also wonder why they would not get what they pay for.

You'll eventually get them but only if you run out of your free time. It would be much cheaper to buy an increment for the difference after boarding when you log in. You'll save about 50%.

[dickinson]

You'll eventually get them but only if you run out of your free time. It would be much cheaper to buy an increment for the difference after boarding when you log in. You'll save about 50%.

 

Thanks. That is what we will do.

 

I wonder how long it takes to download our local paper so it can be read offline? I have no idea about bandwidth etc.

 

Our previous two Princess cruises were Alaska and NE/Canada. There was still unlimited internet for suite passengers then. We found it slow but not too bad late late at night or real early in morning. Doesn't look good based on the couple of posts above for our Pacific crossing to Hawaii :(

[CanuckCurlers]

We've learned to log on to the Princess site first, it's free. This does not use up your minutes and will tell you how fast the system is working and whether you want to waste your time or not.

[JF - retired RRT]

Hmm....

• 850minutes works out to 14hrs. Remember to use Airplane mode to ensure there is no unwanted background activity (app updates? email checking?)
  
• What is the Princess speed like? Is it like your home broadband? Or is it very slow like 2G speeds? To compare DCL is based on "quantity". You get 1gb for $89. When it's quantity based I used speedtest to find it working like broadband at 24 Mbps!
  

It is slower (usually) than back when we had dial up modems.:(:rolleyes:

[JF - retired RRT]

This I almost came to regret because the internet was slower than I have ever known it - even by cruise ship standards, even by Grand Princess standards (this was my 6th cruise on her) even by Hawaii and trans-Pacific itineraries standards (I've done both before, several times, on the Sapphire). Loading each page, even ones with little content, was painfully slow and many times failed because the connection dropped out altogether. I know to try and log in at unpopular times when there may be fewer people sharing the bandwidth but it still didn't help.

We just got off the Grand last month and found the same thing. It was so slow, it was the first time we didn't use all of our minutes. We gave up about halfway back from Hawaii.

[geoherb]

On the Caribbean Princess last week, I had several problems several times keeping a connection in my cabin. The Internet keeps counting your time until you've logged out. I would go into the waiting area by the elevators to reestablish a connection so that I could finish what I wanted to do then log out.

 

Since we were doing 3-day and 4-day cruises back to back, I had plenty of minutes to spare.

[Kamloops50]

On the Caribbean Princess last week, I had several problems several times keeping a connection in my cabin. The Internet keeps counting your time until you've logged out. I would go into the waiting area by the elevators to reestablish a connection so that I could finish what I wanted to do then log out.

 

Since we were doing 3-day and 4-day cruises back to back, I had plenty of minutes to spare.

 

I have that the internet doesn't work very well in the cabins. Even with transmitter just outside the door still very poor . I figured out it's probably the metal construction of the walls that blocks the signals.

[frac]

Although we are avid Princess cruisers we were on Holland America to Alaska last summer and you could read the NY Times for free on the internet (no log in required as with the Princess site). We are on the Jan. 13th to Hawaii and hoping that the same deal would be available since both lines are owned by Carnival. Does Princess do this?

[frac]

Duplicate by mistake

Edited January 6, 2015 by frac