Internet Use on the Regal

[Meena]

We have sailed Celebrity for years and are used to the Elite perk of so many minutes free internet use. This will be our first Princess cruise and we are booked in a suite. Do we get any free internet minutes because of the suite (probably not) and if not, how is the pricing for internet use? Also, is their computer room a good size? Thanks for the information.

[Pam in CA]

No free Internet for full suite passengers. If you've booked a mini-suite, there are no perks other than a glass of (bad) sparkling wine.

 

There's Wifi throughout every Princess ship. You can connect with any smartphone, tablet, laptop or netbook anywhere on the ship. Connection speed depends on the time of day and how others are using the Internet. I had little or no lag time on the Crown last weekend. Lots of keyboards/monitors in the Internet Cafe but most people don't need or use them.

 

I forget what the pricing is. :( With Princess loyalty benefits, anyone with at least five Princess cruises or 50 days gets a big Internet package. I got 150 minutes on my 4-day cruise last weekend and will have 250 minutes next month on my next cruise.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Pam in CA

[paul929207]

I don't remember the cost for the different packages. I am Elite, so don't worry about it. I believe if you just pay by the minute, it is 75 cents per minute. The largest package brings the cost to about 30 cents per minute. Cost is the same for the internet cafe or wifi with your device.

[Colo Cruiser]

We have sailed Celebrity for years and are used to the Elite perk of so many minutes free internet use. This will be our first Princess cruise and we are booked in a suite. Do we get any free internet minutes because of the suite (probably not) and if not, how is the pricing for internet use? Also, is their computer room a good size? Thanks for the information.

 

We gave up using the internet on the Regal, painfully slow at all hours of the day. We used approx 75 minutes and left the rest of our free minutes on the table. :( Don't count on it.

[caribill]

Package pricing may be found at http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/communications/index.jsp

[ar1950]

We gave up using the internet on the Regal, painfully slow at all hours of the day. We used approx 75 minutes and left the rest of our free minutes on the table. :( Don't count on it.

 

In December it was the same way. Depending on the time of day or night and location of the ship we could get a decent connection for a short period of time then is would lose the signal entirely. Very frustrating trying to use it.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I sailed on the Regal a couple of weeks ago, and they offered specials in Internet packages at the beginning of the cruise. Sorry, I don't remember the cost as I also receive the platinum benefit.

Edited January 29, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[caribill]

I sailed on the Regal a couple of weeks ago, and they offered specials in Internet packages at the beginning of the cruise. Sorry, I don't remember the cost .

 

The specials at the start of the cruise is the same pricing that is at http://www.princess.com/learn/onboar...ions/index.jsp

 

The difference is that pre-purchase gives you twice the number of bonus minutes than purchasing at the start of the cruise.

[caribill]

Depending on the time of day or night and location of the ship we could get a decent connection for a short period of time then is would lose the signal entirely. Very frustrating trying to use it.

 

Was this when using your device in your cabin or elsewhere on the ship?

 

If there is a poor signal in the cabin, propping the door open a little with the trash pail makes it a good signal.

[Dulcibella]

Suite perks do not seem to include free internet http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

 

 

 

 

Anne

Ballarat, Australia

[cruisebirdie]

Package pricing may be found at http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/communications/index.jsp

 

Thank-you for the information. (New to Princess Cruises) Have you heard if Princess will move toward unlimited internet?

[caribill]

Thank-you for the information. (New to Princess Cruises) Have you heard if Princess will move toward unlimited internet?

 

No reliable source of information has even hinted at this.

[dmwnc1959]

In December it was the same way. Depending on the time of day or night and location of the ship we could get a decent connection for a short period of time then is would lose the signal entirely. Very frustrating trying to use it.

 

 

I imagine the internet hardware aboard Regal Princess is identical to that aboard Royal Princess, so I wonder if the system gets overloaded with people trying to stream conference/phone calls on video apps like Skype? Or if it's just a bad system? On Royal Princess I could connect no matter where I was on my iPhone, but someone sitting next to me (for instance, in the atrium outside of the Internet cafe) had a very difficult time connecting on a laptop. It seemed to matter what kind of device people were using that determined how strong of a signal they got, and their success rate of connecting and staying connected.

 

:D

[paul929207]

Thank-you for the information. (New to Princess Cruises) Have you heard if Princess will move toward unlimited internet?

No mention of offering free internet to all passengers or suite passengers.

 

Passengers who are platinum or Elite in the Captains Circle get an internet credit based on the length of the cruise.

 

Until a few years ago, Princess offered unlimited internet to Platinum, Elite and Suite passengers. They changed to the current system when it became obvious that some passengers were selling their free time.

[whatcruiseisnext]

We gave up using the internet on the Regal, painfully slow at all hours of the day. We used approx 75 minutes and left the rest of our free minutes on the table. :( Don't count on it.

 

We just got off 2 weeks on the Regal in the Caribbean. Absolutely NO issues whatsoever connecting and staying connected to the internet from the cabin or most anywhere on the ship. Used both an iPad and iPhones.

[caribill]

Thank-you for the information. (New to Princess Cruises) Have you heard if Princess will move toward unlimited internet?

 

Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) as a whole has indicated the following which does not address the issue of unlimited usage"

 

By 2016, all ships will have expanded Wi-Fi capability. New service will be up to 10 times faster than the current standard—comparable to the Wi-Fi speed at your average coffee shop. The service will consist of a combination of land-based Wi-Fi in port and satellite-based at sea.

So far, no announcment about how much it will charge for the expanded Wi-Fi service. Instead, said a spokesperson, each individual brand will set pricing policy.

[Posaune]

We were on the Regal Thanksgiving cruise. We found the internet service to be better than on other Princess ships. We had no connectivity issues in our cabin (R101) and the speed was much better than usual. Still much slower than high speed at home, but better.

[Pam in CA]

Have you heard if Princess will move toward unlimited internet?

Doubt it. They used to offer it but no more.

 

When Princess offered unlimited internet as a perk for Platinum and Elite passengers, there was widespread abuse. Kids were playing online games, some passengers were staying online for hours, etc. Even the full suite perk of unlimited internet was eliminated.

[caribill]

When Princess offered unlimited internet as a perk for Platinum and Elite passengers, there was widespread abuse. Kids were playing online games, some passengers were staying online for hours, etc. Even the full suite perk of unlimited internet was eliminated.

 

I doubt there will ever be free unlimited internet again, but there is the possibility of having a package priced for unlimited Internet usage once the upgraded Internet capacity that carnival Corp says will be added to all brands' ships is actually rolled out.

 

Some other cruise lines do offer a package that has unlimited Internet minutes. Pricing would have to be attractive for users to sign up for it.

[Colo Cruiser]

The wifi improvement better be 100 fold before they ever offer unlimited. :(

[ar1950]

Was this when using your device in your cabin or elsewhere on the ship?

 

If there is a poor signal in the cabin, propping the door open a little with the trash pail makes it a good signal.

 

We were on for two weeks so I was able to try multiple places and with both laptop and cell phone. Intranet was fine it was the Internet that was an issue. I always had a strong signal showing between my device and whatever wireless router I was connected to.

 

 

I imagine the internet hardware aboard Regal Princess is identical to that aboard Royal Princess, so I wonder if the system gets overloaded with people trying to stream conference/phone calls on video apps like Skype? Or if it's just a bad system? On Royal Princess I could connect no matter where I was on my iPhone, but someone sitting next to me (for instance, in the atrium outside of the Internet cafe) had a very difficult time connecting on a laptop. It seemed to matter what kind of device people were using that determined how strong of a signal they got, and their success rate of connecting and staying connected.

 

:D

 

Dave, see my reply to caribill. I don't think it was the equipment on board. The reason I was so frustrated was because at the end of October we were on a west coast cruise on the Golden and had great Internet for the most part. I even was able to connect to a two hour GotoWebinar business presentation after activating my VPN software and had no issues with it. I was barely able get the connection to stay active for 10 minutes at a time on the Regal and that was just checking e-mail (which, again, was not an issue on the Golden).

 

YMMV

Edited January 30, 2015 by ar1950

[Astro Flyer]

I've sailed 27 days on the Royal (Med/TA & US east coast/Caribbean) and had a good WiFi signal & internet connection in our cabin and elsewhere on the ship. On the Med/TA they were still adjusting the WiFi system because from some cabins WiFi was unusable.

 

That was my experience in both of our deluxe balcony cabins (D508 & E711) & sorry to learn that others had problems accessing the internet. I'm not a techie but others who are techies have mentioned several possible explanations. In a couple of months we hope to have a good experience on the Regal.

[Crowsie]

One question.....

For those of you that purchased Princess internet minutes and used your own device (laptop/ipad/smartphone)..

 

Did you also incur data charges from your carrier ON TOP of having to pay for the Princess access?

 

Thanks!

[Dulcibella]

No. You need to make sure you switch to airline mode and use wifi. Then you are confident you are only using Princess internet and not attaching yourself to some tower on land ...

[Colo Cruiser]

One question.....

For those of you that purchased Princess internet minutes and used your own device (laptop/ipad/smartphone)..

 

Did you also incur data charges from your carrier ON TOP of having to pay for the Princess access?

 

Thanks!

 

No......

Just switch cell data off, you can still access the ships wifi. You can still receive emergency phones calls and text just in case.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Colo Cruiser