Internet minutes

[xyankee]

I will be joining my son and grand children at the end of the month on the Disney Dream. We have cruised many times but this will be our first cruise on a Disney ship. How does Disney handle internet access? I usually take my iPad and like to check email and the latest news while relaxing in my cabin.

[Shmoo here]

I will be joining my son and grand children at the end of the month on the Disney Dream. We have cruised many times but this will be our first cruise on a Disney ship. How does Disney handle internet access? I usually take my iPad and like to check email and the latest news while relaxing in my cabin.

 

DCL has internet packages. They charge by the MB, not minutes.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/internet-phone-services/

 

There is also a 50MB package that's free, as long as you sign up before midnight the first day of the cruise (embarkation day).

[moki'smommy]

DCL bills by megabytes used, which ends up being a much better deal for the guest. On most cruises there is a free 50 mb package if you sign up before midnight on embarkation day. My suggestion is to use this first--it may well be all you need on a short cruise! You can add at any time. I'm sure Shmoo will post the link, but you can go by mb or purchase one of 3 packages available. Just see how far your 50 free takes you first.

 

One hint--be sure that any background apps have been turned off as these can eat data without you realizing it. There is an internet person at the Guest Services desk who can help you be sure that you have no background programs running and help you sign up for the freebie if you have any problems.

 

Each time you log on, you'll see how much you have remaining. There is no charge to use the DCL app whether you have purchased a plan or not (it doesn't count toward your data use). If you care, you can also access the WDW and DCL web sites at no charge.

 

Seems like great minds type at the same time!

Edited October 12, 2015 by moki'smommy

[xyankee]

Thank you both for your quick reply.

[goduckies05]

No it isn't a better deal at all. I turned off all background and updating apps except facebook and blew through $120 worth in no time. If you post picures, let alone video you are screwed. On Carnival for 50 i got unlimited internet and.it was fast and able to post videos with no problem! So no Disneys internet is not better, it sucked.

Edited October 13, 2015 by goduckies05

[moki'smommy]

I bought a 1 gig package for 20 year old daughter at a cost of $89 on 14 night cruise. In the first day she noted that she had burned thru several mb doing "nothing," and found something still using data. At the end of 14 days, she had almost half of her package relating...and she was on line A LOT. DCL has not offered an unlimited package since 2005. This is far better than the old DCL package where you paid by the minute and got burned when the internet was slow.

[Maddysdaddy]

OP - some unsolicited advice that you can do with what you want...

 

Based on my experience with DCL internet, you should be fine checking email, but you may want to reconsider how much news you want to surf, as online papers and magazines tend to be picture heavy, which will eat into your package fairly heavily.

 

Also know that websites which are graphics-heavy may take some time to load for you. While I found that connection speed was reasonable for being out in the middle of the ocean, it was by no means a quick process, and there were some fairly severe functionality limitations, e.g. I could log in to my office's webmail fairly easily, but had very limited success trying to log in to my desktop via Citrix (even trying to work in the middle of the night when I assumed that overall bandwidth usage across the ship would be minimal).

[chemistrynerd]

If you are just checking email, you can turn off image downloading in your browser. I use a Windows laptop onboard, and the system control panel keeps track of usage. Even with everything shut down, background processes still burn through some data.

 

My family takes shorter cruises. The free 50 MB package can get me through a cruise, but I'm only checking my email once a day with very short replies for the truly urgent items. I'm typically on and off in a few minutes. I always grumble about it, but I'm the one who doesn't want to pay for a data plan. In the end, I probably enjoy the trip a lot more because I'm not on my computer. I know my kids like it better.

[scootch713]

Going on the Fantasy, this is the first I have heard of the free 50GB. Where do I sign up? Gathering the info is located in the Navigator, anyone know which page? Thanks!

[chemistrynerd]

Going on the Fantasy, this is the first I have heard of the free 50GB. Where do I sign up? Gathering the info is located in the Navigator, anyone know which page? Thanks!

 

Details are indeed in the Navigator, and the on-ship announcements will remind you a couple times on the first day. To get the free bandwidth, you need to sign up on the first day.

[moki'smommy]

You sign up on line, or with the internet consultant on board. On the Fantasy, the consultant is at Guest Services. On the Magic and Wonder, he/she is in the internet cafe.

 

My daughter was on line several hours per day, and never approached using up her 1 gig package. Primarily she was doing something similar to texting but it uses the internet so doesn't cost like international texts would. Sorry, but I don't know the details. She does it from home all the time as she has studied abroad twice and has friends all over the world.

[N41EF]

I think the key is to turn off everything you aren't using, and then turn off wifi or select airplane mode when you are through. Some devices will always check for up dates etc if not off or in airplane.

 

First day onboard sign up for the free MB before midnight, and that is usually enough for me on a 4 day.

 

Another neat thing on Dream/Fantasy is the Disney cruise APP where you can see menus, show times etc, and text other people in your room all for free. Our thing was to lay by the pool at 10am, and decide what we wanted for dinner, and then of course change our minds.

[chemistrynerd]

I think the key is to turn off everything you aren't using, and then turn off wifi or select airplane mode when you are through.

 

I haven't done this, but I will in the future. Great suggestion.