Pay or free internet?

[janecambridge]

We have a cruise booked in August and we have been given 200 minutes free internet.We booked before the O Life offers and I see that now includes free internet at all times.

Are we likely to still be paying for anything over 200 hours internet usage if most people are free for unlimited?

[orchestrapal]

We have a cruise booked in August and we have been given 200 minutes free internet.We booked before the O Life offers and I see that now includes free internet at all times.

Are we likely to still be paying for anything over 200 hours internet usage if most people are free for unlimited?

 

Yes, you will be charged for anything over 200 MINUTES..

Packages change all the time and some are better than others as are the prices for them.

[SellaVee]

It's always worth asking if you can have the free internet now that it's being offered to new bookings. Ask you TA to give Oceania a ring and see what they say. If you don't ask you don't get.

[Paulchili]

We have a cruise booked in August and we have been given 200 minutes free internet.We booked before the O Life offers and I see that now includes free internet at all times.

Are we likely to still be paying for anything over 200 hours internet usage if most people are free for unlimited?

 

Chances are that the price went up as well with the O Life benefits - but not necessarily so. If the cruise is not selling well, the price may be actually lower now.

You can always ask if they would include free internet for you but my guess is that it would involve the new price of O Life with all of its benefits.

If so, you have to decide if it would pay for you to rebook or stay with your old price and just pay for the extra minutes over 200.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Paulchili

[Glenndale]

Offers change all the time, they were offering included gratuities earlier but that has been dropped.

Swings and roundabouts :)

[LHT28]

I would certainly ask for the new perks

 

On a recent cruise the perks were added days before FP & my TA got them added to our booking

Not sure if it would work in the UK but worth asking

[SellaVee]

If you've not made your final payment you may get the perks and also a cabin upgrade if your cruise has come down in price. I've never heard of anyone getting money back but you might move up a grade. It's definitely worth asking. It does work in the UK.

[janecambridge]

I would certainly ask for the new perks

 

On a recent cruise the perks were added days before FP & my TA got them added to our booking

Not sure if it would work in the UK but worth asking

 

I am now in the process of what can be done..called my agent.

Thanks everyone.

[SellaVee]

Thanks for letting us know, and do keep us posted.

[janecambridge]

My agent did it!

We have paid only £7 more (each) for the new price for the cruise.But we now have free unlimited internet and €300 obc per person,instead of pre paid gratuities.

It worked.If I hadn't been regularly reading threads on cruise critic,I would never had tried.

So we now have a total of €800 obc with our agents good will €200.

Bingo....!

[Paulchili]

I am glad that it worked out for you.

CC at its best is a great source of information.

Enjoy your cruise.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Paulchili

[LHT28]

Great news Jane

I wonder if it is USD or will the Euro amount be converted to give you USD OBC ?

 

The ship deals in USD

[SellaVee]

My agent did it!

We have paid only £7 more (each) for the new price for the cruise.But we now have free unlimited internet and €300 obc per person,instead of pre paid gratuities.

It worked.If I hadn't been regularly reading threads on cruise critic,I would never had tried.

So we now have a total of €800 obc with our agents good will €200.

Bingo....!

 

I had a feeling it might work ;). It always pays to ask nicely. Very happy for you.

[janecambridge]

Ooooops.it should be dollars not euros..

I got so excited!!:):)

[janecambridge]

:):):):)

Edited May 14, 2016 by janecambridge

[Glenndale]

Good to know that they will work with you.

Someone on our roll call had decided to take the OBC but then felt that the included 4 excursion option would suit them better.

He asked to swap and Oceania obliged.

Good customer service :)

[PaulMCO]

Good to know that they will work with you.

Someone on our roll call had decided to take the OBC but then felt that the included 4 excursion option would suit them better.

He asked to swap and Oceania obliged.

Good customer service :)

 

According to the O Club Ambassador -- you have until final payment to switch among the O Life promotional items (OBC, Shore Excursions or Bev package)

[roothy123]

If you hadn't gotten the unlimited internet (yay!!), I was going to suggest that you use the 200 minutes on sea days and when away from port terminals, and then use free WiFi in port terminals. Many of them have it, at least in Europe and the U.S.; not sure about other locations. I know most people will say they have better things to do in port than sit in the terminal, but most people don't spend every single minute and hour sightseeing, so sitting right next to the ship using the WiFi before boarding makes sense to me.

 

Enjoy the cruise!

Edited May 16, 2016 by roothy123

[Mura]

I agree, Roothy. I have been known to use port services for internet. I see the crew using them all the time but I don't use them as much as they do.

 

Often I don't have the time ... but when I do I will pop in for a while.

 

My new laptop weighs next to nothing so I might well take it with me on future port visits but in the past I only used internet cafes in town where I don't need to have my laptop with me.

 

Often you can just leave the ship and find internet connections. OTOH, when we were in Hammerfest, Norway in 2010 I found a lovely free internet site (with their computers) in the Polar Bear Museum.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Wow- some posters on this thread really need to watch the NBC Today Show segment on the perils of "free wifi" while abroad, particularly in cruise ship port areas. Also, check out travel columnist/ombudsman Chris Elliott's notes on this subject (yesterday's USA Today article).

"Free wifi in port" - potentially one of the costliest items you'll ever encounter on a cruise.

[roothy123]

Maybe I've just been lucky, or have better security than most on my laptop, or just don't have anything on there that's remotely desirable, but I've never had any trouble. But thanks; I'll look up the article.

[StanandJim]

Wow- some posters on this thread really need to watch the NBC Today Show segment on the perils of "free wifi" while abroad, particularly in cruise ship port areas. Also, check out travel columnist/ombudsman Chris Elliott's notes on this subject (yesterday's USA Today article).

"Free wifi in port" - potentially one of the costliest items you'll ever encounter on a cruise.

 

Because those TV segments are designed to produce ratings and buzz, i.e, not to disseminate information, they almost always leave out the most important part of the equation, which is:

 

Account numbers and their attendant passwords should not be transmitted whilst using unknown origin "free" Wifi, but it would still be perfectly safe to use it to Google search, download maps, or send/receive most emails.

 

More secure transactions should be reserved until a secure connection, such as the one on the Cruise Ship, is available.

 

[Paulchili]

Wow- some posters on this thread really need to watch the NBC Today Show segment on the perils of "free wifi" while abroad, particularly in cruise ship port areas. Also, check out travel columnist/ombudsman Chris Elliott's notes on this subject (yesterday's USA Today article).

"Free wifi in port" - potentially one of the costliest items you'll ever encounter on a cruise.

 

Do you have the link - I can't find that article.

TIA

[CorgiNole]

Glad you were able to get the free internet. Mom and I racked up an obscene number of minutes on our 12 day cruise. Some of it was from forgetting to logoff a few times. We definitely got the full value of the free internet.

[morpheus4356]

The Internet on Riviera is pretty much unusable. You will definitely need unlimited minutes to try and do anything on it.