Pearl Internet

[melinda0222]

Ok so I know that this gets a lot of questions, and people get tired of answering them. However, I have looked at multiple threads and can't figure out the answers to my questions.

We set sail Sept 3 for Alaska on the Pearl. We will leave behind young children who expect to facetime/Skype with us every day. On days in port in Alaska we can use our regular data or connect to a ports wifi. In Canada we will connect with a ports wifi. My concern is the days at sea. We don't need to be online any other time other then when we facetime/Skype with them. I know I don't need the daily package and the cheapest data package is $75. This seems like a lot. Is there a pay as you go option? If so does anyone know the cost? Is the internet enough for facetime or Skype. I don't want to pay for it and then not get it to work. If getting in touch is going to be impossible then I need to set that expectation before we leave.

Thank you

[rapata]

We were on the Pearl last year from LA to Miami, 15 days. My husband needed to stay in touch with work so we purchased 250 minutes. We were able to check email and do Facebook updates, photos etc but never used Skype or FaceTime. However, one morning we were having breakfast at OSHEEHANS and a lady sitting close to us carried on a loud and way too public conversation with her husband on Skype for at least 30 minutes....so my answer is yes it will work.

In the big picture of what you have paid for your cruise, $75 is not a huge amount for staying touch with your family.

If you buy the package on the first day you will get some bonus minutes on your package.

Enjoy the beautiful Pearl and Alaska.

 

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[mking8288]

There was a recent post/update in response to question about current satellite (paid WiFi) internet on the Pearl, it hasn't been updated to the newest & faster speed yet, so it's slow but faster than dial-up on copper (analog).

 

If you are familiar with Skype, audio calling will work over Edge/3G connection at 128k - 256k is better. Facetime and/or Facebook audio has been benchmarked to use less bandwidth & consume less data, you might wish to do that. We use Google Hangouts more as our VoIP of choice, and Duo just rolled out audio option to compliment its video calling - those works great, I have a backup smartphone on Freedompop (AT&T 4G/LTE plan) that only does VoIP ... cellular or WiFi ... in case T-Mobile/Sprint/Google Project Fi connection can't find a tower nearby.

 

Schedule a daily calling time with those back home & re-arrange if necessary, if everyone is back onboard from Alaska port & done with dinner, you can expect airwave congestions just like cable's shared node in the neighborhood (no such issues on Fios)

 

PAYG internet is about 95 cents a minute, discount to 75 cents a minute or less on higher-tier bundled plans as it is satellite-based and pricey. Just about the only time we "buy" or spend extra for ship's internet is for emergencies, aside from choosing the "Free At Sea" promotion of 250 WiFi minutes, valued or retailed at $125 - you can switch to it under a qualifying promotion, if you have that, by calling NCL & requesting a change ... of course, UBP or SDP are deemed valuable & more important to some. YMMV.

 

As an option, have you considered doing SMS or texting, depending on your home carrier's plan, it can be almost free & relatively inexpensive, for $50 or less, you can do a lot of 160 characters back-n-forth - just make sure roaming cellular data is switched off while at sea (be sure to learn how to change your device's settings ahead of the cruise.)