HAL unlimited WiFi

[shiframeir]

8 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

What is your location?

on the way to Juneau (get there 1pm tomorrow)

[*Miss G*]

6 minutes ago, shiframeir said:

on the way to Juneau (get there 1pm tomorrow)

 

Ah, okay thank you.  It’s been reported that Alaska itineraries have poor reception due to the location of the satellite.

[utahtea]

On 8/11/2018 at 12:44 PM, Sue@thebeach said:

Can anyone provide any info on the new HAL unlimited WiFi packages? Lots of confusing info from HAL for our upcoming Asia-Pacific with multiple available segments......some have packages to purchase pre cruise, while others don’t. Could you book pre cruise or only after boarding? Do they still allow purchase by minutes? What were the rates like? What were the primary differences between the 3 levels? It sounds like the only benefit for premium is streaming, Skype, Netflix? Can you blog, download books, etc from the “surf”package? Thanks!

 

 

We just did a 44 day B2B cruise on the Zuiderdam in April-May.  The first 26 day segment was a transatlantic crossing with a lot of sea days so we wanted to be able to keep in contact with my Mom who has been ill.  

 

Let me tell you that EVEN the Holland America Computer expert on board the ship don't know whats what!  We wanted to get the 25 day unlimited surf package for $199.99 and he said no problem but the computer wouldn't let him do that.  The only package the computer would let him give us was the 26 - 30 day Internet Surf plan for $259.99...which he said would end after the first 26 day segment of our cruise  BUT it didn't!  It went the 30 days.  When the 30 days was over we were so happy with how the internet had worked and we had so much OBC we decided to take advantage of a $99 internet surf plan they had for the remaining 14 days.   DH likes to get his email and keep an eye on our banking.  I could keep in touch with my Mom, family and friends though Facebook and had no problem uploading a lot of pictures to Facebook.  We didn't have a problem with the internet in our cabin or anywhere on the ship. There were a few times it was very slow which was usually very late when the crew was off work and using the internet.  It was a lot faster than the previous times we've been on HAL....which was painfully slow!  

 

DH and I only had one account for the computer, ipad and our two phones and that's something you can do BUT only ONE device can be logged in at a time.  When you are logged into your account to use it they always offer you the better plan at a prorated cost as the days onboard go by.  

 

utahtea

[GeezerCouple]

Hello,

 

We are probably about to take our first HAL cruise!

DH just found an itinerary that really clicked for him (and if he wants to go, then *I* am always ready  )

 

Could someone let us know what the internet package offerings are?

I'm looking, preferably, for an unlimited package, but it does not need to be streaming video.

 

And yes, we are about to hit the general HAL website in depth, but this was an unexpected booking, and our agent will probably be making it for us today (non-refundable, relatively/sort of  last minute).

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

[kazu]

36 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Hello,

 

We are probably about to take our first HAL cruise!

DH just found an itinerary that really clicked for him (and if he wants to go, then *I* am always ready  )

 

Could someone let us know what the internet package offerings are?

I'm looking, preferably, for an unlimited package, but it does not need to be streaming video.

 

And yes, we are about to hit the general HAL website in depth, but this was an unexpected booking, and our agent will probably be making it for us today (non-refundable, relatively/sort of  last minute).

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

 

All the packages are unlimited.  If you don’t need to stream, you will want the middle package which lets you use email, internet, etc.

 

The bottom package (social) is only for limited social sites such as facebook.

 

[cruzingnut]

The internet is NOT unlimited.  There is a limit to how many MB you can use per day and it differs from plan to plan.  I got the Surf package on the world this year and I want to say it was somewhere around 250MB/day.  I think the Premium was around 500MB.  I looked up info in the Q&A section on HALs website and found this:  "Each package comes with a daily volume of data for a superior experience. Volumes vary by package and subject to change. For a current listing of the daily volume soft caps, see the Internet Plan Selection page."  This is the link and you go down to "Internet Access". https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq.shipboard-life.can-i-use-the-internet-mobile-phones-or-webcams-on-board.html

 

Linda R.

[kazu]

7 hours ago, cruzingnut said:

The internet is NOT unlimited.  There is a limit to how many MB you can use per day and it differs from plan to plan.  I got the Surf package on the world this year and I want to say it was somewhere around 250MB/day.  I think the Premium was around 500MB.  I looked up info in the Q&A section on HALs website and found this:  "Each package comes with a daily volume of data for a superior experience. Volumes vary by package and subject to change. For a current listing of the daily volume soft caps, see the Internet Plan Selection page."  This is the link and you go down to "Internet Access". https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq.shipboard-life.can-i-use-the-internet-mobile-phones-or-webcams-on-board.html

 

Linda R.

 

I don’t disagree with you Linda, but based on my experience (and others that have reported), you don’t lose your internet access if you go over.  It might slow down, but it isn’t cut off.

 

Posting on CC takes some MB as I discovered because of the new forum and I was posting on my LIVE thread and uploading pictures without an issue (as long as internet was working) on my last cruise.  Same thing when I was on the Westerdam and they offered these packages.

[cruzingnut]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

I don’t disagree with you Linda, but based on my experience (and others that have reported), you don’t lose your internet access if you go over.  It might slow down, but it isn’t cut off.

 

Posting on CC takes some MB as I discovered because of the new forum and I was posting on my LIVE thread and uploading pictures without an issue (as long as internet was working) on my last cruise.  Same thing when I was on the Westerdam and they offered these packages.

 

I did neglect to say that no, you aren’t cut off but it does slow down considerably.  Plus, it was sounding like the powers that be weren’t exactly enforcing this either.  At any rate, it does (in uncertain terms) that it is “limited”. 

 

Linda R.

[PJWisconsin]

If I want to be able to upload my photos from my phone to iCloud, will the “middle” package work for me, or do I need the premium?

[kazu]

2 hours ago, PJWisconsin said:

If I want to be able to upload my photos from my phone to iCloud, will the “middle” package work for me, or do I need the premium?

 

The middle package should work.  I’m able to upload my pics to my LIVE threads on the forum with the middle package.  My IPad photos are uploaded automatically to the Cloud and it’s been no issue on cruises.  I usually have the middle package.