Can you upgrade the 250-minute Internet "free offer" to an unlimited plan online?

[rabidstoat]

I have searched around here and it seems to be fairly consistent that you can take the 250-minute Internet that you can take as a perk when you book your cruise and upgrade it to an unlimited plan on the ship, by paying the difference in what the 250-minute plan is worth and what the unlimited plan costs.

 

What I can't tell is if this has to be done at the Internet desk. I remember reading one account from 2018 when someone said they were able to upgrade it when they logged into their account for the first time, but I may be hallucinating that.

 

Does anyone know what the deal is? Do I have to go to the Internet desk to make the change (and pay the difference with my OBC), or can I do it online when I log in the first time? I just don't want to wait in line if I don't have to.

 

This is for the Getaway, if it matters.

[Seafoam Sally]

On the Star I was able to upgrade when I logged in. Actually I waited in line at the Internet desk only to be told to do it through my device.

[don't-use-real-name]

Interesting - and what would that difference be ?

The 250 free internet minutes is worth $xxx.00

The Unlimited plan costs $yyy.00 variable by voyage ?

Difference is $zzz.00

[BirdTravels]

Interesting - and what would that difference be ?

The 250 free internet minutes is worth $xxx.00

The Unlimited plan costs $yyy.00 variable by voyage ?

Difference is $zzz.00

The 250 minutes is worth a $125 credit toward an unlimited plan.

 

You should initially try by registering your phone, creating an account, then seeing what plans are available. On the Escape, there was an option to upgrade. All do-it-yourself. When we were on the Bliss, we were trying to get credit for multiple minutes we had received, so we had to go to the internet desk.

[psac]

The 250 minutes is worth a $125 credit toward an unlimited plan.

 

You should initially try by registering your phone, creating an account, then seeing what plans are available. On the Escape, there was an option to upgrade. All do-it-yourself. When we were on the Bliss, we were trying to get credit for multiple minutes we had received, so we had to go to the internet desk.

 

By any chance do you remember about how much it would have been to upgrade on the Escape? I might need it for work, and knowing in advance may help for pre-approval for expensing it. :). Thanks!

[rabidstoat]

So when you do the upgrade on your phone, is it obvious that you're getting the $125 credit and not paying full price? I'd hate to try to upgrade and end up paying full price and then have them say, "Sorry, can't fix!"

[don't-use-real-name]

LINK to the internet packages:

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/internet-packages

 

Note discounts can be applied ordering pre-cruise

Cruises of 13 or more days are discounted further

Account activation fee of $3.95 maybe applicable depending on plan and pre-cruise purchase

 

So if the 250 free minutes is worth $125 and the medium unlimited program is $25.50 a day - then you have

5 free days and 2 @ $25.50 for a total charge of $51 on your on board account.

 

There are three levels of unlimited internet basic at $14.99 - $29.99 - $34.99 daily charges

Pre-cruise online purchase discounted ----------------$12.50 - $25.50 - $29.50

250 minutes purchased pre-cruise $105.00 - on board $125.00

 

So if you are hooked on the net or it is hooked on you $51 additional is not bad for 24/7 7 day service

the 250 minute package left unmonitored is only good for 4 hours and 10 minutes - carelessly leaving

your account logged on and poof the time and minutes are vaporized.

 

Also remember the service is slow at sea - a fast row boat is the pony express at sea !

 

Be on friendly terms with the Internet Manager to get the best deal and resolve problems.

[Markj]

;)

I have searched around here and it seems to be fairly consistent that you can take the 250-minute Internet that you can take as a perk when you book your cruise and upgrade it to an unlimited plan on the ship, by paying the difference in what the 250-minute plan is worth and what the unlimited plan costs.

 

What I can't tell is if this has to be done at the Internet desk. I remember reading one account from 2018 when someone said they were able to upgrade it when they logged into their account for the first time, but I may be hallucinating that.

 

Does anyone know what the deal is? Do I have to go to the Internet desk to make the change (and pay the difference with my OBC), or can I do it online when I log in the first time? I just don't want to wait in line if I don't have to.

 

This is for the Getaway, if it matters.

 

There's a thread here https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2670485 with some more information

[San10s]

LINK to the internet packages:

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/internet-packages

 

 

Thanks for that great info. I'm hoping you also might know if I buy the 24/7 package, can other family members in my cabin use my package on their device or is it device specific. I do understand that only one device could use the internet package at a time. Do I need to buy each kid their own 24/7 package to keep them happy? (Not a need but would probably do ;p )

[Mike_DeA]

It's about $85 to upgrade from the 250 minutes to the unlimited. You will see the option when you first login to use the wifi.

[DCLCrazy]

I have searched around here and it seems to be fairly consistent that you can take the 250-minute Internet that you can take as a perk when you book your cruise and upgrade it to an unlimited plan on the ship, by paying the difference in what the 250-minute plan is worth and what the unlimited plan costs.

 

 

 

What I can't tell is if this has to be done at the Internet desk. I remember reading one account from 2018 when someone said they were able to upgrade it when they logged into their account for the first time, but I may be hallucinating that.

 

 

 

Does anyone know what the deal is? Do I have to go to the Internet desk to make the change (and pay the difference with my OBC), or can I do it online when I log in the first time? I just don't want to wait in line if I don't have to.

 

 

 

This is for the Getaway, if it matters.

 

 

 

I just got off the Sun and we got the internet perk. I was excited to see that when I signed in to accept my offer, they told me I could upgrade to unlimited for $17!! My husband said take it before they change their mind! Haha! It was a nice surprise. Basically the way it worked is you get charged the $87 full price for unlimited but then they credit your account with $75 which I guess is the going rate for the perk. Hope this helps!

 

 

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[DCLCrazy]

I just got off the Sun and we got the internet perk. I was excited to see that when I signed in to accept my offer, they told me I could upgrade to unlimited for $17!! My husband said take it before they change their mind! Haha! It was a nice surprise. Basically the way it worked is you get charged the $87 full price for unlimited but then they credit your account with $75 which I guess is the going rate for the perk. Hope this helps!

 

 

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For the record, this was all done through my phone. I never saw the internet desk the entire trip.

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

By any chance do you remember about how much it would have been to upgrade on the Escape? I might need it for work, and knowing in advance may help for pre-approval for expensing it. :). Thanks!

 

 

So when you do the upgrade on your phone, is it obvious that you're getting the $125 credit and not paying full price? I'd hate to try to upgrade and end up paying full price and then have them say, "Sorry, can't fix!"

 

Here’s the current price list. On the bottom of the second page, it states that you can use your 250 minutes and upgrade to an unlimited plan. We upgrade on every cruise and cruise multiple times a year.

 

 

 

 

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[abdawson1]

The fine print states "Guests who wish to upgrade their Free at Sea or Distinctive Voyage Minute gift plan will receive full retail value...." Can you double dip?

 

For example, the unlimited plan on a 9 day Distinctive Voyage, costs almost $270. Can you discount that down to $20?

[kfnesq]

So this is weird. I just called NCL to ask about booking the unlimited online (to take advantage of the 15% off) and then getting credit for the 250 minutes we have as a perk. She was adamant that not only could I not do that (which is fine, although saving $20 would have been nice), but that I absolutely could NOT upgrade on the ship because the perk has no monetary value, so there's nothing to upgrade FROM. What? I told her I knew MANY people who have done it, myself included. She was quite firm about it. She said I could PAY for another package but could not upgrade to unlimited.

 

 

At any rate, she's clearly wrong but it just goes to show you that sometimes with NCL the left hand does NOT know what the right hand is doing...

[psac]

Thanks to the folks who posted all the detailed info on this, it’s very helpful!!!

[don't-use-real-name]

So this is weird. I just called NCL to ask about booking the unlimited online (to take advantage of the 15% off) and then getting credit for the 250 minutes we have as a perk. She was adamant that not only could I not do that (which is fine, although saving $20 would have been nice), but that I absolutely could NOT upgrade on the ship because the perk has no monetary value, so there's nothing to upgrade FROM. What? I told her I knew MANY people who have done it, myself included. She was quite firm about it. She said I could PAY for another package but could not upgrade to unlimited.

 

At any rate, she's clearly wrong but it just goes to show you that sometimes with NCL the left hand does NOT know what the right hand is doing...

 

xxx

 

Unless this ill advising NCL representative is running a one-spokesperson department - call back and seek

a second opinion or ask to fact check the response with a supervisor manager.

When trying to get the best price arrangement on-line pre-cruise instead of paying more when on board

guests don't need to be put into this situation of getting incorrect information.

Yes it is only a few dollars - but it is the consumers money and the staff on board the ship doesn't need

to be placed in a situation correcting front office reservations misinformation which they might not be able to do.

 

Feel you are not getting the right scoop - call back for a second opinion - paying more on board is not acceptable.

[rabidstoat]

Sounds like I can skip the lines at the Internet desk, whoop!

 

NCL Internet has been pretty slow. I was spoiled on Royal Caribbean with their Voom at Sea offering. When I had that, I was able to VPN into work and get stuff done reasonably well. (4 hours of unplanned work on the cruise, but the company picked up my wifi package for the week in addition to me billing my time!)

[100th Meridian]

...NCL Internet has been pretty slow...

 

 

 

Was this with the regular WiFi or the Premium WiFi?

 

 

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[DCLCrazy]

Was this with the regular WiFi or the Premium WiFi?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

I had the regular internet last weekend and while it was slow to load, it was able to load all my pages. The only thing I couldn’t do was stream video. But I knew that going into it bc it said the premium service was specifically for streaming capabilities. But I didn’t want to pay the extra $40.

 

 

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[dbdb]

Does anyone know the proper way to do this? Heres my scenario:

I originally had the SDP promo, and purchased the unlimited premium for $206 weeks ago. Yesterday we decided to ditch the SDP and just take the credits to reduce the internet charge. So called up and changed our free at sea to the 250 minute internet. I checked again today and see both that promo and the paid $206 unlimited on my amenity statement.

 

Just got off the phone with another rep and they sounded confused about upgrading the 250 minute package ... I see two options here: call till someone understands about the 250 minute upgrade, or remove the paid $206 and upgrade on board. However, I believe theres a loss with that second option?

[BirdTravels]

Does anyone know the proper way to do this? Heres my scenario:

I originally had the SDP promo, and purchased the unlimited premium for $206 weeks ago. Yesterday we decided to ditch the SDP and just take the credits to reduce the internet charge. So called up and changed our free at sea to the 250 minute internet. I checked again today and see both that promo and the paid $206 unlimited on my amenity statement.

 

Just got off the phone with another rep and they sounded confused about upgrading the 250 minute package ... I see two options here: call till someone understands about the 250 minute upgrade, or remove the paid $206 and upgrade on board. However, I believe theres a loss with that second option?

You can't upgrade until you are on the ship. Cancel your pre-paid internet package.

 

You will pay more on the ship. And get credit for the 250 minutes.

[kfnesq]

Does anyone know the proper way to do this? Heres my scenario:

I originally had the SDP promo, and purchased the unlimited premium for $206 weeks ago. Yesterday we decided to ditch the SDP and just take the credits to reduce the internet charge. So called up and changed our free at sea to the 250 minute internet. I checked again today and see both that promo and the paid $206 unlimited on my amenity statement.

 

Just got off the phone with another rep and they sounded confused about upgrading the 250 minute package ... I see two options here: call till someone understands about the 250 minute upgrade, or remove the paid $206 and upgrade on board. However, I believe theres a loss with that second option?

 

I am still trying to figure out the answer to that as well. My HOPE would be that, once you get on board, the $206 is offset by the $125 promo....but I don't know. And I can't seem to find an NCL rep that understands about the upgrade either, which is kind of surprising considering it seems EVERYONE does this.

[dbdb]

I am still trying to figure out the answer to that as well. My HOPE would be that, once you get on board, the $206 is offset by the $125 promo....but I don't know. And I can't seem to find an NCL rep that understands about the upgrade either, which is kind of surprising considering it seems EVERYONE does this.

 

Yeah, I'm slightly worried that if we board with both on the amenities list, the worst case result is having a fully paid $206 unlimited premium package alongside a then useless, non-changeable 250 minute internet promo package (n). OR they may talk us into a benefit of the 250 minute being for a second device (n)(n). (n)

[dbdb]

Yeah, I'm slightly worried that if we board with both on the amenities list, the worst case result is having a fully paid $206 unlimited premium package alongside a then useless, non-changeable 250 minute internet promo package (n). OR they may talk us into a benefit of the 250 minute being for a second device (n)(n). (n)

 

Phones have been awfully busy lately. Just bit the bullet and removed the $206 paid package and will do the upgrade on the ship. Guy I spoke with asked his manager and they both confirmed that they have no idea about upgrading the 250 min promo package.