Internet package??

[CanICruiseSoonPlease]

I need to have unlimited internet (please don't say it's vacation, put your phone away).  If anyone knows, if you are at the Plat or Elite status and get 150 minutes for a 7 night cruise, do they discount the internet package you purchase?  

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, CanICruiseSoonPlease said:

I need to have unlimited internet (please don't say it's vacation, put your phone away).  If anyone knows, if you are at the Plat or Elite status and get 150 minutes for a 7 night cruise, do they discount the internet package you purchase?  

No they don't. If you buy the unlimited obviously you won't need the free minutes.

If your ship/cruise/sailing has an unlimited package available they may have a discounted price if you buy pre cruise.

It will be offered in your booking in the personalizer.

[jennybenny]

Good luck, depending on the ship, the internet could be snail pace, or great.  

There are discounts offered in the Personalizer.  I don't know what current packages are going for, but from what others have reported, ships with the unlimited option have been great, but not all ships have the upgraded infrastructure.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Good luck, depending on the ship, the internet could be snail pace, or great.  

There are discounts offered in the Personalizer.  I don't know what current packages are going for, but from what others have reported, ships with the unlimited option have been great, but not all ships have the upgraded infrastructure.

Based on other threads, there seems to be two different kinds of "unlimited."

 

The ships with the upgraded Internet system offer MedallionNET which has been reported to have very decent speeds by some of the users when the appropriate satellites are available.

 

The ships without the upgraded Internet offer PrincessCONNECT with social, surf and stream packages at different prices. The speeds are the slow ones which you all have experienced.

[jennybenny]

6 minutes ago, caribill said:

Based on other threads, there seems to be two different kinds of "unlimited."

 

The ships with the upgraded Internet system offer MedallionNET which has been reported to have very decent speeds by some of the users when the appropriate satellites are available.

 

The ships without the upgraded Internet offer PrincessCONNECT with social, surf and stream packages at different prices. The speeds are the slow ones which you all have experienced.

Thanks, that helps explain things 

[skynight]

9 hours ago, CanICruiseSoonPlease said:

I need to have unlimited internet (please don't say it's vacation, put your phone away).  If anyone knows, if you are at the Plat or Elite status and get 150 minutes for a 7 night cruise, do they discount the internet package you purchase?  

While being installed around the fleet, not all ships have the unlimited internet option available. If it is shown for purchase in your cruise personlizer then it is or is expected to be available on your voyage. What ship?

[CruisingWalter]

11 hours ago, CanICruiseSoonPlease said:

I need to have unlimited internet (please don't say it's vacation, put your phone away).  If anyone knows, if you are at the Plat or Elite status and get 150 minutes for a 7 night cruise, do they discount the internet package you purchase?  

 

We purchased the 640 minutes in advance of sailing and they upgraded it to 680 minutes.   One big tip I will give you, if you have an automatic cloud backup service, turn it off for the cruise.  I've spent the past 7 days being basically unable to use my laptop on the ship's internet because as soon as I connected to the wifi, my backup service immediately tried to start uploading new files from my laptop.  That killed the internet service from working because obviously it's much slower on the ship than on land.  I finally figured that out today and now suddenly my laptop works just fine all over the ship.  At least it's a 10 day cruise so I still have three days to use it.  :)

 

Happy sailing!

[Haboob]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

Based on other threads, there seems to be two different kinds of "unlimited."

 

The ships with the upgraded Internet system offer MedallionNET which has been reported to have very decent speeds by some of the users when the appropriate satellites are available.

 

The ships without the upgraded Internet offer PrincessCONNECT with social, surf and stream packages at different prices. The speeds are the slow ones which you all have experienced.

 

Uhh...  No.   MedallionNET and PrincessCONNECT are two different trade-names for the exact same equipment

and service: one trade-name for use on "Medallion voyages" and the other for use on non-Medallion voyages.

 

It *is* all about where you are sailing.  Ships always could offer full-up, HD video streaming via the old "GEO"

satellites but those uplink rates would drive the price for such an internet package into the $1000 range.

 

Now come the "O3b" satellites with dramatically lower uplink prices because they fly aimable antennae and can

sell the exact same bandwidth to *ten* different ships -- as long as those ships aren't north of about 48º (Seattle

/ Southampton).  This suits RCI and Voom™ just fine since they don't do much Alaska or Europe.  But it's tying

Princess into marketing and technical knots trying to figure out how to sell $1000 internet for $100.

 

 

[mcrcruiser]

Too complicated & such a high expense  . Just leaving the I  Pad  computer home  & enjoying the cruise .If in a emergency could always get on the ships computers 

[Haboob]

1 minute ago, mcrcruiser said:

Too complicated & such a high expense  . Just leaving the I  Pad  computer home  & enjoying the cruise .If in a emergency could always get on the ships computers 

 

::nods::

 

There is one facet to always-on shipboard internet that makes it worthwhile to my DW:  If your smartphone supports

it and your cellphone carrier allows it, you can switch your smartphone to "WiFi Calling", log it onto the ship's internet

(bypassing the ship's piratical-rate cellphone tower), and get billed as if you were calling from your home's driveway.

 

For her, that means she can chat as normal with friends and family for free while aboard all cruise long.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, Haboob said:

 

Uhh...  No.   MedallionNET and PrincessCONNECT are two different trade-names for the exact same equipment

and service: one trade-name for use on "Medallion voyages" and the other for use on non-Medallion voyages.

 

It *is* all about where you are sailing.  Ships always could offer full-up, HD video streaming via the old "GEO"

satellites but those uplink rates would drive the price for such an internet package into the $1000 range.

 

Now come the "O3b" satellites with dramatically lower uplink prices because they fly aimable antennae and can

sell the exact same bandwidth to *ten* different ships -- as long as those ships aren't north of about 48º (Seattle

/ Southampton).  This suits RCI and Voom™ just fine since they don't do much Alaska or Europe.  But it's tying

Princess into marketing and technical knots trying to figure out how to sell $1000 internet for $100.

 

 

 

Our Emerald cruise is from Los Angeles to Hawaii (and back), all south of 48º. The offered Internet is PrincessCONNECT.

 

The Ruby, which has the new Internet technology but not Medallions yet is offering MedallionNET.

 

When MedallionNET is offered there is just one level of service offered. When PrincessCONNECT is offered there are the three tiers offered.

 

[Haboob]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

⋮

The Ruby, which has the new Internet technology but not Medallions yet is offering MedallionNET.

 

When MedallionNET is offered there is just one level of service offered. When PrincessCONNECT is offered there are the three tiers offered.

 

 

Wasn't aware Ruby had upgraded her satellite uplinks yet, but if she's using the "MedallionNET" brand, it's a break from what has been the custom.  ::ponders::  Perhaps that's a clue that she'll be Medallion ship #3?

 

Tnx for the update.

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Haboob said:

 

Wasn't aware Ruby had upgraded her satellite uplinks yet, but if she's using the "MedallionNET" brand, it's a break from what has been the custom.  ::ponders::  Perhaps that's a clue that she'll be Medallion ship #3?

 

Tnx for the update.

 

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Our Emerald cruise is from Los Angeles to Hawaii (and back), all south of 48º. The offered Internet is PrincessCONNECT.

 

The Ruby, which has the new Internet technology but not Medallions yet is offering MedallionNET.

 

When MedallionNET is offered there is just one level of service offered. When PrincessCONNECT is offered there are the three tiers offered.

 

A Ruby cruiser who just returned and wrote a review stated that the entire system was down for the full cruise.

No access to Patters etc either.

It seems to be a mess on several fronts and ships.  🙄

[CanICruiseSoonPlease]

I will be sailing the Regal.  It is the same price as Plat and Elite as it is for non.  So basically, if I buy the unlimited, I gave up my internet package of 150 minutes.  I just wish I could give the 150 to someone.

[Colo Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, CanICruiseSoonPlease said:

I will be sailing the Regal.  It is the same price as Plat and Elite as it is for non.  So basically, if I buy the unlimited, I gave up my internet package of 150 minutes.  I just wish I could give the 150 to someone.

Thats why its best to buy the unlimited package pre cruise at a pretty good discount.  

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 6:20 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

Thats why its best to buy the unlimited package pre cruise at a pretty good discount.  

We are sailing on an Eastern / Western Caribbean next year and we booked it as a 14 day cruise versus 2 - 7 days.

Since we only have one booking # and I noticed the pre-purchase price for unlimited internet was $99, am I safe to assume that would be good for our 14 days ?

[Colo Cruiser]

Just now, D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL said:

We are sailing on an Eastern / Western Caribbean next year and we booked it as a 14 day cruise versus 2 - 7 days.

Since we only have one booking # and I noticed the pre-purchase price for unlimited internet was $99, am I safe to assume that would be good for our 14 days ?

Yes, 1 booking number 1 charge for the unlimited internet. I would grab it thats a good price.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL said:

We are sailing on an Eastern / Western Caribbean next year and we booked it as a 14 day cruise versus 2 - 7 days.

Since we only have one booking # and I noticed the pre-purchase price for unlimited internet was $99, am I safe to assume that would be good for our 14 days ?

Maybe, maybe not.

 

If you purchase this, make screen printouts that show you are purchasing this for a 14 day cruise and be prepared to speak with the Internet manager if they try to make it for only 7 days.

 

 

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

Maybe, maybe not.

 

If you purchase this, make screen printouts that show you are purchasing this for a 14 day cruise and be prepared to speak with the Internet manager if they try to make it for only 7 days.

 

 

I just got off the telephone with Princess and they did tell me it was $99.99 for the 14 days. They did say I could use my free minutes (150) and then purchase the unlimited for $9.99 per day on board if we did run out of minutes. I guess the only way it would be beneficial to purchase the unlimited package upfront is if you knew you would use all your free minutes in the first 3 days.

[caribill]

5 hours ago, D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL said:

I just got off the telephone with Princess and they did tell me it was $99.99 for the 14 days. They did say I could use my free minutes (150) and then purchase the unlimited for $9.99 per day on board if we did run out of minutes. I guess the only way it would be beneficial to purchase the unlimited package upfront is if you knew you would use all your free minutes in the first 3 days.

A true 14-day cruise should have 250 free minutes for you.  A 7-day cruise would have 150 minutes. So if they told you the wrong number of minutes for 14 days, I would not believe other information they told you.

 

(As I remember it, you will really get 150 minutes at the start of each segment for a total of 300 free minutes.)

[Colo Cruiser]

5 hours ago, D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL said:

I just got off the telephone with Princess and they did tell me it was $99.99 for the 14 days. They did say I could use my free minutes (150) and then purchase the unlimited for $9.99 per day on board if we did run out of minutes. I guess the only way it would be beneficial to purchase the unlimited package upfront is if you knew you would use all your free minutes in the first 3 days.

I would not mess with the minutes. If there are any glitches you will burn through them fast.

Not worth the hassle.

With the unlimited just leave your device connected 24/7.

[aprilsp88]

Is it possible to purchase internet package from personalizer at a per day basis? I didn't find that option.

 

How much the discount is if purchased pre-cruise? I only need it for a couple of sea days. But if it's a deep discount I would consider pre-purchase it.

 

Thanks,

April

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, aprilsp88 said:

Is it possible to purchase internet package from personalizer at a per day basis? I didn't find that option.

 

How much the discount is if purchased pre-cruise? I only need it for a couple of sea days. But if it's a deep discount I would consider pre-purchase it.

 

Thanks,

April

I have not seen the purchase of per day service pre cruise.

Hence there is not discount. In general it runs $9.99 per day.

 

For the unlimited for example its approx. a 30% pre price discount over the onboard regular/price.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

A true 14-day cruise should have 250 free minutes for you.  A 7-day cruise would have 150 minutes. So if they told you the wrong number of minutes for 14 days, I would not believe other information they told you.

 

(As I remember it, you will really get 150 minutes at the start of each segment for a total of 300 free minutes.)

Thanks for correcting me. I had in my head 150 minutes but I like your comment about 150 minutes for each 7 day segment versus the 250 minutes for a 14 day as I booked. That would be nice if they broke it up into 2 cruises for your free internet minutes but 1 cruise only for the unlimited. I find that hard to believe but will check it out.

[caribill]

5 hours ago, D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL said:

Thanks for correcting me. I had in my head 150 minutes but I like your comment about 150 minutes for each 7 day segment versus the 250 minutes for a 14 day as I booked. That would be nice if they broke it up into 2 cruises for your free internet minutes but 1 cruise only for the unlimited. I find that hard to believe but will check it out.

 

The 150/segment is like the mini-bar for elite passengers. They get one per segment even if booked as one cruise including all segments.