Wi-Fi on Escape

[salty dingo]

We had the 250 minute package and were pretty happy with it. Here are some observations.

 

1. I tried to log in while we were waiting in the terminal. Had a strong signal but the new cruise was not yet activated so I could not make dinner reservations as I hoped.
2. After activating the package (did that after sailaway since could use cell signal while in range) it was easy to use login.com and logout.com to sign on and off.
3. I would open my apps first that needed Wi-Fi, log in,  then refresh the apps and let them all consume data at once. I would download news articles for reading offline (never read while connected) and after a couple of minutes I would disconnect and read email and news offline. I think the longest I was ever online was 6 minutes. Typically just 2 minutes per session.
4. In Bermuda there was excellent Wi-Fi for purchase... 3 days for $20, and it allowed fast upload of photos to the cloud, something that did not work so well with the ship Wi-Fi. Also great Wi-Fi calling back home, something else the ship blocks.
5. Important - when you are in port and on the ship but want to connect to shoreside Wi-Fi it can be difficult because the ship signal is so strong and they do not turn it off when the ship is in port. It was frustrating to connect to shoreside Wi-Fi and quickly the ship Wi-Fi would reconnect, even if you "forget" the ship.
6. I was finally able to defeat the ship by setting a phony IP address in the NCL connection... this is not something everyone will want to try but if you are a geek like me, please know this will render the ship Wi-Fi connection unable to kick you out of the shoreside connection, and you can happily use shore Wi-Fi from the ship while in port, provided you are facing the dock. To reset the ship Wi-Fi back to normal, just forget the connection and it will re connect as normal.
7. The Wi-Fi in Bermuda would not ever connect at Clearwater beach even though the signal was strong. No issues in Hamilton or Dockyard.
8. I only used about 150 of my 250 minutes on the cruise. Just did not need any more.

[BirdTravels]

Excellent use of the freebie package!

[Bonnie1222]

Do you have to purchase the internet package to use the app? Or only if you want access to emails, websites etc?  I will be sailing on the Breakaway next year.  Thank you.

[ThxMomnDad]

We were just on the Escape 2 weeks ago and also had the free 250 minutes of wife. I have no complaints about the signal strength and was able to check email and look at FB without any issues. The only issue we had is that my wife wasn't able to use the wifi with her phone. We asked at guest services and they told us only 1 device per room. I had thought it was only one at a time could be using the wife, but not according to the woman I spoke with. We also left around 100 minutes unused. 

[salty dingo]

2 minutes ago, ThxMomnDad said:

We asked at guest services and they told us only 1 device per room. I had thought it was only one at a time could be using the wife, but not according to the woman I spoke with. We also left around 100 minutes unused. 

That was not correct info. I used both my phone and tablet on the same plan. Both devices showed up on the login page. It's probably true only 1 at a time, we never tried both at the same time.

 

The only reason for the tablet being online was to make Netflix happy... we had downloaded many seasons of TV shows to watch and at some point it needed to renew a license for some reason. It's great to use the offline viewing feature of Netflix so you can download your entertainment at home to watch on the ship.

 

There is virtually no TV worth watching in the room. We only turned on the TV to check the restaurant menus or look at our account balance.

[ThxMomnDad]

2 minutes ago, salty dingo said:

That was not correct info. I used both my phone and tablet on the same plan. Both devices showed up on the login page. It's probably true only 1 at a time, we never tried both at the same time.

 

The only reason for the tablet being online was to make Netflix happy... we had downloaded many seasons of TV shows to watch and at some point it needed to renew a license for some reason. It's great to use the offline viewing feature of Netflix so you can download your entertainment at home to watch on the ship.

 

There is virtually no TV worth watching in the room. We only turned on the TV to check the restaurant menus or look at our account balance.

You know, Salty Dingo, the reason I mentioned that was because I had a feeling she was wrong, and you just confirmed it. We should have asked someone else to get a 2nd opinion. The strange thing is, that every time she tried to connect, it wouldn't work, so we just assumed that since I set up my wifi first, that was it. We'll be on the Bliss in 4 months and have the free wifi again, so this time I'll make sure we get both of our phones to be able to connect!

[salty dingo]

It was not really obvious to me at first how to use it, but after I figured out to use login.com and logout.com to turn it on and off, it was easy at that point. There is an internet cafe where someone can help you set up a device if you need any help. I think times for the help are listed in Freestyle Daily.

[ThxMomnDad]

Yeah, it wasn't until the 2nd day of the cruise that someone told me about the login.com/logout.com. I just figured my phone was having trouble connecting!

[CookieShip]

More than one device can use the internet, but it is limited to one device at a time. You can kick the other connection though.

My BF had the internet package last time and we ended up sharing it to leave each other messages on Google Hangouts vs buying the NCL app package on top of it. I hated the NCL app running all the time and it seemed to be a battery hog. 

 

We both had issues with their internet portal signing in on our different model Chromebooks. 

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, ThxMomnDad said:

The only issue we had is that my wife wasn't able to use the wifi with her phone. We asked at guest services and they told us only 1 device per room. I had thought it was only one at a time could be using the wife, but not according to the woman I spoke with. We also left around 100 minutes unused. 

You were given incorrect information. However, you should have sought help from the internet manager who runs the ship’s internet and not the front desk clerk. The Wi-Fi is run and managed by the satellite provider (I.e., the internet manager is not an NCL employee. The work for the satellite provider). The internet manager could have resolved the issue. It’s like going to Costco and asking the pharmacy clerk about tires,,, you’ll get the wrong answer).