Heads Up - Looks like wifi/internet changes are coming - situation on the Koningsdam

[0bnxshs]

2 minutes ago, travelnap said:

I was on the Eurodam last week and I was able to use different computers as long as I logged off each one when I was finished.  I was using the ships computers in the atrium area.  If I had problems with one of the computers available, I would switch to a different one and would get a message that I needed to log off the other machine, and there was a pop up button to do that.  No problems once I logged off.  They could have better instructions available and I think that would clear up the confusion that some are finding when they try to log in with different devices.

I think the point is that HAL doesn't want to advertise this at all.

[3rdGenCunarder]

11 hours ago, POA1 said:

To temporarily disable automatic updates on Windows 10, use these steps: Open Settings. Click on Update & Security. Click on Windows Update. Click the Advanced options button. Under the "Pause updates" sections, use the Pause until drop-down menu, and select how long to disable automatic updates

 

THANK YOU!!!! It always seems that my computer tries to do updates when my connection is slow. 

 

2 hours ago, travelnap said:

I was on the Eurodam last week and I was able to use different computers as long as I logged off each one when I was finished.  I was using the ships computers in the atrium area.  If I had problems with one of the computers available, I would switch to a different one and would get a message that I needed to log off the other machine, and there was a pop up button to do that.  No problems once I logged off.  They could have better instructions available and I think that would clear up the confusion that some are finding when they try to log in with different devices.

 

I didn't see the popup button the first time, so I went through the stupid process of going on the other device and signing off. Even after I knew to use that function it annoyed me that the system claimed I was logged on with another device when I was certain that I'd logged off properly. I've used "by the minute" plans so long that I'm very careful to log off when I finish whatever I'm doing online. 

[*Miss G*]

Apparently I need to edit the whitelist on my content blocker.  🤨

[POA1]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

THANK YOU!!!! It always seems that my computer tries to do updates when my connection is slow. 

 

You're welcome. On our cruise last December, the speeds were great until the second to last day - a sea day - when a lot of people decided to but a 1 day pass.  You had a whole bunch of devices that hadn't been updated since we left port 8 days prior trying to perform updates. Take a couple hundred people's devices and multiply that by a week's worth of patches and upgrades and you had some seriously clogged up Internet satellite pipes.

[POA1]

The other issue, and it's somewhat minor for most people, is that some people think that HAL's Navigator is an app. It's not. It's an intranet page. As such, it behaves more like a website than an app. Notifications don't work the same as an app, and you have the opportunity to answer "No" to receiving notifications. Once you do that, you need to manually refresh the Navigator page in order to see the notifications. When you answer "No" to notifications, you don't get the little push notifications for a whole bunch of events, including the messaging functionality.

[slidergirl]

On 11/14/2019 at 7:12 PM, *Miss G* said:

 

Bring a Travel Router.

 

I had an article from one of my travel magazines pop up on my FB account today for a travel router.  It specifically had an endorsement from a man who was using it right then on a ship doing a TA.    His kids were Netflix-ing while he was working on his laptop.   It was available on Amazon - it is the red one.

 

I travel solo, so no need for me to really have one to open multiple devices,  BUT if I needed more than 1 device, I'd be on a travel router in a hot second, be it a ship or a hotel.  Not a big deal.  Kind of like taking a Fire Stick or Apple TV or ChromeCast to a hotel and hooking it up to the room's TV.

[Tampa Girl]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:06 PM, PSR said:

 

OK...I guess it's probably changing.🤔

 

Or possible the Koningsdam is a feeler for further implementation.

[81Zoomie]

This new internet dilemma is interesting.  WiFi is now free in most hotels.  Many airlines are now rolling out free text and WhatsApp.  The cruise ships appear to be moving in the other direction.  We have always shared one plan on all cruise lines between the 2 of us by logging on and off.  We don’t spend a lot of time online at sea, but like to check mail, download the paper, and send pics.  Given the rather lackluster performance of HAL’s WiFi I wouldn’t pay more for it.  We have TMobile and get free data and text ashore.

The pic shows current Celebrity pricing for unlimited internet on a 7 day cruise.

Edited November 17, 2019 by 81Zoomie

[TAD2005]

Like the old days with people sharing their drink packages with other friends onboard,  I have seen people giving out their login and password to other guest/friends who have not signed up for the internet package.   This sharing may be why HAL is testing the "only one device" plan.   HAL identifies your device login by it's MAC address (nothing to do with MAC computers).   The ship's router will detect when one login/password combination is being used by many different devices, by monitoring the MAC addresses of each device. 

If this "only one device policy" is happening for real, a solution is to use a travel router that will login to the ship's wi-fi with its single MAC address, and then you can connect as many devices as you want to the travel router, undetected.

[sail7seas]

On 11/16/2019 at 12:09 PM, POA1 said:

 

You're welcome. On our cruise last December, the speeds were great until the second to last day - a sea day - when a lot of people decided to but a 1 day pass.  You had a whole bunch of devices that hadn't been updated since we left port 8 days prior trying to perform updates. Take a couple hundred people's devices and multiply that by a week's worth of patches and upgrades and you had some seriously clogged up Internet satellite pipes.

 

 

Well, POA, hey, hi hello.    Hope all is well with you.  I have missed   you and especially your good humor.

 

 

 

 

[Mary229]

I didn’t see anyone ask, maybe I missed it.  If the first device is your phone,  can you simply tether the 2nd device to your phone’s hotspot?

[POA1]

On 11/18/2019 at 8:46 PM, Mary229 said:

I didn’t see anyone ask, maybe I missed it.  If the first device is your phone,  can you simply tether the 2nd device to your phone’s hotspot?

It depends on the phone. You'd need 2 Wi-Fi radios, one for the connection to the WLAN and one to act as the access point. I don't think most phones are built that way. You can hotspot from the cellular network, but I don't know about two Wi-Fi networks. For a cellular hotspot, you use the cellular radio and the Wi-Fi radio.

[Mary229]

4 minutes ago, POA1 said:

It depends on the phone. You'd need 2 Wi-Fi radios, one for the connection to the WLAN and one to act as the access point. I don't think most phones are built that way. You can hotspot from the cellular network, but I don't know about two Wi-Fi networks. For a cellular hotspot, you use the cellular radio and the Wi-Fi radio.

Thank you.  So if I can create a hotspot at home from my phone on WiFi only then I am good to go, I guess.  I will give it a try before my next sailing.  If not I have the device you recommended in my Amazon cart.

[boards]

We were on the Noordam recently and were surprised that there were no ship computers to use to get on the internet, at least that is what I was told.  You had to bring your own.

[RuthC]

48 minutes ago, boards said:

We were on the Noordam recently and were surprised that there were no ship computers to use to get on the internet, at least that is what I was told.  You had to bring your own.

I hope you just never found them, and were told incorrectly. It would be a shame if a passenger couldn't use the internet just because they don't want to lug a laptop along with them. I can just imagine my email inbox after a 35 day cruise! 
Not everyone has, or needs, a smart phone and shouldn't have to buy one just to use on cruises. 

[Crew News]

I ordered my TP Router from Amazon and will have it linked to all of my devices before I leave on Dec 7 for Fort Lauderdale.  I will report on my live thread if I encounter any issues.

[Frank in Florida]

Great information! I am considering a cruise on the Koningsdam next March, Ft. Lauderdale to Vancouver (48 nights). Any idea of the cost for internet? Is it by the minute or unlimited? I did a transatlantic last fall on the Regal Princess and unlimited internet was only $99. Thanks for any information.

[Crew News]

Unlimited Social Media only is $14.99, Surfing $24.99, and Streaming 29.99 per day.  If you purchase for the entire cruise in a lump sum, there is an approx 40% discount.  You cannot purchase by the minute but you can purchase by the day.

 

From my experience, the latter two packages have the same speed but the streaming package gives more download.  I have yet to find streaming to be of good quality.  The premium package (streaming) can be purchased online but the other two packages are only available while on board with your first login

Edited November 25, 2019 by Crew News

[*Miss G*]

Here is the current internet pricing.  If you purchase the premium package pre-cruise, within your booking, there will be a discount.

 

 

[Caribbean Chris]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:16 PM, sail7seas said:

 

Anyone  know what most cruise lines do in this regard?  I don' t recall  on NCL, "X", Princess

 

Just got off Celebrity Silhouette last week, and we each had our own internet package as a perk included in the cruise fare, so both of us could use the internet at the same time.

 

There was no requirement to sign out at all. I switched back and forth between iPhone and iPad each day - a box would pop up to ask if I wanted to switch to this device. Very simple.

 

I must say it was a good quality connection (Caribbean sailing) although slower when in port at times when everyone was using (must have been a different satellite).

[Caribbean Chris]

36 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Here is the current internet pricing.  If you purchase the premium package pre-cruise, within your booking, there will be a discount.

 

Thanks for posting, Miss G. I didn’t know you could pre-purchase at a discount.

 

[*Miss G*]

4 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

Thanks for posting, Miss G. I didn’t know you could pre-purchase at a discount.

 

 

You are very welcome.  To give an example, I have an upcoming 20 day cruise with advance purchase premium internet for $239.99.  That’s a $60 savings over the onboard pricing.

[Caribbean Chris]

2 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

You are very welcome.  To give an example, I have an upcoming 20 day cruise with advance purchase premium internet for $239.99.  That’s a $60 savings over the onboard pricing.

 

I just have to do the math when I have a minute. We have an 18-day “three stage” cruise coming up with five sea days each way from San Diego to Hawaii RT  - but a week in the middle visiting the Hawaiian islands where AT&T cellular would work. Of course, it won’t work at night when the ship is heading for another island, so....probably should just get the package.

[GeezerCouple]

We are on Noordam as I type (and thoroughly enjoying our first HAL cruise!).

 

We each had the premium internet package listed on our docs (for Passenger 1,2).

 

It seems that DH was able to get right on, no problem, on his laptop.

When I went to try, there was NO way I could get any sort of prompt to log in, etc.

By going to Navigator, the "best" I could find was a choice to purchase a new package.

Knowing we had paperwork showing there should be *two* such packages, we agreed I should just go ahead.  (It was late; I was already in bed... not a time to hunt down someone in guest services.)

 

So we had two separate logins for two separate devices, both usable at the same time.

When we checked with guest services about it, they interrupted our query/concern with something about how, "Yes, that's right, and you'll see a credit for that amount."

So we are a bit curious why DH didn't have to do something similar.

 

However, DH reports that he *can* alternate between his laptop and his iPhone.

He'll get some sort of prompt that the other device is logged in, and does he want to bounce the other device off, much as we've experienced on other lines with only a single internet package per cabin/suite.

 

GC

 

 

[sail7seas]

On 11/23/2019 at 3:41 PM, RuthC said:

I hope you just never found them, and were told incorrectly. It would be a shame if a passenger couldn't use the internet just because they don't want to lug a laptop along with them. I can just imagine my email inbox after a 35 day cruise! 
Not everyone has, or needs, a smart phone and shouldn't have to buy one just to use on cruises. 

 

 

 Ruth,  Ditto, I do not have or want  a smartphone,  If I  wanted one,   I woul d  have  bought one for myself.  I just don't want one..

 

 

 

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