Internet Package???

[gskgizmo]

It is better to purchase an internet package prior to cruising or once aboard. Any deals either way?.  Thanks

[Astro Flyer]

I have a couple of experiences & because I have a block of free internet minutes (begins at Platinum) it’s been cheaper for me to purchase an unlimited package onboard (Member Discount Price) & another reason is because I can use OBC to pay for it.

 

Based on posts I’ve read passengers without free minutes to exchange get the best price by paying in advance.

 

Here’s an excellent chart comparing prices created by Steelers36 which reflects my experiences.

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Astro Flyer

[franktown]

It is cheaper to purchase prior to the cruise unless you are platinum or elite.  The only downside is you cannot use OBC until onboard.

[Thrak]

I have a B2B2B booked for November/December. The cruises are 6 days, 13 days, and 14 days for a total of 33 days. Each cruise is booked separately but are contiguous and in the same cabin. The price difference for snazzy Internet connectivity between 15-30 days ($112.50) and 31+ days ($150.00) is $38 which means, if booked for the entire trip, it would be an extra $38 for only 3 days.

 

Query: Can I not pay on day 1 of the first cruise (6 days) and only use my free minutes for that cruise and then pay on day 1 of the second cruise for access during the second and third cruises or do I miss out because I didn't pay on day 1 of the first cruise. If I can do that can I actually pay for both the second and third cruises (a total of 27 days) at once using the 15-30 day price even though it is booked as 2 cruises? I would still be trading in the "free" minutes for the 27 days but not for the first 6 days where I wouldn't have the good access. To my mind I "should" be able to pay on day 1 of the second cruise for both that cruise and the one following but I don't know if they will "combine" the two for the purpose of purchasing access. Hopefully this makes sense to folks.

[Colo Cruiser]

What??   🤔

[Thrak]

2 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

What??   🤔

 

Can I just use my free minutes on the 6 day segment and then, on the first day of the second segment, trade in the free minutes for that segment and the next as a block for the 15-30 day price.

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Can I just use my free minutes on the 6 day segment and then, on the first day of the second segment, trade in the free minutes for that segment and the next as a block for the 15-30 day price.

Ask Stewart

[Maui Girl]

32 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Can I just use my free minutes on the 6 day segment and then, on the first day of the second segment, trade in the free minutes for that segment and the next as a block for the 15-30 day price.

I’m no expert since I haven’t done this, but I believe you will have to make your internet decision separately for each of the 3 cruises.  Whether you use your free minutes or buy a package should be cruise specific, just like your passenger account and OBC will reset for each cruise. 

[Astro Flyer]

57 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Can I just use my free minutes on the 6 day segment and then, on the first day of the second segment, trade in the free minutes for that segment and the next as a block for the 15-30 day price.

 

Is it a MedallionClass cruise?

 

When I had B2B 7-day MC cruises (different booking numbers) it was managed as a 14-day cruise for internet usage & I had to decide within 24 hours if I wanted to keep my 300 free minutes or to purchase an unlimited plan for $90.  Based on that experience, if your 6/13/14 day cruises are MC they would be combined to be a 33 day cruise...either 500 free minutes or in lieu of those free minutes it would be $150 (31+ days) for an unlimited plan.

[Thrak]

49 minutes ago, Maui Girl said:

I’m no expert since I haven’t done this, but I believe you will have to make your internet decision separately for each of the 3 cruises.  Whether you use your free minutes or buy a package should be cruise specific, just like your passenger account and OBC will reset for each cruise. 

 

According to posts by others here on CC the OBC should carry over and not be restricted to a single cruise. Between FCD, Shareholder, Group, and Promo OBC we should have $1,450 AUD in OBC. (I'm assuming it all will be AUD. The $925 from Princess will definitely be paid as AUD. The $525 Promo TA OBC was listed in US dollars but I'm not counting on getting it that way. It would be great though if it did get translated over into AUD at the going rate.  An extra $240 AUD wouldn't bother me at all.) I would certainly like to have it all as a big "ball" of OBC rather than having to deal with each cruise separately.

[Maui Girl]

58 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

According to posts by others here on CC the OBC should carry over and not be restricted to a single cruise. Between FCD, Shareholder, Group, and Promo OBC we should have $1,450 AUD in OBC. (I'm assuming it all will be AUD. The $925 from Princess will definitely be paid as AUD. The $525 Promo TA OBC was listed in US dollars but I'm not counting on getting it that way. It would be great though if it did get translated over into AUD at the going rate.  An extra $240 AUD wouldn't bother me at all.) I would certainly like to have it all as a big "ball" of OBC rather than having to deal with each cruise separately.

After reading Astro Flyers post, I think I have been misinformed.  If you can do the internet on day 1 for all 3 cruises, that will be a lot better.  Assuming you are on a Medallion class ship with fast internet!  
Now you have me wondering about the OBC, guess I need to do some more research, not that I think I could ever get hubby to do a B2B 😂

[Thrak]

2 minutes ago, Maui Girl said:

After reading Astro Flyers post, I think I have been misinformed.  If you can do the internet on day 1 for all 3 cruises, that will be a lot better.  Assuming you are on a Medallion class ship with fast internet!  
Now you have me wondering about the OBC, guess I need to do some more research, not that I think I could ever get hubby to do a B2B 😂

 

I was actually hoping to do the first, six-day, cruise using only my free minutes. That would allow me to gauge the performance of the system. Paying for something that doesn't work well would peeve me greatly. On an Emerald TA last November people paid for MedallionNet access and it hardly ever worked worth a darn. Not cool.

[Maui Girl]

16 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I was actually hoping to do the first, six-day, cruise using only my free minutes. That would allow me to gauge the performance of the system. Paying for something that doesn't work well would peeve me greatly. On an Emerald TA last November people paid for MedallionNet access and it hardly ever worked worth a darn. Not cool.

I don’t know what ship you are going on but the only thing I have on good authority “right now “,  the internet on Ruby Princess is great, the Majestic is terrible to worthless.  That’s from Pescado Amarillo who is down under for the last few months.  But things can change as upgrades are made. 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have a B2B2B booked for November/December. The cruises are 6 days, 13 days, and 14 days for a total of 33 days. Each cruise is booked separately but are contiguous and in the same cabin. The price difference for snazzy Internet connectivity between 15-30 days ($112.50) and 31+ days ($150.00) is $38 which means, if booked for the entire trip, it would be an extra $38 for only 3 days.

 

Query: Can I not pay on day 1 of the first cruise (6 days) and only use my free minutes for that cruise and then pay on day 1 of the second cruise for access during the second and third cruises or do I miss out because I didn't pay on day 1 of the first cruise. If I can do that can I actually pay for both the second and third cruises (a total of 27 days) at once using the 15-30 day price even though it is booked as 2 cruises? I would still be trading in the "free" minutes for the 27 days but not for the first 6 days where I wouldn't have the good access. To my mind I "should" be able to pay on day 1 of the second cruise for both that cruise and the one following but I don't know if they will "combine" the two for the purpose of purchasing access. Hopefully this makes sense to folks.

Hi, Thrak.

 

From my understanding of some anecdotal reports, you could book a MedallionNet unlimited package on Day 1 based on the full length of your cruise (i.e. 31+ days).  So $150 with your discount.  If you ignore that and use free minutes for the first cruise and then go back, you would be paying $112.50 for the next two - in theory.  I am not sure if you don't treat the voyage as a single time-span at the outset, whether you would be able to treat cruise #2 and #3 as a single time-span later on.  You might then have to treat each one separately and then you would be paying MUCH more.

 

My suggestion would be to be informed with the price chart when you board and see what your smartphone offers after connecting to ship's Wifi.  Then, visit the Internet Cafe and ask the Manager what your options are.  I would love to hear the report back here of your experience.  You won't lose by waiting to board as the best pricing for us is on board Day 1 due to the 25% discount.  Good luck.

[Astro Flyer]

32 minutes ago, Maui Girl said:

Now you have me wondering about the OBC, guess I need to do some more research, not that I think I could ever get hubby to do a B2B 😂

 

Checking my final statement for those B2B 7-day cruises they were combined into one 14 day Stateroom Account for my wife & me.  OBCs for the 2nd cruise were added on that date but since both cruises are combined it didn’t affect our end of cruise balance.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, Maui Girl said:

I don’t know what ship you are going on but the only thing I have on good authority “right now “,  the internet on Ruby Princess is great, the Majestic is terrible to worthless.  That’s from Pescado Amarillo who is down under for the last few months.  But things can change as upgrades are made. 

 

Yes, I follow her blog as well. She's miserable with the crummy Internet and about to have 2 weeks with pretty much zero connectivity. She absolutely loved the connectivity on Ruby. We'll be on Sapphire which is due to get MedallionNet (not Medallion cruising) in July. It will be untested. We did sail 14 days - Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale - on Emerald which has MedallionNet and the Internet service could best be described as appalling. That's why I was hoping for the 6 day test on the first cruise.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Thrak

[Thrak]

Holy Cow! Wowie Zowie!  I am totally blown away...

 

I was just checking in my Personalizer for the 3 cruises I was wondering about. We already had gratuities and beverage package as perks from the TA. I just now looked at the perks and they have added the Internet access as an additional perk. No notice at all - they just went ahead and added it for us. WOW!

 

Edit: Just looked again and it's obviously in Australian pricing and each cruise is listed separately for a total of $329.01. I did log on as my wife and checked her info as well to make sure we each were credited with the WiFi package. She received the same credits. I printed new Travel Summary docs for each cruise to take onboard with us. They clearly show the perks. I'm simply amazed.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Thrak

[kywildcatfanone]

On 1/18/2020 at 7:05 PM, gskgizmo said:

It is better to purchase an internet package prior to cruising or once aboard. Any deals either way?.  Thanks

If you have status, you can purchase it cheaper onboard.

[Maui Girl]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

Holy Cow! Wowie Zowie!  I am totally blown away...

 

I was just checking in my Personalizer for the 3 cruises I was wondering about. We already had gratuities and beverage package as perks from the TA. I just now looked at the perks and they have added the Internet access as an additional perk. No notice at all - they just went ahead and added it for us. WOW!

 

Edit: Just looked again and it's obviously in Australian pricing and each cruise is listed separately for a total of $329.01. I did log on as my wife and checked her info as well to make sure we each were credited with the WiFi package. She received the same credits. I printed new Travel Summary docs for each cruise to take onboard with us. They clearly show the perks. I'm simply amazed.

That’s awesome!   At least some of the rest of us learned some things through that whole conversation 😂.   I keep hoping my TA will cough up something but I’ve not seen anything yet.  

[polmcs]

Has anyone on a HI circle cruise, or an equivalent 15 day cruise with medallionnet connectivity, not signed up for a plan on the first day, leaving 14 days and been able to sign up for a package for the rest of the cruise at the 14 day rate? Paying the equivalent of $22.50 after Elite discount, for that extra 1 day is messing with my Scottish frugalness 😉 

[Daniel A]

Quick question:  If a mother and daughter are sharing a stateroom and the daughter buys the 4 device plan pre-cruise, can the mother's iPhone be one of those 4 devices or would that somehow mess up Mom's ability to connect to her MedallionClass apps on the ship's intranet while onboard?

[MotownVoice]

Even if all you do is spend 20 or 30 minutes checking your email, and updating your bank account you save a ton of money on the unlimited package versus if you paid for it day by day.  And you lose the discounted price on the package after you get "so close" to your cruise embarkation.

I say grab it while you can.

[Daniel A]

13 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Quick question:  If a mother and daughter are sharing a stateroom and the daughter buys the 4 device plan pre-cruise, can the mother's iPhone be one of those 4 devices or would that somehow mess up Mom's ability to connect to her MedallionClass apps on the ship's intranet while onboard?

 

11 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

Even if all you do is spend 20 or 30 minutes checking your email, and updating your bank account you save a ton of money on the unlimited package versus if you paid for it day by day.  And you lose the discounted price on the package after you get "so close" to your cruise embarkation.

I say grab it while you can.

The daughter may need to use a Wi-Fi internet phone calling app with her office and clients.  In the meantime, her mom may want to facetime her grandkids while daughter is doing work.  The question is can two different people be signed on the 4 at a time without messing up their ability to use some of the MedallionClass apps.  Daughter is looking to book an appropriate plan today.

[MotownVoice]

22 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

The daughter may need to use a Wi-Fi internet phone calling app with her office and clients.  In the meantime, her mom may want to facetime her grandkids while daughter is doing work.  The question is can two different people be signed on the 4 at a time without messing up their ability to use some of the MedallionClass apps.  Daughter is looking to book an appropriate plan today.

Not trying to be a Judge Judy here, but if four people are on a cruise and all four of them find themselves glued to digital technology at the same enough to slow down the connectivity you're doing cruising all wrong.

Edited January 24, 2020 by MotownVoice

[Daniel A]

2 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

Not trying to be a Judge Judy here, but if four people are on a cruise and all four of them find themselves glued to digital technology at the same enough to slow down the connectivity you're doing cruising all wrong.

A bad day cruising is better than a good day at the office....