Upgrade Wifi from Free at Sea increase in price

[SpainAlien]

Has any one else noticed that previously the upgrade from 250 free minutes on a 7 day cruise was 41.83€ but now it is $84.93 (approx 70€)

 

 

[WarfRatWA]

18 minutes ago, SpainAlien said:

Has any one else noticed that previously the upgrade from 250 free minutes on a 7 day cruise was 41.83€ but now it is $84.93 (approx 70€)

 

 

I paid $84.93 for the upgrade back in March 2021.  Having 2 teenagers onboard, the $84.93 seemed worth it to me.

[RaftingJeremy]

1 hour ago, SpainAlien said:

Has any one else noticed that previously the upgrade from 250 free minutes on a 7 day cruise was 41.83€ but now it is $84.93 (approx 70€)

 

 

Mine says unlimited 49. Unlimited with streaming 84. It hasn’t changed 

[Seany527]

I don’t remember what I paid on my last 7 day cruise, but I don’t think I would have paid $119. 
 

Screen shot is from Encore, Jan 2021

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, WarfRatWA said:

I paid $84.93 for the upgrade back in March 2021.  Having 2 teenagers onboard, the $84.93 seemed worth it to me.

This (probably) makes sense.  That said, why on earth would anybody else want more screen time on a cruise?  Isn't it all about turning the rest of the world off?

[mking8288]

Previously, on a typical 7 days cruise/sailing - you can buy or upgrade to the unlimited options on day 6 ... and pay a little less (pro-rated)  

 

You'll find out, hopefully, soon enugh, once onboard to see if the option is still available and offered - plus, you can use/apply any non-refundable OBC to offset the charge.  

 

But, more importantly, is the question of whether the satellite network are better these days, a notch faster or the same old - to make it more usable as all users shared the dynamically cached uplinks and NCL partner's high orbiting satellites aren't anywhere as fast as the other big ones ... 

Edited June 24, 2021 by mking8288

[fredflint]

It  all depends on the number of ports, if you have a lot of ports then you can use the free wifi in port to make calls and catch up on things.  For my wife and I we always relax at some point during the day and want to watch either the local news or some movie or TV show we have not had time to watch.

 

Everyone is a bit different on a cruise, my wife dislikes large ships and formal dining.  Other people live for formal night and would not think of going on a cruise that did not have formal nights!

[RRSeeker]

I have two cruises booked. One was booked in late 2020 for 2022. The upgrade cost is $49.93. I booked another cruise last week. The upgrade cost is $84.93. So yes I think they raised the price.

[BirdTravels]

These are my current upgrade process for 7 days from a 250 minute plan. 

 

A word on cyber security. Nothing is free. The little shops around the ports offering “free” Wi-Fi can make a lot of money selling any data they are able to extract from your surfing. Unless you are using a VPN, think really had before using “free” Wi-Fi from untrusted sources. 

[jmele999]

Here are the upgrade prices for our upcoming 7-day cruise out of Athens. $49 is not bad but we already 370 minutes so not sure if is needed for a port-intensive cruise.  The difference in cost between cruise might be related to the port of departure. 

[SpainAlien]

The cruises I booked a few months ago have the same upgrade prices as you have but the two I booked more recently are significantly more expensive. This is the Epic for 26th Sept this year which i booked last week.

 

 

[Zippeedee]

I have two cruises booked, one just less than a year away and one in late 2023. Both have the option to upgrade the drinks package but nothing about an internet upgrade. I do have 500 minutes free plus 30 for platinum. Is that odd or do they add it closer to sailing? I’ve never booked this far out.

[SpainAlien]

6 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

I have two cruises booked, one just less than a year away and one in late 2023. Both have the option to upgrade the drinks package but nothing about an internet upgrade. I do have 500 minutes free plus 30 for platinum. Is that odd or do they add it closer to sailing? I’ve never booked this far out.

The upgrade for internet should be showing on MyNCL under upgrades. It's showing on my May 2023 booking

 

[WarfRatWA]

14 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

The cruises I booked a few months ago have the same upgrade prices as you have but the two I booked more recently are significantly more expensive. This is the Epic for 26th Sept this year which i booked last week.

 

 

Interesting.  I am booked on the Epic in July 2022, and my upgrade prices are $49.93 and $89.93.  Could this be because you are an EU citizen or booking through the Spanish NCL portal?

[SpainAlien]

1 hour ago, WarfRatWA said:

Interesting.  I am booked on the Epic in July 2022, and my upgrade prices are $49.93 and $89.93.  Could this be because you are an EU citizen or booking through the Spanish NCL portal?

No the Epic booking was made last week through a US travel agent

[geckobabe]

The offer for unlimited wi-fi upgrade for my Oct 2021 Alaska cruise just jumped from 49.93 to 84.93. I'm in the US. 

[SSFun]

Looks like on my account (cruise on 8/14/21) you can upgrade to unlimited wifi for $49.93 or to unlimited premium wifi (with streaming) for $84.93. Maybe only the streaming version is being offered on your cruise?

[BirdTravels]

By way of comparison, our last cruise on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean on the Encore in November 2019 had the following prices:

 

[jmele999]

5 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

By way of comparison, our last cruise on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean on the Encore in November 2019 had the following prices:

 

So, even the prices from 2019 are the same as those for 2022 and 2023, but some of us can get it for $49.  I wonder why? 

[WarfRatWA]

4 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

No the Epic booking was made last week through a US travel agent

FYI: I have 3 bookings right now....The Joy, Epic and Prima and all are $49.93 for Unlimited and $89.93 for unlimited streaming.  I wonder if room category is a factor.  I am in the Haven on all three ships.  I also booked direct on the NCL website.  Perhaps that is factor?

Edited June 27, 2021 by WarfRatWA

[CruizinKittie40]

Here's mine  Epic from Rome 10/27/2021

Edited June 27, 2021 by CruizinKittie40

[shof515]

i am booked for the Breakaway at the end of October and this is what i see:

[mking8288]

The "slight" difference in offered promo upgrade discount pricing could, possibly, be attributed to one's Latitude/Platinum/Plus discount ??  

 

The free 250 minutes/MB promo offers on select bookings used to be valued at $125, as I recall from more than a year and a half ago.  The full price for a (non-streaming) unlimited data plan for 7 nights was about $210 ($30/day x 7) - difference was about $85 ( ... I rounded up the 99 cents to a full dollar.)

 

Some of us (Platinum/Plus) were able to get credit for our extra 30/60/100/120 minutes by the onboard Internet Manager by being "nice" in asking (never online or in advance, FWIW) - so that apparently reduced the costs before.  

 

I wonder if NCL is doing the pro-rating ahead and giving/applying qualifying discounts for doing the upgrade pre-cruise, just my guess !!

 

Now, if they would apply non-refundable OBC too ... it might be a incentive for being a deal-maker, depending on the itinerary & ports (with lots of sea days & out of range of land towers and signals).  Just saying 😉

[Zippeedee]

19 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

The upgrade for internet should be showing on MyNCL under upgrades. It's showing on my May 2023 booking

 

That’s what I thought. I only have the drinks package upgrade showing. I think I’ll bother my PCC tomorrow and see what’s up.

Thanks!

[Seany527]

This is the cost for 14 days on the Breakaway in 2021. NCL must be out of their minds. It was never this expensive.