Heads Up on the Basic Internet package that comes with All Included

[PTC DAWG]

I'm pretty sure I'll survive my 7 days on Apex in March without posting on CC....y'all keep my in your thoughts.  🙂

 

My Wife and I will be the ones not staring at our phones,  we should be easy to spot.  

Edited December 15, 2021 by PTC DAWG

[wrk2cruise]

To me surf means surf.  I should be able to view any website without audio/video content.  A bulletin board like CC is really not that complex.

 

I had stream package and on 2 different ships I tried to stream from my cloud DVR after 11 pm and had troubles both times.  During the day it was fine the couple times I tried.   It would be one thing if wifi was free but they are charging big $$ for it even if it's baked into the price.

[wrk2cruise]

@PTC DAWG So you aren't the one doing Facetime with your grandchild in the Retreat lounge or talking on the phone on speaker?

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

To me surf means surf.  I should be able to view any website without audio/video content.  A bulletin board like CC is really not that complex.

 

I had stream package and on 2 different ships I tried to stream from my cloud DVR after 11 pm and had troubles both times.  During the day it was fine the couple times I tried.   It would be one thing if wifi was free but they are charging big $$ for it even if it's baked into the price.

As far as surfing goes, you can surf to the main cruisecritic.com page or pretty much to any main page on the web for that matter. However, if you need to drill down into a website’s subpages (eg, boards.cruisecritic.com) or in many cases login to a web site, you will probably need to upgrade to the streaming service to do that.

[owensjro]

We were on the Silhouette Nov 22-Dec 3 and can confirm that using a VPN allowed me to get to youtube, groupme, cruisecritic, etc etc. I had to drop the VPN to get the onboard app to work and then just re-enabled when I wanted to surf. I didn't actually think of using a VPN until halfway through the cruise when I finally got fed up with not being able to use so many sites :).  We were using the standard AI surf internet. I was using the VPN that comes with Norton 360....not the best VPN but it worked fine. 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, owensjro said:

We were on the Silhouette Nov 22-Dec 3 and can confirm that using a VPN allowed me to get to youtube, groupme, cruisecritic, etc etc. I had to drop the VPN to get the onboard app to work and then just re-enabled when I wanted to surf. I didn't actually think of using a VPN until halfway through the cruise when I finally got fed up with not being able to use so many sites :).  We were using the standard AI surf internet. I was using the VPN that comes with Norton 360....not the best VPN but it worked fine. 

Would it be possible for you to share just exactly how you would implement a VPN connection with us novices and what, if any, additional equipment you might need?

[owensjro]

46 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Would it be possible for you to share just exactly how you would implement a VPN connection with us novices and what, if any, additional equipment you might need?

 

Well, mine came with a service I already pay for, but in general it will be doing some research (cnet, pcworld, and many others have reviews of mobile vpns), picking the one you want to purchase, and then installing their app from the google/apple store. From there the app should walk you through the process, but it is probably no more than clicking a button to "connect". It's pretty simple really.

[Ken the cruiser]

48 minutes ago, owensjro said:

 

Well, mine came with a service I already pay for, but in general it will be doing some research (cnet, pcworld, and many others have reviews of mobile vpns), picking the one you want to purchase, and then installing their app from the google/apple store. From there the app should walk you through the process, but it is probably no more than clicking a button to "connect". It's pretty simple really.

Thanks! After doing some more research, implementing a VPN has some possibilities. But does the VPN help with the bandwidth differential where in many cases the streaming bandwidth is about 2-3 times faster than the surf package? For example on the Edge back in August, the basic surf package had an average download speed of 0.67 mbps whereas after I upgraded to streaming I was averaging around 2 mbps.

[Croooser]

54 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! After doing some more research, implementing a VPN has some possibilities. But does the VPN help with the bandwidth differential where in many cases the streaming bandwidth is about 2-3 times faster than the surf package? For example on the Edge back in August, the basic surf package had an average download speed of 0.67 mbps whereas after I upgraded to streaming I was averaging around 2 mbps.

+1 This??

 

Would also like to understand this. Don't use a VPN now but there are some Xmas promos...Norton 360 Deluxe is $19.99 for the first year for up to 5 devices and includes "Secure VPN". Would be happy to try that if it would improve the ability to download web pages. Don't have to have ability to stream any video. 

[Croooser]

Some further checking seems to indicate that Norton's VPN is not as fast as others - i.e. NORDVPN, which is very highly rated. I need to do my homework a little more. 

[Ride-The-Waves]

Best Internet connection i've experienced at sea was on Fram while cruising south of the Antarctic Circle.  Much faster than those on the "big" mainline cruise ships crossing the Atlantic.   

[brontosphere]

Just want to chime in, Just boarded Edge today, Basic surf package (AI free) was not able to access Discord (chat/work application), using TorGuard vpn it worked. 

 

Speed is not bad overall, am told ship is only at 40% capacity due to a lot of late cancellations.

 

FYI no changes on Covid protocols like on RCC, masks optional everywhere. 

[Cruise Gopher]

18 minutes ago, brontosphere said:

Just want to chime in, Just boarded Edge today, Basic surf package (AI free) was not able to access Discord (chat/work application), using TorGuard vpn it worked. 

 

Speed is not bad overall, am told ship is only at 40% capacity due to a lot of late cancellations.

 

FYI no changes on Covid protocols like on RCC, masks optional everywhere. 

Thanks for the tip about VPN. I installed my corporate VPN connection so I can try to use that to skirt around things hopefully. 

[canderson]

FWIW, I had no trouble at all using my regular Nord account on my phone and PC while on Constellation recently.   I had heard before that cruise that TunnelBear was working, too, and had loaded that on my phone, but did not have reason to try it out.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We discovered today after a conversation with our daughter that we could possibly receive as well as make phone calls via the ship’s Wi-Fi service if we turn on Wi-Fi Calling under the Cellular Data AT&T options on our iPhone. Of course, your phone will also need to be connected to your onboard internet account at the same time.
 

For those that have an iPhone with service provided by AT&T, have you ever tried this? From the way it sounds the calls are free if you have a US account and are making calls to people in the US.

[royalcruz]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We discovered today after a conversation with our daughter that we could possibly receive as well as make phone calls via the ship’s Wi-Fi service if we turn on Wi-Fi Calling under the Cellular Data AT&T options on our iPhone. Of course, your phone will also need to be connected to your onboard internet account at the same time.
 

For those that have an iPhone with service provided by AT&T, have you ever tried this? From the way it sounds the calls are free if you have a US account and are making calls to people in the US.

You need the STREAM wifi to use wifi calling. Voice services will not work on SURF. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by royalcruz

[SparklingBlonde]

How do I get the CC discount? 

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, SparklingBlonde said:

How do I get the CC discount? 

We got the CC discount by calling the phone number listed in the internet package section of our cruise posted in our Account Personalizer.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[Turtles06]

9 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For those that have an iPhone with service provided by AT&T, have you ever tried this? From the way it sounds the calls are free if you have a US account and are making calls to people in the US.

Yes, just did it on the Silhouette. But from everything I’ve read, you need to turn on WiFi calling before you leave the U.S.  (I’ve always had it enabled, so I haven’t tested that advice.) Also, as noted above, you need the Stream internet plan (which I find to be outrageous). 
 

And this is not limited to AT&T, btw.

 

Here’s AT&T’s WiFi calling info:

 

https://www.att.com/features/wifi-calling/

Edited December 20, 2021 by Turtles06

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Yes, just did it on the Silhouette. But from everything I’ve read, you need to turn on WiFi calling before you leave the U.S.  (I’ve always had it enabled, so I haven’t tested that advice.) Also, as noted above, you need the Stream internet plan (which I find to be outrageous). 
 

And this is not limited to AT&T, btw.

 

Here’s AT&T’s WiFi calling info:

 

https://www.att.com/features/wifi-calling/

Thanks. Good stuff to know!! 

[jagoffee]

5 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Yes, just did it on the Silhouette. But from everything I’ve read, you need to turn on WiFi calling before you leave the U.S.  (I’ve always had it enabled, so I haven’t tested that advice.) Also, as noted above, you need the Stream internet plan (which I find to be outrageous). 
 

And this is not limited to AT&T, btw.

 

Here’s AT&T’s WiFi calling info:

 

https://www.att.com/features/wifi-calling/

Why do you find it outrageous that you cannot make a call using the Surf internet?  Calling isn’t surfing the internet by definition.  Does Celebrity specially state that the surf Internet can support WiFi calls?  It does say you can do emails.
 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Just learned a very useful procedure from Liz in Michaels on the Constellation which should keep my iPhone or iPad from disconnecting from the ship WiFi every time I leave the device idle for 3-5 minutes, and thought I’d share it on this Internet related thread. 
 

Step 1 - Go to Settings, then WiFi

Step 2 - Click on the “WiFi Guest Ship” network info button on the right. 
Step 3 - Turn on Auto-Join and turn off Private Address (if it’s turned on)

 

Then log back into the network and it should stay linked, even when you put your device down for awhile. 
 

Yay!!! 😎

[Turtles06]

18 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

Just learned a very useful procedure from Liz in Michaels on the Constellation which should keep my iPhone or iPad from disconnecting from the ship WiFi every time I leave the device idle for 3-5 minutes, and thought I’d share it on this Internet related thread. 
 

Step 1 - Go to Settings, then WiFi

Step 2 - Click on the “WiFi Guest Ship” network info button on the right. 
Step 3 - Turn on Auto-Join and turn off Private Address (if it’s turned on)

 

Then log back into the network and it should stay linked, even when you put your device down for awhile. 
 

Yay!!! 😎

 

Weirdly, a couple of weeks ago on the Silhouette, that disconnect only happened on my iPhone and not my iPad, so I thought it was something related to the phone.  Thanks for the info, which will be useful in the future. 

[royalcruz]

9 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Why do you find it outrageous that you cannot make a call using the Surf internet?  Calling isn’t surfing the internet by definition.  Does Celebrity specially state that the surf Internet can support WiFi calls?  It does say you can do emails.
 

 

 

Wifi calling used to work with the non-premium internet that was included in the perks promos, for the last few years. Upgrading to premium was not necessary. Therefore, it is a reasonable assumption that it would work with the current internet in the AI promo. At some point Celebrity chose to eliminate all voice over capabilitities in the AI internet, and to call it "surf". Turtles06 had reasonable expectations IMO. Upgrading to Stream is very expensive and increases the cost of cruising.

[jagoffee]

26 minutes ago, royalcruz said:

Wifi calling used to work with the non-premium internet that was included in the perks promos, for the last few years. Upgrading to premium was not necessary. Therefore, it is a reasonable assumption that it would work with the current internet in the AI promo. At some point Celebrity chose to eliminate all voice over capabilitities in the AI internet, and to call it "surf". Turtles06 had reasonable expectations IMO. Upgrading to Stream is very expensive and increases the cost of cruising.

I always upgraded to an unlimited package in the old days and I do not recall there being two versions. With the previous 123 and BBB bundles, It seems to me that it was the best available internet at the time.

It is possible that you are both correct, because I am not 100% sure.