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

[miched]

22 hours ago, hiccups said:

We were on Edge 10/9-10/16 and I had trouble with CC, too.  Checking my posting history, I was able to reply to a thread on 10/11, but after that, I couldn't.  CC said I was logged in, but any time I tried to post, it said I wasn't, and I kept getting an error message.  I just assumed it was the CC site and just stuck to reading, not replying.

i have been having this issue for the last few weeks and am not on a cruise.  It gets very frustrating when you take the time to write a answer and then lose it.  I now copy every reply just in case it doesn’t get posted.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[goofysmom99]

14 hours ago, spammie said:

Question - We are Elite+, can we upgrade using our discount to Streaming once we are onboard?  The thought of having to call and be hold forever..........is something I would like to avoid.  Thank you!

If you upgrade before the cruise, as Elite+, price is $11.70/day with the extra 10% advance discount.  On board, it's $13/day.  Only $1.30/day. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

26 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

If you upgrade before the cruise, as Elite+, price is $11.70/day with the extra 10% advance discount.  On board, it's $13/day.  Only $1.30/day. 

 

They're offering CC status discounts on board and you can buy the update at anytime including mid cruise and only pay per day price.  They also offer a upgrade day pass for 24 hour for $50 but give status % discounts.

[goofysmom99]

12 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

They're offering CC status discounts on board and you can buy the update at anytime including mid cruise and only pay per day price.  They also offer a upgrade day pass for 24 hour for $50 but give status % discounts.

I agree about doing the upgrade on board.  The Elite+ status upgrade is $13/day at sea so the precruise 10% discount equates to 10% of $13 ($1.30/day or $9.10 for a 7-day cruise). 🤓 I personally wouldn't wait very long on hold for $9.10.  I've always upgraded so, in the past when wait times were minimal, I purchased in advance.  I liked to have it be there when I first logged on, just like in a suite.

[jelayne]

I haven’t experienced the hour plus hold times some report.  Longest AI have had in the past 3 month was 20 mins.  I just put the phone on speaker and go about my day.  I make 1 call to upgrade beverage package & wi-fi.

[Ken the cruiser]

Since we are currently on a B2B cruise on the Apex in the Caribbean, do you think we would have any luck going to the iLounge or Customer Service and asking them if they can talk with the “powers that be” to upgrade our Basic package for our next leg starting Nov 13th to include getting the 10% discount?

 

I’m guessing the crew currently onboard only has access to our current onboard account and I know it’s only a $9.10 savings, so I don’t want them to spend too much time on this as they are already working very hard. But I was just wondered if anyone had any luck doing this onboard in the past?

[goofysmom99]

24 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Since we are currently on a B2B cruise on the Apex in the Caribbean, do you think we would have any luck going to the iLounge or Customer Service and asking them if they can talk with the “powers that be” to upgrade our Basic package for our next leg starting Nov 13th to include getting the 10% discount?

 

I’m guessing the crew currently onboard only has access to our current onboard account and I know it’s only a $9.10 savings, so I don’t want them to spend too much time on this as they are already working very hard. But I was just wondered if anyone had any luck doing this onboard in the past?

If you've enabled wifi calling, you could call the captain's club and do it, since your next cruise hasn't begun.  It would be like calling the week before from home.  

[dcbiker97]

Does anyone who has been on a recent sailing have a copy of the internet package options, like adding a second device?  I know you can log off one and onto  a second device, but I'm interested in seeing what the additional cost and options might be.

[Ken the cruiser]

9 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

If you've enabled wifi calling, you could call the captain's club and do it, since your next cruise hasn't begun.  It would be like calling the week before from home.  

Thanks! That was a great idea, especially the part about the Captains Club. We just got back from visiting the CC office here on the ship and the rep is going to be making the call back to shore this morning and will be taking care of it for us. At least that’s the impression we got. We will know more when we get back from our excursion today. Thanks again for mentioning the Captains Club!

[kearney]

One reason we started cruising... back in the early 90's is that I had an employer at one time who seemed to like to take delight at calling people back from their vacations.... happened to my boss once... called back from the ski slopes to an emergency that was over by the time he returned. Back in the day.. if you went cruising there was no practical way people could get a hold of you without spending a lot of money to reach you. Anyway for decades we were perfectly happy not being in contact. Once there was a wifi benefit for loyalty members of Diamond or Elite status... we used that just check emails and give family a way to reach us. Our last cruise in Feb '20 we had the 4 perks promotion... our first time with more internet. I ended up spending more time checking out covid impact on cruising than I would have liked.... so I am hoping that with the AI benefits I will be able to get back to only checking email on occasion.... very addictive. 🙂 

[Ken the cruiser]

9 hours ago, dcbiker97 said:

Does anyone who has been on a recent sailing have a copy of the internet package options, like adding a second device?  I know you can log off one and onto  a second device, but I'm interested in seeing what the additional cost and options might be.

If you log onto the your Celebrity account and pull up a future cruise, then go to Manage Reservation, then click on List all Packages, then click on Internet and More, it will list all of the internet package prices for that cruise.

[kearney]

I have a cruise in December and another in February... there appear to be differences in the pages for each. The December cruise has the "internet and more" button that you refer to but my Feb cruise has "Wifi" button instead. The December page is confusing... mostly refers to something other than internet.. the Feb page is clearer as it relates to internet. I am attaching screen shots... the one referencing perks is for my Dec cruise and the other...the Feb one. Not sure helps

[kearney]

Sorry I overlooked this on the Dec cruise

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by kearney

[dcbiker97]

Thanks.  I saw those and wasn’t sure if there’s a price difference for already having a device on the “All included” and just adding a second. 

Edited November 8, 2021 by dcbiker97

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, dcbiker97 said:

Thanks.  I saw those and wasn’t sure if there’s a price difference for already having a device on the “All included” and just adding a second. 

I’m pretty sure there is a significant price reduction if you already have the basic package that comes with AI. But my guess is you’re going to have to either contact Celebrity prior to boarding to take advantage of any pre-cruise discount promotion associated with upgrading to streaming or wait to upgrade once you get onboard.

[phabric]

I will be on Apex in March with the WIFI included in the package.  I am cruising with a 12 yr that likes to talk with our mom at home on What’s Up app and Face Time daily and play games on her phone/tablet.

 

Will she be able to use the WiFi of what she wants?

[PinkSandGirl]

Hi!  I was on the Equinox in October.     We had the Always Included Surf internet and in the beginning it seemed ok but then it became impossible to access some sites... CruiseCritic being one of them.  We upgraded to Stream with the Captain's Club discount.   CruiseCritic basically "locked" up.  I cleared history and cache numerous times.  I couldn't reply or post pictures or my posts would disappear.  It became very frustrating that I just stopped trying.  I started a "Live Review" but it quickly became a limited "Live Review".  I still have to do a full review...I've just been so busy since getting home. 😉

 

When we went to the iLounge to inquire about the speeds and differences, we quickly learned...by asking, that the included internet a few years ago as a perk was the stream internet.  Now the included internet is a downgrade.

 

WiFi calling on the ship is impossible with Surf.  We had no problem doing that with the included internet from a few years ago.   Now, not a chance with Surf.  Stream, yes.   Text messages would also get delayed at times with Surf.

 

Now we know.   We need Stream.  

 

Just like factoring in the Premium Beverage upgrade if not included, I now need to factor in upgrading to Stream.

 

I just booked our next cruise and we chose SkySuites so Stream and Premium are included.  Hopefully they don't add a third tier that makes Stream like Surf. 🤣

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

🍹

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by PinkSandGirl

[ETHTrader]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

I will be on Apex in March with the WIFI included in the package.  I am cruising with a 12 yr that likes to talk with our mom at home on What’s Up app and Face Time daily and play games on her phone/tablet.

 

Will she be able to use the WiFi of what she wants?

 

 

Text messages and Whatsapp (just messaging) might be do-able. Face Time and any other games that require online connection will be a stretch. You will likely need to upgrade the package to Stream package

[NutsAboutGolf]

With the Surf/Basic, I had a iPhone, you could only send/receive iMessages, you couldn't send/receive texts from non-iMessage users nor could make/receive calls.  Not sure if you could use Facetime audio or Whatsapp Audio with Surf.

 

As stated before, you can at anytime when on the ship, upgrade to Stream and receive your discounted rate from your device.  You can do this mid cruise and only pay for the remaining days.  You can also visit the iLounge for a 24 stream pass.  Therefore, if you can go a few days without the Stream, might as well save a little bit; can also no buy the stream in advance and see how long you can go without it.

[kathynorth]

Has anyone tried to play an online app game, like Candy Crush, using the surf internet? My DH is planning on a couple of relaxing days playing his tank game, so we need to decide whether or not to upgrade.

[royalcruz]

I was on Millennium this week with SURF wifi. I've been reading Cruise Critic and the Celebrity FB groups a lot over the last month, but never read that the wifi had been downgraded because it hasn't been spoken of much in the last 2 weeks. I am posting today to refresh this thread so people will know what to expect. 

 

There have been 2 levels of internet for several years now...I think they were last called unlimited wifi and premium unlimited wifi. I cruised in March 2020 just before the covid shutdown and was able to use wifi calling and other voice features on the regular unlimited wifi. I was also able to upload pictures to FB and post on Cruise Critic. Basically, I could do everything but stream videos on regular wifi.

 

I have a Samsung S10. On this week's cruise, FB Messenger and What's App both worked well for text messaging. However, I could not post to Cruise Critic, upload photos to FB, text or call with wifi calling, or make voice calls on FB Messenger or What'sApp. I thought it was my phone settings because I didn't know that Celebrity had downgraded the basic wifi! I thought that Celebrity just changed the names of the 2 internet options to SURF and STREAM, so I didn't bother to read the descriptions. The descriptions of the 2 levels did not mention wifi calling anyway. I thought there was something wrong with my Android phone settings (even though I have used the wifi calling on this phone on 5 other cruises), but my husband's phone didn't work either. I spent an hour or 2 on Google looking for solutions and adjusting settings and clearing caches.  Then I found out that no one I spoke with could use any voice features...we all had SURF wifi.

 

Anyway, if you need/want to be able to use any voice services on wifi, you will need to upgrade to STREAM wifi, and it is usually less expensive to call and do this pre-cruise. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by royalcruz

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, royalcruz said:

I was on Millennium this week with SURF wifi. I've been reading Cruise Critic and the Celebrity FB groups a lot over the last month, but never read that the wifi had been downgraded because it hasn't been spoken of much in the last 2 weeks. I am posting today to refresh this thread so people will know what to expect. 

 

There have been 2 levels of internet for several years now...I think they were last called unlimited wifi and premium unlimited wifi. I cruised in March 2020 just before the covid shutdown and was able to use wifi calling and other voice features on the regular unlimited wifi. I was also able to upload pictures to FB and post on Cruise Critic. Basically, I could do everything but stream videos on regular wifi.

 

I have a Samsung S10. On this week's cruise, FB Messenger and What's App both worked well for text messaging. However, I could not post to Cruise Critic, upload photos to FB, text or call with wifi calling, or make voice calls on FB Messenger or What'sApp. I thought it was my phone settings because I didn't know that Celebrity had downgraded the basic wifi! I thought that Celebrity just changed the names of the 2 internet options to SURF and STREAM, so I didn't bother to read the descriptions. The descriptions of the 2 levels did not mention wifi calling anyway. I thought there was something wrong with my Android phone settings (even though I have used the wifi calling on this phone on 5 other cruises), but my husband's phone didn't work either. I spent an hour or 2 on Google looking for solutions and adjusting settings and clearing caches.  Then I found out that no one I spoke with could use any voice features...we all had SURF wifi.

 

Anyway, if you need/want to be able to use any voice services on wifi, you will need to upgrade to STREAM wifi, and it is usually less expensive to call and do this pre-cruise. 

Thanks for reawakening this thread I started back in early Nov. I probably would never have noticed the issue except for that I had started a thread at home about the Apex cruise we were going on in a sunset veranda in a few days. But when I couldn’t sign on to CC once we boarded the ship, it took me until that evening when I finally went down to the iLounge to figure out that we needed to upgrade to streaming. 
 

I understand why Celebrity did it. But it was just a little frustrating to learn the “fine details” about the Surf package the hard way as we didn’t have this issue when we were on the Edge in August in a sky suite. But then we both had “streaming” on that cruise. 😎

[wrk2cruise]

It still amazes me that Celebrity is very vocal about who their target market is and doesn't include the services this demographic demands in it's Always Included pricing structure

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 hours ago, royalcruz said:

Anyway, if you need/want to be able to use any voice services on wifi, you will need to upgrade to STREAM wifi, and it is usually less expensive to call and do this pre-cruise. 

I was on the Edge in July and the Equinox in Oct-Nov:

1)  They're honoring CC discounts on board, in app, at guest services and at the iLounge

2)  One could wait a few days before purchasing a internet package to save some $$$; even those with the AI package could wait until mid cruise to upgrade to the stream package.

3)  The iLounge was selling a 24 hour stream pass with an in person visit.  A money saving strategy for those without AI could be to wait until a mid cruise sea day, purchase the stream 24 pass to make your calls then once that expires purchase the surf package for the remainder of the sailing.

4)  Also remember many ports may have free wifi at the terminal or at a nearby restaurant/coffee shop/bar.

5)  FYI for those with an iPhone, the surf package only allows you to message via iMessages, you cannot send/receive texts from non-iMessage users

[Ride-The-Waves]

Wow!  I'm impressed!  OP paid $13/day for access to CC.  CC needs to make him "poster of the week!"

 

On the flip side this is just another example of horrible customer relations by Celebrity.  This is not just "nickel and diming" customers, its lying to them with the intent to extort.  What you would expect from a third-rate cruise line...  Has Celebrity really sunk so low?

Edited December 15, 2021 by Ride-The-Waves