Upgrading to streaming internet. Is it necessary?

[Ken the cruiser]

We have booked unlimited Wi-Fi on our Nov cruise on the Jade. Now I’m reading on various CC NCL threads about streaming. If we don’t plan on streaming any videos while we’re on our extended cruise, is there any need to worry about upgrading? For example, can I post to the cruise critic boards without upgrading?

[BirdTravels]

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We have booked unlimited Wi-Fi on our Nov cruise on the Jade. Now I’m reading on various CC NCL threads about streaming. If we don’t plan on streaming any videos while we’re on our extended cruise, is there any need to worry about upgrading? For example, can I post to the cruise critic boards without upgrading?

No need to upgrade. You can post to CC fine with just the standard wi-fi. 

 

Streaming is only needed for certain functions like streaming video, wi-fi phone calls, video phone calls. 

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

No need to upgrade. You can post to CC fine with just the standard wi-fi. 

 

Streaming is only needed for certain functions like streaming video, wi-fi phone calls, video phone calls. 

Thanks! That’s good news to hear!!

[Illbcruzn4life]

if you upgrade the wifi is it fast enough to stream or would they block that sort of stuff?

[ktpc2005]

Is the regular internet OK if you want to listen to music on apps like Spotify or SirusXM?

[hallux]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For example, can I post to the cruise critic boards without upgrading?

I seem to recall that accessing CC doesn't even require a WiFi plan...

[Ken the cruiser]

16 minutes ago, hallux said:

I seem to recall that accessing CC doesn't even require a WiFi plan...

Really? How would that work if we’re, for example, cruising through the Suez Canal or along the east coast of Africa?

[hallux]

7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Really? How would that work if we’re, for example, cruising through the Suez Canal or along the east coast of Africa?

The servers on the ship that block the rest of the traffic are configured to allow traffic for CC through.  You can connect to the ship's WiFi for the entirety of the cruise, actually accessing stuff from the internet is what requires a plan...

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, hallux said:

The servers on the ship that block the rest of the traffic are configured to allow traffic for CC through.  You can connect to the ship's WiFi for the entirety of the cruise, actually accessing stuff from the internet is what requires a plan...

Cool!! 😎

[Kclovesken]

So to be able to contact family, whats app, text or FB or something, would you need an upgrade? 

[KeithJenner]

Access to Cruise Critic varies. I have been on cruises where it can be accessed without an internet plan all the time and others not at all.

 

On some cruises I have seen it (and some other social media) opened up on the last couple of days. In those cases there is often mention in the freestyle daily.

[jlseymour3]

6 hours ago, Kclovesken said:

So to be able to contact family, whats app, text or FB or something, would you need an upgrade? 

I don't think that's what people are saying.  You need an internet plan.  You presumably have one with the current Free on Board offerings.  In the past when I've sailed with Norwegian you could select some, but not all, of the FOB offerings based on your cabin.  So if you didn't choose the plan as a FOB, you would need to buy one. 

[Kclovesken]

5 hours ago, jlseymour3 said:

I don't think that's what people are saying.  You need an internet plan.  You presumably have one with the current Free on Board offerings.  In the past when I've sailed with Norwegian you could select some, but not all, of the FOB offerings based on your cabin.  So if you didn't choose the plan as a FOB, you would need to buy one. 

Ok thanks :0) 

[The Traveling Man]

13 hours ago, hallux said:

The servers on the ship that block the rest of the traffic are configured to allow traffic for CC through.  You can connect to the ship's WiFi for the entirety of the cruise, actually accessing stuff from the internet is what requires a plan...

I have never tried that, but I sure will on my next cruise.  I do know that the computers in the Internet Cafe on NCL ships are set up to allow access to the NCL website without the need for an internet plan.  Unfortunately, however, the access speed is interminably slow.  I mean click on a link, read a couple of pages of your book, look back at the screen to see if anything has happened, read a couple more pages, and finally notice that you have moved one screen closer to your objective.  A typical search sequence that might take five to ten seconds on your home WIFI connection can take ten minutes or more when you access the NCL website on board a ship without first logging in to your internet plan.

[KeithJenner]

In my experience you can reach the NCL site from your own device. You don’t need to me on a computer in the Internet cafe.

[zqvol]

18 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We have booked unlimited Wi-Fi on our Nov cruise on the Jade. Now I’m reading on various CC NCL threads about streaming. If we don’t plan on streaming any videos while we’re on our extended cruise, is there any need to worry about upgrading? For example, can I post to the cruise critic boards without upgrading?

As long as you are not trying to stream video there is no need to upgrade. Message boards, email, normal Internet pages, etc all work OK.

[pcakes122]

16 hours ago, hallux said:

I seem to recall that accessing CC doesn't even require a WiFi plan...

I think you are thinking about accessing NCL. Cruise Critic is not affiliated with NCL and there's nothing special in NCL internet protocols that allow free access to Cruise Critic.

[ColeThornton]

1 minute ago, pcakes122 said:

I think you are thinking about accessing NCL. Cruise Critic is not affiliated with NCL and there's nothing special in NCL internet protocols that allow free access to Cruise Critic.

 

Over time I've read many people indicate they were able to access this site without a package.

[Ken the cruiser]

I just checked and we have upgraded to the  Unlimited WiFi package for both legs of our B2B on the Jade. But I can't tell if it includes streaming. For reference we upgraded from a 500 minute plan included with our booking. Is there anyway of telling which type of service we will be receiving, regular or streaming? This is what's listed on our confirmation.

 

1 x Unlimited Wifi Package Upgrade: From 500 Minute Plan

[jlseymour3]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I just checked and we have upgraded to the  Unlimited WiFi package for both legs of our B2B on the Jade. But I can't tell if it includes streaming. For reference we upgraded from a 500 minute plan included with our booking. Is there anyway of telling which type of service we will be receiving, regular or streaming? This is what's listed on our confirmation.

 

1 x Unlimited Wifi Package Upgrade: From 500 Minute Plan

I think that just gets you unlimited time.  I think the one you want for streaming is "Unlimited Premium Wi-Fi Package"

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, jlseymour3 said:

I think that just gets you unlimited time.  I think the one you want for streaming is "Unlimited Premium Wi-Fi Package"

Thanks. But since we won't be "streaming" anything, my understanding is we should be fine.

[ColeThornton]

Here's what each plan offers from NCL.com:

 

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/internet-packages

[pcakes122]

15 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Over time I've read many people indicate they were able to access this site without a package.

I've never heard that, but the only thing I can think of is that with the Latitudes program there used to be free minutes. Maybe people thought Cruise Critic was free but they were actually just accessing their free minutes (no package needed.)

 

One other point to mention in regards to the internet packages you linked,  it is not necessary to purchase a "weekly package" to use the internet. You can just buy minutes. (For all the people freaking out that they no longer have free minutes with their Latitudes benefits, you do not have to buy a "$$ per day x length of cruise" package when all you really need/use was the 60 minutes for the entire cruise.  Just buy 100 minutes or even pay by the minute.)

 

[hallux]

5 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

Maybe people thought Cruise Critic was free but they were actually just accessing their free minutes (no package needed.)

It's pretty difficult to mistakenly use the free minutes, you have to activate it and do a login sequence to use the minutes.

 

Since some don't believe us, I did the forum search for you so I could find a thread on it, here's another recent discussion on this - 

 

[KeithJenner]

As I stated earlier, free access to Cruise Critic (and some other sites) is a thing. Not accidental access or people not realising that they were logged in, but a deliberate move by NCL.

 

It isn't all the time. I have seen it available all the time and also not at all. Other times I have seen it offered towards the end of the cruise.

 

I believe that the idea is that people go online and tell everyone what a great time they are having.

 

It certainly does (or at least has in the past) exist.