New Carnival internet prices

[CLTflyer1977]

Looks like they are hitting back again with raising the internet prices. The value package is increasing 30% on October 1. I wonder if they will ever get Starlink? It could be more economical and offer quicker service, probably a big investment up front. 

 

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-room-service-internet-dining-changes-2022/

[crystalspin]

The email I got "recommended" purchasing an internet package before October 1. 

 

If I did that would it be refunded if we did not sail?

[nwcruiselover]

9 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

The email I got "recommended" purchasing an internet package before October 1. 

 

If I did that would it be refunded if we did not sail?

Yes, it would be refunded.

[Joebucks]

Oof, $10 a day for Facebook.

[Guest BasicSailor]

Gawd, no more live reviews, Sorry Greg 😇

[Zingy2]

If one were to compare prices, CCL internet packages still continue to be less expensive than other cruise lines, with respect to their internet offerings.  Not going to debate which is better, as internet experience varies widely with a ships location (regardless of cruise line), weather and number of folks attempting to access a given internet plan at any one time.  Starlink was recently tested out on one of RCCL's ships and the service is supposed to go fleetwide sometime down the road.  It is unclear when that will take place, how many choices one will have or how much it would cost per person.  It is also unclear what steps CCL is taking to "improve" their fleets internets experience either (other than accessing additional satellites that may be available to them in any given region of the world).

[LaRue1975]

Thanks for link with prices. I just booked the WIFI for my 2023 cruises, decided to try the Value plan instead of Premium as the hubby and I both get it and he doesn’t like to share, lol! I’m not sure we need premium anyway as we don’t stream movies and won’t need to FaceTime. I see the Dr Seuss prices are up too, double for the adults at $10 and up over 50% for kids at $8. No big deal and  and I am sure it will be worth it for our grandson’s first cruise. 

[cruisingguy007]

Easy, turn the wifi off and enjoy your cruise disconnected! Problem solved, easy peasy! Talk to your fellow passengers and get out there! Carnival needs to roll the drink package into cruise fares, a line will eventually do this and it will be considered "revolutionary" and the stories will be epic. The rest will follow, though I wouldn't mind saving a boat load by eating instant mashed potatoes, I eat them at home already and am pre-conditioned. Sorry Del Rio! 😁

[ChrisCJR]

We have T-Mobile and get free data in port.  It's pretty easy to go a day or two without no internet on a cruise, only have used ship internet a couple of times and wasn't overly impressed. 

 

Heck one time, we passed by Freeport on a Sea Day I got a 4G LTE signal from the ship.  Probably got better service than the ship's own internet too.  I've never had roaming charges and have been very satisfied so far.  More and more places keep upgrading their towers too, which makes it easier to use.  Then there's also places providing wifi in port, sometimes for free.

Edited September 10, 2022 by ChrisCJR

[icft]

If you pre-purchase internet and decide to cancel the internet before your cruise, but still take the cruise, will you get a refund?

 

We have a number of cruises booked over the next six months but I would only get an internet plan just before cruising if I have a stock trade in play and need to keep tabs on it. If I can cancel and get a refund I'll go ahead and pre-order internet for all our cruises and cancel (probably most of them - I try to avoid having to fool with the market on vacation) just before sail date if I don't need it.

[Tiger0613]

4 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Carnival needs to roll the drink package into cruise fares

No they don't.  I don't drink alcohol, coffee, or energy drinks.  I don't get Cheers for that reason.  I would never drink enough peach smoothies and chocolate shakes to make Cheers worth it.

[CruisingWalter]

5 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Easy, turn the wifi off and enjoy your cruise disconnected! Problem solved, easy peasy! Talk to your fellow passengers and get out there! Carnival needs to roll the drink package into cruise fares, a line will eventually do this and it will be considered "revolutionary" and the stories will be epic. The rest will follow, though I wouldn't mind saving a boat load by eating instant mashed potatoes, I eat them at home already and am pre-conditioned. Sorry Del Rio! 😁

 

Rolling the drink package in is already being done by Celebrity but with the caveat that you can also order a "cruise only" fare. In other words the drink package is 'included' but not really because you're paying more for the the drink along with WiFi and gratuities. Even the premium cruise lines don't include alcohol in their 'all inclusive fares.' A selection of wine and some drinks may be included, but I've not seen any line simply open up the bar and say it's all included. Cruise lines make WAY too much money on alcohol to give it away. If you're ok with your cruise fare going up $100 or more per day, then you might see it 'included' but you're still paying for it, like the Celebrity pricing.

 

Including the soft drinks, now that should be included across all cruise lines. The cost per drink is pennies and can easily be buried in the cruise fares with as little as $10 or $25 more per passenger.. Having both soft drinks and all of the food included on the Scarlet Lady was quite refreshing and made paying for the alcohol no big deal. So I don't think we'll see the mainstream cruise lines ever throw in the alcohol in the standard fares, but we might see at least one other, besides Disney and Virgin, throw out the first salvo in the 'included soft drink' wars sooner than later. 

 

Now back to the original topic, basic WiFi SHOULD be rolled into the cost of the cruise. The free WiFi was outstanding on Scarlet Lady and I'm sure they simply added about $10 to each cruise fare to cover the operational costs. My wife was able to stream TikTok no problem and use all of her social sites. I paid the extra $10/day and did two one-hour livestreams from the ship no problem, one of them being a sea day. No reason cruise lines can't roll in those costs, especially with Starlink now being an option. Hoping to have that service available on our RCCL cruise in December. 

[CruisingWalter]

I'll also add that based on reports from guests onboard the Celebrity and RCI ships where Starlink is being deployed to guests, there has been no increase in internet pricing. The speeds are faster, but the pricing is exactly the same. Not really sure why Carnival is raising their pricing to be honest since it's the same system they've had for a while. 

[Drazil65]

Easy, turn the wifi off and enjoy your cruise disconnected! Problem solved, easy peasy! 

 

THIS...Thank you!

[Joebucks]

7 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Carnival needs to roll the drink package into cruise fares, a line will eventually do this and it will be considered "revolutionary" and the stories will be epic. 

 

There is nothing revolutionary about charging everyone for something they may not want. Otherwise, cruise lines would have already done it. It is a very poor idea.

 

Besides, there are already Cheers bundle offers. Unless you are insinuating it could be completely free of cost?

[JT1962]

58 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

There is nothing revolutionary about charging everyone for something they may not want. Otherwise, cruise lines would have already done it. It is a very poor idea.

 

Besides, there are already Cheers bundle offers. Unless you are insinuating it could be completely free of cost?

I agree. I like the option to book a lower fare, then choose what extras I may want, if any. I don’t drink, use the WiFi, eat at specialty restaurants, etc. so raising the prices to include those items in the base fare would send me to another cruise line.  Carnival could raise prices by $ 150 a day and include the drink package, WiFi, specialty restaurants and gratuities, but I expect most of their customers would not be happy.

[cruisingguy007]

5 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

There is nothing revolutionary about charging everyone for something they may not want. Otherwise, cruise lines would have already done it. It is a very poor idea.

 

Besides, there are already Cheers bundle offers. Unless you are insinuating it could be completely free of cost?

 

I suspect we'll see more bundling, the reason drink packages are popular is because it sets a hard price line. People like knowing what they are paying "all in". Some of the other lines offer bundles of various sorts, I can see this coming to Carnival as well. The gamblers, drinkers, cruise line excursion bookers, sundry spenders etc, are already subsidizing those who don't spend a dime on board (and some even remove gratuities on top of not spending anything), it would be nice to see a benefit offset to those folk who spend through bundling vs only benefiting the basic cruise fare folks.      

Edited September 10, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[wrcjr98]

On 9/9/2022 at 10:01 PM, LaRue1975 said:

Thanks for link with prices. I just booked the WIFI for my 2023 cruises, decided to try the Value plan instead of Premium as the hubby and I both get it and he doesn’t like to share, lol! I’m not sure we need premium anyway as we don’t stream movies and won’t need to FaceTime. I see the Dr Seuss prices are up too, double for the adults at $10 and up over 50% for kids at $8. No big deal and  and I am sure it will be worth it for our grandson’s first cruise. 

LaRue - 

I've been trying to figure out - On the Carnival site, I had already purchased the Wi-Fi for my husband.  When I try to add myself to the cart, a message comes up saying that "only one device can be connected at a time".  So I figured why bother getting it for myself if only one of us can connect at a time?  So if we both get the package, are we both in fact able to be on a device at the same time?  - Thank you!

[kwokpot]

14 minutes ago, wrcjr98 said:

LaRue - 

I've been trying to figure out - On the Carnival site, I had already purchased the Wi-Fi for my husband.  When I try to add myself to the cart, a message comes up saying that "only one device can be connected at a time".  So I figured why bother getting it for myself if only one of us can connect at a time?  So if we both get the package, are we both in fact able to be on a device at the same time?  - Thank you!

Yes, if you each have a wifi plan you can each be connected to a device at the same time. What the disclosure means if your mobile phone is connected to wifi and you want your laptop connected to wifi you have to disconnect the phone from the wifi before connecting the laptop. On some cruiselines each passenger can buy a wifi for more than 1 device, which actually comes out cheaper than 2 passengers buying their own wifi plan. Carnival doesn't do this, so hence the disclosure. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 9/10/2022 at 2:08 PM, cruisingguy007 said:

 

I suspect we'll see more bundling, the reason drink packages are popular is because it sets a hard price line. People like knowing what they are paying "all in". Some of the other lines offer bundles of various sorts, I can see this coming to Carnival as well. The gamblers, drinkers, cruise line excursion bookers, sundry spenders etc, are already subsidizing those who don't spend a dime on board (and some even remove gratuities on top of not spending anything), it would be nice to see a benefit offset to those folk who spend through bundling vs only benefiting the basic cruise fare folks.      

If i don't drink,by excursions, or buy the wifi I should be charged more to offset your purchases? 

[notscb]

On 9/10/2022 at 6:15 AM, WheresWalter said:

being done by Celebrity but with the caveat that you can also order a "cruise only" fare

 

I was waiting to see who was going to tell him XD

 

The new celebrity cruise only fares are super competitive, too, IMHO. Carnival does just fine not rolling the drinks in. I wasn't sure what the poster was really trying to say in that post, though...

[mz-s]

53 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

If i don't drink,by excursions, or buy the wifi I should be charged more to offset your purchases? 

 

Calm down that is not what they're suggesting.

[seaman11]

Its pretty slow, i get free service on the islands and mexico so i can wait for ports myself. Just wish they had more reg tv  channels . Like bbc hln ect. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by seaman11

[Crismess669]

I just bought the value package for 6-nights and the total was $66.30. Our cruise is in December, so looks like they’re honoring the previous price even if the cruise isn’t before October 1. Thanks for the heads up! I can’t stand the idea of not being able to Google every thought that pops into my head. 

[sunkey1]

On 9/10/2022 at 12:37 AM, cruisingguy007 said:

Easy, turn the wifi off and enjoy your cruise disconnected! Problem solved, easy peasy! Talk to your fellow passengers and get out there! 

So agree! I miss the days when so many actually experienced the trip instead of being focused on sharing it with everyone and their uncle. Last cruise we went on my hubby and I laughed at the young couple next to us, in a beautiful dining room, gorgeous evening at sea and they spent the entire meal with their faces in their phones. Call me old school, but one of the things I always loved the most about cruising was the ability to disconnect from tech, reconnect with others and chillax.