New Carnival internet prices

[Weeziblu]

33 minutes ago, sunkey1 said:

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.

It would be lovely to disconnect all together but some of us have loved ones (aging or sick parents, young children, etc) that we need to keep in touch with daily.  And yes, I'm aware that they can EVENTUALLY get a message to us if there were to be an emergency but for some of us, an enjoyable vacation begins with peace of mind and knowing my kids can reach me if they should need to. 

 

Just because some of us desire to stay in touch doesn't mean we're disconnected from our vacation of spend our meals with our "faces in phones".  Everyone has different lives, needs, desires.   That's why the internet is an OPTION. 

 

[LaRue1975]

On 9/18/2022 at 11:07 AM, 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!

Kwokpot already explained how the WIFI works but wanted to add that if you want it for yourself be sure to order it before you board. I only purchased it for myself thinking the hubby wouldn’t need it but he insisted on having his own so we had to wait in the guest services line to add it and it cost more. Plus I forgot to download the app on his phone prior to boarding so he needed help with that too. We hadn’t cruised since 2008 so we had a lot of catching up to do! 

[southbayer]

I actually had T-Mobile tell me before that I can use their roaming service while at sea.. I did, and I never got a huge bill.. I just did it that one time tho, in case it was a fluke... this was like 12 years ago

[iriecruising]

On 9/19/2022 at 3:30 PM, Weeziblu said:

It would be lovely to disconnect all together but some of us have loved ones (aging or sick parents, young children, etc) that we need to keep in touch with daily.  And yes, I'm aware that they can EVENTUALLY get a message to us if there were to be an emergency but for some of us, an enjoyable vacation begins with peace of mind and knowing my kids can reach me if they should need to. 

 

Just because some of us desire to stay in touch doesn't mean we're disconnected from our vacation of spend our meals with our "faces in phones".  Everyone has different lives, needs, desires.   That's why the internet is an OPTION. 

 

This is exactly me. I get the social plan and only tell certain people I have it. They know not to reach out unless it is an emergency. There is significant peace of mind to know that I can be reached if there is an emergency and it actually helps me relax and enjoy instead of worrying.

 

[jimbo5544]

On 9/9/2022 at 5:05 PM, CLTflyer1977 said:

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/

Hitting back?  Is it a war, or a cruise line that lost 10’s of billions because theey were forced to shut down for 17 months.  

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, iriecruising said:

This is exactly me. I get the social plan and only tell certain people I have it. They know not to reach out unless it is an emergency. There is significant peace of mind to know that I can be reached if there is an emergency and it actually helps me relax and enjoy instead of worrying.

 

Options are a good thing

[jimbo5544]

On 9/10/2022 at 6:37 AM, WheresWalter said:

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. 

Trying to break even and become profitable, it is a fairly common practice.  Not sure what a doifferent service on different cruise lines has to do with it tho.  apples and oranges.

[pe4all]

Ah, the days I used to take my families cell phones and lock them in the cabin safe, never to be seen for 7 days.  Unfortunately, with the Hub app I need to carry my phone around now - boo!  I do not buy the ship's internet - but I do carry my phone when at a port and use ATT day pass.

[CruisingWalter]

10 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Trying to break even and become profitable, it is a fairly common practice.  Not sure what a doifferent service on different cruise lines has to do with it tho.  apples and oranges.

 

The difference is that Royal Caribbean Group (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Seabourn) are offering much higher speeds and better coverage while not raising their pricing. Carnival is raising their pricing, but without improving the internet experience. 

 

The actual cost of the Starlink service to the cruise lines is cheaper than the service most of them are using today and by first quarter 2023 the coverage will much more broad than the current service. By holding the same pricing, Royal Caribbean Group will soon be making more money per guest while not raising the prices. Once the costs of the Starlink receivers and hardware has been recouped (probably in a matter of months) Royal is in a position to raise internet revenues while not passing along any additional costs to the guests. Carnival is raising internet revenues by adding costs to guest but not adding any additional value to the service. 

 

Then of course you have Virgin Voyages who very smartly just rolled the price of WiFi into the cost of the cabin fare so everyone gets internet service and from our experience on Scarlet Lady it was the best WiFi experience on any of the 8 cruise lines we've sailed so far. 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, WheresWalter said:

 

The difference is that Royal Caribbean Group (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Seabourn) are offering much higher speeds and better coverage while not raising their pricing. Carnival is raising their pricing, but without improving the internet experience. 

 

The actual cost of the Starlink service to the cruise lines is cheaper than the service most of them are using today and by first quarter 2023 the coverage will much more broad than the current service. By holding the same pricing, Royal Caribbean Group will soon be making more money per guest while not raising the prices. Once the costs of the Starlink receivers and hardware has been recouped (probably in a matter of months) Royal is in a position to raise internet revenues while not passing along any additional costs to the guests. Carnival is raising internet revenues by adding costs to guest but not adding any additional value to the service. 

 

Then of course you have Virgin Voyages who very smartly just rolled the price of WiFi into the cost of the cabin fare so everyone gets internet service and from our experience on Scarlet Lady it was the best WiFi experience on any of the 8 cruise lines we've sailed so far. 

I get the numbers, my point was that what they do with the pricing between lines has no reference point.  RCCL has a new service that offers a better product at a good price (I guess, taking your word for it).  Carnival has an older product, that they raised the price on for the economics for where they are at financially.  Other than the fact the product is internet for their clients, the two are literally different.  Maybe we could request the Royal product on a Carnival ship?😜  Of course not.  We either buy it (on eithre line) or not.  Carnival is not going to lower their price because Royals is faster or better.  

[ninjacat123]

11 hours ago, southbayer said:

I actually had T-Mobile tell me before that I can use their roaming service while at sea.. I did, and I never got a huge bill.. I just did it that one time tho, in case it was a fluke... this was like 12 years ago

Were you in airplane mode? We are with T-Mobile as well. TIA!

[carlacruz]

4 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

The difference is that Royal Caribbean Group (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Seabourn) are offering much higher speeds and better coverage while not raising their pricing. Carnival is raising their pricing, but without improving the internet experience. 

 

The actual cost of the Starlink service to the cruise lines is cheaper than the service most of them are using today and by first quarter 2023 the coverage will much more broad than the current service. By holding the same pricing, Royal Caribbean Group will soon be making more money per guest while not raising the prices. Once the costs of the Starlink receivers and hardware has been recouped (probably in a matter of months) Royal is in a position to raise internet revenues while not passing along any additional costs to the guests. Carnival is raising internet revenues by adding costs to guest but not adding any additional value to the service. 

 

Then of course you have Virgin Voyages who very smartly just rolled the price of WiFi into the cost of the cabin fare so everyone gets internet service and from our experience on Scarlet Lady it was the best WiFi experience on any of the 8 cruise lines we've sailed so far. 

Actually, Seabourn falls under Carnival Corp.

[Guest BasicSailor]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Were you in airplane mode? We are with T-Mobile as well. TIA!

I'm thinking 12 years ago may be a bit hard to remember 😉

[CruisingWalter]

8 hours ago, carlacruz said:

Actually, Seabourn falls under Carnival Corp.

 

My mistake, Silversea is Royal's luxury brand. They are the ones also getting Starlink internet service. 

[ilovesparky13]

On 9/9/2022 at 9:37 PM, 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! 😁

Interesting that you tell people to get off their phones, but then encourage them to drink. Pretty hypocritical considering alcohol is worse for you and more expensive. 

[firefly333]

On 9/9/2022 at 9:00 PM, Zingy2 said:

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).

I'm on a rcl ship right now. I get 2 days free or a credit of 51.96 which I can sign into and get 3 nights and last 2 full days, prorated for 49.96 leaving a credit of $2 lol.

 

Many couples get free wifi 1 or 2 days and share it so it covers more of the cruise. So imo since it's a free loyalty perk it's like comparing carnival free laundry to those paying. 

 

Starlink is supposed to be fleetwide by next spring on rcl.

 

I do miss my free wifi when I'm on carnival. I wish they would add discount as a perk. 

[carrieluvsgreg]

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! 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! 😁

They already offer Cheers included fares.  I booked one today and only paid $200 more than for the best rate that did not include Cheers.  We aren't huge drinkers, but we do get specialty coffees daily and would easily spend $100 on that and typically our bar tab is around a$100 also, so this way we can have both and not have to keep up with it.  

[gabbygal99]

On 9/19/2022 at 8:59 AM, Crismess669 said:

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. 

They are honoring the price for all cruises, as long as the package is purchased before October 1 🙂

 

I have cruises booked for July 2023 and February 2024, I took advantage of the notice and prepaid for our internet packages yesterday! 

[Raiderguy8]

On 9/22/2022 at 11:17 AM, ninjacat123 said:

Were you in airplane mode? We are with T-Mobile as well. TIA!

My wife and I are on T-Mobile and had a weird experience on the Sunshine two weeks ago that may or may not be related to T-Mobile.  We always get the highest level of internet and this had not happened on any other cruise.  We will trade the internet between each other and the one of us that wasn't currently connected would still receive notifications from email, YouTube, ring doorbell, etc.  If we would click on the notification it would let us know that we couldn't connect because we didn't have internet but we would continue to get the notifications.  A point of note, this was the first cruise since our service was switched from Sprint to T-Mobile after they merged so the only thing different was the phone network.  I just checked my usage this month and there are no roaming charges on my bill.

[Sigyn]

I ordered my WiFi a couple of days ago so that I'd get the pre-Oct. 1 price. We cruise in December. 

[sunkey1]

On 9/19/2022 at 3:30 PM, Weeziblu said:

Just because some of us desire to stay in touch doesn't mean we're disconnected from our vacation of spend our meals with our "faces in phones".  Everyone has different lives, needs, desires.   That's why the internet is an OPTION. 

 

Agree totally, just stating that for "many" who select that OPTION, they now spend more time "sharing" their experiences with everyone - real time, rather than sharing the memories when they get home. Somehow, 30 years ago, I managed to go on vacation, leaving my kids with the grandparents and still managed to have a great time. I chose to live rather than to HOVER. I have elderly parents (4 between my hub and I), and we are going on vacation soon and will leave the ship emergency number but beyond that, nope, going to enjoy. Maybe that makes me uncaring - don't care! 😄

[chuckyb]

On 9/27/2022 at 11:26 AM, Raiderguy8 said:

My wife and I are on T-Mobile and had a weird experience on the Sunshine two weeks ago that may or may not be related to T-Mobile.  We always get the highest level of internet and this had not happened on any other cruise.  We will trade the internet between each other and the one of us that wasn't currently connected would still receive notifications from email, YouTube, ring doorbell, etc.  If we would click on the notification it would let us know that we couldn't connect because we didn't have internet but we would continue to get the notifications.  A point of note, this was the first cruise since our service was switched from Sprint to T-Mobile after they merged so the only thing different was the phone network.  I just checked my usage this month and there are no roaming charges on my bill.

 

The same thing happened on the Mardi Gras with our T-Mobile phones.  We purchased the highest Internet package, but shared the Internet between 7 of us (one person at a time).  Throughout the entire cruise we all would receive notifications on our phones.  I was constantly checking my phone, to make sure it was still in Airplane mode.  It made no sense how these notifications were getting through.  The only thing I could think of is that the Carnival Internet was letting these notifications through.

[mz-s]

6 hours ago, sunkey1 said:

Agree totally, just stating that for "many" who select that OPTION, they now spend more time "sharing" their experiences with everyone - real time, rather than sharing the memories when they get home. Somehow, 30 years ago, I managed to go on vacation, leaving my kids with the grandparents and still managed to have a great time. I chose to live rather than to HOVER. I have elderly parents (4 between my hub and I), and we are going on vacation soon and will leave the ship emergency number but beyond that, nope, going to enjoy. Maybe that makes me uncaring - don't care! 😄

 

Horses for courses. Live and let live. Every time there is an internet thread we have to hear from the peanut gallery who love to let everyone know they don't use the internet on a cruise.

Edited October 1, 2022 by mz-s

[proudpatriot07]

So the prices went up last night, and since we figured that out, yesterday my husband got on the computer and logged into our booking to buy internet for our upcoming trip... and it would not let him purchase at all. Our trip leaves tomorrow, so I don't know if it's got anything to do with that, but we were pretty peeved. We have the screenshots of where he tried to buy last night so am hoping we can take those to guest services and maybe get credited the difference. I don't know. 

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, proudpatriot07 said:

So the prices went up last night, and since we figured that out, yesterday my husband got on the computer and logged into our booking to buy internet for our upcoming trip... and it would not let him purchase at all. Our trip leaves tomorrow, so I don't know if it's got anything to do with that, but we were pretty peeved. We have the screenshots of where he tried to buy last night so am hoping we can take those to guest services and maybe get credited the difference. I don't know. 

 

The last time they hiked prices they had the same issues. They delayed the price hike a day or so last time but haven't heard of the same happening this time.

 

If you're going to be on the Sunshine (I see you are in Charleston), I wouldn't bother. I was just on her last week and the internet is absolutely useless unless you just want to be frustrated.