Essential or Premium Internet Plan?

[BrisbaneR]

Apologies if this has been covered before, but I would appreciate people's thoughts.  I am looking forward to my first Cunard voyage since the pandemic when I board QE in Fremantle for a cruise to Sydney in early November. I've just been sent information about Cunard's "upgraded' internet plans which comes down to a choice between Essential and Premium packages: This is how they are described:  

 

The Essential Internet plan includes

web browsing.

email.

music streaming.

Social media (text and images).

This plan is available on board for $20 per day (or $15 per day if purchased for the whole voyage).

 

The Premium Internet plan includes

web browsing.

email.

music streaming.

Social media (text and images).

Video streaming.

3x faster connection speed than the Essential plan.

This plan is available on board for $30 per day (or $20 per day if purchased for the whole voyage).

 

As my cruise is 8 days I will buy one of the plans for the while voyage which results in a difference of $5 per day. This might seem a small difference, but it is still something I could spend elsewhere on the ship. Can anyone vouch for  either plan in terms of  quality and speed - is the Premium plan really 3x faster?  Which would you pick and why?

 

Thanks for any comments and suggestions

 

 

 

[Se1lad]

One tip is regardless of which plan you choose, to not buy the whole trip option on the first day.  If you wait to the second morning then the price comes down by either $15 or $20 depending on the plan.  As you can normally pick up a mobile signal for the first couple of hours on departure you can save a bit on the package.

[durante]

I accidentally purchased one day at the premium rate instead of essential - no discernible difference to the speed. Did not test video streaming.

[Victoria2]

7 hours ago, Se1lad said:

One tip is regardless of which plan you choose, to not buy the whole trip option on the first day.  If you wait to the second morning then the price comes down by either $15 or $20 depending on the plan.  As you can normally pick up a mobile signal for the first couple of hours on departure you can save a bit on the package.

I followed that too thanks to the helpful Grill's concierge tip when I couldn't sign up for the basic plane which, I have to say did not allow me to stream any music.

 I tried a few times and never managed it.

 

 

[BrisbaneR]

Thanks very much for the various hints you have all suggested. That's exactly the kind of insider knowledge I was hoping for.  I certainly won't get either plan on the first day and that might make the premium one better value when the price comes down.

 

Thanks again!

[Canuker]

On our recent QE cruise the internet (and TV reception) was dreadful to non-existent for several days.

We used free wifi at the ports of call - much better and more predictable.

Plus you pay for blocks of time - 24 hours. So one email a day gets to be very pricey. They do not sell it based on usage.

[tv24]

Sorry to be negative, but...we bought the premium package on a QM2 crossing in June and it was no better than the terrible internet service from pre-Covid.  So many problems connecting, staying connected, accessing simple things like email.  Just a terrible product and a waste of money.  Lower your expectations.

[DaisyUK]

We're on the QE in the Med right now and we bought the premium package. Previously, a few months ago on a short QM2 sailing we bought the standard. In my opinion, there's no comparison. The premium is much, much better. I don't know whether it's the difference in ship or the difference in internet package though.

[david,Mississauga]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:12 PM, durante said:

I accidentally purchased one day at the premium rate instead of essential - no discernible difference to the speed. Did not test video streaming.

 

I found that to be the case on a June cruise on the QE. I was interested only in internet use and nothing else. Because I had loads of OBC I took the premium after the first two days and it was just as bad as the basic plan. There was one advantage: I couldn't get on to Air Canada's site with the basic plan but it worked with premium. 

[PAMJP]

Sailing soon on QV Northern Lights cruise and reading this thread with interest regarding internet costs. At the moment we are gold members of world club and one of the now perks is 45$ each towards package. As we’ll only use 1 iPad can the 45$  for both of us offset the full cost if we decide to take it up for whole cruise (purchase on 2nd day).thanks.

[Victoria2]

5 minutes ago, PAMJP said:

Sailing soon on QV Northern Lights cruise and reading this thread with interest regarding internet costs. At the moment we are gold members of world club and one of the now perks is 45$ each towards package. As we’ll only use 1 iPad can the 45$  for both of us offset the full cost if we decide to take it up for whole cruise (purchase on 2nd day).thanks.

As I said in my sort of live from QV  thread, 'she' being the Grill's Concierge

 

Bear in mind

 

'Basically, one account can be accessed by two devices but not at the same time. She also said if I didn’t need the internet on embarkation day, the price went down  by the daily $15 rate if I signed up the first sea day as opposed to embarkation.
Suited me. $15 is $15 after all! Almost a third of a bottle of wine.  Have to save the pennies where possible. She set the account up for me on my iPad, ready to purchase the following day. This I did. No problem...

 

 One thing to mention, as with the old system, you have to log in each time you access your account.

 

 Yes it’s 24/7 access but you’ll get logged out after a time of inactivity so don’t think  the internet isn’t working

 

[Starboardhome]

Sailed 35 days on QM 2 in the Caribbean earlier this year and used the standard internet service.  Performance (speed and reliability) was dreadful. Sailed 20 days on Queen Elizabeth from Fort Lauderdale to Mediterranean recently and opted for the Premium internet package. It was well worth the extra cost to have perfectly usable internet performance.  We do not stream anything, just check email and stay in touch with news etc.