Questions on Cell Phone Roaming and Internet Packages San Diego - Mexico

[Kobra_Kommandor]

Hello!  I have a cell plan with free data/voice roaming in Mexico.  Will we be close enough to shore for me to use this on days at sea?

The only internet plan available for purchase is the premium internet plan for $110 per person.  Should I buy now or will there be other plans available and/or less expensive once on board?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

No. On sea days you will be too far from land. Plus, as you sail down the coast to/from Cabo, much of the land there is uninhabited, or very sparsely inhabited.

[VMax1700]

Wifi calling and WhatsApp call are disabled from all but the Premium internet plan, so if you want to use your phone as a phone then you will need the Premium plan.  It is cheaper to buy pre cruise by about 20% and it is then only very slightly more expensive than the Surf plan to purchase onboard.

[crystalspin]

10 hours ago, Kobra_Kommandor said:

Hello!  I have a cell plan with free data/voice roaming in Mexico.  Will we be close enough to shore for me to use this on days at sea?

The only internet plan available for purchase is the premium internet plan for $110 per person.  Should I buy now or will there be other plans available and/or less expensive once on board?

As others have said, the ship does not follow the shoreline near enough to reach a tower (even if there were one). The only plan you can PRE-PURCHASE in the Premium plan. On board there are the following: Social, Surf, and Premium. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME SPEED INTERNET, only with more or fewer sites and apps blocked. 

 

As VMax said, the Premium bought pre-sailing is only slightly more than Surf on board. Some people have OBC to burn and choose to wait. If you have Have-It-All it comes with Surf-level WiFi, which you can upgrade to Premium on a pro-rated scale.

 

Here is the table of rates on board. Fees may have changed, but compare to the Premium Rates you are seeing to judge if you should wait.

 

[crystalspin]

10 hours ago, Kobra_Kommandor said:

The only internet plan available for purchase is the premium internet plan for $110 per person. 

PS forgot to mention that the plans are per CONNECTION, not per person. One person (in a cabin) can log off and let the other person use the log-on.

 

ETA: So my husband needed Premium for business VOIP. When he wasn't using it, I could use it for email etc. It was like SLOW DIAL UP. Just to warn you. 

Edited November 15, 2022 by crystalspin

[Kobra_Kommandor]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

[Hlitner]

There is often some misunderstanding regarding speed and the various plans.  Your speed is a factor of many things including the alloted bandwidth, how many others are using the Internet at the same time, weather, location of the satellite, etc.  The different plans are controlled by onboard software which simply limits what you can do (and some sites).  While upgrading a plan gets those onboard limitations reduced it does not generally change the speed or quality of the connection.  Cruise ship Internet generally sucks on HAL (and many other lines).  A few lines such as RCI and MSC seem to have pretty decent Internet (one assumes they pay for more bandwidth) and RCI is in the process of implementing the new Starlink system which should (in theory) provide fast Internet.  If Starlink works well on RCI we imagine most cruise lines will eventually switch to that system although past experience tells us that HAL would be among the last to make the change.

 

Hank

[Dinah1230]

You may be able to make wi-fi calls with the ship Wi-Fi plan, but it also somewhat depends on your carrier. We purchased a 30 day plan that covered sea days. Carriers generally charge astronomical rates at sea if you don’t purchase such a plan.