Free at sea wifi upgrade

[cusematt4]

Hi - based on free at sea, we currently each have 150 minutes of wifi.  We have an option to upgrade to unlimited for 120pp which is less than the normal unlimited rate.

 

if we upgrade in advance of our sailing we cannot apply our obc towards the wifi upgrade.  Does ncl honor these same free at sea wifi minutes to unlimited wifi once we are onboard, so we can apply some of our onboed credit?

 

Dame yest ion for free at sea dining upgrade for 2 additional restaurants for 70 instead of 110 if we can upgrade onboard for this offer and not just in advance of our cruise without onboard credit?

 

thanks.

[hallux]

Many threads on this.

 

The "discount" is credit for the already 'purchased' minutes.  The same can be done on board, and if you can avoid using the internet for the first 12 hours of the cruise you can save more by not purchasing the internet for that day.  You get the offer when you activate the 150 minutes.

[IronRobi]

Just did this last week. They will apply $125 credit towards the price of the unlimited package. I also had OBC to use so waited until I was on board to purchase.  I did the same with excursions.

 

I had calculated everything beforehand based off the prices listed pre-cruise, I would have had around $80 OBC left over after upgrading the internet and 2 excursions. We were going to use it towards some starbucks. Once on board and the upgrade completed and the 2 excursions booked, I had actually used the entirety of my OBC and had a $40 charge. 

 

So I believe that NCL does discount things slightly pre-cruise. As a point of reference, I was charged $279.93USD for the premium internet with streaming and received a credit of $125USD. So total cost was $154.93USD. 

[hallux]

4 hours ago, IronRobi said:

So I believe that NCL does discount things slightly pre-cruise.

Considering the internet packages listed on NCL's page actually indicate it's an online-only price and then lists the onboard price, that is the case...

[cusematt4]

Thanks.  Does anyone know if it’s definitely more expensive to upgrade from free at sea wifi to regular unlimited wifi onboard?  To upgrade to regular unlimited wifi from the free  at sea minutes it’s charging us 139.92pp pre cruise vs 204pp if we purchased it pre cruise without the free at sea upgrade.  Ideally I would like to use our obc but would consider purchasing in advance if it’s more expensive to do this upgrade onboard.

 

Thank you 

[MarkusToe]

Ive done the upgrade from 500min to unlimited by FAS+ package.

I got nothing back.

[hallux]

@cusematt4, do some math - pre-cruise price for the one-device unlimited package is $25.50/day, for a 7-day cruise that's $178.50.  The noted on-board price is $29.99, making it $210 or so.  That's the straight-up price, the UPGRADE price pre-cruise is $109.93, you're paying for all 7 days if you upgrade pre-cruise.  In previous threads, the cost to get unlimited internet for the cruise, if you can wait until the day after embarkation to activate your internet and 'trade-in' your unused 150 minutes from FAS, was around $80 for the remaining 6 days.

[NYcruzzer]

Can one of us upgrade to unlimited and the other keep their 150 minutes ? Or do we both have to upgrade ? 

[MarkusToe]

For us the 500 where gone....paperwork state once per stateroom 

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, NYcruzzer said:

Can one of us upgrade to unlimited and the other keep their 150 minutes ? Or do we both have to upgrade ? 

Only one can upgrade. And, you can use the one upgraded account for as many devices as you want. But only one device can be online at a time. We share a single account across 6 devices... 2 work phones, 2 personal phones, an ipad, and a laptop. 

[cruiseat50]

Internet Package (150 Minutes)

150 minutes of internet connectivity

QTY:

2

GUESTS:

 

Upgrade to Unlimited Wi-Fi

Stay connected with this Unlimited Wi-Fi Package. Includes general browsing, emails, and messaging. Does not support streaming. Upgrade applies to guests 1 and 2.

Upgrade price

$229.89

per person

 

This is what is showing for me to upgrade but I guess that's because it's a 11 day cruise.  I don't want to hassle with upgrading while onboard so I'm just going to pay for it.  But, do I have to upgrade for both of us?  DH doesn't use many it as much as I do so he can log on when I'm not on it?

[mking8288]

6 hours ago, NYcruzzer said:

Can one of us upgrade to unlimited and the other keep their 150 minutes ? Or do we both have to upgrade ? 

Short answer - yes. We had 150 minutes x 2 and did the onboard upgrade at 00:01 the next day, thus charged for N minus 1 day (or 6 days) less the trade-in credit given (no further discounts applied or stacked, i.e. Sapphire) for unlimited basic WiFi.

 

Kept the remaining 150 free minutes to use on other devices for VoIP and messaging, to check emails on as needed basis, etc. while at sea (use a 2nd account's ID and password to logon and logoff ...) on iPhone, smartphone, iPad, Chromebook & notebook PC (all "registered")   Whenever we were in range of land cellular towers, we "roam" inexpensively at either 4G or 5G speed.

Edited December 11, 2022 by mking8288

[MarkusToe]

Forget all that logon and of bulls.....t

Use on one phone the hotspot funktion and all device works at the same time

Edited December 11, 2022 by MarkusToe

[hallux]

8 hours ago, MarkusToe said:

Use on one phone the hotspot funktion and all device works at the same time

Assuming you are going to be in the same place ALL the time, and that your device allows this to work this way.  Not all devices allow you to share a WiFi connection to other WiFi devices.

[MarkusToe]

In german we hvve the wording: 

One death you have to die 🙂

[RosieRoo]

On 12/10/2022 at 12:47 AM, cusematt4 said:

Hi - based on free at sea, we currently each have 150 minutes of wifi.  We have an option to upgrade to unlimited for 120pp which is less than the normal unlimited rate.

 

if we upgrade in advance of our sailing we cannot apply our obc towards the wifi upgrade.  Does ncl honor these same free at sea wifi minutes to unlimited wifi once we are onboard, so we can apply some of our onboed credit?

Just agonized over this exact same thing for my 9 day sailing. To upgrade at home it was around $169. for one person, but I wanted to use OBC so I waited til I got onboard. You could only upgrade on day 1 or 2 and the cost was not a flat fee. It was $29.99 per day for the regular internet or $39.99 per day for the higher speed. If I upgraded day 1 the cost would have been about the same as at home. I waited til the second day which brought the cost down by $29.99. I think the discount for the 150 minutes was $100. Hope that helps. 

[eileeshb]

Before the free WiFi minutes were included in FaS you could prepay and avoid a connection fee that you had to pay if buying it on the ship. 
When I booked my next cruise the FaS included 250mins so the upgrade to unlimited is a fair bit cheaper than is the case with the current FaS. Personally I’ll pre-purchase the upgrade just in case the on-board system decides to charge the upgrade price as if I only have the 150/120mins. Also looking at recent dailies that have been posted none seem to show the option to upgrade to unlimited after day 1. 

[mking8288]

Here was our Joy upgrade pricing at Day 2 of our 7 Days CNE Cruise in September and the free 150 minutes credited as $100, making our "net" upgrade cost at $79.94 ($29.99 / day x 6 days for unlimited basic, non-streaming, satellite WiFi) ... before we offset it using non-refundable OBC, that we either use it or lose it.  There was no connection fee whatsoever, not before C19 and not on 3 cruises this year, not with setting up for using the other free 150 minutes on a 2nd account and not for upgrading.

 

I stand corrected, but eyes on those OBC posted to your account and if something related to WiFi usage appeared, just chat nicely & calmly with the iCafe manager during her/his posted "office hour" onboard ... don't wait until the last 2 days.

 

As for enabling or using a WiFi or MiFi hotspot, I'm well aware of those "tools" and my traveling Sony Vaio travel notebook has that built-in AP/bridge option (bypassing "Mac address" connection security check) ... it isn't going to be very useful or practical should you notice a further drop or reduction in available bandwidth, speed & errors ...  Speed results as measured were better onboard the Getaway & Escape (and, pre-Covid on the Gem & Dawn) than on the Joy, perhaps more passengers online these days & spending money on unlimited plans - effectively cutting down the shared available data bandwidth.  

 

Upgraded recently to Samsung Galaxy S22+ and Google Pixel 7 Pro with the latest functions, and it work well with Fios & 5G or 4G signals as AP (hotspot) while on the move ... seriously doubtful, it is a practical or usable solution for sharing satellite connections in a maritime environment.  Perhaps, if NCL decided to roll with Starlink, until then - most definitely have a Plan "C"    And, BTW ... good luck. 

 

 

 

Cisco servers/hardware used onboard the Joy are solid and delivering very good speed via 802.11ac (WiFi 5 standards) capable of delivering Gigabit traffic ... the "problem" is the bottleneck further upstream.  

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by mking8288

[jbcallender]

The wifi is not worth paying for.  Use someone's free wifi on port days.

[UnbridledEnthusiasm]

On 12/11/2022 at 7:27 PM, mking8288 said:

Here was our Joy upgrade pricing at Day 2 of our 7 Days CNE Cruise in September and the free 150 minutes credited as $100, making our "net" upgrade cost at $79.94 ($29.99 / day x 6 days for unlimited basic, non-streaming, satellite WiFi) ... before we offset it using non-refundable OBC, that we either use it or lose it.  There was no connection fee whatsoever, not before C19 and not on 3 cruises this year, not with setting up for using the other free 150 minutes on a 2nd account and not for upgrading.

 

I stand corrected, but eyes on those OBC posted to your account and if something related to WiFi usage appeared, just chat nicely & calmly with the iCafe manager during her/his posted "office hour" onboard ... don't wait until the last 2 days.

 

As for enabling or using a WiFi or MiFi hotspot, I'm well aware of those "tools" and my traveling Sony Vaio travel notebook has that built-in AP/bridge option (bypassing "Mac address" connection security check) ... it isn't going to be very useful or practical should you notice a further drop or reduction in available bandwidth, speed & errors ...  Speed results as measured were better onboard the Getaway & Escape (and, pre-Covid on the Gem & Dawn) than on the Joy, perhaps more passengers online these days & spending money on unlimited plans - effectively cutting down the shared available data bandwidth.  

 

Upgraded recently to Samsung Galaxy S22+ and Google Pixel 7 Pro with the latest functions, and it work well with Fios & 5G or 4G signals as AP (hotspot) while on the move ... seriously doubtful, it is a practical or usable solution for sharing satellite connections in a maritime environment.  Perhaps, if NCL decided to roll with Starlink, until then - most definitely have a Plan "C"    And, BTW ... good luck. 

 

 

 

Cisco servers/hardware used onboard the Joy are solid and delivering very good speed via 802.11ac (WiFi 5 standards) capable of delivering Gigabit traffic ... the "problem" is the bottleneck further upstream.  

 

 

 

Your post was very helpful but can  you tell me if I'm understanding correctly? I'm not sure if the same thing applies to me as someone with no real status on NCL. 

If I go on a 7 day cruise and use the FAS package with the 150 minutes of wifi,  if I wait 24 hours from the time the ships actually leaves, I could get unlimited wifi for the remainder of the cruise for $180 while getting a $100 refund (or is it OBC?) making it $80 for 6 days? I don't need to be able to stream but I do need to  be able to go online and send emails each day since I'm supposed to be working. 
 

 

 

[mking8288]

@UnbridledEnthusiasm Point #1 - The pricing/rates is same, regardless of Latitutdes status with NCL.  #2 - if you wait until 00:01 hour on Day 2 (that's just past midnight, ship's "local" time) - it's considered Day 2 to calculate the applicable charges.  For a 7 day (nights) cruise - you will be charged for the remainder of the cruise or 6 days.  #3  - currently, unlimited basic (non-streaming, non-VPN) WiFi is $30 daily, times 6 = $180.

 

#4 - OBC is not related, but "some" of us have other OBC, these days - they are often non-refundable = spent it or lose it, i.e. Starbucks, gift shop, cosmetics/duty-frees, cigarettes, photos, misc. up-charges for dining/beverage packages or a la carte, etc.  We use it to reduce our net cost to trade-up our WiFi.  

 

#5 - As an example, we get $100 OBC, NR as NCLH stock shareholders on a 7 days cruise - and, it's one of the first "purchase" that we spent down against - if we decided to pay for unlimited WiFi upgrade.

 

#6 - For 6 nights, it's $30 x 6 = $180 less the $100 NR-OBC equal net charge of $80 to our Onboard Stateroom Account.  If one happens to get other OBC (and, it's mostly non-refundable these days ... ) 

they get applied.  

 

#7 - Always check your onboard account nightly or each morning, and, if something doesn't look right - don't sit on it.  Go over to Guest Services & get it answered or resolved ... before leaving the ship.  

 

Lastly, basic WiFi - even the free 150 minutes (we have 300 x 2 coming up on a longer cruise) is fine for basic browsing, news & accessing email, etc.  Expect it to be slow & sluggish, especially on a sea day and mid/late evening when many are done with meals and logon to hit satellite data traffic jams at sea.

 

Learn & remember the basic steps to do the login.com and logout.com URL via the device's browser to start & stop the meter, or else, those free minutes will go fast.  Thus, many will pay extra $$$ for unlimited so as to not worry.  We managed using about 360+ minutes on a 14 nights cruise, only paid an extra $60 for an additional 100 minutes on the last 2 sea days coming home, as we're running low then ... 

 

Once we hit land's cellular towers, WiFi is off & we ping our inexpensive "roaming" Google Fi signal at 4G ... can't wait to see how 5G VPN works later this month.  

[UnbridledEnthusiasm]

5 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

@UnbridledEnthusiasm Point #1 - The pricing/rates is same, regardless of Latitutdes status with NCL.  #2 - if you wait until 00:01 hour on Day 2 (that's just past midnight, ship's "local" time) - it's considered Day 2 to calculate the applicable charges.  For a 7 day (nights) cruise - you will be charged for the remainder of the cruise or 6 days.  #3  - currently, unlimited basic (non-streaming, non-VPN) WiFi is $30 daily, times 6 = $180.

 

#4 - OBC is not related, but "some" of us have other OBC, these days - they are often non-refundable = spent it or lose it, i.e. Starbucks, gift shop, cosmetics/duty-frees, cigarettes, photos, misc. up-charges for dining/beverage packages or a la carte, etc.  We use it to reduce our net cost to trade-up our WiFi.  

 

#5 - As an example, we get $100 OBC, NR as NCLH stock shareholders on a 7 days cruise - and, it's one of the first "purchase" that we spent down against - if we decided to pay for unlimited WiFi upgrade.

 

#6 - For 6 nights, it's $30 x 6 = $180 less the $100 NR-OBC equal net charge of $80 to our Onboard Stateroom Account.  If one happens to get other OBC (and, it's mostly non-refundable these days ... ) 

they get applied.  

 

#7 - Always check your onboard account nightly or each morning, and, if something doesn't look right - don't sit on it.  Go over to Guest Services & get it answered or resolved ... before leaving the ship.  

 

Lastly, basic WiFi - even the free 150 minutes (we have 300 x 2 coming up on a longer cruise) is fine for basic browsing, news & accessing email, etc.  Expect it to be slow & sluggish, especially on a sea day and mid/late evening when many are done with meals and logon to hit satellite data traffic jams at sea.

 

Learn & remember the basic steps to do the login.com and logout.com URL via the device's browser to start & stop the meter, or else, those free minutes will go fast.  Thus, many will pay extra $$$ for unlimited so as to not worry.  We managed using about 360+ minutes on a 14 nights cruise, only paid an extra $60 for an additional 100 minutes on the last 2 sea days coming home, as we're running low then ... 

 

Once we hit land's cellular towers, WiFi is off & we ping our inexpensive "roaming" Google Fi signal at 4G ... can't wait to see how 5G VPN works later this month.  

 

Thanks for the info. I've been reading your live review on Joy as we speak!

[eileeshb]

That pricing is interesting. I booked before the 2022 FAS changes so I have 250mins free WiFi but the upgrade price to unlimited looks to be the same as it is for those with 150mins of free WiFi. 

[UnbridledEnthusiasm]

I apologize for bringing back up a "dead" topic (I didn't want to have to start a new thread all over again), but could use some clarification since I'm cheap and not very intelligent. 

 

I'm narrowing down Mediterranean cruises for this summer and will likely go on a 9 day cruise and take the FAS package with the 150 minutes of wifi. It's probably enough for me since everyday is supposed to be a port day, however I'd feel a bit more better taking the unlimited option if available later for a decent discount.

 

From what I read on here, someone on a 7 night cruise who has the 150 minutes as part of their FAS package will get offered the unlimited upgrade for $180 for 6 days (after waiting I guess until day 2 of the cruise to activate?) where you will get a $100 credit. Is this always offered or is this a targeted promotion for just some cruisers (I rarely cruise and have no status with NCL)?

 

If my cruise is 9 days and I wait until the 2nd day to activate it will likely be $240 with a $132 credit correct? 

 

My understanding is the credit you get back has to be used during the cruise. Before you could not use it towards gratuities at the end of the cruise. Is that still the case?  Assuming it is, can you use it in the casino or for transportation/tour with transportation for when you disembark? If I cannot use it for any of these things I figure to just use it towards laundry and gum. 

 

Thank you

 

[hallux]

9 minutes ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said:

Is this always offered or is this a targeted promotion for just some cruisers (I rarely cruise and have no status with NCL)?

Always for everyone.

 

10 minutes ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said:

My understanding is the credit you get back has to be used during the cruise. Before you could not use it towards gratuities at the end of the cruise. Is that still the case?

It's worded poorly - the "credit" you get just offsets part of the package you bought, they bill you for the entire thing then apply the credit to your account.

 

I've attached the relevant lines from my invoice in March -