Internet question from a Norwegian newbie

[groundloop]

I just booked my first cruise with Norwegian on the Getaway.  I've got around 15 cruises under my belt, mostly with Carnival, but haven't been on Norwegian yet.

 

So anyway, I booked the "Free at Sea" package and only after the booking was complete did I notice that it says "up to 150 minutes" of internet usage, which brings up some questions.  How is that 150 minutes measured?  Is it like the days of dial-up when every single second that you're connected counts?  

 

Also, how good is the internet on Norwegian ships?  Will it be like internet on most Carnival ships where even the "Premium" internet is pretty bad.  

 

And finally, if I find that I "need" faster service will I be able to upgrade to Premium for less than full price?

 

 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, groundloop said:

I just booked my first cruise with Norwegian on the Getaway.  I've got around 15 cruises under my belt, mostly with Carnival, but haven't been on Norwegian yet.

 

So anyway, I booked the "Free at Sea" package and only after the booking was complete did I notice that it says "up to 150 minutes" of internet usage, which brings up some questions.  How is that 150 minutes measured?  Is it like the days of dial-up when every single second that you're connected counts?  

 

Also, how good is the internet on Norwegian ships?  Will it be like internet on most Carnival ships where even the "Premium" internet is pretty bad.  

 

And finally, if I find that I "need" faster service will I be able to upgrade to Premium for less than full price?

 

 

 

 

The premium service just unlocks ports (or some other fancy IT term) that will allow you to access streaming platforms. There is no difference in the speed of the internet.

 

Internet sucks onboard sometimes. Internet is great onboard sometimes. As a case in point: I sailed on Getaway from 12/31 - 1/8. Internet allowed my husband and I to watch YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, and upload photos to my live review on CC very quickly. There was minimal buffering when streaming. Apparently on the 1/8 sailing of Getaway, the internet is slow. 

Basically, it all depends on where you are in the world and the link with the satellites. It's a crapshoot for sure. 

 

Every single second from when you click "login" to when you click "logout" will be measured toward your minutes.

[Twocoasts]

The biggest thing is to remember you cannot just turn your device off--you must fully log out of the system or your minutes will continue to run. Learned this the hard way.....

[groundloop]

2 hours ago, Twocoasts said:

The biggest thing is to remember you cannot just turn your device off--you must fully log out of the system or your minutes will continue to run. Learned this the hard way.....

 

What does it cost to purchase more time if that happens?  Or to upgrade to Premium if we want to be able to stream?

Edited January 13, 2023 by groundloop

[cruiseny4life]

6 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

What does it cost to purchase more time if that happens?  Or to upgrade to Premium if we want to be able to stream?

My memory isn't great, but I do remember 100 extra minutes was $75. If you wanted to go by the minute, it's $0.99 per minute. There are other packages, but I don't recall those prices. 

[eileeshb]

7 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

What does it cost to purchase more time if that happens?  Or to upgrade to Premium if we want to be able to stream?

If you want to get the upgrade price it will be listed as an option to add on right now in your reservation. There is a tactic to wait until after midnight after embarkation to buy the upgrade as it knocks a days charge off the price but to adopt that you can not use any of your free minutes before that. As soon as you start using minutes you’re no longer eligible for upgrade pricing, instead you have to pay full whack. You can buy minutes to add on as you go if you don’t want an unlimited package. 
unfortunately I don’t have a recent flyer  as my last 2 cruises were when they still weren’t distributing the hard copy newsletter.

the one I have from a few years ago had 3 different unlimited WiFi options: social media only, general WiFi, or streaming & vpn. 
the minutes packages ranged from pay as u go per minute, 100minute or 250minutes but these are supposedly not enabled for streaming or vpn. 

[scooter6139]

If you are worried about not having enough minutes, and are lazy like I am (prone to forget to log out of the session to stop that clock) then upgrading at least 1 person to unlimited is likely the best bet.  Mine currently shows an upgrade cost (from FAS 150 included) of $109 PP for a 7 night cruise.

 

We did the FAS+ on our last cruise, which included that upgrade.  I was able to just login and leave it.

[fredflint]

yes you are better off getting the unlimited on my cruise the internet would  go down and people could not log off.   Every day the poor girl at the Internet Cafe had a line of angry people who had to see her to get their minutes back.