Internet package versus pay as needed on a Transatlantic cruise + Europe

[nho9504]

Hi

 

We will be on Neuw Statendam Apr 8 to 29 for 14 days Transatlantic + 7 days Europe cruise.  Booked in late Feb when HAL offered Mariner discounts on the sailing, as a mean to go to Europe versus flying.  (Cheaper than a business class ticket if only the Transatlantic portion, though the add-on 7 days in the French and Italian coasts have made the itinerary no longer a bargain. LOL).

 

I did the online check in this afternoon.  On every single area, after I finished and saved/continue to next tab, the site would give me an ERROR message, declaring something is incorrect in the "Occupation" box - OTHER.   Yet there is no such box to fill in, plus every tab generated this same error.  On top of that, each tab after I filled out the information, turned from a Red exclamation mark symbol to a Green tick mark symbol.  What the hell is the HAL site behaving?! It is even buggier than the infamous Princess site that kept pushing you to use Medallion...  I have not download the Navigator App yet.  Seems not much use of it except for making dining reservation, given shows on HAL's ships are pathetic.

 

The premium internet package is rather expensive at almost $300.  It lumps 21 days to 25 days together.  A month or more ago I saw it was $240 that was already too expensive for my liking.  Unlike Princess or Royal Caribbeans, HAL does not offer breaks for higher tier loyalty members.

 

We do not need internet access everyday, except periodically check emails and travel arrangements post cruise.  On top of that during the 7 days Transatlantic portion, my experiences on many of such voyages in the past, internet access was very iffy.  Once we start seeing the land, far more often than not, there would be wifi access on land, I remember many years ago Cadiz already had internet cafe with terminals to use at like 2 euro for the first hour and then 1 euro for subsequent hour... Almost all ports the Cafes on land usually provide wifi access.   The bigger ports like Livorno has strong free wifi at terminal building.  I once spent a good part of the day to use the wifi there cleaning up email accounts and took care some stuff.  (Been passing thru Livorno at least 10 or more times, no need to go visit the usual shore excursion places)  My husband said that should be more than enough to suit our needs.

 

My inclination is not to buy the internet package but just do the pay as needed - does HAL have day pass?  Or only the blocks of time to purchase?  Do they usually have sale on internet service on the first couple days of the voyage, and then periodically offer such during the voyage?  Sorry for these questions as the last time we sailed HAL was 2015.  We are more Princess passengers mixed with some Royal Caribbeans and Celebrity. 

 

IIRC HAL once partnered with NYT and in the Explorer Lounge, NYT site was free to access and hardly anybody used it.  We spent some time reading the digital version of the newspaper and quite enjoyed some featured articles.  Is NYT still available for free access?  If this not the case any more, that would be one MINUS factor for us to sail HAL again. 

 

Thank you for those who provide information.

[lissie]

Your logic is sound as far as I'm concerned  -but I've not done a cruise  on HAL yet so can't comment specifically. 

 

For the Europe part of your cruise I'm guessing your're probably in a port most days - if Cadiz is your first stop why not get either a physical SIM like Orange or an eSim like Airalo - if your phone can handle it. Once you are in the EU  you can roam to any other country for no extra charge - from emmory we paid euro 20 for a month's worth of data from Orange in Spain.  eSims are even cheaper - but you need an unlocked and fairly late model phone 

[RuthC]

51 minutes ago, nho9504 said:

does HAL have day pass?

No. HAL used to have something similar, but no longer. 
What you can do is postpone purchasing a plan until there are few days left in the trans-Atlantic, then you will only have to pay for those few days left. Plenty of time to clear out the emails and confirm arrangements for after your arrival. 

51 minutes ago, nho9504 said:

Do they usually have sale on internet service on the first couple days of the voyage, and then periodically offer such during the voyage?

Not that I have ever seen. But unless you plan to do streaming you should be able to do everything you mentioned on the Surf Plan, and don't need the more expensive Premium. 
Premium gets you more sites, not faster service. 

[Reagan0712]

HAL was offering 24 hr pricing on the Eurodam but depending on how often you plan to access it may be better to go with the package. But the way HAL has been operating lately, what is offered on one ship may not be offered on another ship.

When I did a trans-Atlantic last October I waited several days to pick up the package as the price drops each day.

[nho9504]

Thanks for the inputs.

Right now the only plan available to purchase online for our voyage is a Premium Pkan for $299.99 as 21 to 25 days voyage.  2 weeks ago it was at $239.99 which I already felt it was expensive comparing we paid $75 for 15 days Transatlantic on Regal Princess last Nov ($10 a day preboarding pricing with 50% elite discount).  I think I would pass the HAL’s gauging internet pricing especially the dump classification they used, more sites versus higher speed which is far more important to most users.

 

I prefer to use iPad versus Smart Phone for online stuff as tablet screen is much larger than phone screen, much friendly to the eyes and easier to type on the virtual keyboard.  
 

Though I would think about the Orange SIM option.  My phone does not support eSIM therefore need to use husband’s phone to do the swap as my phone’s number is tied to all secondary authentication settings.  As long as there is wifi, my phone can receive text messages from US or anywhere in the world.  That is why I think spending a few euro at a cafe for Wi-Fi access is much cheaper than paying HAL for the rip off internet pricing.

[Hlitner]

It’s a good topic and important to us.  Since we have T Mobile. Our phones work just about everywhere in the world without an extra fee (am writing this as I sit on Tokyo Station).  On a TA, if we forego Internet on the sea days we are fine when near or in any port.  Most cruise lines, we cruise, include internet.  HAL has always been among the worst with internet fees (and quality).  Since we have the HIA package it is not an issue on our upcoming cruise (which is transpacific).  
 

Otherwise, it is doubtful we would

pay hundreds for bad internet at sea.

 

Hank

[WriterOnDeck]

12 hours ago, nho9504 said:

Thanks for the inputs.

Right now the only plan available to purchase online for our voyage is a Premium Pkan for $299.99 as 21 to 25 days voyage.  2 weeks ago it was at $239.99 which I already felt it was expensive ...

HAL raised all its internet prices March 1. Pays to book the internet early in case of future increases.

 

Also, the Premium online price is probably close to the Surf (or middle) price once on the ship. It is the only internet discount price I have seen.

[WannaSea]

FYI, from somewhere in the Navigator App when I was onboard 12/2022:

 

[SFO Peter]

you can still pay for 24 hours of internet.    I have been doing this on board.  I do it to confirm flights at the end of the cruise.  I would think you could do 24 hours as needed.

Peter

[nho9504]

Thank you thank you.  Keep your experiences coming.

 

Even before the March 1st price increases  (never saw such a warning when it was still the old price which as mentioned, still a gauging pricing to me.) I feel with our very sparing usage of internet and the first week being Transatlantic, we probably do not need to buy the package.  Once we hit ports, a few euro can get all the wifi you may need...

 

After reading the inputs it does seem we do not need to do this internet purchase especially all we need is not to miss changes on our land trip arrangement after getting off the ship. 

 

We have an EasyJet flight MXP-AMS on May 11th.  EasyJet allows check in 30 days before flight.  Too bad that would be Day 3 on the voyage.  Bigger concern is if EasyJet would change schedule or cancel flight - that would be one of the reasons we need to check our emails periodically.

The flights returning to US are on LH and UA on a UA award.   It is on May 16th.  I doubt anything would happen on those, except if we have internet access I could check if better routes become available - this is already the 4th change on the itinerary - each for a slightly better routing / schedule.  UA does not charge for changing / cancelling an award booking, so we can keep optimizing it as new availability shows up.

[pmjnh]

We will be  on a Mediterranean and TA 26 day in October.  We have , in the past, pre-purchased the premium internet plan and have had no problem with it. We have decided on the October cruise to purchase the 30 day international cell data plan from Verizon, our carrier for $100. With such a highly port intensive itinerary, this will virtually eliminate the need for the internet plan when docked. Once we are on the TA crossing then I may consider purchasing the plan for a day or 2 just to connect with family and check email.

Edited March 21, 2023 by pmjnh