Internet credit can’t be applied in advance

[lhsail]

Looking at internet offerings for our upcoming QM2 cruise. I get $45 credit, but it says I have to book the package onboard to get the credit. However, the cost of the packages goes up once onboard, from $18 to $24 per day for the Essentials package and from $24 to $36 per day for the Premium package. Seems the credit is useless if I can’t purchase in advance. Am I missing something?

[Host Hattie]

This is what the website says -

 

 

"Gold members receive $45 per person.

Platinum members receive $80 per person.

Diamond members receive $135 per person.

 

The above amounts are in US dollars, which is the currency used on board all our ships.

 

Visit our Cunard World Club page to find out more about these and other benefits.

 

Please note, My Cunard cannot accept internet bookings using internet credits, so Cunard World Club members with credits will have to wait until they are on board before booking an internet plan. The same prices quoted on My Cunard will be valid on the ship."

[lhsail]

7 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

This is what the website says -

 

 

"Gold members receive $45 per person.

Platinum members receive $80 per person.

Diamond members receive $135 per person.

 

The above amounts are in US dollars, which is the currency used on board all our ships.

 

Visit our Cunard World Club page to find out more about these and other benefits.

 

Please note, My Cunard cannot accept internet bookings using internet credits, so Cunard World Club members with credits will have to wait until they are on board before booking an internet plan. The same prices quoted on My Cunard will be valid on the ship."

Thank you. Went back in and for some reason on my iPad the fine print is overridden by other information on the same page, which is probably why I missed it. Now I can see where that is stated. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by lhsail

[bluemarble]

To help clarify how Cunard's wifi pricing works, the wifi package prices do not go up once on board. What is offered on board is an additional option to purchase wifi in individual 24-segments rather than for all the remaining days of the voyage.

 

Whether you purchase in advance or on board, the Essential plan is $18 per day and the Premium plan is $24 per day if you purchase those plans for all the remaining days of the voyage.

 

The higher rates of $24 for the Essential plan and $36 for the Premium plan are if you decide once on board to only purchase those plans for individual blocks of 24 hours at a time (basically a pay-as-you-go option).

[lhsail]

6 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

To help clarify how Cunard's wifi pricing works, the wifi package prices do not go up once on board. What is offered on board is an additional option to purchase wifi in individual 24-segments rather than for all the remaining days of the voyage.

 

Whether you purchase in advance or on board, the Essential plan is $18 per day and the Premium plan is $24 per day if you purchase those plans for all the remaining days of the voyage.

 

The higher rates of $24 for the Essential plan and $36 for the Premium plan are if you decide once on board to only purchase those plans for individual blocks of 24 hours at a time (basically a pay-as-you-go option).

Appreciate the clarification. We definitely need the whole week. We have some family members that are more senior than we are and need to be accessible. 

[TheOldBear]

We discovered in october that the new internet plan has multiple problems when trying to apply world club  credits.

Even though we both had world club credits - we could not apply Mrs Bear's credit to our network purchase for the 'entire voyage , one device at a time' option.

Perhaps things will be updated by October 2024, but we will look for a purchase pattern that will allow us to use both WC credits before purchasing for the rest of the trip. Since we are not heavy / constant network users the earlier by the minute plan seemed to be a better value - but that is no longer an option.

[lhsail]

22 minutes ago, TheOldBear said:

We discovered in october that the new internet plan has multiple problems when trying to apply world club  credits.

Even though we both had world club credits - we could not apply Mrs Bear's credit to our network purchase for the 'entire voyage , one device at a time' option.

Perhaps things will be updated by October 2024, but we will look for a purchase pattern that will allow us to use both WC credits before purchasing for the rest of the trip. Since we are not heavy / constant network users the earlier by the minute plan seemed to be a better value - but that is no longer an option.

Currently, my husband doesn’t get any internet credit. If we sail Cunard again it might be an issue. Hopefully they’ll work things out. 

[bluemarble]

That's quite correct about how Cunard World Club credits are applied to the purchase of internet plans. Only the person who purchases a plan will have their credit applied to that purchase. It doesn't matter that another person on the same booking (and even merged into the same onboard account as far as I know) also has available credit. Unless that other person also purchases a plan at some point, their credit will go unused. I believe this is the gist of the issue @TheOldBear has mentioned. That's basically how the credits used to work with the old system where each person purchased plans according to how many complimentary minutes they received.

 

That policy informs how we purchase internet plans to make the most of our credits. DW and I are both diamond CWC members so we each receive $135 internet credit. As an example, on a 12-night voyage one of us will make individual 24-hour purchases of the Essential plan (at $24 each) to cover the first five days. Then the other will purchase the Essential plan for the remaining seven days of the voyage (at $18 per day).

Edited April 10, 2023 by bluemarble

[alc13]

Are embarkation and disembarkation days both counted?  Ie., will we be charged for 10 days of internet access on a 9-night itinerary?

[Host Hattie]

It's per 24 hours