Wi-Fi Changes & Updates FAQs Published on May 25, 2023

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

We had the 'Basic' Starlink WiFi on Eclipse in January and it was every bit as limited as the old 'Basic' WiFi unfortunately.

 

No question that it is an improvement for Premium, that seems to be well received by all, but Celebrity have kept the 'Basic' service locked down to such a low bandwidth that we couldn't even load this site...

I'm surprised Starlink would permit this contractually as it hurts the brand.

[NutsAboutGolf]

22 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

We had the 'Basic' Starlink WiFi on Eclipse in January and it was every bit as limited as the old 'Basic' WiFi unfortunately.

 

No question that it is an improvement for Premium, that seems to be well received by all, but Celebrity have kept the 'Basic' service locked down to such a low bandwidth that we couldn't even load this site...

 

Premium now seems to be capped at 5mbps yet when starlink first deployed on the Beyond, folks were reporting speeds of like 50mbps.  For those "digital nomads" who want to do an hour long work video call, they're still most likely going to have some hiccups here and there.  This site, CC, is fairly complex and even with basic wifi this site will technically "load" yet the format presented makes unusable.  With starlink, I've only had Premium so not sure what mbps they're capping it at

[mahdnc]

10 hours ago, prmssk said:

It looks like MCC is the pricing if you purchase pre-cruise in the cruise planner. 

 

You could be right about that.  "MCC" pricing represents a 20% discount over the "Retail" price.

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by mahdnc

[FirstTeacher]

On 6/12/2023 at 10:48 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Did you notice item 7

 

WHAT IF A GUEST PURCHASED PREMIUM WI-FI BEFORE JUNE 1, 2023?

Guests are re-imbursed the difference via On Board Credit onboard. Process to refund and charge at new rate:
• The Store Manager processes refunds on the first day of the cruise using the PCP participation report
• Refunds are in the form of On Board Credit based on the difference in what the guest paid
and the new price onboard
• A welcome letter is placed in the cabin of affected guests

As someone who purchased basic WiFi for my upcoming cruise (6/22), I am very disappointed in this decision. If I had known this would be happening, I would have taken advantage of the $9.99 voucher to upgrade back when we first booked. My husband did this so he’s all set. However, it now looks like I cannot keep the basic package at all, and if I want the premium WiFi I’ll be paying a much higher price to get it. When I get on board next week, I will certainly be requesting some satisfaction.

[mahdnc]

4 minutes ago, FirstTeacher said:

As someone who purchased basic WiFi for my upcoming cruise (6/22), I am very disappointed in this decision. If I had known this would be happening, I would have taken advantage of the $9.99 voucher to upgrade back when we first booked. My husband did this so he’s all set. However, it now looks like I cannot keep the basic package at all, and if I want the premium WiFi I’ll be paying a much higher price to get it. When I get on board next week, I will certainly be requesting some satisfaction.

You should be able to keep your Basic WiFi package according to FAQ #5

Edited June 14, 2023 by mahdnc

[Mark_T]

30 minutes ago, FirstTeacher said:

However, it now looks like I cannot keep the basic package at all, and if I want the premium WiFi I’ll be paying a much higher price to get it. When I get on board next week, I will certainly be requesting some satisfaction.

You can't opt to buy Basic as a stand-alone product anyone more, but it is still being provided as part of AI and is available for those who already purchased it separately, so you have not lost anything...

 

 

[trinitygirl]

On 6/13/2023 at 12:48 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Did you notice item 7

 

WHAT IF A GUEST PURCHASED PREMIUM WI-FI BEFORE JUNE 1, 2023?

Guests are re-imbursed the difference via On Board Credit onboard. Process to refund and charge at new rate:
• The Store Manager processes refunds on the first day of the cruise using the PCP participation report
• Refunds are in the form of On Board Credit based on the difference in what the guest paid
and the new price onboard
• A welcome letter is placed in the cabin of affected guests

thanks for this, because i was just about to ask.  I bought my premium wifi in AUD for my November/December cruises, last month - and these prices are lower than what I paid.  So great to know there will be an OBC reflecting this.

Edited June 14, 2023 by trinitygirl

[NutsAboutGolf]

14 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

You can't opt to buy Basic as a stand-alone product anyone more, but it is still being provided as part of AI and is available for those who already purchased it separately, so you have not lost anything...

 

 

 

Exactly but unfortunately, they didn't gain anything, like premium either 

[Essiesmom]

I found the entire pricing to be confusing and erratic.  I sailed last week on Summit.  I had $200 non-refundable OBC but to purchase pre cruise would have exceeded that.  I started out using my Elite 90 minutes.  When that was done, I had the option of per day continuous, or per cruise.  So I bought a day.  That had expired for a few hours when I went to buy more.  I had already calculated that by day was cheaper than per cruise.  But then, the per day was no longer available, but per cruise remaining was only $113.  So essentially I paid less than $150 for Wi-Fi for the cruise, leaving room for three diet cokes, a glass of wine, and an insulated glass.  And there was a few dollars left over unspent.  

[Judge56]

So if you have basic Wi-Fi through the all included package there isn’t a way to upgrade to premium?  In the cruise planner there is only the option to buy a full premium package.  No longer an option to upgrade to premium.

[Mark_T]

52 minutes ago, Judge56 said:

So if you have basic Wi-Fi through the all included package there isn’t a way to upgrade to premium?  In the cruise planner there is only the option to buy a full premium package.  No longer an option to upgrade to premium.

The FAQ lists an upgrade option that should be in the planner (MCC) it just isn’t there yet it seems. 

[Mark_T]

7 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Exactly but unfortunately, they didn't gain anything, like premium either 

Nobody gained Premium without paying for it, AI still includes Basic. 
 

The only issue seems to be that the new upgrade option from Basic to Premium hasn’t made it into the planner yet.

 

This change just means that in future, if you do not take AI the only internet option to purchase will be Premium, but if you do take AI you will still be able to pay for an upgrade to Premium if you want…

[paulh84]

On 6/13/2023 at 7:44 AM, Mark_T said:

We had the 'Basic' Starlink WiFi on Eclipse in January and it was every bit as limited as the old 'Basic' WiFi unfortunately.

 

No question that it is an improvement for Premium, that seems to be well received by all, but Celebrity have kept the 'Basic' service locked down to such a low bandwidth that we couldn't even load this site...

There is no basic Starlink. Basic is the old system. The only improvement is for those on the premium packages (which appears will eventually be phased out - understandably). 

 

16 hours ago, FirstTeacher said:

As someone who purchased basic WiFi for my upcoming cruise (6/22), I am very disappointed in this decision. If I had known this would be happening, I would have taken advantage of the $9.99 voucher to upgrade back when we first booked. My husband did this so he’s all set. However, it now looks like I cannot keep the basic package at all, and if I want the premium WiFi I’ll be paying a much higher price to get it. When I get on board next week, I will certainly be requesting some satisfaction.

Read the FAQ again. You will still get exactly what you paid for.  

[Mark_T]

39 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

There is no basic Starlink. Basic is the old system. The only improvement is for those on the premium packages (which appears will eventually be phased out - understandably)

... not what we were told on Eclipse in January, but it would be a simple thing to test for anyone onboard.

 

... and similarly no sign that 'Basic' is being phased out, as it remains available as part of AI, it just isn't being offered as an option to purchase on its own any more...

[paulh84]

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

... not what we were told on Eclipse in January, but it would be a simple thing to test for anyone onboard.

 

... and similarly no sign that 'Basic' is being phased out, as it remains available as part of AI, it just isn't being offered as an option to purchase on its own any more...

There was no change to Basic. It is not a throttled version of Starlink/Premium. I was supposed to have Premium on our last cruise and it was extremely slow. I did a speed test and it confirmed that the network was not Starlink. Once they sorted my account I did another test and only then did it indicate Starlink. 

[prmssk]

12 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

There was no change to Basic. It is not a throttled version of Starlink/Premium. I was supposed to have Premium on our last cruise and it was extremely slow. I did a speed test and it confirmed that the network was not Starlink. Once they sorted my account I did another test and only then did it indicate Starlink. 

On the Eclipse last month, my husband had the basic internet package and when he did speed tests, it showed SpaceX Starlink as the provider. I can’t imagine it would be cost effective to maintain two different internet systems on the same ship (although there may have been a transition period where that happened).

 

Also, seeing the speed you posted, I expect your cruise was early on in the transition as I haven’t seen anyone get even close to those speeds recently. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by prmssk

[Gary72]

On my pre planner for Infinity,  it says up to 4 devices for $16.99/day. No mention of basic or premium though text says you can surf the web, etc.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

I expect your cruise was early on in the transition as I haven’t seen anyone get even close to those speeds recently. 

Have agree with you about the speeds 
On the spring TAs , people from different ships were posting their speed crossing the ocean 

Basic was always just under 1 Mbps , and Premium was just under 5 Mbps 

[prmssk]

26 minutes ago, Gary72 said:

On my pre planner for Infinity,  it says up to 4 devices for $16.99/day. No mention of basic or premium though text says you can surf the web, etc.

According to Celebrity's website, they aren't selling the basic anymore so I assume what you are seeing is the premium but that price is a steal.

[Mark_T]

2 hours ago, prmssk said:

On the Eclipse last month, my husband had the basic internet package and when he did speed tests, it showed SpaceX Starlink as the provider.

Thanks, that confirms what I was told on Eclipse.

[twincheryl]

On 6/12/2023 at 7:48 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Did you notice item 7

 

WHAT IF A GUEST PURCHASED PREMIUM WI-FI BEFORE JUNE 1, 2023?

Guests are re-imbursed the difference via On Board Credit onboard. Process to refund and charge at new rate:
• The Store Manager processes refunds on the first day of the cruise using the PCP participation report
• Refunds are in the form of On Board Credit based on the difference in what the guest paid
and the new price onboard
• A welcome letter is placed in the cabin of affected guests

Will be interesting to hear from people who purchased premium internet with no AI months before 6/1/23... or those of us who called to upgrade from basic (with AI) to premium with Elite discount months ago.  We try to upgrade as soon as we can since the prices often increase as time goes on.  I am guessing there might be quite a line of guests that do not find a welcome letter in their cabin.... lol

[Gary72]

Bought it

[Daveywavey70]

I'm a bit confused. When I paid for my cruise (Edge Jan24) I took the AI Option. I bought the premium upgrade voucher in the recent  "sale". Will I be getting either a refund or a better service? The wording seems quite contradictory.

[prmssk]

43 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

I'm a bit confused. When I paid for my cruise (Edge Jan24) I took the AI Option. I bought the premium upgrade voucher in the recent  "sale". Will I be getting either a refund or a better service? The wording seems quite contradictory.

Same service, whether you will get a refund or not depends on the price you paid.  If you don't get a letter in your stateroom, I would go to Guest Services and ask about it.

[Daveywavey70]

50 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Same service, whether you will get a refund or not depends on the price you paid.  If you don't get a letter in your stateroom, I would go to Guest Services and ask about it.

Many thanks.