Japan - Will Pocket WIFI work when ships are in port?

[hubofhockey]

Looking at pocket wifi vs ESIM for Japan.  With two of us, I’m thinking the pocket wifi makes more sense, which we will need in any case for the first week of our vacation in Toyko and Kyoto.  I know it will work in all of the ports (exception of Busan), but was wondering if it would work on the ship when the ship is in port.  On Celebrity, was thinking of upgrading one of the standard WIFI included to premium, but now thinking that’s a big waste of money. Our iPhones are unlocked and still learning so much about this and would appreciate any advice from more tech savvy travelers.

[Milhouse]

Open to being corrected but a pocket wifi is just a mobile device with a sim card or esim that creates a wifi hotspot for you or your group to connect to.  I can't see why it wouldn't normally work on the ship when it's in port or close to land.  One exception that comes to mind I suppose is if you are deeper within the ship and the cell signals can't reach the pocket wifi but you would likely be stuck in the same situation with your phone using a Japanese esim.

 

With the pocket wifi, everyone using it has to obviously be within range of the device versus everyone having an esim and being able to separate.  

[hubofhockey]

Thanks, we're pretty close to the top of the ship (deck 9 Celebrity Millennium) with a balcony, so we shouldn't be blocked.  I would think that would help.  I wasn't sure if I would get better reception with the esim or the pocket wifi.  Since there are two of us, the pocket wifi probably makes more sense.  Originally, I had planned to spend $9 per day to upgrade the include Celeb wifi for the premium for one device.  Thinking that makes no sense and only use the ship's basic wifi when in Busan, South Korea.  It's possible the ship's wifi, even the premium, might be a struggle with so many people accessing it at one time.

[Milhouse]

Not apples to apples but I was debating buying ship wifi for our X Constellation cruise from Italy to Greece.  I ended up buying a data only esim instead.  Was able to get a cell signal on the bed (and top decks of course) but occasionally struggled by the cabin door and in the hallways.  Yes, you probably can keep your pocket wifi on a table near the balcony doors and should be good to go in your cabin.  

[hubofhockey]

Thanks on this one.  Love the Constellation (for some reason, preferred it to Millennium, not sure why).  We did an Adriatic cruise on that ship.  We still have the basic wifi for paying for aqua - so if we need to email or send browse on the ship where bad reception, I suppose that could help.

[floridatravelersforlife]

I decided to use a pocket wifi instead of esim.  I can connect all my devices - 3 cell phones, an ipad and a windows laptop. Any communication with home or the States will be before 8 AM or after 8 PM Japan time.  My data needs will serviced by pocket wifi during the daytime in Japan without restricted speed.  Night time calls home will be either pocket wifi or Celebrity wifi, depending whether or not we are in port. We get free premium wifi on the Millenium. so for sea days and out of range,  we will use Celebrity..  We use Verizon wifi calling. This avoids managing the settings on the phones which has caused me hurdles in the past

[BNguy]

Sitting at Narita after being on a Regent cruise Vancouver to Tokyo, I can attest that the pocket wi-fi worked as advertised.  The ship's (Explorer) wi-fi was horrible during the entire cruise, many people complained but nothing was fixed.  At our first port in Japan I arranged to have the pocket wi-fi sent to a post office there and picked it up.  When we were in port the pocket wi-fi worked just fine and was fast.  Could I have used an esim, sure but then I'd have to get one for my wife and one for me, plus I couldn't use my lap top, the pocket wi-fi solved all those issues and was less expensive.  Your mileage may vary, but that was my experience.

[FlaMariner]

FWIW

 

Arrived back from Japan Friday.....We bought the pocket wifi but would not do it again.

 

Why?

 

The pocket wifi worked fine but Her Majesty ditched it and just used her Verizon phone and internet was fast and always available and only costs ten bucks a day.  For us, the pocket wifi was a unnecessary expense and hassle. 

 

Verizon worked fine (and fast all day) for us.

 

 

[monkey@cruise]

I could use the roaming data on my phone and only have to deal with having that one device... 
But what if I have a computer, or a many devices that need connecting..? 
Then Pocket WiFi will certainly provide me more value for my dollar! 
Sure there may be troublesome to carry around an extra device with me everywhere I go, 
but the benefits I gain from this little device far outweigh that trouble. 
Lightning fast speeds (4G/LTE), huge data limit or unlimited, multi-device connectivity (up to 10 devices).

I paid 8,000 yen (included insurance) for 9 days, unlimited data, 4G speed, 2 cell phones and 2 tablets connectivity.

[FlaMariner]

14 hours ago, monkey@cruise said:

But what if I have a computer, or a many devices that need connecting..? 

 

Agree.  If you travel with computer and other "devices" you need it...We made the mistake of buying pocket wifi and our Verizon phone would have served us totally.

 

Live and learn.

[broberts]

Depending on the plan, one can usually use the phone as a wifi hot spot. It's should be fine for a couple of devices.

 

 

[Poconolady]

Trying to make a decision about changing carriers/ new phone, etc Several here were satisfied with Verizon’s $10 international option, does anyone have any comments on the AT&T plan in Asia?

[monkey@cruise]

3 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Agree.  If you travel with computer and other "devices" you need it...We made the mistake of buying pocket wifi and our Verizon phone would have served us totally.

 

Live and learn.

I found phone roaming consumes more battery, because my phone is spending more time trying to obtain a signal and switching between cell towers compared to when I am at home using my home provider.

[FlaMariner]

2 hours ago, monkey@cruise said:

I found phone roaming consumes more battery, because my phone is spending more time trying to obtain a signal and switching between cell towers compared to when I am at home using my home provider.

 

Her Majesty did not have that problem when in Japan on Verizon.  And we were using lots of "directions" w/maps.

 

We actually thought the phone worked better in Japan (very high speed service) than when home. 

[monkey@cruise]

5 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Her Majesty did not have that problem when in Japan on Verizon.  And we were using lots of "directions" w/maps.

 

We actually thought the phone worked better in Japan (very high speed service) than when home. 

Japan had more base stations than in US. The widespread coverage provide more bandwidth for data transmission. You phone works better in Japan and other Asian countries than at home.