Internet Cafe: Free when connected to CruiseCritic.Com website?

[OUTinMinnesota]

I was unable to find this topic when I searched in the NCL forum.  So, I'm asking it as a new topic.

 

If you've cruised with NCL in sometime in 2023,

 - did you used NCL's Internet Café to connect with the Cruise Critic website?  

 

If yes, did NCL comp you for the minutes spent while connected to domain: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/ ?  Are they still giving free time so CC members can post a Live Cruise Report ? 

[julig22]

Yes, access to CruiseCritic is free but can be somewhat limited. And no, I don't think they would reimburse you if you used your minutes, as the site can be reached without using your login.

However, I have had issues with maintaining my login while on CC - so no notifications, access to roll calls or ability to respond to comments when that happens.  At that point, I've had to use my wifi account to login to CC, then logout of the wifi.  Inconvenient, yes but it works.

[Katie H]

CC is listed as one of the free sites along with NCL site - you just click on the link without logging into your account.  .  But in reality, after I get connected to CC, I am never able to get to the boards - just has never worked for me.  So good news - it's free.  Bad news - it doesn't work.

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, OUTinMinnesota said:

I was unable to find this topic when I searched in the NCL forum.  So, I'm asking it as a new topic.

 

If you've cruised with NCL in sometime in 2023,

 - did you used NCL's Internet Café to connect with the Cruise Critic website?  

 

If yes, did NCL comp you for the minutes spent while connected to domain: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/ ?  Are they still giving free time so CC members can post a Live Cruise Report ? 

You do not log on to the internet when accessing CC. You access it while logged off just like using the NCL app. 

[hallux]

My experience is that it's allowed for free but it's quite slow.  I think that access gets the lowest priority on the uplink.

[Asawi]

As has been said, you reach Cruise Critic WITHOUT logging in to Internet. Click on the link under "free pages" or something like that. On my recent cruise I wasn't able to get to the forum/boards though.

Or maybe I just wasn't patient enough and maybe would have gotten there after enough time. Anyway, I had free cell service in ports/near land and plenty of minutes so I decides not to keep trying.

[OUTinMinnesota]

I'm grateful to all of you who've helped me learn  💯

 

Tip of the hat to @Asawi and @Katie H!   Thanks for the guidance about the steps to do it...  You need to click the link under "free pages" (or something like that) without logging into the personal account.

 

If I've misunderstood, please point me in the right direction, okay?  I'm ignorant.  But it's the kind of ignorant that wants to learn.

Edited August 22, 2023 by OUTinMinnesota

[schmoopie17]

Free, or not...I've never been able to access CC onboard a ship. Maybe it's my phone...although even the internet cafe guys don't have an answer, either.

 

Although, I am able to access the NCL site via the free page link. Strange...

Edited August 22, 2023 by schmoopie17

[ziggyuk]

I have been able to access CC for free while on WiFi without logging in however...... I was not able to post any messages unless I first logged in opened a text box to reply then logged back out, once I had done this I found I could reply multiple times without needing to log back in.

 

For some reason I just found it needed to be logged in for a minute or so at the start of a session to kick start something.

[DCGuy64]

Don't know if this will be helpful to @OUTinMinnesota, but I was able to view Cruise Critic on my phone aboard the Gem and the Epic without logging in and using my minutes. I think I only used it for viewing purposes, so didn't try to post anything or respond, etc. I think it's kind of nice that apart from NCL's own website, the one other free site is this one. 😊

[cruiseny4life]

Count me as one of those that accessed Cruise Critic using the "free" site link on NCL's app/website. It was virtually unusable. My "live" crashed and burned as I used my 150 free minutes quickly and couldn't get the free version to load enough to post. Alas, you get what you pay for. In this case, a blank page.

[Sailing12Away]

As others have already said, yes, it is free and you can poke around and view things. But if you're trying to rely on it to post a live review, not likely. And if you want to upload photos - forget about it. It was so slow on our last trips I just gave up and pretended it wasn't free.

 

Our cell phone plan includes unlimited data when on land, so the free minutes are usually sufficient for me to use while at sea if there's something I have to do or look up or post away from land. But I'm far from a professional travel blogger or someone even concerned with 'having' to post live reviews.