How much to upgrade to premium internet?

[BermudaBound2014]

We both have surf included in HIA.

 

How much to upgrade to premium internet on a 22 night cruise?

 

Do we both need to upgrade?

 

My understanding is that this upgrade needs to happen on board. Confirm/Deny?

 

TIA!

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

How much to upgrade to premium internet on a 22 night cruise? $364.99

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Internet-Update-from-HIA-Surf-Plan.pdf

Do we both need to upgrade? No.

 

My understanding is that this upgrade needs to happen on board. Confirm/Deny? I believe so. Roger? @Crew News

I think you do the upgrade once you are logged in to the Surf, which obviously can't happen until you are onboard.

Edited July 31 by crystalspin

[VMax1700]

On board only.

$85 to upgrade for 22 days.

No restriction on just one person upgrading.

[Hlitner]

Just keep in mind that upgrading onboard Internet does not get you faster speeds or any kind of connection priority.  You simply have fewer restrictions (such as for streaming)..  I mention this because, if the Internet connection/service is bad, paying for an upgrade will not help.  We learned this the hard way :(.

 

Hank

[BermudaBound2014]

17 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Just keep in mind that upgrading onboard Internet does not get you faster speeds or any kind of connection priority.  You simply have fewer restrictions (such as for streaming)..  I mention this because, if the Internet connection/service is bad, paying for an upgrade will not help.  We learned this the hard way :(.

 

Hank

 

Thank you! That is interesting indeed.

 

I get it that if there is no starlink due to location of the ship on Earth (poles, fyords, etc..) , but I thought I'd get better speeds/connectivity. 

 

This is what is described on HAL's site:

 

Surf: Web surfing, emails, news, & sports apps

Premium: Web surfing, emails, news, & Sports

 

What's the difference between a sports app and sports? 

 

 

 

This isn't my field of expertise (not that I actually have any field of expertise), but can someone tell me what difference I can expect between surf and premium assuming starlink is working properly?

 

Hank, Was your experience before or after Starlink? I thought starlink gave ships more options to dial down services.

[ChinaShrek]

I upgraded to Premium on the Nieuw Statendam cruise that went from Reykjavik to Amsterdam this month. I did so for WiFi calling but it didn't work well in my cabin. I would have to make calls in open areas on Deck 3 or 4. (The area around Grand Dutch Cafe was especially good.) It also seemed to block people from calling me at various times. For a 10 day cruise, it cost me $50 to upgrade. The WiFi also frequently stopped and started, which was a pain.

[tvlgoddess]

Does Surf internet support WhatsApp Video calling?  Has anyone used it?  Do I need to upgrade to premium?  I know premium works cause that’s the plan I always have but only have Surf on my upcoming one.  TIA

[VMax1700]

50 minutes ago, tvlgoddess said:

Does Surf internet support WhatsApp Video calling?

No it does not.  It is necessary to upgrade.

[Hlitner]

8 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Thank you! That is interesting indeed.

 

I get it that if there is no starlink due to location of the ship on Earth (poles, fyords, etc..) , but I thought I'd get better speeds/connectivity. 

 

This is what is described on HAL's site:

 

Surf: Web surfing, emails, news, & sports apps

Premium: Web surfing, emails, news, & Sports

 

What's the difference between a sports app and sports? 

 

 

 

This isn't my field of expertise (not that I actually have any field of expertise), but can someone tell me what difference I can expect between surf and premium assuming starlink is working properly?

 

Hank, Was your experience before or after Starlink? I thought starlink gave ships more options to dial down services.

We have lots of experience (decades) before Starlink and 5 cruises (with 4 different lines) with Starlink.  Starlink is simply the satellite system (thank you Elon Musk) which is a huge improvement over the older satellite systems.  But the cruise ships still control access through their own software and switching systems.  Our Internet service on some lines has been far better than others (with HAL and Princess being among the worst).  I think the best was on a recent cruise (including transatlantic) on the new Oceania Vista (which showed 4 Starlink antennas on an upper deck).  Our service, for the month-long voyage, was always very good and for browsing seemed almost as fast as on land.  We do not generally stream during cruises, but plenty of folks were using Facetime.  Not sure about Whatsapp video calling.

 

On that O cruise, we routinely used our iPhones to make VOIP phone calls, and reception was even better than in our home (I kid you not).  

 

Hank

[terrydtx]

You can upgrade at any point in the cruise. We usually wait until we sail and upgrade the second day of the cruise, that saves one day of charges.  If there is a reason you need the higher service you can wait until you need it like for working from the ship.

[BermudaBound2014]

4 hours ago, terrydtx said:

You can upgrade at any point in the cruise. We usually wait until we sail and upgrade the second day of the cruise, that saves one day of charges.  If there is a reason you need the higher service you can wait until you need it like for working from the ship.

 

Very helpful, thank you.

 

Did they price your internet upgrade per day?

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Very helpful, thank you.

 

Did they price your internet upgrade per day?

Yes it was per day but when you upgrade it had to be for the balance of the cruise. 

Edited August 2 by terrydtx

[BermudaBound2014]

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Yes it was per day but when you upgrade it had to be for the balance of the cruise. 

 

Thanks! The cost to upgrade on our 22 night cruise is $85. Roughly $4 per day. 

 

Do you know how much more speed you got when you upgraded from surf to premium?

 

I had premium last year in Tahiti and it was slow. It always worked, and Starlink is infinitely better than before, but at times photos loaded very slowly and videos never really loaded here to CC live thread. I'm thinking HAL is really dialing down the speed onboard (and this was before they were offering stream). The upgrade to stream seems a bit excessive :(. 

[crystalspin]

39 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Do you know how much more speed you got when you upgraded from surf to premium?

It's not the speed, but what applications are not blocked. 😕

[BermudaBound2014]

8 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

It's not the speed, but what applications are not blocked. 😕

 

Are you sure? I read that cruise lines can dial down speeds too. I did speed tests on the K'dam and they varied wildly.

Edited August 2 by BermudaBound2014

[crystalspin]

On 7/31/2024 at 7:33 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

someone tell me what difference I can expect between surf and premium assuming starlink is working properly?

Are you sure? I read that cruise lines can dial down speeds too. 

I did speed tests on the K'dam and they varied wildly.

I have not sailed since Starlink, but the description highlights that audio/video aspects of messaging being the main thing.

 

Hank did say the same thing, about speed vs restricted sites. ETA:About the speed tests I plead ignorance, but may be it fluctuates while finding and switching between the Starlink satellites?

 

I apologize for giving you the price for Premium as the price to upgrade in my initial reply! May have stopped your heart -- I had scrolled down to 21-25 days and cut the column titles off...

Edited August 2 by crystalspin

[BermudaBound2014]

Just now, crystalspin said:

I have not sailed since Starlink, but the description highlights that audio/video aspects of messaging being the main thing.

 

Hank did say the same thing, about speed vs restricted sites.

 

I apologize for giving you the price for Premium as the price to upgrade in my initial reply! May have stopped your heart -- I had scrolled down to 21-25 days and cut the column titles off...

 

You never need to apologize to me gf. You are one of the most helpful people here and I appreciate you :).

 

 

[VMax1700]

I have simultaneously 'speedtested' connections on both the DW's Surf and  my upgraded  Premium and speeds, ping and latency were similar. 

[crystalspin]

On 8/2/2024 at 3:52 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

You never need to apologize to me gf. You are one of the most helpful people here and I appreciate you :).

"Aggressively Helpful"!

[BermudaBound2014]

On 8/2/2024 at 6:24 PM, VMax1700 said:

I have simultaneously 'speedtested' connections on both the DW's Surf and  my upgraded  Premium and speeds, ping and latency were similar. 

 

That is very helpful, thank you.

 

7 hours ago, crystalspin said:

"Aggressively Helpful"!

 

 

Because no one's got time for passivity 😄 

[Sea42]

7 hours ago, crystalspin said:

"Aggressively Helpful"!

That's what my husband calls me when he wants to let me know that I'm nagging him😁