New Internet Policy?????

[LARGIN]

NJ2FL.. All Alaska ports have Internet Cafes and in Juneau you can take a 10 minute walk to the public library, use their computers and get on the Internet for free or at least it was free in late 2005 the last time we were there.. :D

[Pam in CA]

My dad and his wife are currently on the Island Princess 15 day RT Los Angeles/Hawaii. I spoke to them while they were in Hawaii and they said every time they went to try to use the internet there were no terminals available. They are Platinum and it doesn't look like they will use any of their "free" minutes as we haven't heard form them via email yet...............and they return on Wednesday. We'll be on the Diamond Princess 4/14, and are Platinum too, so will see for myself about the availability of internet for our Mexico cruise. It's great to have a "perk" and hope that we can use it.

I've taken this itinerary twice and there are, as always, peak times when the Internet cafe is busy and others when it's completely free. There are plenty of opportunities to use your "free" minutes; you just have to be a little bit flexible or willing to wait for 10 - 15 minutes. Also, keep in mind that the ship is out of satellite coverage for a day or so each way to/from Hawaii. The commerical satellites just don't cover vast regions of the ocean with maybe a few hundred potential users.

[latitude 22]

There's a HUMONGOUS internet cafe in Ketchikan

[amencher]

As a person who uses the internet aboard I am upset that Princess has breached its promise on the free internet access. As an Elite member, I feel betrayed that my "loyalty" is no longer valued. I paid for a 16 day cruise on the Coral Princess on the 28th of April, and then they changed their policy. It is too late to cancel without a substantial penalty, but I have already booked my next two cruises and they are not with Princess. A further betrayal is that the service aboard is obviously as slow as ever. When I contacted Princess about the fact that I made my reservation a year and a half before they changed their policy, I was just told - too bad, so sad. I have always recommended Pincess to others - no more. I travel with a group of cruisemates, we will all look elsewhere. To bad - so sad for Princess.

 

Art

20 Princess Cruises

[amencher]

There is an internet cafe within walking distance of Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka. Probably in Skagway too. They operate on the same provider so you can buy a card in one port and us it in the others to use your time.

 

Art

[smooth sailor]

While I can understand the frustration at the end of unlimited free Internet on Princess, I do believe that everyone should realize that most cruise lines do not give any free Internet time at all. I know that Celebrity, for example, offers no free Internet and charges a rate that is far greater than the rate charged by Princess. I feel that the 150 free Internet minutes, for two people, is more than I should ever need. In fact my next cruise is to Alaska and if anyone ever finds me on the Internet for more than 150 minutes, I would appreciate a good kick you know where!

IMHO, anyone who spends more than the 150 free minutes on the Internet on a Princess cruise probably sign-on to get_a_life.com.

[calcruzr]

We were on the Star last week (4/7 to 4/14). I used the Internet Cafe twice and did not buy a package. Both times my charges showed up on my bill and were immediately credited back to me. (I am Platinum). The connection was the slowest it has been in my 6 cruises, but at least it didn't cost anything!

[chasetf]

As a person who uses the internet aboard I am upset that Princess has breached its promise on the free internet access. As an Elite member, I feel betrayed that my "loyalty" is no longer valued. I paid for a 16 day cruise on the Coral Princess on the 28th of April, and then they changed their policy. It is too late to cancel without a substantial penalty, but I have already booked my next two cruises and they are not with Princess. A further betrayal is that the service aboard is obviously as slow as ever. When I contacted Princess about the fact that I made my reservation a year and a half before they changed their policy, I was just told - too bad, so sad. I have always recommended Pincess to others - no more. I travel with a group of cruisemates, we will all look elsewhere. To bad - so sad for Princess. Art 20 Princess Cruises

I think the Princess "betrayal" is a result of passenger "betrayal". I have seen abuse of the privileges, and I am sure all of us that has cruised with some frequency can attest to it also. The passenger betrayal I refer to is those with that "unlimited" access that passed it out to their friends, those that camped for hours running their business when the lab is there for the convenience of all.... and this necessitated Princess putting restrictions to get it back under control.

 

The amount of time given is plenty for checking emails from the family, checking bank accounts, and such. For each person, it is 7 days / 150 minutes or 300 min for a couple. But I agree, you cannot run your business on the 300 minutes (which equals 5 hours).

 

So we all have each other to blame and point fingers at. But nobody likes to look in the mirror..... so lets blame the heartless corporation.....:mad:

[cruisegirl25]

IMHO, anyone who spends more than the 150 free minutes on the Internet on a Princess cruise probably sign-on to get_a_life.com.

 

I take online classes and have enjoyed this perk in the past. I have to sign on to class 4 out 7 days a week. I have to stop cruising until I graduate because of this change. At least, I will not have to wait long....I finish in June.

[Admiral Horatio Nelson]

While I can understand the frustration at the end of unlimited free Internet on Princess, I do believe that everyone should realize that most cruise lines do not give any free Internet time at all. I know that Celebrity, for example, offers no free Internet and charges a rate that is far greater than the rate charged by Princess. I feel that the 150 free Internet minutes, for two people, is more than I should ever need. In fact my next cruise is to Alaska and if anyone ever finds me on the Internet for more than 150 minutes, I would appreciate a good kick you know where!

IMHO, anyone who spends more than the 150 free minutes on the Internet on a Princess cruise probably sign-on to get_a_life.com.

 

This is a very valid point and one overlooked by most people complaining about this.

 

Furthermore, a lot of people are complaining about the speed onboard saying 'Since the new policy the speed has decreased.' People are assuming the new policy has something to do with any problems they may experience. Well apart from three ships,

 

Caribbean Princess

Dawn Princess

Grand Princess

 

which have changed Internet vendors, all the other ship have the same identical setups as before, so any speed problems will be because of logistical rather than a policy change. The CB is having some issues and I understand they have reduced the cost onboard whilst the speed issue remains.

[phillipahain]

The blame lies with all those who ABUSED the priveledge their captains circle status afforded them

 

I have been appalled at the number of people i have witnessed sharing their card

The problem is its the honest people who are now suffering and anyone who dares to do long cruises is also suffering because the free allowance is same for 21 days or 102 days

 

Since it so frequently takes 7 minutes to even log on to e mail accounts its surprising how quickly the allowance disapears

 

On my last cruise i still thankfully had the old unlimited access and having to deal with all the problems a death in the family had created i sure needed it

 

I agree its unreasonable to try and run a business but even the best of us can face the kind of problems i faced on a 37 day cruise to Antartica that had been booked 18 months previously and could hardly be cancelled

 

We had planned to celebrate 40 years of marriage with the 102 day World cruise however many things about Princess inc a distinct lack of information meant that the loss of unlimited internet was the last straw and we decided to cancel our booking

 

You simply cannot be away from family for that length of time and cope with only 21 days of internet allowance

 

We certainly were not the only ones who cancelled their World Cruise for precisely the same reasons