TampaMike

I am aboard Eurodam. I am 5 star and prepurchased Premium wifi. A 5 star credit was added to my onboard account but then reversed. So no you do not get both Prepaid benefits and then a Mariner credit atop of the prepaid charge. Prepaid packages do seem to be the better value over the Mariner credit at the onboard rate. I cannot speak for a prepaid lower tier and onboard upgrade, you need to do the math. Starlink is now on Eurodam. Overall connectivity is good, but still has room for improvement. Streaming has hiccups. I have an Android 13 phone and occasionally need to clear cache. With Android, the Airplane mode will block text and Wi-Fi calling. So I leave Airplane mode off, but set network for NO DATA, Wi-Fi calling ON and Intl Roaming off. This will keep your Android using wifi for all data and voice communication. It will also prevent your phone from using the ships cellular transponders $$$. What a surprise to have my phone ring while onboard with Caller ID. I also use Nord VPN and can access bank, utility, home security cams / smart home and various apps with VPN active. However Navigator is not very stable. Periodically I have to close Navigator, momentarily disable VPN, relaunch Navigator then re-enable the VPN. I can watch TV programs on Pluto and home TV provider via their apps. Also, I have experienced on recent cruises from FLL that onboard WiFi and Navigator are unstable on embarkation until the next day. HAL should not charge or credit for these days. Overall, not perfect, but works much better than wifi a few years ago. It is not as seamless as they project for the top tier. But now I leave the laptop home.