Are Internet Packages on Royal Princess Worth it?

Hi,

We are taking Royal Princess from Rome to Athens in August. I was looking at the internet package pricing for the cruise and it is pretty expensive.

So wanted to ask some of the experienced travelers. What have you done for internet packages while on cruise? Are these packages worth it?

We live in US, so should we buy some kind of internet connectivity before we get on the cruise? Something that works both in Italy and Greece. Any suggestions?

Thank you for all the answers :)

When we cruise we disconnect. No internet unless it's free with your status. Our friend had to work a little on our last cruise and she prepurchased the internet package because it was less expensive. If we need to check in at home we wait until we are in port and use an international calling plan or find free wi-fi. Just depends on what your needs are.

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Hi,

We are taking Royal Princess from Rome to Athens in August. I was looking at the internet package pricing for the cruise and it is pretty expensive.

 

So wanted to ask some of the experienced travelers. What have you done for internet packages while on cruise? Are these packages worth it?

 

We live in US, so should we buy some kind of internet connectivity before we get on the cruise? Something that works both in Italy and Greece. Any suggestions?

 

Thank you for all the answers :)

Internet is expensive on most cruise ships. Unless its part of a package or you need to contact family , I would not bother. I always took because we have elderly parents alaive that we need to know about.

Yes internet at sea is expensive. And slow: satellite internet speed is somewhere in between dial-up and the very first generation of DSL.

But only you know how much connectivity you will need to take away from your vacation time. "Worth it" is always a relative term, but in the case of the internet considerably more so.

Certainly inquire with your carrier about international roaming on your device. Get very specific details about data roaming: what is the maximum amount of data you can use while the plan is active, and at what speed.

Just remember that your carrier's plan is for use on land only, not on the ship. Should you use the ship's cell towers for data the roaming charges will be astounding--the ship's internet plan is downright affordable by comparison.

So when and where will you need the internet: on the ship evenings and sea days, in port, or both? Will you need periods of continuous connectivity, or just to log on a few times a day to check e-mails? Do you need work to be able to reach you, or have sick family/little kids at home? Or is something really important like updating social media status a minimum of six times a day :rolleyes:? Only you can balance cost vs. need as it affects your personal situation; maybe you have sussed out my opinion of staying "connected" while on vacation--now you have to figure out yours.

If you need to be constantly connected to know some of your personal or business interest, get the package. Otherwise, you can get connected when in port where you can avail of free wifi on some spots, or your cellular network if it is cheaper than the package.

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Be advised that you need to keep close track of your usage. If you go over your alloted time it will get very expensive. And you may not get any warning that you are about to exceed them. Be sure to properly sign put after each session. Failure to do so will continue to use minutes after ypu close your browser. If not sure of how to do it ask at the Internet Cafe onboard

If I did not have internet privileges how would I keep up with CC and posting? ;p

Seriously as mentioned it is SLOW and sometimes drops connections requiring you to redo your connection. Downloading large data like pictures or webpages embedded with huge amounts of data will be excruciatingly long and time consuming. If you feel you need it, by all means purchase a package which is the most cost efficient. We now get a free package of internet time as a perk which is great.

Wi-Fi cafes in the ports you visit.

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If you want to use the internet on the ship you have to purchase the internet minuets. Satellite internet is slower than your home internet.

If you want to use cell service while in port then you have to purchase some sort of cell package from your cell phone provider.

Some locations in port have free wi-fi. Follow the crew.

My 2 favorite perks at my status are priority boarding and internet minutes. Gotta love free internet. I have paid for it before, but was it worth it? Probably not, more like a luxury item I could have easily done without.

And the minutes go by really quickly. Every second counts, even when signing on and off and then it's slow when you're on. So it's expensive to begin with, but more so because you don't get good mileage, so to speak. IMHO there really isn't any good reason for it to cost so much. Could be wrong, but I doubt it costs them as much as they charge.

Internet is expensive on most cruise ships. Unless its part of a package or you need to contact family , I would not bother. I always took because we have elderly parents alive that we need to know about.

Although we only use it from 15 to 20 minutes a day, we find Internet access is essential when on a cruise. Besides the usual need to check in with relatives now and then, we have found access valuable:

a) When a credit card company that knew we were traveling put a hold on our credit card after a foreign charge exceeded some secret limit. We found out about it that evening when checking e-mails. This has happened more than once. The most recent time the hold was placed within 30 seconds of the charge being made.

b) Communicating with tour vendors if there is a needed change either by the vendor or by us.

And "expensive" is in the eye of the beholder. Using the Internet 15-minutes/day with a paid package on Princess can cost less than $100 on a two week cruise. On another cruise line, only a unlimited use package is available and that is at a cost of about $23/day. Cheap if you really need unlimited access, expensive if you just need 15-20 minutes a day.

It really comes down to your needs.

If you can do some productive work may well be worth it.

If there are things at home you are going to stress about probably worth it.

But it's not cheap.

If I did not have internet privileges how would I keep up with CC and posting? ;p

 

Seriously as mentioned it is SLOW and sometimes drops connections requiring you to redo your connection. Downloading large data like pictures or webpages embedded with huge amounts of data will be excruciatingly long and time consuming. If you feel you need it, by all means purchase a package which is the most cost efficient. We now get a free package of internet time as a perk which is great.

Just downloading a full mail message can be excruciating. Find a convenient router on the ship and sit by it. And make very sure you have logged off. I agree with those who say it is nice to be out of touch sometimes.

Its expensive and unreliable.

If you need to be constantly connected to know some of your personal or business interest, get the package. Otherwise, you can get connected when in port where you can avail of free wifi on some spots, or your cellular network if it is cheaper than the package

 

 

I agree.

Tony

They need to hurry up and install O3b system, like RCCL has on Quantum. A fixed price cost, for always-connected service you can use to even watch Netflix. Until then, it's kind of a waste of money. I've seen dialup internet faster than cruise ship connection.

Be advised that you need to keep close track of your usage. If you go over your alloted time it will get very expensive. And you may not get any warning that you are about to exceed them. Be sure to properly sign put after each session. Failure to do so will continue to use minutes after ypu close your browser. If not sure of how to do it ask at the Internet Cafe onboard

You are correct in making sure that you log off properly in order to stop using minutes, however you are wrong in relation to it getting expensive if you go over your allotted time. When you reach the allotted time you just get cut off, there are no additional costs.

I always just book a package before we leave. It's not essential and as others have said you can get net access at every port, especially in Europe. I just like it on board so I can Skype the kids occasionally and catch up with emails etc. Preferably when in port I would rather be seeing things rather than on a tablet.

You are correct in making sure that you log off properly in order to stop using minutes, however you are wrong in relation to it getting expensive if you go over your allotted time. When you reach the allotted time you just get cut off, there are no additional costs.

I always just book a package before we leave. It's not essential and as others have said you can get net access at every port, especially in Europe. I just like it on board so I can Skype the kids occasionally and catch up with emails etc. Preferably when in port I would rather be seeing things rather than on a tablet.

You are correct about getting cut off when your minutes run out. On our last trip, the person in the Internet Cafe said they finally changed it from the old way where they did keep charging you, I used to be so paranoid about it.

Fortunately we get some free minutes on Princess because I do not want to unplug. I have people at home I want and need to stay in touch with.