On the Jewel now - internet users new info

My niece and I are on the Jewel right now. She is doing some online homework and I always buy minutes to check in on my dog by web came and check email. New to the ship is an unlimited minutes plan. We paid $149. We can share it but only one can be logged in at a time. We can use our phones, laptop, iPad or the Computer lab to login. And personally, I think it is faster this cruise.

It is only available until late on the second day. On the first day it costs more, but if you wait until noon on the second day it is $149. The guy told me it is a brand new option. We love it.

Thanks for sharing Donna!

Good morning to you and thank you for sharing the info & time away from enjoying the cruise to post for CC'ers. Congrats. for reaching Platinum level, enjoy the perks & make use of the comp'd dinner at LeBistro and free (1) bag of laundry.

FYI, another member reported live from the Getaway this week also that they have an unlimited internet data plan for 7 days priced at $179 - it seemed you have a very similar plan as theirs. We're on the Breakaway 2 weeks ago and the highest was 800 MB for $59 - speed was good but I only took a smaller MB data plan for a trial run myself. Do you have use of the latest iConcierge app & functionality?

Great information! Thank you.

Thanks. Maybe waiting explains the price difference. Then again, maybe ncl is testing different price points!

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Indeed, it is $179 for the week when purchased on the first day. Very pleased they offer this (at least on the Jewel).

And I clocked it at 1.71 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up.

Very interesting, especially if more than one person can use it (all though not at the same time) - maybe for the first time we will consider purchasing an on board internet package when we do our cruise in June (if they have the same offer on the Star).

I have always avoided the internet packages, because I find them to be expensive, especially with the system being slow and the minutes just "running away"....

An "afterthought": Maybe I will just stay away from the internet while I am cruising, like I have always done. At home I am online more or less 24/7 - so it is actually very nice to have a vacation also from the internet when I am on a cruise... :p

Wow this is fantastic news! As someone who works from home this means I can do many more cruises with this package. In the past the internet price and connection just didn't make it possible. Thanks for sharing.

That in connection with T-mobile's free international roaming, web and text is perfect for those that need to be in constant connection with work.

Just off the Spirit. On day 5 of our 10 day cruise they offered a 60 minute package for $24.

Just off the Spirit. On day 5 of our 10 day cruise they offered a 60 minute package for $24.

THAT sounds like a great deal - I hope they will be offering something similar on my 14 days cruise on the Star in June. If they do, then I will probably not have a vacation from internet after all.... :cool:

Thanks for sharing. We will be on the Jewel in a couple of weeks for 19 days. We are business owners and this will be the longest we have been away from our businesses. We always purchase the internet plans but the cost really adds up. $179 for seven days is definitely less than we normally pay.

So that you can use multiple devices on the single connection, set up one of your devices as a hot spot. Be sure to only allow your devices on it, as you don't want strangers using it.

That way, you and your niece can use it at the same time. It may be a bit slower at times, if you are both downloading something at the same time....but other than that, it should function as if both of you have your own connection.

I was on the Jewel last week and had no unlimited. I brought the 250 minutes for $125 (got 270 for buying early) as needed to checkin for work. I would have brought the unlimited. Yes multiple people could use, they just had to signin with your credentials. I will say that the performance was no issue at all for email, even with attachments. But it may get worse with more people on it. The connection even worked on the patio (had a front suite), which made it better when checking work!

Good to know! Thanks. We check on our dogs too while we're away, and this means I don't have to look for wifi while in port.

I just got off the Jewel this past Saturday (4/4).. it was still packaged by minutes. Best thing we got was extra 30 minutes if we signed up the first day :mad:

Sounds like you got a great deal with the unlimited.

My niece and I are on the Jewel right now. She is doing some online homework and I always buy minutes to check in on my dog by web came and check email. New to the ship is an unlimited minutes plan. We paid $149. We can share it but only one can be logged in at a time. We can use our phones, laptop, iPad or the Computer lab to login. And personally, I think it is faster this cruise.

 

It is only available until late on the second day. On the first day it costs more, but if you wait until noon on the second day it is $149. The guy told me it is a brand new option. We love it.

Thanks, Donna, for letting us know. I board the Jewel on Saturday when you get off.

I was going to buy 250 minutes for $100 but the unlimited is not too much more, well worth it since I won't have to watch the clock so much.

Hope you are having a great cruise -- sun and calm seas.

Good morning to you and thank you for sharing the info & time away from enjoying the cruise to post for CC'ers. Congrats. for reaching Platinum level, enjoy the perks & make use of the comp'd dinner at LeBistro and free (1) bag of laundry.

FYI, another member reported live from the Getaway this week also that they have an unlimited internet data plan for 7 days priced at $179 - it seemed you have a very similar plan as theirs. We're on the Breakaway 2 weeks ago and the highest was 800 MB for $59 - speed was good but I only took a smaller MB data plan for a trial run myself. Do you have use of the latest iConcierge app & functionality?

I have not experimented with the ap. Sorry.

I was on the Jewel last week and had no unlimited. I brought the 250 minutes for $125 (got 270 for buying early) as needed to checkin for work. I would have brought the unlimited. Yes multiple people could use, they just had to signin with your credentials. I will say that the performance was no issue at all for email, even with attachments. But it may get worse with more people on it. The connection even worked on the patio (had a front suite), which made it better when checking work!

You are correct. I confirmed today this is the first Jewel cruise to offer unlimited.

It just sounds like they are prorating the days. While it is still unlimited you will have fewer days to use it

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Currently on Jewel and using iConcierge app with the kids. Working flawlessly with our iPhones.

This is exciting news given I am aboard in less than a week.

With cell service for the first few hours on the ship, post departure thru the bay and out past the sea buoy, and a meeting on Sunday morning, I should easily be able to wait until after lunch on Day 2 and sign up for the lower price. If we departed on a Sunday maybe different thought process, but really I don't need email until Monday and that can be achieved at Diamonds International for those who ask nicely for the password. (from DI).

Hopefully the speed is much better than in the past as staying logged in quite a bit will allow the data to flow all the time. Should allow to post daily reviews of the ship while the cruise is in progress.

It's probably the one thing I really would like to see on all ships as being able to work from anywhere makes more vacations possible for me.

Indeed, it is $179 for the week when purchased on the first day. Very pleased they offer this (at least on the Jewel).

 

And I clocked it at 1.71 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up.

Okay, not to out myself as a tech idiot, but I will. Is this fast, slow or somewhere in between? We are going Pearl over Ruby Princess for a number of reasons, but not the least of them is that the last time I was on the Ruby, Internet was impossible to use - no matter where I was on the ship, it was excruciatingly slow. That didn't end too badly, as that cruise was only an extended weekend. But I am very afraid to be out of touch for an entire work week.

So will I be able to get my work done? I do a significant amount of downloading/uploading, but it is mostly documents, so not data-intensive files typically.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

PS - and yes, I do plan to spend significant amounts of time looking out at the sights, and not just holed up working. That is another reason why speed is important to me; being able to get my work done and sent quickly, and not sitting around waiting for pages to load while I - quite loudly - repeatedly curse at my laptop (as I did during the Ruby cruise).

PPS - On an unrelated topic, while I have your attention, I would be more than happy to receive reassurances that we made the right choice of Pearl over Ruby. Almost identical itineraries and prices. But we just got a very sterile feeling when we were on Ruby before. However, this is our fist time on NCL, so we are taking a bit of a flyer with the unknown.

Thanks again.

Okay, not to out myself as a tech idiot, but I will. Is this fast, slow or somewhere in between?

It's certainly not lightning fast, but it is much faster than I have ever experienced on a cruise ship before. It is roughly what is typical of DSL internet, or what many "free" hotel internet connections offer (of course, this varies significantly by brand/location).

I used it to download and upload work documents (generally around 10 MB), as well as general surfing. It worked just fine for that. Tried a few times to stream video, but it was not up to the task.

Since the unlimited package is limited to one device at a time can you connect with an iPhone then use that as a hot spot to connect the rest of devices?

Is this fast, slow or somewhere in between?

So will I be able to get my work done? I do a significant amount of downloading/uploading, but it is mostly documents, so not data-intensive files typically. Any thoughts?

FWIW, generalization from own experience on BA & from reports by others on GA and Jewel/class ships with newest upgrades - these're done at the hardware & "systems" level with enhanced satellite tech deployments (similar to those on other lines' fleet)

Cruise ship's satellite-based internet has always been slow, going back last 10+ years and most users surely knew this, it can take 2 or 3, even 4+ minutes to load a graphics intensive non-mobile browser surfing for news & email with all the ads & pop-ups. With the minutes plan, it was both slow & expensive with usage kept low.

On the Breakaway again last month with the MB data plan, I gave it a workout and was pleased - as poster above said - it wasn't slow & certainly nothing close to fast cable internet or Fios, bandwidth & costs among factors to be considered - I benchmarked it just around 2.5 MB download & close to 5 MB upload, and these duplex speed results were better than our old cooper DSL at home just 5 years ago - and, the connections are shared among all users onboard & logged into the satellite links.

Location of the specific ship in the ocean, elements of weather (clouds/storm/etc.) and other (# of concurrent users) factors are variables that greatly affect coverage & usage for satellite internet - typical documents uploads & downloads should fly along whereas graphics & pix intensive ones will be slower.

We used mostly our tablet, smartphone & iPad to get a feel for how good the speed were and find it acceptable & good, pricing discussion aside. For those that need internet to get things done, whatever it is - it was pretty difficult with slow speed before, regardless of cost. Now, when this is available - speed is significantly faster but not in a "turbo" sense and it will still be costly, but there are ways to manage it. There is no guarantee that it will have 97.5% ++ up-time at sea so I wouldn't schedule or attempt to do a webinar.

Once you are in a foreign port, docked/anchored ... that's a different story & chapter. The way I see all these rolling, allocating some of our OBC on the next cruise would be one way of keeping the costs down as charges for these plans can be offset.

Fortunately thus far, we haven't heard or seen too much, "hello, hello ... can you hear me now" nor devices' "ringers" going off in the MDR or specialty restaurants, and I'm sure they didn't install any signal repeaters too far into the main theater on the ship. :D