Internet Packages

I hate using the internet on vacation, but must this next time. Last 2 cruises, we had my Mother who's an Elite member to check on things with her free internet.

Whats the best way to purchase minutes? Buy before the trip from Princess site and get the extra bump in minutes, or is there an early sign-up on board where extra minutes are used as an incentive?

Mahalo, Tim

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2072981&highlight=internet+packages

Buy before on-line, there are no deals once you get on the ship.

There are really no deals anytime.

All the following prices include a $3.95 one time activation fee. The minutes in parenthesis are bonus minutes for prepurchasing.

100 (20) minutes – $72.95

150 - free for Platinum and above for 7 day cruise and less

200 (40) minutes – $102.95

250 - free for Platinum and above for 8-20 day cruise

400 (60) minutes – $162.95

500 - free for Platinum and above for 21 day cruise and above

600 (80) minutes – $202.95

1000 (100) minutes (for World Cruise only) – $252.95

Thank-You!

There are really no deals anytime.

You can make friends with a Platinum/Elite cruiser who doesn't need their free minutes. In exchange for services.

Buy before on-line, there are no deals once you get on the ship.

 

Hmmmm.... I don't worry 'bout Internet minutes anymore, but, in the Patter, I've seen an offer of 40 bonus minutes if you buy Internet minutes on the first day.

 

Edit: I found this in my embarkation Patter from my cruise on Star Princess in June...

 

patter-internet by RickEk, on Flickr

Hmmmm.... I don't worry 'bout Internet minutes anymore, but, in the Patter, I've seen an offer of 40 bonus minutes if you buy Internet minutes on the first day.

 

Edit: I found this in my embarkation Patter from my cruise on Star Princess in June...

 

patter-internet by RickEk, on Flickr

 

I have seen them too.

Hmmmm.... I don't worry 'bout Internet minutes anymore, but, in the Patter, I've seen an offer of 40 bonus minutes if you buy Internet minutes on the first day.

 

 

The key words are "up to 40 minutes". They have packages of 100 minutes for $69, 200 minutes for $99, 400 minutes for $159, and 600 minutes for $199. You get 10 bonus minutes on the 100 minute plan, 20 on the 200, 30 on the 400, and 40 on the 600 minute plan if you buy on the first day. You can also pay as you go at $0.79/minute. As noted above, there is a 3.95 activation fee.

I hate using the internet on vacation, but must this next time. Last 2 cruises, we had my Mother who's an Elite member to check on things with her free internet.

Whats the best way to purchase minutes? Buy before the trip from Princess site and get the extra bump in minutes, or is there an early sign-up on board where extra minutes are used as an incentive?

Mahalo, Tim

 

Either way will be just fine .

I'm leaving tomorrow, and this time, we too must buy minutes.

Do I have to take my laptop, or is my iPhone ok to use ?

 

Thanks,

Pat

Do I have to take my laptop, or is my iPhone ok to use ?

iPhone should be fine for reading mail and simple stuff. You can use one the PCs in the shipboard Internet Café if you need a larger screen and real keyboard, etc. Put any personal files you need in the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.), make a note of your bookmarks and passwords, and you can leave the laptop at home!

I believe there is one other internet minutes "package" available, that was offered on the last day (or the night before) of my last cruise. It was a smallish number of minutes at a reduced (but still fairly high, per minute) price. I didn't bite, although I might do so on my upcoming cruise.

 

Does anyone else remember seeing this offer and the details?

 

(I'm not Platinum yet, but will be after my next cruise. So, no free minutes for me yet.)

There are really no deals anytime.

 

not sure what you are saying. There are extra minutes if purchased before sailing, and you (as an Elite) get a whole lot of free minutes.

I consider those a deal

Before our last cruise, I called Princess and purchased a package and received extra minutes.

 

We did get one of those coupon books in our cabin, but I didn't bother to flip through it til about the third day or so (in the past the offers weren't relevant to us at all) and did see a special on Internet that had to be purchased on the first day (IIRC I could have used the coupon to add on to what we bought already).

I believe there is one other internet minutes "package" available, that was offered on the last day (or the night before) of my last cruise. It was a smallish number of minutes at a reduced (but still fairly high, per minute) price. I didn't bite, although I might do so on my upcoming cruise.

 

Does anyone else remember seeing this offer and the details?

 

(I'm not Platinum yet, but will be after my next cruise. So, no free minutes for me yet.)

 

I found the answer myself on Princess' website:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/experience.jsp#Internet_at_Sea

 

It lists the prices of all the packages (both the onboard purchase and pre-cruise pricing). In addition, it shows:

 

15-min. (last day special) for $8.99 (cannot be purchased in advance of cruise)

 

Pay as you go for $0.79 per minute (also cannot be purchased in advance)

 

The 15-min. (last day only) one is what I was thinking of; the pay-as-you-go is also of interest to me. If I can limit myself to a few mins. per day, it would cost less than the cheapest (100 or 120-min.) package.

I found the answer myself on Princess' website:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/experience.jsp#Internet_at_Sea

 

When I follow this link it gives me some information, but it does not give me any costs - included pre-cruise and on-board comparisons?

 

Could you please perhaps send me a screen capture of the costs?

 

I am new to cruising and this forum, but perhaps it doesn't show me costs as I am in Australia?

 

Thanks,

Kate.

When I follow this link it gives me some information, but it does not give me any costs - included pre-cruise and on-board comparisons?

 

Could you please perhaps send me a screen capture of the costs?

 

I am new to cruising and this forum, but perhaps it doesn't show me costs as I am in Australia?

 

Thanks,

Kate.

 

You are probably automatically getting an Australian version of the site. And perhaps the costs are different for cruises from Australia?

 

I had trouble with both copy-paste (formatting was lost) and screen capture. I suggest you look at post #5 above; most of the prices are shown (other than the pay-as-you-go and last-day specials).

I can see the perks for pre purchasing the minutes. Has anyone purchased for a b2b sailing? We are taking a 3/4 b2b in Dec. Can minutes be carried over to the 2nd leg? It appears the smallest pkg is 100 min (120 if pre purchased). Too many mins for a 3 day; it would be fine for the total 7 days however. If anyone has experience with this your input would be appreciated. Thanks.

The 15 min package on the last day is mainly for people to check in for there flights and print boarding passes. All though you can use them for what ever you want. The internet caffee is usually really busy when flight check in times start to open up.

Two things to remember about the Internet on most any ship.

1. It will generally cost you 2-3 minutes of time to log-on, find your site, and log off plus your time on site. It is really slow, that is 2-3 minutes each time you log-on.

2. Use it in the wee hours of the night or early morning. Speed is better as most others are still asleep.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Steviewonder1

The 15 min package on the last day is mainly for people to check in for there flights and print boarding passes. All though you can use them for what ever you want. The internet caffee is usually really busy when flight check in times start to open up.

Online flight checkin times generally start at 24 hours before flight departure. Thus, in many cases, that would be the day before the end of the cruise. (Except for people who are flying out later than that, of course.)

I can say that on the last full day of cruising before pulling into port, the Internet speed is incredibly slow during the day due to everyone trying to check in, print boarding passes, & checking email. People who bought those last minutes specials spent 10-15 minutes trying to log on and get connected, then waiting for sites to load. Log on late nite or early morning for better speed.