Princess LTE fee is a rip off

I recently took a Northern European cruise with Princess and they basically robbed us. They internet package was expensive and slowed. You basically spent 5 minutes of your allotted time to get to a website. When we were docked they took over the LTE and charged $9 per giga byte. Usually without an international it is $.98 so basically 9 times more than the regular price. By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill. Just really disappointed with Princess and I will never cruise with them.

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I have never heard of anyone having a 2000 internet bill. Princess has packages available with different amounts of time to be used. I haven't seen "gigabyte" usage in years. When you sign on your account, you are told what package you have and time allotted, and when that time is up, you can either repurchase more time, or not. You must not have understood how the internet system works on board, yes, at time, actually, most of the time, it is very slow, but that's because it takes time to access the satellites available to get you to a land based system.

Its not Princess' fault you misunderstood how the internet worked, it also sounds like you never logged off when you were done using it.

You don't say if this was your first cruise

Welcome to Cruise Critic, I see that this is your first post, so, did you sign up just to complain?

Welcome to the forums! :) Everyone knows the internet packages are expensive. Everyone knows the internet packages are slow compared to land-based versions (half of that is unavoidable with present technology no matter how much bandwidth is thrown at the problem). Your comment "when we were docked they took over the LTE" seems odd - they take over the cellular no matter what, so I don't see why this is a surprise.

The biggest laugh here is that you sent this from your iPhone. Turn off data roaming before you board the ship and it won't cost you $2000! Enjoy your next cruise...glad you won't be on a Princess ship again.

LTE is cellular data. Princess ships automatically turn off their cellular service during port calls.

Did this $2000 bill come from Princess or your cell provider?

NOW, it makes sense to me, duh, I believe the OP must have been using the Iphone for internet. Whereas, then the cost would make sense. The OP must have been using the Iphone service for internet with their regular service, NOT through a Princess internet plan onboard.

Joining cruise critic well before the first cruise and getting some info on the internet services while cruising could have saved the OP a whole lot of money. Just "unplugging" would have been a great idea.

Looks like the OP got a $valuable$ lesson.

My routine, board, get lunch, unpack, call the kids to tell them if they want me, email me, as the lines are being dropped, shut off phone and put into safe until disembarkation....

SO, they weren't using Princess, yet, the OP felt to blame them for their, being nice here, lack of knowledge.

And if they weren't on Princess, they would blame any other line too.

Sounds like you kept your cellular or internet service on all the time. When on board a ship you must turn your cellular devise to airplane mode and use the internet. You must also log out every time, because you pay by minutes connected. Some cruise lines, Carnival is one, have plans that charge by the day. These are wi-fi plans, not cellular. When in port there are free wi-fi hot spots. You can locate them by following the crew. The ship's cellular is also turned off when in port. If you use cellular in port you are charged according to your carrier's plan.

You can pre-purchase Princess internet plans as follows:

120 mins @ $69, 240 mins. @ $99, 460 mins @ $159, 680 mins. @ $199. These are pre-cruise purchase prices. Once on board the prices are the same but the mins. are less.

Here is an example of one on board internet service from Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnival’s Internet plans include:

• Social ($5 USD per day)* – Offers access to sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SnapChat and popular airline websites. Note: Plan does not include in-app calling, Facetime, iMessage or access to any other sites or apps.**
  
• Value ($16 USD per day)* – Provides access to a wide variety of sites and apps, including social media, e-mail, news, sports, weather, banking and more. Note: Does not support Skype calling or music streaming services such as Spotify.
  
• Premium ($25 USD per day)* – Promises the fastest possible connection and includes access to all websites and apps, including some streaming video services.
  

Welcome OP. As others have stated, I am thinking you received your bill from your cell provider. Years ago I had forgotten to turn off cellular roaming on my iPhone after a day in one of the New Zealand ports. I had purchased a small amount of international data from AT&T prior to the cruise for just this purpose and had planned to shut data roaming off immediately after each land use to avoid the additional charges but missed doing that. I found out the next morning when I took out my phone to take a picture in the middle of the Tasman Sea and had an "oh s***" moment when I saw the Cellular at Sea logo. I turned data roaming off immediately and about a month later I saw a $100+ charge on my AT&T bill. I immediately sent an email to AT&T to advise them of my mistake to ask if anything could be done. To my surprise and relief, they wrote off the whole thing for one time only. There was a good ending to my story, and I'm sharing it with you in case you want to try the same approach with your cell carrier. Good luck.

Hard luck I say, but the OP wont bother replying. Those that simply join CC to post something negative follow the same pattern.

I recently took a Northern European cruise with Princess and they basically robbed us. They internet package was expensive and slowed. You basically spent 5 minutes of your allotted time to get to a website. When we were docked they took over the LTE and charged $9 per giga byte. Usually without an international it is $.98 so basically 9 times more than the regular price. By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill. Just really disappointed with Princess and I will never cruise with them.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If you are using a smartphone to access Wifi that might be the issue . If you didn't turn off cellphone coverage you'll pay about $9 a gigabyte for data. Check your phone setting , LTE is cell data not wifi . Many cellphones use wifi where possible then default cellular data if no wifi. Sounds to me like you pickup a cellular signal from shore which means your paying international roaming charges.

I recently took a Northern European cruise with Princess and they basically robbed us. They internet package was expensive and slowed. You basically spent 5 minutes of your allotted time to get to a website. When we were docked they took over the LTE and charged $9 per giga byte. Usually without an international it is $.98 so basically 9 times more than the regular price. By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill. Just really disappointed with Princess and I will never cruise with them.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Basically, Princess does not bill you for your cellular service. If you were on Regal Princess, your cell provider has to have a roaming agreement with Maritime Communications Partners. They are providing the service and your cell company is the one billing you. As others have said, it probably would have behooved you to check into this before the cruise. And, just so you know, other cruise lines would do the same...

The first thing I do when departing the US via airplane or ship is put the Iphone on Airplane Mode!!

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By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill.

Huh?! Princess took over your LTE? Anyway, sounds like this was your mistake, not Princess but I guess if you want to blame them for your mistake and no longer will cruise with Princess, that is your loss. I guarantee you that if you do the same thing you did on this cruise on a cruise with another cruise line, you will get the same results. Put your phone in airplane mode while on the cruise or buy an international package if you plan to use your LTE coverage on your phone.

Ok I have to admit, this thread made me laugh, other poster is correct, this OP will not be back, hopefully other newbies will see this thread and learn from it.

Vacation is just that vacation, unplug and enjoy it, only time we reconnect is in port to check in with family and post pictures, just sayin'

Joining cruise critic well before the first cruise and getting some info on the internet services while cruising could have saved the OP a whole lot of money. Just "unplugging" would have been a great idea.

This ^^^. You're on vacation. Cell phones are fancy cameras IMHO when on a cruise.

The first thing I do when departing the US via airplane or ship is put the Iphone on Airplane Mode!!

My phone is on airplane mode all the time (not just on the ship), unless I want to access the internet.

Hard luck I say, but the OP wont bother replying. Those that simply join CC to post something negative follow the same pattern.

Can you spell T-R-O-L-L?

But I bet there will be pages of responses, (mine included)

Can you spell T-R-O-L-L?

 

But I bet there will be pages of responses, (mine included)

I call them "one hit wonders" I wonder why they don't have anything else to do.

DOH! I should've known from reading the OP that this was a joke. Shame on me :)

My phone is on airplane mode all the time (not just on the ship), unless I want to access the internet.

Good idea

I recently took a Northern European cruise with Princess and they basically robbed us. They internet package was expensive and slowed. You basically spent 5 minutes of your allotted time to get to a website. When we were docked they took over the LTE and charged $9 per giga byte. Usually without an international it is $.98 so basically 9 times more than the regular price. By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill. Just really disappointed with Princess and I will never cruise with them.

Hahaha welcome to Cruise Critic, you are funny. Yes the internet onboard is sloooow. HOWEVER when the ship is docked your cell carrier is ripping you off.

It has NOTHING to do with Princess. NICE TRY. :')

To the OP. You should call your cell company and explain your mistake, if you are very lucky they may be able to assist you by reducing your bill.

I agree with what others have said, Princess isn't to blame for this. At this point only your cell provider can assist you.

Just wondering what happens when you use Princess@Sea Messenger? You can't have your phone in airplane mode and access that, right? So is the safe thing to do to turn off cellular data and data roaming, but enable wifi? On my last cruise I never tried to access the internet service from my iPhone but used my iPad instead. As I recall, I knew when I was logging on to the paid service and was always extra careful to log off again.