Social wifi plan and laptop - Imagination

My first post!! :cool:

Wifi question(s)! If anybody could help me, I would really appreciate it!

My mother and I leave at the end of May, on the Imagination, for our very first cruise. :)

I already ordered the social wifi plan for both of us. I had originally planned on taking a laptop, but it seems too burdensome (I still will if necessary though - I think my mother was hoping that I would).

Do you need to use the Carnival HUB to access wifi on the ship? Can I access wifi using a Kindle without the HUB app?

Can I access wifi using a regular old laptop? How about an iPad 2?

We don't plan on using the internet much - just checking in with them every morning to see how things are going back home.

I have searched and searched and not found the answer to this question, so I apologize if it is a repeat of a repeat post. I have been a lurker on here for a few weeks, and gotten a lot of useful information, and know y'all are super helpful! --- Thanks!

You'll be able to use any of those devices on the WiFi. As long as you have an internet browse, you can access it

Thank you so much! I thought I should be able to, but it is nice to have a direct answer. My Kindle Fire is much lighter than my laptop! :)

Just be warned, the WiFi is not always that good depending on the ship so good luck!

Yep. Read that already, LOL. That is why we only plan on accessing it in the morning, before the teens wake up!

I've had mixed results. Had value on Freedom and it worked better than I expected. Had value/social on Fantasy, was not good. Had value on Breeze and it was almost unusable. Had social on Valor and it worked well. Bought premium for this next Valor cruise

Since ours is just a quick 3-night cruise, we figured we would just go for the cheap wifi and if it works, super. If not, we could survive, and just check in at the airport before we fly back home. Or if we decide to get desperate, one of us could pay for a day of "expensive" wifi and hope it works better than the cheap one. I think I could survive without the internet for a few days, but I think I would be anxious not knowing what is going on at home.

I just wanted to say Welcome to Cruise Critic and congratulations on booking your first cruise! I've been on the Imagination a couple of times and always have fun! Please come back and let us know how you liked it. :D

Welcome to the addiction, as they say. We took our first one two years ago and are going on our second in June. Even though it's only 2 1/2 months away, it's still hard to see all these people talk about leaving sooner than ours. LOL We're so ready to go!

I don't think you specified how you would be keeping in touch with those back home, so I wanted to make sure you knew that email does not work with the Social plan. You'd have to at least get the Value plan for that. The Social plan is for the popular social network sites, their respective apps, and popular messaging apps. Also, you do not need to download the HUB app to your device to use the on board internet. But you might want to. It's free to download and most of it's features are free to use, like deck plans, Fun Times, dining options & menus, your S&S account balance, and more. If you want to use the app's chat feature, it costs $5 per device, and that covers the entire cruise. Experience with the chat feature varies. Some have had great luck with it, others not so much.

Thanks everyone! I am excited to finally cruise! If this turns out to be all I hope it will be, our next will be an Alaska cruise.

:) (Yes, already potentially pre-planning our next one.)

I planned on keeping touch by using Facebook and/or Facebook messenger.

I cleared space for my phone and already put the HUB app on it (yesterday).

Our excursion is booked (my mother wanted an actual true booked excursion instead of "winging it", our bottled water for the room is ordered (she drinks a lot of bottled water), my ginger ale is ordered (I tend to get motion sickness easily - I already have the Seabands and take Meclizine any time we travel - I even get airsick without my Meclizine).

We got the "Anytime Dining", and the Carnival airport transfers. Online stuff is filled out, pages printed out, and bag tags are ready to go.

Now we just wait!!

It probably doesn't matter since you're only taking a 3-day this time, but you are allowed to bring your own soda on board. Each person can bring up to a 12-pack of cans. Carnival doesn't name it specifically, but I assume ginger ale counts.

We enjoyed Your Time (anytime) Dining because, for one, we weren't always hungry at the same time each evening, and two, we might be doing something that we would've had to stop if we had an assigned time. So we're going with YTD again.

Our first was a 5-day and we liked it so much, this next one is a 7-day. We'd love to do an Alaskan cruise, but that would take a lot more saving up. We live in the midwest, so traveling to a west coast port would be considerably more expensive. We can't really afford to fly, so we drive to Florida. But an Alaskan cruise would mean a trip before the actual trip. Someday. We're dying to go whale watching. Our son's favorite animal is the orca. One of our biggest obstacles has always been that prime whale season is during the school year, but he graduates in 2019, so that'll be one less thing in our way. Sounds like you've got all your ducks in a row. Have a great time. :)

We could bring our own soda, but it would be tough, as we are flying in and taking the shuttle to the port. We would need to bring it on the airplane, and honestly, this is just easiest for us. If we had extra time and/or were renting a car, we would probably do things differently.

We are Washington state residents, so an Alaskan cruise would be easier for us - we are only 2 1/2 hours from Seattle. :)

I just wanted to say Welcome to Cruise Critic and congratulations on booking your first cruise! I've been on the Imagination a couple of times and always have fun! Please come back and let us know how you liked it. :D

My daughter and I are doing our first b2b tomorrow on the Imagination! Can't hardly wait. We love the Inspiration and Imagination no matter what anyone says! The service is ALWAYS fabulous!

We go on the Imagination in May too! We are doing the 4 night leaving on May 20th. We will keep it clean for you! :) I hope you guys have a great time. I have been on 4 so far, this will be my 5th cruise and 3rd with Carnival. I think they are overall the most leisurely, relaxing vacations. I hope you have a great time! I would also love to go to Alaska, it is on my bucket list!