Internet pre-purchase

Wondering if pre-purchasing of internet is cheaper and worth the cost? We will be cruising the Mexican Riviera in October and my husband wants to be able to listen to his baseball games on his MLB app while we are lounging by the pool. Has anyone ever tried to use an app while at sea? Any problems?

An MLB game is 3 hours plus. To listen to one per day you would have to purchase nearly 1500 minutes of internet time.

The largest plan for pre purchase is 680 minutes for $199.

Is dropping at least $398 on two of those packages for the privilege of spending the vacation you have already paid for doing more or less the same thing you would be killing time with at home "worth it"? Have to be a pretty big fan.

Not just the cost. Streaming may be blocked if the ship has the old by the min. system.

I see that the Star, Ruby and Grand are sailing Mexico in October. Believe the Grand has an unlimited package for around $30/day which will allow streaming. I don't believe the other two ships currently have this fast system, but someone may know otherwise.

An MLB game is 3 hours plus. To listen to one per day you would have to purchase nearly 1500 minutes of internet time.

The largest plan for pre purchase is 680 minutes for $199.

Is dropping at least $398 on two of those packages for the privilege of spending the vacation you have already paid for doing more or less the same thing you would be killing time with at home "worth it"? Have to be a pretty big fan.

Hopefully, some of the games will be during port stops.

I actually saw the Red Sox on MUTS once, on Emerald.

They had been showing a world cup game, which ended.

Baseball was next, and was shown for a while.

Also, with the MLB app, you can see highlights and compressed versions of previous games.

It might be enough to catch up with while in port.

Internet-at-sea on Princess is decidedly "in a state of flux".

In the past two months, the offers for my December cruise on Emerald have changed four times...

• Five bundles of minutes

• Nothing (lasted two weeks)

• Four bundles of minutes

• Three tiers of "unlimited" and four bundles of minutes.

Unlike the geosynchronous satellites we all know and love to cuss, the "O3b" satellites (that make

unlimited packages feasible) scoot across the sky, and require new satellite-dish pointing hardware.

I had heard that Emerald got hers mid-June, and this seems to confirm it.

It also suggests that Princess has decided to offer internet either way --once a ship gets the

upgraded antenna-pointing hardware-- for voyages that stay south of Seattle/Southampton and

north of the Falklands (i.e. where you can see the O3b satellites).

I was disappointed that there was no unlimited option on my recent Royal Princess cruise. When we booked the cruise it was to be a Medallion cruise with the better internet.

Since I had to keep up with some work tasks I was frustrated by the internet “by the minute” plans. I also made a critical mistake when I didn’t opt to add minutes to my loyalty allotment at the beginning of the cruise. I could have added 200 minutes for $40, but since I waited those same minutes cost me $99![emoji51] Unfortunately, that was at the end of the cruise when everyone was on and connectivity was extremely slow or nonexistent.

Princess needs to figure this out – most of their competitors have. I think connetivity is an important consideration for many people.

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With the introduction of the unlimited plans has anyone heard of changes to the free internet minutes offered to platinum/elite members?

With the introduction of the unlimited plans has anyone heard of changes to the free internet minutes offered to platinum/elite members?

On some ships, some cruises, Platinum/Elite members have been given the middle tier of unlimited internet rather than the 150 minute packages. But this unlimited internet isn't available for purchase on other ships. And it hasn't been given as the benefit on all cruises where unlimited service was available. Seems you get what Princess decides on any particular voyage.

The written policy still lists the minutes. I haven't read of anyone complaining when they were given an unlimited package rather than limited minutes.

With the introduction of the unlimited plans has anyone heard of changes to the free internet minutes offered to platinum/elite members?

Coral Princess and Grand Princess may be selling the unlimited plans, but Platinum and Elite still only get the fixed block of minutes as their perk.

On Regal Princess (that ship alone) there continue to be reports that Platinum and Elite are getting the unlimited plan as their benefit due to the ship being permanently buried in "Ocean Medallion Preview" mode.

Coral Princess and Grand Princess may be selling the unlimited plans, but Platinum and Elite still only get the fixed block of minutes as their perk.

 

On Regal Princess (that ship alone) there continue to be reports that Platinum and Elite are getting the unlimited plan as their benefit due to the ship being permanently buried in "Ocean Medallion Preview" mode.

The cynic in me believes the reason that Emerald rolled out both unlimited-minutes and limited-by-

minutes plans is so they could offer the limited-minutes plans as Captain's Circle perks. "Hey, we

offered you what we've always offered you", but gotten some folks to forgo the freebie and pay for

an unlimited. :confused:

The cynic in me believes the reason that Emerald rolled out both unlimited-minutes and limited-by-

minutes plans is so they could offer the limited-minutes plans as Captain's Circle perks. "Hey, we

offered you what we've always offered you", but gotten some folks to forgo the freebie and pay for

an unlimited. :confused:

What is equally "vewy vewy innewesting" to me is that the ships that were on the original now-scuttled ***** rollout list (Caribbean, Island, Golden, Royal, maybe another I missed) are not any of the ships that have started introducing the unlimited net plans even though the backroom technology upgrades were all done. Why are Grand, Coral, and now apparently Emerald moved ahead on the list? Just to see what percentage of passengers buy each of the three different tiers (slow; maybe not quite as slow; allegedly faster than the other two) before installation of Medallion Net upgrades on those ships? :confused:

What is equally "vewy vewy innewesting" to me is that the ships that were on the original now-scuttled ***** rollout list (Caribbean, Island, Golden, Royal, maybe another I missed) are not any of the ships that have started introducing the unlimited net plans even though the backroom technology upgrades were all done. Why are Grand, Coral, and now apparently Emerald moved ahead on the list? Just to see what percentage of passengers buy each of the three different tiers (slow; maybe not quite as slow; allegedly faster than the other two) before installation of Medallion Net upgrades on those ships? :confused:

The simple answer is MedallionNet and Ocean Medallion only share the word "Medallion". They do

different things and take different equipment.

Oh! ...and Princess is marketing unlimited-minute internet on Emerald as "Princess Connect". ;)

I didn't read all the way through this for please excuse me if I repeated something above. We pre-paid for internet. It is credited to your account as dollars. You have to repurchase once on board then take a slip of paper that appears in your cabin to the internet cafe to have your extra minutes credited to your account. It was ridiculous! Also, the connection was slow. Streaming would likely be interrupted a lot.

We pre-paid for internet. It is credited to your account as dollars. You have to repurchase once on board then take a slip of paper that appears in your cabin to the internet cafe to have your extra minutes credited to your account. It was ridiculous!

Not exactly "repurchasing" but very true that the setup procedures for your internet account take the same amount of time with the same number of steps whether you prepaid or not. (Same ordeal for those of us with a package of minutes as a Captains Circle perk, if that is any comfort). And if you have never set up Princess@Sea before on a previous cruise you have to do that first before redeeming your internet minutes.

I don't how they could have your internet account "live" for you from the moment you walk on the ship. Though certainly in theory your bonus minutes should be there from the beginning. But like most everything else pre-purchased through the cruise personalizer, Princess just leaves a voucher in your cabin for you to redeem "at your convenience" (sic).

I was disappointed that there was no unlimited option on my recent Royal Princess cruise. When we booked the cruise it was to be a Medallion cruise with the better internet.

 

Since I had to keep up with some work tasks I was frustrated by the internet “by the minute” plans. I also made a critical mistake when I didn’t opt to add minutes to my loyalty allotment at the beginning of the cruise. I could have added 200 minutes for $40, but since I waited those same minutes cost me $99![emoji51] Unfortunately, that was at the end of the cruise when everyone was on and connectivity was extremely slow or nonexistent.

 

Princess needs to figure this out – most of their competitors have. I think connetivity is an important consideration for many people.

 

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Cindy, we are sailing on the Crown soon and 200 minutes is being offered at a prepay rate of $99 that includes 40 bonus minutes.

If we are able to add 200 minutes at the beginning of the cruise for $40 then that is clearly the better deal. Do you remember what your prepay option was before you sailed?

I was disappointed that there was no unlimited option on my recent Royal Princess cruise. When we booked the cruise it was to be a Medallion cruise with the better internet.

 

Since I had to keep up with some work tasks I was frustrated by the internet “by the minute” plans. I also made a critical mistake when I didn’t opt to add minutes to my loyalty allotment at the beginning of the cruise. I could have added 200 minutes for $40, but since I waited those same minutes cost me $99![emoji51] Unfortunately, that was at the end of the cruise when everyone was on and connectivity was extremely slow or nonexistent.

 

Princess needs to figure this out – most of their competitors have. I think connetivity is an important consideration for many people.

 

 

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Here's what's going on...

There is a company called SES who launched a constellation of Medium Earth Orbit satellites

called O3b, and which (so far) are the only satellites with the technology that provides cheap,

"firehose" bandwidth to ships at sea, and makes unlimited-minutes plans practical.

Princess was slow to contract with SES because MEO satellites require new satellite-tracking

hardware, but most of all because MEOs are useless when your ship is above about 48ºN --

the latitude of Seattle and Southampton. Cruise lines that stay mostly in the Caribbean saw

things differently.

Last year, Princess gave in, signed Regal up with SES, and earlier this year set a delivered-to-

the-ship bandwidth record. THEN they sailed Regal north of Southampton :rolleyes: with a predictable

(except to Princess) connectivity faceplant.

I'd like to think Princess has "got it" now, because Emerald got the new hardware in June, and

sold me unlimited-minutes for my Hawai'i cruise. ...or not, because they also sent Emerald to

Alaska (north of Seattle, right?) and I'm told they offered unlimited-minutes there, too.

::shrugs::