Internet

So we are three star and are not new We will be on the Zuiderdam in June. I remember seeing a post about new internet plans but after 20 minutes of searching can't find anything. Have the plans changed from ____ minutes for $____? I have tried google and other searches and nothing - what is current?

There was some experimentation done, but it seems that HAL has gone to 100, 250, 500 and 1000 minute plans. The 250 minute plan is $100 (from our experience in October). The 1000 minute plan is $250 (from a search). 100 minutes is $55 (from a search). 500 minutes is $175 (from a search.)

I was on the Zuiderdam in December/January and the internet pricing was $14.99 for 24 hours access to select social media sites ONLY and they meant it, if the site you went to wasn't one of the listed social media sites, it was blocked. For other access you could pay $24.99 to more sites or $29.99 for streaming services like Skype or Netflix for 24 hours access. There were whole cruise packages, but it was just the base price multiplied by the number of days the cruise was; there were no discounts or advantage to buying a package.

My party had always bought multiple by-the-minute packages on the cruise, and we only bought 2 days worth of access between all 6 of us this cruise, and we were forced to buy the middle package because we wanted to check in with the airlines and do some banking/bill paying.

Frankly, the internet plans now seriously suck! It actually worked out cheaper for my husband to buy a day package from his phone provider every day we were in port. And his access was much faster and more reliable!

From personal experience, the 100 minutes is used up fairly fast just connecting. Totally not worth it

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From personal experience, the 100 minutes is used up fairly fast just connecting.

Even if you want to do more than just email it's worth eliminating that start-up time.

I guess I'm confused. Ellieanne makes it sound like there are no plans by the minute anymore. I have always gotten 100 minute plans in the past and in using a tablet to keep track of email that always seemed to be enough. Not sure it would be worth spending $25 a day just to keep track of email.

I guess I'm confused. Ellieanne makes it sound like there are no plans by the minute anymore. I have always gotten 100 minute plans in the past and in using a tablet to keep track of email that always seemed to be enough. Not sure it would be worth spending $25 a day just to keep track of email.

The $25 per day plans were test runs on one or two ships. I am not sure they are being offered anymore.

I was on the Zuiderdam in December/January and the internet pricing was $14.99 for 24 hours access to select social media sites ONLY and they meant it, if the site you went to wasn't one of the listed social media sites, it was blocked. For other access you could pay $24.99 to more sites or $29.99 for streaming services like Skype or Netflix for 24 hours access. There were whole cruise packages, but it was just the base price multiplied by the number of days the cruise was; there were no discounts or advantage to buying a package.

 

My party had always bought multiple by-the-minute packages on the cruise, and we only bought 2 days worth of access between all 6 of us this cruise, and we were forced to buy the middle package because we wanted to check in with the airlines and do some banking/bill paying.

 

Frankly, the internet plans now seriously suck! It actually worked out cheaper for my husband to buy a day package from his phone provider every day we were in port. And his access was much faster and more reliable!

Yikes! I'm glad we had the minute-based packages on K'dam in January. I only checked email, and didn't do that every day. I didn't use up my 100 minutes on an 11 day cruise. I wouldn't pay that much for 24 hours of use when I use about 10-15 minutes.

Yikes! I'm glad we had the minute-based packages on K'dam in January. I only checked email, and didn't do that every day. I didn't use up my 100 minutes on an 11 day cruise. I wouldn't pay that much for 24 hours of use when I use about 10-15 minutes.

Agree. We have always bought the 250 minute package, for cruises up to 24 days. The speed has vastly improved...we never threaten to run out. Of course all we do is check our e mail, and down load our home newspaper. We aren't on vacation to spend hours a day on the internet. Particularly on a cruise, when we don't need to research upcoming day's locations or activities, like we would on a land tour.

If you travel a lot for USA residents it might be worth changing your cell plan to t-mobile or Google Fi. Both have free data in most foreign countries (not on ship!) and .20 cent minute calls to the USA. T-mobile slows the data speed but it’s good enough for email, browsing and maps. Fi you get similar speeds as at home. I’ve been using Fi for a couple of years and it’s great.