Internet costs?

[sassy~one]

Can anyone provide them for me. Thank you kindly

[RuthC]

It costs $3.95 to open an account. Then, you have a choice in how you pay for minutes.

You can pay a straight $0.75 per minute.

Or, you can purchase 100 minutes for $55. There are 10 bonus minutes if you purchase that plan on the first day.

Or, you can purchase 250 minutes for $100. That has a bonus of 20 minutes on the first day.

There are some new, longer, packages, but I don't know the amounts.

Toward the end of the cruise (last day or two), there are smaller packages of 15 or 30 minutes, which have the same per minute rate as the other packages referenced above.

[sassy~one]

It costs $3.95 to open an account. Then, you have a choice in how you pay for minutes.

You can pay a straight $0.75 per minute.

Or, you can purchase 100 minutes for $55. There are 10 bonus minutes if you purchase that plan on the first day.

Or, you can purchase 250 minutes for $100. That has a bonus of 20 minutes on the first day.

There are some new, longer, packages, but I don't know the amounts.

Toward the end of the cruise (last day or two), there are smaller packages of 15 or 30 minutes, which have the same per minute rate as the other packages referenced above.

 

 

Thank you kindly. Gosh you have to really want to stay connected. : )

[sail7seas]

Some of the ships are offering more plans but they may not yet be available on all ships. Oosterdam in June offered the following:

 

 

There is a one time $3.95 activation fee.

 

Plan 1 - $0.75 per minute

 

Plan 2 - $55 for 100 minutes

 

Plan 3 - $100 for 250 minutes.

 

Plan 4 -- $175 for 500 minutes

 

Plan 5 -- $250 for 1000 minutes

 

Most ships will offer 10 free minutes for Plan 2 and 20 free minutes for Plan 3 if you sign up for a plan on embarkation day.

 

Check the daily Explorer program for other specials offered during the cruise.

 

[whogo]

Thank you kindly. Gosh you have to really want to stay connected. : )

Internet may be expensive, but it is S L O W.

[sunviking90]

Wow, that is really expensive. I've never paid to use it on a ship because I like to truly get away. Knowing the cost now, I sure do appreciate those who do " live from" threads and the expense they must incur.

[TiogaCruiser]

IIRC about a year ago there was a thread about a pilot to change cost on Internet to be based on the amount of data ( instead of the time).

 

Does anyone know of its status?

[Krazy Kruizers]

IIRC about a year ago there was a thread about a pilot to change cost on Internet to be based on the amount of data ( instead of the time).

 

Does anyone know of its status?

 

Someone mentioned on a thread the other day about each ship being updated to a faster system when they go into dry dock.

I am not certain of the schedule or how long it will take to get it done on all the ships.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wow, that is really expensive. I've never paid to use it on a ship because I like to truly get away. Knowing the cost now, I sure do appreciate those who do " live from" threads and the expense they must incur.

 

There was a time when I did "Live" threads. On a 22 day cruise I spent a fortune reporting in each day and answering questions as we could not always find an Internet Cafe. Discover that there was just a handful of people reading and asking questions. Now I don't do them anymore.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It costs $3.95 to open an account. Then, you have a choice in how you pay for minutes.

You can pay a straight $0.75 per minute.

Or, you can purchase 100 minutes for $55. There are 10 bonus minutes if you purchase that plan on the first day.

Or, you can purchase 250 minutes for $100. That has a bonus of 20 minutes on the first day.

 

There are some new, longer, packages, but I don't know the amounts.

 

Toward the end of the cruise (last day or two), there are smaller packages of 15 or 30 minutes, which have the same per minute rate as the other packages referenced above.

250 is the best deal ???

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

And it is the slowest it could be ..:)

[RuthC]

250 is the best deal ???

Sort of depends on how much time you're going to use. If you aren't going to connect a lot' date=' then paying $0.55 per minute could still cost less overall than paying $0.40 per minute. [/color']

 

The new plan of 500 minutes for $175 is a better per minute plan still, but again, only if you're going to use most of the time.

There's a break-even point when its worth it to move up---or not.

[KirkNC]

Internet may be expensive, but it is S L O W.

 

Yes we try to do all of our surfing early as it is more responsive.

[KirkNC]

Also there is usually a "deal" if you sign up the first day, seems like you get 10% more of what ever package you buy.

 

 

O' and be sure you sign-off when finished, not just shut your computer off, I learned that one the hard way :(.

[Krazy Kruizers]

250 is the best deal ???

 

Actually the plan of 1000 minutes for $250 is the best deal.

 

[gigianne]

I just got of the Zuiderdam yesterday - I was surprised at how much the Internet connection had improved - it was the "fastest" I have experienced on any cruise. (still not fast enough). I bought the 500 minute package and found that was more then enough time for me. (there were bonus minutes at the beginning and a happy hour offer part way through the cruise.) I had 12 minutes left when we disembarked.

[Cruising-along]

Thank you kindly. Gosh you have to really want to stay connected. : )

 

We usually get the 100 minute plan, depending on the length of the cruise. It isn't because we want to stay connected, but because I have an elderly father and need to stay in touch with family. I know we can go to internet cafes while in port, but that isn't the way I want to spend my time in port. :)

 

Oh, and if I send email, I always write it up first, not while connected. Saves a lot of $$ that way. As others have pointed out, it's S L O W!

[sail7seas]

Also there is usually a "deal" if you sign up the first day, seems like you get 10% more of what ever package you buy.

 

 

O' and be sure you sign-off when finished, not just shut your computer off, I learned that one the hard way :(.

 

 

Yes, it was mentioned above.

 

If you purchase the `100 minute package the first day, you get bonus 10 minutes.

 

If you purchase 250 minute package the first day, you get bonus 20 minutes.

 

I am not aware of what bonus minutes they are awarding for purchasing the new higher number of minute packages but would guess it is in the 10% range.

 

[sail7seas]

Actually the plan of 1000 minutes for $250 is the best deal.

 

 

 

 

If you are going to use 1,000 minutes then, of course, that is the 'best deal'. For many folks, that is too many minutes but certainly that can vary widely.

 

When we are on for two weeks, depending upon how often and for how long DH needs to communicate with his office, we could go through 500 minutes but I'm not sure about 1,000.

 

[sail7seas]

Actually the plan of 1000 minutes for $250 is the best deal.

 

 

 

 

:) It just occured to me that for people who are eagerly collecting bonus Star Mariner days, a 1,000 minute package all by itself..... With the start up fee, it is $253.95 and a day is earned for each $300. :)

 

The extra days mean nothing to anyone once you reach 200 days.

 

[jtl513]

IIRC about a year ago there was a thread about a pilot to change cost on Internet to be based on the amount of data ( instead of the time).

 

Does anyone know of its status?

I asked the Internet Manager on the Maasdam last March, and he said that it was being tested on some other line where MTN/SeaMobile runs the internet operation (P&O maybe?) but there were no plans at that time to try it on HAL. BUT - on that cruise (which was our most recent) I noticed that the log-off reports gave not only the time used but also the Mb used, and I don't recall seeing that before, sooooo ... :confused:

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) It just occured to me that for people who are eagerly collecting bonus Star Mariner days, a 1,000 minute package all by itself..... With the start up fee, it is $253.95 and a day is earned for each $300. :)

 

The extra days mean nothing to anyone once you reach 200 days.

 

 

Right

That $253.95 fee is a big chunk on the way to a "day" for some people.

[BassettMom]

I usually purchase 100 minutes for a 7-day cruise, and 250 minutes for 14 days. This allows me to check emails and even post on FB occasionally. But I connect, download, disconnect, compose, reconnect, and send to save minutes. To do that, you need to bring your own laptop.

 

Internet is slow and on some cruises, I wasn't able to connect very well at all. On the 7-day Alaska cruise, I purchased 100 minutes, and the internet was down almost the entire cruise. When I disembarked, I still had 80+ minutes left :eek:. I run a daily blog on FB when I cruise, and I was only able to post once. Even in port, I wasn't able to connect, and there was always a sign saying internet is down. Unfortunately, there is no refund for internet minutes, and you just take your chances. (Luckily, I was able to check emails on my smartphone since it was US ports, but wouldn't be able to do that internationally.)

[Australian family]

How good is the internet connection in the cabins?

[sapper1]

How good is the internet connection in the cabins?

 

It depends on the location of your cabin in relation to a transponder. They are the little white things on the corridor ceilings that look like a cone with the point cut off. Sometimes cracking your door a bit will help or you can sit just inside your door. If you are lucky you will have a good signal from anywhere in your cabin.

 

The public rooms all have good reception.