Zuiderdam Internet charges no more $99

[sail7seas]

Just an observation but it is amazing how many of us can no longer do without technology. I know I don't leave my house without my cell phone and can't imagine how I survived without one for 45 years. Don't feel the same about internet yet but who knows, I just may in the future. For now I can cruise without it.

 

 

For years, I was responsible for the care of an elderly relative. The only way I could travel is if I was easily reachable by phone/e-mail so we used the technology and purchased internet plans.

 

DH is not retired. When he leaves his office, his staff has to be able to reach him in certain circumstances. The only way he can travel is if we use the technology...... so we purchase internet plans. :)

 

[Sea42]

There was a big thread on this a couple days ago. The Zuidy is doing price experiments for unlimited Internet.

 

Last week it was $99 unlimited and everyone was ecstatic. Apparently it was $199 the week before.

 

Hopefully you give HAL your feedback so they are well aware what the sweet spot for pricing should be!

Pricing on a whim seems a very poor policy from a customer satisfaction point of view. I can see the reason for prices changes but it is just ridiculous to change your prices with each sailing. By looking at participation for prior internet packages they should have a pretty good idea of what the price point should be. If nothing else, do they not do surveys on this type of thing?

[pms4104]

So, HAL is planning to tweak their onboard internet packages and pricing. I get that. What I don't get is why HAL is treating their fare-passengers like test lab subjects. Any guesses what the internet pricing on the Zuiderdam will be next week?

 

If HAL doesn't have the in-house expertise to conduct effective market research, they can contract with a professional company to carry it out on their behalf. Surveys and focus groups would generate the same or better results than what's going on currently on the Zuiderdam ... with way less ill will.

 

Is the current Zuiderdam Study a sign of things to come at HAL? In the future, when HAL mulls over any changes (HMC and onboard cabana pricing, a la carte dining in the MDR, surcharges for various dining venues, fees for shows or room service ... the possibilities are endless!), will Seattle again use passengers as unwitting guinea pigs to see what will fly and what won't? On how many ships and for how many weeks would they run these studies/experiments? Would passengers at least get a stipend for participating in these onboard research studies?

 

Good grief! The manner in which HAL is conducting the current internet study on the Zuiderdam is appalling and offensive ... and most unprofessional. So much for HAL's Signature of Excellence!

[Boytjie]

Good grief! The manner in which HAL is conducting the current internet study on the Zuiderdam is appalling and offensive ... and most unprofessional. So much for HAL's Signature of Excellence!

 

Offensive? :confused:

[jtl513]

So, HAL is planning to tweak their onboard internet packages ...

 

If HAL doesn't have the in-house expertise to conduct effective market research,

 

Good grief! The manner in which HAL is conducting the current internet study ...

You (and others) keep saying HAL, HAL, HAL, but remember the internet operation is a MTN/SeaMobile concession. I wonder how much HAL can really control their pricing and actions other than by cancelling the contract and getting a different vendor?

[pms4104]

Offensive? :confused:

Perhaps insulting would have been a better word choice..

[igraf]

You are probably better off using an internet access site that charges a small fee or requires a purchase. I wouldn't expect too much at a free site. You might also do a little homework before you travel and find good internet access sites online so that you are not wasting your precious time in ports.

 

What ever happened to sharing travel photos after the trip? I don't know anyone in my circle of friends and family who can't wait for us to return before seeing the photos.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

I use the Internet to send cruise blog and photos while on the cruise to relatives and friends who are concerned about us while traveling. Having wasted too much of my time in free Internet cafes unable to send an e-mail. I finally decided it was less frustrating to pay the money than waste my valuable vacation in an Internet cafe. I am looking forward to the day when there is a much faster connection.

 

Unfortunately, we might have to pay big bucks if we want to use it. Hope the post on the Zuiderdam is a misunderstanding.

[pms4104]

You (and others) keep saying HAL, HAL, HAL, but remember the internet operation is a MTN/SeaMobile concession. I wonder how much HAL can really control their pricing and actions other than by cancelling the contract and getting a different vendor?

And the current contract permits MTN/SeaMobile to tweak their pricing at will? I don't know the contract terms, but I would think that HAL should/might have some input on this every-week-a-new-price goofiness.

 

My point is: decide what the service is worth and price it out accordingly. Changing pricing weekly on one ship only seems like a work in progress, an experiment to see how much they can charge and still sell onboard internet to a projected number/percentage of passengers.

[Storylady]

You are probably better off using an internet access site that charges a small fee or requires a purchase. I wouldn't expect too much at a free site. You might also do a little homework before you travel and find good internet access sites online so that you are not wasting your precious time in ports.

 

What ever happened to sharing travel photos after the trip? I don't know anyone in my circle of friends and family who can't wait for us to return before seeing the photos.

 

igraf

 

I am not wasting precious minutes finding a site. I know where the sites are, but their Internet is so slow that I can't send messages.

 

My friends and relatives enjoying cruising along with me. And there is no way that they would sit to watch pictures of our trip when we returned. I also was blogging. I was having fun doing it, but hate wasting time in port using free Internet and then not able to send even a simple message. We even paid for Internet and still had problems.

 

During our Voyage of the Vikings trip,, we were in so many different ports that Yahoo and Google thought someone was using my e-mail and they suspended service. Considering all the frustration, the money is well spend if on a long cruise.

[jtl513]

What ever happened to sharing travel photos after the trip? I don't know anyone in my circle of friends and family who can't wait for us to return before seeing the photos.

I like to send a compressed "picture of the day" as an instant post card, and my family seems to like it.

 

... but I would think that HAL should/might have some input on this every-week-a-new-price goofiness.

And maybe HAL doesn't care very much as long as MTN pays what they agreed to.

[pepsigirl64]

I like to send a compressed "picture of the day" as an instant post card, and my family seems to like it.

:D Since I am on the Zuiderdam next week, I wll have to wait and see what kind of guinea pig we will be.

On another note off thread....how do you do a compressed "picture of the day"??? :rolleyes:

[jtl513]

On another note off thread....how do you do a compressed "picture of the day"??? :rolleyes:

I have three choices. (1) My camera can make a small copy internally (640x480 or 320x240) (2) With Windows Live Gallery I can do a Resize down to a 640x480 (3) Sometimes if I have the time I will change the camera setting temporarily to 640x480 to take the picture I intend to use. I rarely use this choice, as I don't usually decide until later which picture I'll send.

[frankc98376]

Looks like I'm waiting till we are in port in Alaska and tethering my cell phone. I won't pay those kind of prices to check my email.

[CoronaCRZR]

Well said. I feel like I am a test rat for them, and let me tell you it does not feel good.

 

In speaking with the internet Mgr, it certainly is NOT MTN, but rather pricing driven by Seatlle, heck he even felt embarrased to tell me the current pricing.

And right now I am not happy with Seatlle, especially as it sometimes takes 30 minutes just to get logged on:confused:

 

 

 

So, HAL is planning to tweak their onboard internet packages and pricing. I get that. What I don't get is why HAL is treating their fare-passengers like test lab subjects. Any guesses what the internet pricing on the Zuiderdam will be next week?

 

If HAL doesn't have the in-house expertise to conduct effective market research, they can contract with a professional company to carry it out on their behalf. Surveys and focus groups would generate the same or better results than what's going on currently on the Zuiderdam ... with way less ill will.

 

Is the current Zuiderdam Study a sign of things to come at HAL? In the future, when HAL mulls over any changes (HMC and onboard cabana pricing, a la carte dining in the MDR, surcharges for various dining venues, fees for shows or room service ... the possibilities are endless!), will Seattle again use passengers as unwitting guinea pigs to see what will fly and what won't? On how many ships and for how many weeks would they run these studies/experiments? Would passengers at least get a stipend for participating in these onboard research studies?

 

Good grief! The manner in which HAL is conducting the current internet study on the Zuiderdam is appalling and offensive ... and most unprofessional. So much for HAL's Signature of Excellence!

[igraf]

Hmmm. Are you trying to send full-sized photos as produced by the camera? That would be very slow. Remember that a full 1080p HD display is only 2 megapixels, so a 10+ megapixel camera photo is overkill for email. Reduce your photos to ~1 megapixel and they will go out much faster. Better yet, send one email out and ask the recipient to forward it to the others. Your recipients will appreciate not receiving full-sized photos.

 

I didn't mean to force the family to come over while you set up the old projector screen! :-) I usually make a Powerpoint slide show of the highlights (25 photos at the most) and email it to my friends and family after we return.

 

On a personal note I am a systems engineer on computer systems all day at work, and don't understand why I would need to do this while on vacation. Let alone pay hundreds of dollars for lousy ship internet service. No thanks!

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

I am not wasting precious minutes finding a site. I know where the sites are, but their Internet is so slow that I can't send messages.

 

My friends and relatives enjoying cruising along with me. And there is no way that they would sit to watch pictures of our trip when we returned. I also was blogging. I was having fun doing it, but hate wasting time in port using free Internet and then not able to send even a simple message. We even paid for Internet and still had problems.

 

During our Voyage of the Vikings trip,, we were in so many different ports that Yahoo and Google thought someone was using my e-mail and they suspended service. Considering all the frustration, the money is well spend if on a long cruise.

[cruz chic]

Well said. I feel like I am a test rat for them, and let me tell you it does not feel good.

 

In speaking with the internet Mgr, it certainly is NOT MTN, but rather pricing driven by Seatlle, heck he even felt embarrased to tell me the current pricing.

And right now I am not happy with Seatlle, especially as it sometimes takes 30 minutes just to get logged on:confused:

 

No big surprise that it is Seattle, otherwise you'd be hearing about pricing changes over all cruise lines.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

No big surprise that it is Seattle, otherwise you'd be hearing about pricing changes over all cruise lines.

 

Actually this 'Testing" of Unlimited started with Carnival approximately 6 months ago (go over to their board and you will find posts/thread about it) and has been tried on several of their ships short itineraries as well as longer. I have actually spoke with several other cruise line Reps and it is in the works to be tested on RCI and Celebrity very soon. There is some additional equipment that needs to be installed on the ships ( so obviously an investment by the cruise lines) that helps to increase the bandwidth or at least that is my understanding and obviously HAL has installed what was needed on the Zuiderdam which is why they are testing it there. While I agree that Seattle does have their hands in this, it certainly is no way 100% HAL Seattle. Most of the is being done by MTN.

[cruz chic]

Actually this 'Testing" of Unlimited started with Carnival approximately 6 months ago (go over to their board and you will find posts/thread about it) and has been tried on several of their ships short itineraries as well as longer. I have actually spoke with several other cruise line Reps and it is in the works to be tested on RCI and Celebrity very soon. There is some additional equipment that needs to be installed on the ships ( so obviously an investment by the cruise lines) that helps to increase the bandwidth or at least that is my understanding and obviously HAL has installed what was needed on the Zuiderdam which is why they are testing it there. While I agree that Seattle does have their hands in this, it certainly is no way 100% HAL Seattle. Most of the is being done by MTN.

 

Thx for the info. I was thinking more Princess because I'm not interested in the other lines. I am also speaking more of the pricing structure. That just dumb.

[Riversedge]

The price some will pay for technology. :eek::eek:

 

Unfortunately we have elderly parents that we have to keep in touch with. It isn't a choice whether we buy it or not.

[juiceless]

My point is: decide what the service is worth and price it out accordingly. Changing pricing weekly on one ship only seems like a work in progress, an experiment to see how much they can charge and still sell onboard internet to a projected number/percentage of passengers.

 

Figuring out what it is worth is exactly what it seems like they're doing. They're trying different plans to see what sells the best. No one is forcing anyone to buy the package.

[juiceless]

Well said. I feel like I am a test rat for them, and let me tell you it does not feel good

 

You were offered a service and had the choice to accept the offer or not. Don't you think you're being a bit melodramatic?

[Boytjie]

Figuring out what it is worth is exactly what it seems like they're doing. They're trying different plans to see what sells the best. No one is forcing anyone to buy the package.

 

I haven't paid for internet access on a ship since the first two cruises in 2007 Luckily I don't need to stay connected. On our February cruise I did not even get any free wifi in ports ("sorry, our wifi has been broken for twi days"). And I did not miss it.

[Cruising-along]

Unfortunately we have elderly parents that we have to keep in touch with. It isn't a choice whether we buy it or not.

 

So do we. If I had any choice, I wouldn't check or send email at all during a cruise. We use internet cafes in port when we can, but that isn't always easy to do or even possible in some cases.

[RuthC]

You were offered a service and had the choice to accept the offer or not. Don't you think you're being a bit melodramatic?

Considering that the packages passengers have become used to were not offered in any fashion, then meeting expectations was not even attempted.

It seems appropriate to feel part of an experiment.

[PaulMCO]

Good thing they changed the $99 option. The internet was so slow it was essentially unusable last week.

 

Was on that cruise and had no issues with speed. Did regular checks on the speed and generally had minimum 1.5 meg downloads. My VPN even connected.

 

The only slow days were the last days -- they reduced the internet to $9.99 per day.

 

Again - as some have sensed they are going a test with various price points versus usage.

 

If I was on board with a $60 per day connect fee. I would be raising hell with the Hotel Manager.

 

You certainly have your chance in private or in public -- since there is an ask the captain session in the Crows Nest on each cruise.