Reasons for Wifi

[SadieN]

But just for that, is it worth paying the exorbitant WiFi charges?

It's better to plan each person's full days schedule the previous night from the daily bulletin. So everyone knows where each person is. Some activities will be common.

And all meet up for meals.

 

 

 

Electronic communication onboard can be cheap. Carnival has a $5 per device plan that is good for ship only thru it's Hubb app.

 

Except for the aforementioned work requirement, our phones etc are powered down.

[WoodsDrive]

I do not understand paying for wifi. What ways will you use it? first time cruiser.

My husband is enrolled in a post graduate online program and his assignments don't stop on vacation. We wouldn't get wifi otherwise, but he needs it on our upcoming cruise.

[Shorex]

But just for that, is it worth paying the exorbitant WiFi charges?

It's better to plan each person's full days schedule the previous night from the daily bulletin. So everyone knows where each person is. Some activities will be common.

And all meet up for meals.

 

 

Is it "worth it" to fly Emirates first class? Is it "worth it" to upgrade to a balcony or suite? Is it "worth it" to pay for specialty restaurants on a cruise? Oh, and is it "worth it" to pay for internet access on a cruise? All of these questions have been asked repeatedly on cc. And the essence of the answers are all the same. "Worth" is subjective. Each of us does our own cost/benefit analysis and comes to our own conclusion. Does it matter whether others come to the same conclusion? NO. Does it matter whether others understand or approve of our own conclusions? NO. Does it matter if others have a different point of view of the value of these decisions? NO.

 

I enjoy every cruise without wondering or caring about the choices of others or trying to persuade others that my choices are better. To each his own.

[Hey Tina]

I do not understand paying for wifi. What ways will you use it? first time cruiser.

 

On my last cruise I used wifi to send WhatsApp messages to the others in my party, send a couple emails, download podcasts, and finish up some work stuff I didn't get to before departing FLL.

[Hey Tina]

But just for that, is it worth paying the exorbitant WiFi charges?

It's better to plan each person's full days schedule the previous night from the daily bulletin. So everyone knows where each person is. Some activities will be common.

And all meet up for meals.

 

That's best for you, but it's not best for everyone else. Everyone doesn't have to do things one way, or your way as it were.

[navybankerteacher]

With a lot of free time at home, I'm online a fair amount - as on this site at this time. When on a cruise, or at the beach, or traveling I still connect - but only for a specific reason: no words with games, on line shopping, etc. when there is enough else to do.

 

I sometimes see people playing games on board - and figure they either have free minutes to use up or are simply hopelessly addicted.

[Wheatie59]

You might be asking this because you're thinking "I have cellular data on my phone, why do I need the ship's wifi?" Your cell service will work on the ship, but it will be incredibly expensive. If you want connectivity, wifi is the way to go. If you're willing and able to disconnect, you don't need wifi.

[Hey Tina]

You might be asking this because you're thinking "I have cellular data on my phone, why do I need the ship's wifi?" Your cell service will work on the ship, but it will be incredibly expensive. If you want connectivity, wifi is the way to go. If you're willing and able to disconnect, you don't need wifi.

 

Will it be expensive even with a "roam like at home" type thing that just came about for EU cell phone plans a month or so ago?

[Morisnfan]

Options are always good, in my opinion! Some people see it as cruiselines "trying to make more money" and perhaps thats true, but they are also enhancing our experiences. Some people wouldn't dream of buying a drink package, but we find it convenient and fun! Just like some don't want pay for, or care about having internet access, and some really need it. Not for anyone else to judge! I wonder why anyone would tell others whats right or wrong on a cruise.

[wheezedr]

Lots of good reasons have been noted but most important how would I get in my Fantasy Football changes if I was not connected. LOL

[BlueRiband]

I do not understand paying for wifi. What ways will you use it? first time cruiser.

 

A land based coffee shop can choose from several competing companies to provide free wifi service for their customers. A ship has just one provider - maritime satellite. Bandwidth is limited and all of the ship's shoreside communication also goes through that link. Thus the need to charge for a limited resource. On some ships bandwidth hogging applications like Skype are blocked.

 

 

As much as some of us would like to unplug there are too many who need to keep in touch with their workplace. Some even ask what the internet service is like on certain ships. If they think it's too slow they won't book.

[wwcruisers]

Not sure whether it's sill a perk for Elite Captain's Club members, but we used to get enough free internet minutes on Celebrity to cover the basics -- sending a quick e-mail to the pet-sitters and folks back home, as well as checking in for our return flight.:cool:

[payitforward]

I use it a lot to connect with others in my group. ("I'm heading to Johnny Rockets for lunch. Want to join me?" or "I couldn't find a lounge chair by the pool. Look for me in front of the Sky Bar.") I don't like having to plan ahead or meet on a schedule, so this works well. When I am back on my cabin for the night, I clean up my email so I'm not completely overwhelmed when I get back. I'll then chat online, or say goodnight with loved ones, ask how my pets are, and finally, stream some of my favorite shows as I fall asleep.

[Lookingforfacts]

Different people chose to spending their $$$ on different things. Different people have different financial resources. Different people put a different value on ship (slow) internet.

 

There was a discussion regarding hotel laundry prices on a Disney board. One poster said it's worth an extra few hundred dollars on the price of their vacation to come home with a suitcase full of clean clothing. Not to me but that post illustrates how different people value "perks" differently.

[jocap]

On a long cruise, we check emails once a week.

The oddest time was when we turned on the BBC news in the cabin, this winter, and heard that there was to be a by- election in our area, soon after our arrival home. Voting for our village takes place in a small church hall, and the man who was in charge had recently died, leaving the keys and information with my husband. In a panic, we bought a package from the ship, and spent a morning talking to the council, other villagers etc... it was all sorted, but it was strange organising an election from the middle of the Atlantic. :D

[DRS/NC]

I'm the elderly parent that the kids might check on -- except I'm the one usually cruising -- solo.

 

Since I get free minutes w/Princess, I usually check-in w/my DD every day or so. Sometimes O check-in w/the cat-sitter or my BFF.

 

I can also get/print my boarding pass the last day for the flight home. I almost always have minutes left over.

 

I did buy a small internet package once on HAL since I had no "perks" w/HAL.

 

anything else can wait until I'm home.

[perditax]

With a lot of free time at home, I'm online a fair amount - as on this site at this time. When on a cruise, or at the beach, or traveling I still connect - but only for a specific reason: no words with games, on line shopping, etc. when there is enough else to do.

I sometimes see people playing games on board - and figure they either have free minutes to use up or are simply hopelessly addicted.

 

Do you have the same "addiction" opinion when you see people sitting at the slot machines? Or playing bridge, or knitting? Is it just the presence of a 'screen' that makes it an addiction? What if it's an e-book reader?

[lenquixote66]

I do not understand paying for wifi. What ways will you use it? first time cruiser.

I would never pay for Wifi .

[pseudoware]

I happened to embark the night of The Sopranos series finale. I was watching on my phone during dinner in the MDR.

 

I've been fortunate to always cruise with a family member w/free wifi as a loyalty perk, but I'd likely pay for at least some minimal time if that wasn't the case.

 

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[Z'Loth]

I do not understand paying for wifi. What ways will you use it?

 

I think you mean Internet Access through WiFi. :D

 

It depends. For some people, especially small business owners, even through they are on "vacation", they still have to check in at the office in case any "fires" come up. Also, some people like to keep an eye on their credit card statements.

 

As someone who earns a living doing technical support for Internet stuff, I'm going to welcome being somewhat disconnected while being on a cruise.

[jpkriseddie]

Don't need it at all. Every year for 1 week the whole family without phone and internetm so nice!!!!!

 

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[DirtyDawg]

Check emails.

Check the news

Check the stock market.

Check the bond market.

Plan some last minute excursions.

I don't bother with checking CC or posting a 'live from'. Some addictions you must leave behind while you're on a vacation.:)

[Wheatie59]

Will it be expensive even with a "roam like at home" type thing that just came about for EU cell phone plans a month or so ago?

 

It depends on the cruise line, the specific ship and your cell phone carries. For the most part, international roaming plans do not cover cruise ships. They may cover you when you're in port. But on the ship any cellular connectivity is going through the ship's cell infrastructure and that is usually not covered by roaming plans. An AT&T phone on a Carnival ship will be $2.50 a minute for voice and they have no plans that reduce that cost (last I looked, probably nine months ago.) Data and texts are similarly outrageous.

 

But check with your carrier and your specific ship. Some are better than AT&T and Carnival.

[Nizzie]

On our last cruise all our ports were in North America so we just used our regular mobile plans while on shore to get updates from home (mainly checking in with my mom, as my father had recently been placed in a memory care home for advanced Alzheimer's with dementia.) Other than that I did periodically go through my work email because I could and because it was free with my mobile plan.

 

On our Caribbean cruise of 2015, we didn't have any ports included in our cellular plan - it was actually less expensive to pay for a few minutes here and there aboard ship than to pay for a month of international data that we could only use while in ports. We would log in and let email download to our device and sign off - using a minimum amount of data. We'd then check for important emails, mostly from our pet sitter (our beloved kitty became ill shortly before our cruise and while travel insurance policies allow cancellation if a family member falls ill, it seems that pets do not count as family members [emoji13]but our pet sitter is awesome and our cat is just fine now) and read them. If we needed to respond, we would write up the reply in offline mode, and then quickly jump on long enough to send the outbound message. In all for the entire time we spent less than $12 and part of that was because the first time we did this routine we accidentally had Background App Refresh turned on and all our email inboxes set to push new messages - so we used a far bigger chunk of data than we needed. We got that sorted, and our subsequent bills were significantly less than that first round.

 

I don't think we'd ever go for an online data plan unless it was free/included. We don't have the need of that much usage.

 

 

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[Sascol]

Taking a Caribbean cruise this fall with lots of sea days. On sea days when we relax by the pool or on our balcony, we soak in the sea air and watch Netflix. Also use it to stream music inside the cabin with a tiny speaker we bring.

 

This of course depends on the ship and the service. Last year (Princess) internet was incredibly slow and unreliable so we only used our free minutes and did not bother with the internet much. This year (Harmony) internet is super fast so we can take advantage of the things noted above.