Can you communicate/text your party via the Carnival app?

[harrypotter01]

Hi - I haven't cruised on Carnival in over 15 years. On the Disney cruises you can text and communicate with your party, while on the ship, via the Disney cruise app. You can do this when your phone is in airplane mode to make sure you're not using data, etc. Are there any options like this with Carnival? If so - do they charge?

 

Thanks!

[klfrodo]

Have you gone to Carnivals website and checked out their Hub app?

[teknoge3k]

Yes, you do this via The Hub app. It's $5 PER DEVICE for the DURATION of your cruise to use the chat function. Other features on the app are free. You should download it now, prior to embarkation.

[Organized Chaos]

The Carnival Hub app is free to use most of its features, like a digital Fun Times, S&S account info, food venues/menus, deck plans, etc. You can also enable a chat feature to text members of your party or others on board. The chat feature costs $5 per device and covers the entire cruise.

 

Experiences with the reliability of the chat feature varies. Another option is purchasing one of the internet plans and using a messaging app, like facebook messenger, whatsapp, or snapchat. All three of those work with the cheapest wifi plan (the Social plan).

[klfrodo]

The problem that we ran into was that you had to frequently open the app to see if you had any messages. It did not notify you that you had a message.

 

Disclaimer: I’m old so may not have had the app set up to notify if it is even possible. Technology train is moving much faster than I am. Trying to keep up but eventually I’m just going to have to get off the train.

[stellarose]

so we don't need the internet package for the carnival hub? just 5 bucks a device?

[Camybot]

so we don't need the internet package for the carnival hub? just 5 bucks a device?

Correct, but as someone else said you have to check the app yourself. It doesn't give you notifications that you are missing a message.

[MichaelJess]

We did pay the $5 per device so we could use the hub "chat" feature. We used three cell phones. I don't think it worked even 50% of the time. Sometimes messages were a day late arriving to the second device. Sometimes the messages never arrived. Very occasionally the messages arrived immediately. The frustration it caused the three of us wasn't worth the little convenience.

[luckybecky]

We did pay the $5 per device so we could use the hub "chat" feature. We used three cell phones. I don't think it worked even 50% of the time. Sometimes messages were a day late arriving to the second device. Sometimes the messages never arrived. Very occasionally the messages arrived immediately. The frustration it caused the three of us wasn't worth the little convenience.

 

Good to know that it may be unreliable. Our upcoming cruise will be our first on Carnival since the Hub app was started. I think we will go ahead and pay the $5 since it is so cheap. We may use it occasionally but will have to be sure everyone in our party knows that messages may not arrive in a timely manner.

[MBP1]

If there isn't a way to have notifications for the Hub app messages I'd say it isn't even worth $5, hopefully that is fixed

[NJtraveler]

Just got back from the Sunshine on 4/22. App very unreliable, worked 25% of cruise. Not worth getting

[Organized Chaos]

I've definitely read more reports of it being unreliable than reliable. But one thing people say is to be sure to leave it running in the background in order for it to get new messages. On iPhones, you have the option to turn alerts on/off for each individual app, so I'm wondering if the experiences people are having that it doesn't alert them to a new message is simply having notifications turned off without knowing.

 

The Hub app wasn't available at all for our last cruise two years ago, so even without the chat, I'm looking forward to using it for its other features.

[travelbug4]

We just got off the Glory on Saturday and the HUB app was fantastic and worked the entire time for us. Plus it was well worth the $5 per device to be able to chat with family members. That feature also worked extremely well. Never had an issue.