New Internet rates

[cruisin'mama]

On 1/5/2019 at 6:22 AM, POA1 said:

 

Just a word of warning: You're not going to be the only person with this idea. The internet speeds slowed down considerably at the time everyone was checking in for flights. The speed was great all cruise for us, and then slowed down a lot at then end of the voyage. You'll get better speeds when everyone starts going to dinner or after 10 PM.

Thank you!  That is great information to have!

[leisuretime]

Can you make wi-fi calls using any of the levels?

[POA1]

58 minutes ago, leisuretime said:

Can you make wi-fi calls using any of the levels?

 

Middle level and up.

[leisuretime]

Thank you! I need to check in with my 95 year old mother! Hopefully the connection is good. She's a little hard of hearing. 

[rotjeknor]

I never buy an internet package while onboard . I'll wait till we are in port and either find some free wifi or connect with my phone on 4G, and if not : digital detox ! Heaven 😉

[Cruising-along]

27 minutes ago, rotjeknor said:

I never buy an internet package while onboard . I'll wait till we are in port and either find some free wifi or connect with my phone on 4G, and if not : digital detox ! Heaven 😉

If that works for you, good for you. 

Some of us prefer to use our port time doing other things and seeing what the area has to offer.  Some of us have elderly parents and other relatives we want to be in touch with as much as possible. Others may own a business and need internet.  There are a lot of reasons some of us get an internet package.

[rotjeknor]

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

If that works for you, good for you. 

Some of us prefer to use our port time doing other things and seeing what the area has to offer.  Some of us have elderly parents and other relatives we want to be in touch with as much as possible. Others may own a business and need internet.  There are a lot of reasons some of us get an internet package.

Don't get me wrong , I got an elderly parent as well but when on vacation, only in case of emergency . And the ship has a phone . When on shore , we do get to see a lot. Do you think I'm only online ... ? But to each his own.  And for the business owners , I once worked for a company that had the so called Rivera Policy.

The Directors would take long holidays and call in once in while to check if everything was ok. They said we hired the best people we could find and trust you with our business , so we can go on holidays to the

Riviera 😉

[kazu]

4 hours ago, rotjeknor said:

The Directors would take long holidays and call in once in while to check if everything was ok. They said we hired the best people we could find and trust you with our business , so we can go on holidays to the

Riviera 😉

 

That’s fine in a larger company.  Doesn’t work so well when you are a small business or if your profession requires you to be available in case of emergency if there are questions regarding patients/clients that can’t wait.

 

DH takes long holidays too, but we do use internet on board in case of need and don’t begrudge doing so.

 

Different strokes 😉 

 

 

[NWWanderer]

Hi, I'm boarding the Eurodam on Sunday for the 17 day Hawaii cruise and may need to make a call or two while at sea. I've read through this thread and I'm still not sure whether you can make Skype to Skype calls (using the Skype app) with the middle level (Surf) plan (regular voice calls, not video). Looks like yes if not too many people are using the bandwidth? Is that considered a "wifi call"? I'm assuming so but then the discussion about Skype ISPs possibly being blocked made me unsure. Thanks in advance.

 

[drowelf]

On 1/13/2019 at 5:05 PM, kazu said:

 

That’s fine in a larger company.  Doesn’t work so well when you are a small business or if your profession requires you to be available in case of emergency if there are questions regarding patients/clients that can’t wait.

 

DH takes long holidays too, but we do use internet on board in case of need and don’t begrudge doing so.

 

Different strokes 😉 

 

 

No kidding. We were on Heimaey Island (Iceland) last summer, when my phone rings with the number displayed as one of my clients. It appears they are having a meltdown with one of their clients and need some immediate assistance. 

 

Fortunately we were +4 (or maybe 5) hours from the East Coast and we had just left the Puffin Hospital and had no more tours scheduled for the day. I spent half-hour on the phone then and once we got back to the ship before sail-away, I spent another hour or so on the phone until I lost Cell Service as we sailed away. After dinner I ended up logging in to do some analysis and provide a solution one of their staff could implement over the next couple of days. 

 

All do to T-Mobile (Cell) & HAL Internet. I love T-Mobile for its international plans. Free Text/Data and only $.20 minute for calls. 

 

Collecting some billable hours while on vacation helps defer the costs a bit. 

[POA1]

23 minutes ago, drowelf said:

Collecting some billable hours while on vacation helps defer the costs a bit. 

 

I like to refer to it as "being available" and "helping people." Sounds more altruistic. 🤠

[SeaTheW0rld]

I didn't read the whole thread, so sorry if this had been posted previously. 

 

I have the TMobile one plus plan ($70 inclusive of taxes and fees). I have had at least data and texting in Jamaica,  Belieze and the Mexico ports. In Mexico I can even call without extra charges. Granted, the speed isn't much (256k) but it's included in my plan. 

 

They even send a text when I enter their coverage area. 

Edited January 31, 2019 by SeaTheW0rld
Typo

[tonyinoc]

On 12/22/2018 at 5:08 PM, Tennessee Titan said:

Just got off the New Statendam, and the new internet rates are pure greed/usery. There are three tiers. Social, Surf and I am not sure what the top one was called. On a 14 day cruise, Social, which gives access to Social media sites ONLY, is about $100. No email. For another $70, you get email access. For more or less unlimited use, another $50. So to check email once a day costs $170!

Lots of complaints/protest on this..

 

I can tell you I was on the Westerdam and paid for the premium plan. I wanted to stream a soccer match from England and it was useless when i called to complain they told me that I had exceed my limit for the day and they slowed it down .. I streamed at 3 am in the morning .. and it was no good from the start .. 

[tonyinoc]

On 12/22/2018 at 8:27 PM, catl331 said:

On this thread 

 one person said 300 Mb/day, another said 500.

 

For me i paid for the premuim streaming package it was unlimited but after about 300 megs if i remember right it was unusable.. very deceptive advertising .. when they use the word unlimited 

[Alphen]

On 1/5/2019 at 10:42 PM, richwmn said:

Here is the chart. It seems to be accurate at this time, but things have been known to change.

For a 28 days B2B I can now pre order  a premium package for only $263,99. So this is a good deal, right?

 

 

[crystalspin]

10 minutes ago, Alphen said:

For a 28 days B2B I can now pre order  a premium package for only $263,99. So this is a good deal, right?

It's US$199.99 for our 16-day transAtlantic, so yours seems reasonable!

[Alphen]

9 hours ago, crystalspin said:

It's US$199.99 for our 16-day transAtlantic, so yours seems reasonable!

Tnx, think so too

[I like vacation]

Looks to be a nice savings(as compared to the chart) if you purchase the internet plan in advance.  I wonder if the price increases if you wait until you are on board to use your OBC??

[Alphen]

9 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

Looks to be a nice savings(as compared to the chart) if you purchase the internet plan in advance.  I wonder if the price increases if you wait until you are on board to use your OBC??

Good point, our OBC is not that high that I have to make that decision, but I might take this offer, do not anticipate it to be lower on board.

[tonyinoc]

10 hours ago, Alphen said:

For a 28 days B2B I can now pre order  a premium package for only $263,99. So this is a good deal, right?

 

 

I would not get the premium. It's misleading. Premium allows you to stream. It says unlimited. But the truth is they slow you down to a point where it does not work. I could not even stream audio of a soccer game from England at 4 an in the morning from Singapore cruise let alone stream the video.  When I complained they told me I went past my 300 Meg limit for high speed I said how could I it was 4 am and the game just started.  But to no avail never heard back from them

[drowelf]

On 1/13/2019 at 5:05 PM, kazu said:

 

That’s fine in a larger company.  Doesn’t work so well when you are a small business or if your profession requires you to be available in case of emergency if there are questions regarding patients/clients that can’t wait.

 

DH takes long holidays too, but we do use internet on board in case of need and don’t begrudge doing so.

 

Different strokes 😉 

 

 

One of my clients caught me on in Iceland last summer for an emergency. I spent a bit of time in port, fortunately after tours, on conference calls and most of that evening/night writing code fixes for them from my cabin. The last conference call occurred as we sailed out of the harbor until I lost cell service. 

[catl331]

12 hours ago, Alphen said:

Here is the chart. It seems to be accurate at this time, but things have been known to change.

Except I question why 20 days and 25 are the same price.

[Alphen]

19 hours ago, catl331 said:

Except I question why 20 days and 25 are the same price.

I think the table is not something from HAL, but put together from experiences, maybe it is extrapoleted, I have no idea.

[Buckett]

On 12/22/2018 at 7:18 PM, catl331 said:

That depends on how close you are to one of the access point antennas that are spaced periodically along the hallway ... or if you're REALLY lucky, IN your cabin!  You can't get a better signal than we did here, in Oosterdam 8098!

What great news! We happen to be in this very cabin beginning March 30. Can't wait! 😉 I plan on purchasing the wifi package.

On 12/22/2018 at 7:18 PM, catl331 said:

 

[richwmn]

On 3/19/2019 at 2:53 PM, catl331 said:

Except I question why 20 days and 25 are the same price.

I originally posted the chart being referenced. I have stated several times that I don't know where it came from, but it appeared on the spreadsheet for the 2018 VoV. Posts have confirmed that they have paid the prices listed.

 

As far as 20 and 25 days being the same price, I can offer two plausible explanations. One is simply a typo transferring the amounts to the original spreadsheet. Or, two, if you reference post 115 it shows that HAL is selling a package in advance for 20 - 26 days for one price, so it could be that when the spreadsheet was done everything between 20 and 25 days was the same price.

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by richwmn