Best Strategy for Elites Purchasing Medallion Net?????

[Hlitner]

Forgive me in advance for asking this question (which has probably been asked before).  We have an upcoming cruise on the CB.  Normally we get a lot of free minutes because both DW and I are Elite.  But now we are being offered Medallion Net unlimited..for the usual pre-cruise discount.  Should we buy Medallion Net pre-cruise and fight at Guest Relations to get some kind of refund onboard, or are we better off just waiting until we board to even purchase Internet?

 

Hank

[voljeep]

it's a shame to even have to post about this ... forming a 'strategy' in order to purchase a princess product because they can't come up with a definitive price for 'platinum and elite' and the 'free minutes'

 

anyway, it seems to be the consensus among posters that have done this to wait until boarding to log on and choose the plan ... pre-cruise discount doesn't seem to apply to the two highest levels of captain circle loyalty ...

[hpeabody]

It is the digital manager you would actually see and there is no refund.  It is ONLY minutes / or unlimited/ or the combination of minutes and days (with an elite discount)  Don't buy from cruise personalizer pre-cruise unless it is some great sale. Some say use your free minutes then pay by the day for the remaining days you need.  I am recently off the Royal which has terrible Medallion Net.  I paid on board for unlimited the first day $49.95 (7 day Alaska cruise) and gave up the minutes.  I regret now not asking for a refund, what a waste that was and so very frustrating.  I can't believe Princess can get away with such a poor product.

 

This is only from my experience, YMMV

[KCsealegs]

I’m elite and pre-purchased the unlimited internet package at a discount (can’t remember how much the discount was). In my opinion the MedallionNet on Royal Princess was outstanding. It was great not having to logout or count minutes. I was able to upload photos and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, send/receive email and iMessages, and my Mom even streamed TV shows. Seemed just like we were on land. Well worth the cost in my opinion. 

[DrivesLikeMario]

We had really good, fast Medallion Net on the Royal recently.  I'm guessing it was probably due to where you were.  AK doesn't have the best connections.  We were offered unlimited for $59.99 for the week with no Elite discount.  We never even used the 300 mins. we had between us because it was so fast.

[hpeabody]

I am jealous 😞

[PescadoAmarillo]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

it's a shame to even have to post about this ... forming a 'strategy' in order to purchase a princess product because they can't come up with a definitive price for 'platinum and elite' and the 'free minutes'

I so agree. 

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Forgive me in advance for asking this question (which has probably been asked before).  We have an upcoming cruise on the CB.  Normally we get a lot of free minutes because both DW and I are Elite.  But now we are being offered Medallion Net unlimited..for the usual pre-cruise discount.  Should we buy Medallion Net pre-cruise and fight at Guest Relations to get some kind of refund onboard, or are we better off just waiting until we board to even purchase Internet?

 

Hank

Here’s my experience on a Royal Princess cruise last month for a MedallionNet plan which was best by waiting until boarding the ship.

 

In advance anyone could purchase an unlimited plan for 14 days...$120.  Onboard as an elite level passenger here were my options...$90 unlimited or 250 free minutes.  I have no way to know if there was a lower price on the ship for passengers not eligible for the free minutes.

 

If my experience is standard fleetwide then for passengers eligible for free minutes (platinum/elite) waiting to purchase onboard was 25% cheaper.  Thus for my cruise it was best to purchase onboard & to pay with OBC.

 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[kywildcatfanone]

I'm waiting till I board, as I think it's about $7 cheaper than the pre boarding purchase.  I have no idea why they did this, but they did. 

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Hi,

 

I asked this same question a few weeks ago and it was suggested that we wait until we board.  Actually, I think it was Astro Flyer and Idahospud that helped guide me so THANK YOU!

 

We just got off of the Caribbean Princess on Saturday for 7 days and I was so glad we waited.  Original price on-line was $59.99 and then it had gone up to $69.99.  They also added a 4 device plan for $14.99 a day for about $104.

 

Signed in first day and my offer was $35 for one device or $70 for the 4 device plan.  I had to give up my free minutes but that was fine.  We only ended up using 3 devices because DH was being stubborn but our 20 somethings loved having fast and unlimited internet.

 

Thanks again!

Tina

[Crzn-Life]

Definitely wait to get onboard to purchase. The first day only you have the opportunity to purchase Medallion Net at a much better price than what is available in the personalizer. 

 

BTW if you are on B2Bs even if you booked the cruises separately the internet setup is for 1 cruise for however many days you have booked. We were on the CB for 4 B2Bs booked separately however the discounted rate for one device was for $75 24 days. The free Elite minutes are also lumped into one cruise so DH who was using those received only 500 minutes at the beginning of the first cruise. Had they been allocated as in pre MedallionNet days where you were given the amount per cruise i.e. 150 per 7 days with unused rolled over and added to the 150 for the 2nd and each successive cruise. 

 

Passwords aren’t used anymore to log in. Instead you use your cabin # and DOB as you used to do for your first login to set up an account. Actually the system is now set up for purchase of a plan where you would log on at the beginning of the cruise and remain logged in  until disembarkation. 

[brt49]

This is what I'm being offered on our 14 day Rome to Barcelona on the Emerald in August. $99.99 for 1 device for 14 days. Interesting we are getting 2 credits as our 14 day is actually two 7 day segments. So I believe we will both get 150 minutes resetting after the first 7 days. Since this is a 10 port cruise with 2 sea days, I doubt we will use all our minutes. 

 

I think I will wait until we board to see if the deals are better. 

[Astro Flyer]

Crzn-Life...we had the same experience where the B2B 7-day cruises were combined as one 14-day cruise with 250 minutes instead of 300 minutes.  I’ve read posts that by visiting the Internet Cafe manager we would have received the missing 50 minutes.

[Crzn-Life]

11 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Crzn-Life...we had the same experience where the B2B 7-day cruises were combined as one 14-day cruise with 250 minutes instead of 300 minutes.  I’ve read posts that by visiting the Internet Cafe manager we would have received the missing 50 minutes.

 

Yes, you can go to the internet mgr. and request it. We didn’t because I had the unlimited plan so when the the minutes ran out I just started switching devices. However I would have definitely requested the missing minutes had we both been using minutes. I mentioned this primarily for a heads-up for people using the minutes who may not be aware they didn’t get all of the minutes they should get. 

[Colo Cruiser]

For our 10 day Crown cruise in the fall unlimited MedallionNet is currently offered at $69.99.

Same price I paid on my 10 day Regal last November. But it was when they gave it for free and the $69.99 was refunded automatically once onboard.

Don't want to be fighting for a refund once onboard the Crown.

Should I wait until boarding?  🤔

[DJ Cruisers]

We booked a 56 day cruise for next year and the unlimited internet pre-cruise is $179 for one device.  We are both elite but want to have the unlimited internet.  We have been trying to decide if this is a good deal or if a better deal will be awaiting us on board.  If anybody has experience with the long cruise internet pricing, we'd be glad to hear about it.  Thanks.

[voljeep]

9 minutes ago, DJ Cruisers said:

We booked a 56 day cruise for next year and the unlimited internet pre-cruise is $179 for one device.  We are both elite but want to have the unlimited internet.  We have been trying to decide if this is a good deal or if a better deal will be awaiting us on board.  If anybody has experience with the long cruise internet pricing, we'd be glad to hear about it.  Thanks.

for that price point on that length of cruise, I would jump on that price to lock it in ... then deal with the platinum minutes benefit once on board to see about a refund / obc, if available

[High C's]

Forgive my ignorance, but our first medallion cruise will not be until next year.  Would someone please clarify if the free internet minutes that used to be offered to Elite members is still offered?  We usually don't use up the "free" minutes, so I don't anticipate benefiting from unlimited minutes in our case.  TIA 🙂

[idahospud]

30 minutes ago, High C's said:

Forgive my ignorance, but our first medallion cruise will not be until next year.  Would someone please clarify if the free internet minutes that used to be offered to Elite members is still offered?  We usually don't use up the "free" minutes, so I don't anticipate benefiting from unlimited minutes in our case.  TIA 🙂

Yes, they are still offered. 

[High C's]

5 minutes ago, idahospud said:

Yes, they are still offered. 

WHEW!!!  🙂   Many thanks Idahospud!

 

[Mike_DeA]

On 6/10/2019 at 9:32 PM, Are.we.there.yet? said:

Hi,

 

I asked this same question a few weeks ago and it was suggested that we wait until we board.  Actually, I think it was Astro Flyer and Idahospud that helped guide me so THANK YOU!

 

We just got off of the Caribbean Princess on Saturday for 7 days and I was so glad we waited.  Original price on-line was $59.99 and then it had gone up to $69.99.  They also added a 4 device plan for $14.99 a day for about $104.

 

Signed in first day and my offer was $35 for one device or $70 for the 4 device plan.  I had to give up my free minutes but that was fine.  We only ended up using 3 devices because DH was being stubborn but our 20 somethings loved having fast and unlimited internet.

 

Thanks again!

Tina

I was on the same cruise (7 nights) and had the same exact experience with the pricing.

[Ep010835]

On 6/11/2019 at 3:58 AM, Astro Flyer said:

Here’s my experience on a Royal Princess cruise last month for a MedallionNet plan which was best by waiting until boarding the ship.

 

In advance anyone could purchase an unlimited plan for 14 days...$120.  Onboard as an elite level passenger here were my options...$90 unlimited or 250 free minutes.  I have no way to know if there was a lower price on the ship for passengers not eligible for the free minutes.

 

If my experience is standard fleetwide then for passengers eligible for free minutes (platinum/elite) waiting to purchase onboard was 25% cheaper.  Thus for my cruise it was best to purchase onboard & to pay with OBC.

 

 

As is so often the case, yours is the definitive answer!! 

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, High C's said:

We usually don't use up the "free" minutes, so I don't anticipate benefiting from unlimited minutes in our case. 

 

We're with you. Even with the old, slow Internet access we haven't used up our free minutes on the last several cruises. While we are used to having Internet access at all times (it's amazing how often I just ask my phone a question) we certainly don't need that kind of access while cruising.

[High C's]

3 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

We're with you. Even with the old, slow Internet access we haven't used up our free minutes on the last several cruises. While we are used to having Internet access at all times (it's amazing how often I just ask my phone a question) we certainly don't need that kind of access while cruising.

We only ran out once, and that was because I forgot to log out!!!!!!!!  Lesson learned! LOL 🙂

[Colo Cruiser]

On 6/10/2019 at 8:37 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

For our 10 day Crown cruise in the fall unlimited MedallionNet is currently offered at $69.99.

Same price I paid on my 10 day Regal last November. But it was when they gave it for free and the $69.99 was refunded automatically once onboard.

Don't want to be fighting for a refund once onboard the Crown.

Should I wait until boarding?  🤔

Since I did not get a response........

I am asking this question again. TIA  🙂