Is upgrading to unlimited WiFi worth it

[macfam5]

We have the 250 minute WiFi offer on our upcoming cruise on the Getaway in March. Is it worth upgrading to unlimited WiFi? How is the internet quality? 

[BirdTravels]

It is satellite internet shared by 4500 passengers and ship’s operations. 
 

If you want to use internet, you can blow through 250 really fast. 
 

 

[jlowe420]

I will let you know after my cruise leaving Sunday on the joy.  I upgraded to the mid-range package - unlimited but not the one that said i could "stream".  In my experience it's not all that fast but wasn't so slow I considered slitting my wrists.  Since this time I'm going solo and I'm a bit of an introvert, I thought the unlimited internet would give me something to do sitting at the bar if I was bored.

[roger001]

With the ship internet, it seems like a lot of time is spent signing in and signing out, and easy to screw up signing out and letting the clock keep ticking.  So 250 goes quicker than you think.  You can get credit for the 250 when you get on the ship and pay the difference for unlimited.  But ultimately, it is all about how you are planning to use the internet each day.  250 realistically gives you about 35 or so minutes a day average, enough to do some quick checks on stuff but not time to just surf.  The ships' internet speeds are much better in the last few years, but still not super fast.  

[Double Jack]

For me, it is definitely worth it.  But I like to stay connected to the outside world.  Some people want to completely to unplug.

 

It really depends.  Just remember the unlimited can be shared by everyone in the same cabin.   But just one person at a time.

[Yinster]

This is one of those relative question. How much/long do you want to stay connected whilst you are cruising? Is the price to upgrade the right price for you to do so?

 

We always upgrade to the unlimited package from the internet perk. But then there's two of us using it. One after another. It also means one of us can stay connected whilst we are onboard. 

 

Quality wise it isn't as bad as it used to be. Some locations are better than others. It's not super fast but we aren't streaming so it's fast enough for what we are doing.

[tef43]

Can't help, as 1) I do not schlep a laptop on a cruise, and 2) the phone is turned off and locked in the safe as soon as we reach the cabin.

[Gracelyn]

I’m interested in this as well. I have the 250 mins. Knowing I will def need more. What amount of credit is the free wifi? Any idea if we have to do that day 1?

12 hours ago, roger001 said:

With the ship internet, it seems like a lot of time is spent signing in and signing out, and easy to screw up signing out and letting the clock keep ticking.  So 250 goes quicker than you think.  You can get credit for the 250 when you get on the ship and pay the difference for unlimited.  But ultimately, it is all about how you are planning to use the internet each day.  250 realistically gives you about 35 or so minutes a day average, enough to do some quick checks on stuff but not time to just surf.  The ships' internet speeds are much better in the last few years, but still not super fast.  

 

[roger001]

28 minutes ago, Gracelyn said:

I’m interested in this as well. I have the 250 mins. Knowing I will def need more. What amount of credit is the free wifi? Any idea if we have to do that day 1?

 

I think there will be an opportunity from your room, instructions available.  However, you can go down to the internet manager and he/she can do it for you first day.  I really can remember, been a year since, but seems like with the 250 minute credit the upgrade on a 7 day was around $125.  Someone else probably has better answer.  

[Gracelyn]

22 minutes ago, roger001 said:

I think there will be an opportunity from your room, instructions available.  However, you can go down to the internet manager and he/she can do it for you first day.  I really can remember, been a year since, but seems like with the 250 minute credit the upgrade on a 7 day was around $125.  Someone else probably has better answer.  

Thank you very much

[mking8288]

Folks - these 2 recent threads / links should be of help - CC's "Search" function isn't the best.  

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2637343-jade-internet-promo-question/?tab=comments#comment-59183039

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2655988-free-at-sea-internet-upgrade/?tab=comments#comment-59170985

 

On a typical 7 days cruise in the Caribbean/Bahamas, you can often get by without an unlimited plan - especially if you can used inexpensive/free roaming while ashore or docked at the port.  Check with your home carrier about options - ship's satellite WiFi are almost always more expensive, and, slower.  While at sea, especially if it is "important" and/or a "must" have ... each of us define what's a necessity or not, like UBP or SDP,  it's your money and OBC to spend on/against it.  

 

By definition, satellite internet is slow, like analog/copper DSL lines and if you are used to 200/200 or 300/300 Mbps fiber speed, it's going feel & seem unresponsive, and it is a shared, dynmaic bandwidth and everyone else onboard - ship navigation has priority, operations and then passengers as end users.  

 

On a recent 8 nights cruise on the mid-size ship in the fleet, the Gem - I decided to spend some of the OBC to give the unlimited WiFi a run, cost only $55 to do it by buying it on Day 3, thus 6 day's worth of unlimited access.  It was usable and much improved over 5 years ago, 10 to 15 years ago, it was simply horrible - but still lag behind RCL, Princess & Carnival - I would not recommend the premium streaming plan, not worth it and speed too slow to consistently support 360/480p video content, as it's sometimes barely hitting 2 Mbps and as fast as 3.5 - 3.75 Mbps ... was getting better than 4 Mbps last Spring on the Dawn.  Mega/+ ships has more users and I just cannot see how the Cisco hardware can do better onboard - same satellite above the earth serving the fleet.  WiFi inTRAnet is fine but the bottleneck for data traffic is further upstream.  

 

Prices are subject to change, as you all should know, without advance notice by NCL - but 250 free minutes has been credited at $125 when trading up to most plans, except the social media plan.  YMMV, of course. 

 

Last Spring, we cruised 14 days on the Escape with just under 400 "free" minutes and managed just fine, supplementing our Google Fi cellular "roaming" data when in ports/docked - a matter of metering and discipline.  Remember to learn to login and logout to start/stop the usage & metering, or it will run out in 4 hours, easily by the first evening. 

[Gracelyn]

Thanks mKing for that insite. I will use my home data in port and while docked so I appreciate the idea also of what amount I have for upgrading 

[Metalcrafter]

I just upgraded from my free 250 min to unlimited for $84.93. This is a 7 night western Caribbean cruise on the Breakaway.

[Gracelyn]

15 hours ago, Metalcrafter said:

I just upgraded from my free 250 min to unlimited for $84.93. This is a 7 night western Caribbean cruise on the Breakaway.

Great! Ty

[don't-use-real-name]

Just remember fail to log OUT and in less than 4 hours and 10 minutes your 250 minutes is POOF

gone to the GREAT VOID. The Internet Café manager can reset the clock but may have you upgrade

to one of the unlimited plans to avoid an instant replay of this.

 

Skillful use of the 250 minute time allowance and any free port Wi-Fi should work to get one by.

But beware of running out of time and then buying more expensive increments -

Simply buy or convert to the Unlimited Plan and be done with it.

You can even let the connection terminate itself when you disembark ! 

[Gracelyn]

18 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Just remember fail to log OUT and in less than 4 hours and 10 minutes your 250 minutes is POOF

gone to the GREAT VOID. The Internet Café manager can reset the clock but may have you upgrade

to one of the unlimited plans to avoid an instant replay of this.

 

Skillful use of the 250 minute time allowance and any free port Wi-Fi should work to get one by.

But beware of running out of time and then buying more expensive increments -

Simply buy or convert to the Unlimited Plan and be done with it.

You can even let the connection terminate itself when you disembark ! 

Yes.  Thanks. My plan is to get on board and convert it as soon as I get on board 

[spanishguy1970]

On 1/31/2020 at 11:14 PM, macfam5 said:

We have the 250 minute WiFi offer on our upcoming cruise on the Getaway in March. Is it worth upgrading to unlimited WiFi? How is the internet quality? 

not worth it in my book unless for some reason you need to do some work. I for one, turn my phone off, put it away as much as possible.. No one needs to talk to me or reach me that badly,  so 250 minutes would probably be enough for me...

Edited February 3, 2020 by spanishguy1970

[complawyer]

probably not, unless you intend to use it a lot. service at sea is still lousy. cruise critic recommend you wait until you reach a port, and try any place that offers free wi-fi

[Gracelyn]

Thank you. I appreciate the feedback

[Deck boy Dave]

On 1/31/2020 at 10:15 PM, jlowe420 said:

I will let you know after my cruise leaving Sunday on the joy.  I upgraded to the mid-range package - unlimited but not the one that said i could "stream".  In my experience it's not all that fast but wasn't so slow I considered slitting my wrists.  Since this time I'm going solo and I'm a bit of an introvert, I thought the unlimited internet would give me something to do sitting at the bar if I was bored.

Great cruise all you guys in the Vibe were awesome... AKA Jersey Dave....LOL...jk 

 

 

[beachcomberbill]

The WiFi is incredibly slow, and unresponsive.   We took the 250 as part of the package but it takes five to ten minutes to do what ought to take two minutes.   In the southern Caribbean leg of our cruise many passengers took advantage of the free WiFi on shore offered by Starbucks and Illy coffee shops on Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire.

[ennjay]

Once you blow through your 250 minutes, are you charged for exceeding that, or are you just cut off from the internet at that point?  Would hate to leave it connected accidentally and rack up a huge bill... I'm assuming they just cut off the internet, but can anyone confirm?

 

Also, is it possible to purchase a prorated unlimited plan a few days into the cruise and save some money, or is that not an option? 

 

Thanks!

[mking8288]

21 minutes ago, ennjay said:

Once you blow through your 250 minutes, are you charged for exceeding that, or are you just cut off from the internet at that point?  ...

 

Also, is it possible to purchase a prorated unlimited plan a few days into the cruise and save some money, or is that not an option?  ... 

 

Once you exceeded your "limited" plan minutes, your data will get cutoff automatically ... maybe, it will stay connected "live" for an extra minute or two while on the same website, URL or app, etc.  Do a new search, access a different online site, etc. - it will come to a halt quickly.  For example, once our 30 / 60 free P+ minutes run out (we always used those first) - we had to click & select other free minutes to resume/continue the session (or, log out & back in again).  You won't rack up a huge data bill for $489 or something like that, unlike cellular data roaming when abroad by accident or whatever.

 

For a typical 7 day sailing, you can upgrade/buy 6 days worth of unlimited plan on Day 2 ... On our recent 8 days sailing, did that shortly after midnight - technically, on Day 3 and billable upgrade difference was for 6 days x $30 = $180, less a $125 trade-up credit for the "free" 250 minutes that we didn't use/touch (stick with our 60 P+ minutes) = net cost was $55. not too bad as we normally don't do this.  Good use of non-refundable OBC that otherwise, gone to DW's onboard duty-free shopping or against CruiseNext Deposit purchase.  

[macfam5]

On 2/1/2020 at 11:32 PM, Metalcrafter said:

I just upgraded from my free 250 min to unlimited for $84.93. This is a 7 night western Caribbean cruise on the Breakaway.

This is the upgrade cost I was looking at, if we upgrade to this do we get an onboard credit?

[Turtles06]

50 minutes ago, macfam5 said:

This is the upgrade cost I was looking at, if we upgrade to this do we get an onboard credit?

The upgrade price reflects a “credit” for the value that NCL assigns to the “free” 250 minutes that you are giving up.  You don’t get any OBC.