Wifi help

[Starflyr3]

ok, I need clarification, please.

 

My husband, myself and our 2 kids (preteen and teen) are going on Epic in March.  I upgraded my internet package to the premium package with streaming, but I notice I cannot purchase that package for anyone else (even at a higher price).  Is that limited to 1 device?  Is it the whole cabin?

 

My teenager wants to stay in touch with his friends, play games, watch YouTube, and use tiktok (*eyeroll*), and the "social media" wifi excludes tiktok and streaming, and the "unlimited wifi" excludes streaming (including youtube), not sure about tiktok.  is it even *possible* to get him a package that would allow him to do those things?  Or would he "have" to use mine? 

 

Mostly I ask because wifi has been a fight the last few cruises we've been on, and I am tired of fighting about it.  Plus, he's fairly likely to just get on the wifi anyway and rack up a huge bill.

 

help?

[leveedogs]

I had the same question for my cruise leaving in one week and I think I have an answer after reading the fine print.  Your current upgraded package is definitely limited to one device at a time.  Any other device that logs in using the cabin's ID and password will kick out the prior device, and vice versa.

 

On your NCL app home screen, if you scroll down to "Internet" you will find all of the other internet packages.  It looks like $205 to add a second device with ability to stream and use Tiktok, at least for our upcoming 7 day cruise on Breakaway.  So it is probably worth the hassle of sharing a login, in my opinion.

 

I thought about trying to use a mobile wifi hotspot with my connected phone to allow the kid's ipads to stream.  But I strongly suspect this method is blocked by the NCL app.  Can anyone confirm?

[keep on cruisin]

I believe once on board you will have the option..  i had purchased the upgrade to the 250 for 1 device and another unlimited.  Then when ncl changed the plans, I refunded the second device and switched to the upgraded free at sea for  both of us at $109 each.  Our planner indicates there are 12 internet plans available, yet I can only view 6.  I am thinking we will be able to upgrade to streaming once on the ship.  We are on Getaway on Sunday so I guess we will know then.

 

 

[BirdTravels]

On 2/20/2022 at 1:41 PM, Starflyr3 said:

ok, I need clarification, please.

 

My husband, myself and our 2 kids (preteen and teen) are going on Epic in March.  I upgraded my internet package to the premium package with streaming, but I notice I cannot purchase that package for anyone else (even at a higher price).  Is that limited to 1 device?  Is it the whole cabin?

 

My teenager wants to stay in touch with his friends, play games, watch YouTube, and use tiktok (*eyeroll*), and the "social media" wifi excludes tiktok and streaming, and the "unlimited wifi" excludes streaming (including youtube), not sure about tiktok.  is it even *possible* to get him a package that would allow him to do those things?  Or would he "have" to use mine? 

 

Mostly I ask because wifi has been a fight the last few cruises we've been on, and I am tired of fighting about it.  Plus, he's fairly likely to just get on the wifi anyway and rack up a huge bill.

 

help?

Go to the internet manager once onboard. Each package can be shared by multiple devices, one at a time. 
 

Remember, this is satellite internet shared by 4000 of your new friends, crew, and ship’s operations. It is vvvveeeeerrrryyyy slow, especially when uploading big files (videos). I would not waste a lot of money on it. 

[Starflyr3]

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Go to the internet manager once onboard. Each package can be shared by multiple devices, one at a time. 
 

Remember, this is satellite internet shared by 4000 of your new friends, crew, and ship’s operations. It is vvvveeeeerrrryyyy slow, especially when uploading big files (videos). I would not waste a lot of money on it. 

*I* know that, but my son apparently doesn’t.  And won’t believe me.

 

🤦‍♀️
 

 

[pcakes122]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Remember, this is satellite internet shared by 4000 of your new friends, crew, and ship’s operations. It is vvvveeeeerrrryyyy slow, especially when uploading big files (videos). I would not waste a lot of money on it. 

I realize this has been your experience, but mine has been totally opposite.  I always get the streaming package and I have never had any significant WiFi issue.  I stream live TV shows, Netflix, HBO Max, etc and honestly have only had an occasional (i.e., maybe once per cruise) buffering issue. I did YEARS ago (like 2018 & earlier), but I have no complaints about NCL internet these days.

 

I'm not sure if location has anything to do with it, but most of my cruises are to Bermuda or the Bahamas out of NYC.  On the big ships I'm always in the Haven (far forward) and on Jewel-class I'm always aft-facing.

 

I'm truly surprised when people say that NCL streaming internet is super slow. I even use a VPN and still haven't had that experience. When was the last time you had a streaming package?

 

I still recommend that people download movies, TV shows and music as much as possible before cruising because shipboard WiFi can get pricey if you have alot of devices that need to be connected at one time!

 

PS  Tip from I received from an onboard NCL Internet Manager:  Never pay in advance to upgrade your your Internet package. Wait until Day 2 of the cruise and upgrade at that time - it's cheaper. (Plus if you do it onboard you can use OBC if you have any!)

 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by pcakes122

[aubreyc1988]

10 hours ago, pcakes122 said:

I realize this has been your experience, but mine has been totally opposite.  I always get the streaming package and I have never had any significant WiFi issue.  I stream live TV shows, Netflix, HBO Max, etc and honestly have only had an occasional (i.e., maybe once per cruise) buffering issue. I did YEARS ago (like 2018 & earlier), but I have no complaints about NCL internet these days.

 

I'm not sure if location has anything to do with it, but most of my cruises are to Bermuda or the Bahamas out of NYC.  On the big ships I'm always in the Haven (far forward) and on Jewel-class I'm always aft-facing.

 

I'm truly surprised when people say that NCL streaming internet is super slow. I even use a VPN and still haven't had that experience. When was the last time you had a streaming package?

 

I still recommend that people download movies, TV shows and music as much as possible before cruising because shipboard WiFi can get pricey if you have alot of devices that need to be connected at one time!

 

PS  Tip from I received from an onboard NCL Internet Manager:  Never pay in advance to upgrade your your Internet package. Wait until Day 2 of the cruise and upgrade at that time - it's cheaper. (Plus if you do it onboard you can use OBC if you have any!)

 

 

do you remember the cost on day two? 

[jstewartgt]

On 2/20/2022 at 2:13 PM, leveedogs said:

I thought about trying to use a mobile wifi hotspot with my connected phone to allow the kid's ipads to stream.  But I strongly suspect this method is blocked by the NCL app.  Can anyone confirm?

 

They likely wouldn't be able to tell, but it's also not possible.  You can use your phone as a wifi hotspot when connected to cellular, not when connected to wifi. 

 

So for instance if you connect your phone to cellular while in port, then it works.  That's a much cheaper and faster option, but only when in port.  I know AT&T charges $10 a day for a single device and Mexico is free on our plan, but when you pull far enough away it no longer works.

[jules181]

I have a travel router that will connect to the ships wifi as one device, and then I can connect multiple devices to the router. 

 

This is what I believe was being mentioned with a mobile wifi hotspot. 

 

I highly recommend it.  

[dalmoradie]

24 minutes ago, jules181 said:

I have a travel router that will connect to the ships wifi as one device, and then I can connect multiple devices to the router. 

 

This is what I believe was being mentioned with a mobile wifi hotspot. 

 

I highly recommend it.  

can you tell me which device you use to do this?  Thanks

[GolfHawaii]

54 minutes ago, dalmoradie said:

can you tell me which device you use to do this?  Thanks

I have been using a D-Link (DIR-506L) SharePort Go for years now.  Worked fine on my last cruise in Sep/21.  It can be fussy to get setup but it works great once I do.  It is battery powered so I am able to take it around the ship with us.  The price I paid for the D-Link has been paid back by savings on multiple internet packages.

[jules181]

1 hour ago, dalmoradie said:

can you tell me which device you use to do this?  Thanks

 

I use the GL.iNet Beryl

https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt1300/

 

I use it because it has some functionality which is required for my specific use case. 

 

For something simple like bridging the wifi on a Cruise Ship you could use this (much smaller and much cheaper):

 

https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt300n-v2/

 

 

 

[LGW59]

On 2/20/2022 at 1:41 PM, Starflyr3 said:

ok, I need clarification, please.

 

My husband, myself and our 2 kids (preteen and teen) are going on Epic in March.  I upgraded my internet package to the premium package with streaming, but I notice I cannot purchase that package for anyone else (even at a higher price).  Is that limited to 1 device?  Is it the whole cabin?

 

My teenager wants to stay in touch with his friends, play games, watch YouTube, and use tiktok (*eyeroll*), and the "social media" wifi excludes tiktok and streaming, and the "unlimited wifi" excludes streaming (including youtube), not sure about tiktok.  is it even *possible* to get him a package that would allow him to do those things?  Or would he "have" to use mine? 

 

Mostly I ask because wifi has been a fight the last few cruises we've been on, and I am tired of fighting about it.  Plus, he's fairly likely to just get on the wifi anyway and rack up a huge bill.

 

help?

Use parental controls on his device so he does not rack up a huge bill

[Starflyr3]

3 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Use parental controls on his device so he does not rack up a huge bill

We do that; and we’re good at it, but he is also the king of hax for parental controls.

 

🤓

[pcakes122]

12 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

do you remember the cost on day two? 

My last cruise was a 5-day cruise in December.  The online upgrade price to Streaming for a 5-day cruise is $99 (that price supposedly includes a 15% discount.)

 

I upgraded after midnight on Day 1 (which is technically Day 2) for $69.98.

 

What the Internet Manager said was that Wi-Fi usage is very low on the 1st day because it's such a busy day plus everyone has use of their own phone network until around 4 PM at sail away -  so why pay for a full day of WiFi? 

 

This always works out for me because I happen to get some free Internet minutes from the casino, so if I truly need to use Wi-Fi on Day 1 I have those minutes.  But I rarely have a desperate need for Wi-Fi on the first cruise day!

[aubreyc1988]

1 hour ago, pcakes122 said:

My last cruise was a 5-day cruise in December.  The online upgrade price to Streaming for a 5-day cruise is $99 (that price supposedly includes a 15% discount.)

 

I upgraded after midnight on Day 1 (which is technically Day 2) for $69.98.

 

What the Internet Manager said was that Wi-Fi usage is very low on the 1st day because it's such a busy day plus everyone has use of their own phone network until around 4 PM at sail away -  so why pay for a full day of WiFi? 

 

This always works out for me because I happen to get some free Internet minutes from the casino, so if I truly need to use Wi-Fi on Day 1 I have those minutes.  But I rarely have a desperate need for Wi-Fi on the first cruise day!

in the future, my husband may need to access the premium streaming for a day (he switched to a job with less vacation time so we have to get creative and have him work a single sea day on a cruise usually) and I just find the new pre purchase prices CRAZY