WiFi - Difference between Basic and Premium

[Phils01]

For anyone recently back from a Celebrity Cruise, some advice please.

 

We are first time Celebrity Cruisers and have the basic WiFi included in our package.

 

What is the experience of your WiFi on your recent cruise ?

Is there a noticeable difference between the 2 packages ?

Is it worth the upgrade ?

tia

[Jeremiah1212]

There is a noticeable difference. You can't stream anything with the basic plan. But "is it good" is about as subjective as "is the food good". I typically upgrade and never have had any complaints but I also don't expect it to work like I'm sitting at home either. During hours when most people are in their cabins it's slower. You can always try basic for a few days and upgrade later if you need to. 

[Moonarino]

1 hour ago, Phils01 said:

Is it worth the upgrade ? ...

tia

It very much depends on what you expect to use the Internet for. Basic would likely be okay for email and maybe social media. I don't do the latter so can't say with certainty, but I've often gone with basic and done fine with email, and even an occasional youtube video.

 

But also as @Jeremiah1212mentioned, peak times can slow everything down. it might take 5 minutes just to check your email, no matter which package. I would not advise upgrading just to expect better overall performance.

 

[goodoldan]

Do you need an internet plan to use the WiFi-based features in the Celebrity app (e.g., texting to another guest onboard, making reservations, electronic room key, etc?).  The app makes it sound like you can connect to the onboard WiFi without an internet plan to do those sorts of things.

Edited September 11, 2022 by goodoldan

[d9704011]

1 minute ago, goodoldan said:

Do you need an internet plan to use the WiFi-based features in the Celebrity app (e.g., texting to another guest onboard, making reservations, electronic room key, etc?).  The app makes it sound like you can connect to the onboard WiFi without an internet plan to do those sorts of things.

No, you do not need a package to access all the omboard features you've identified.

[CNSfromHI]

2 minutes ago, goodoldan said:

Do you need an internet plan to use the WiFi-based features in the Celebrity app (e.g., texting to another guest onboard, making reservations, electronic room key, etc?).  The app makes it sound like you can connect to the onboard WiFi without an internet plan to do those sorts of things.

The Celebrity app allows you to text/chat with another guest in-app -- specifically someone in your immediate cruise party, but also someone you might "connect" with onboard. I had the basic WiFi package but, supposedly, you can use the Celebrity app while aboard for free regardless of your WiFi service. Also, those in-app "friend texts" don't alert you/pop up on your mobile phone; you'll see the them when you're using the Celebrity app.

 

I tried the room-key thing on my phone; it functions through Bluetooth so it has a limited range but, honestly, it's lame sauce and using your Sea Pass card is much easier/quicker. (That's the credit-card-like ID you'll use everywhere anyway.) The in-room TV-control in the celebrity app also blows, so just use the cabin remote.

 

Hope this helps!

 

cjr

[goodoldan]

Yes, thanks... that helps a lot. I wondered if the room key thing worked via wifi and the app or via NFC (which not all phones have)... as you say I expect it's much easier to just use your card. The guest to guest texting could be useful... if you remember to look at the app (sounds as though it's more like email than texting.).

 

I'll probably spring for the "premium" internet for just one device... there's a pre-sailing discount plus a bit more off for Captain's Club. I thought about trying the "basic" first and seeing what I could make work, but I don't want to be the IT guy on my vacation. Got a smokin' deal on the cabin so I guess I'll splurge a bit on tech.  😉 

Edited September 11, 2022 by goodoldan

[CNSfromHI]

The Celebrity app proved to be fairly handy for finding your way around the ship via deck maps, checking on open/close times for bars and restaurants, discovering stuff to do each day, etc. The "My Calendar" function is unfortunately limited; users will find only their Celebrity-arranged excursions show up there, as well as reservations made for specialty restaurants, but there's no way to add personal things, such as "meet so-and-so on deck 14 at X time."

 

I imagine that if you're traveling with your family or a group, then the in-app text/chat thing might prove very useful if you're trying to find them, make plans, meet somewhere, etc. With just my wife, who was always with me, this feature was a novelty and we just sent a few goofy messages with silly emoticons to each other 😆

 

I can only speak about the basic internet package since that's what we used. First, while my bride and I could each log into the ship's WiFi individually, you can only use one device at a time per passenger. This means disconnecting from device 01 in order to log in on device 02. It's not as onerous as it might sound, but just know you can't log in each device once when you board and then seamlessly access WiFi on multiple devices, as you would on your home network.

 

Also, I found the internet responsiveness fluctuated greatly. I wish I could say it was better on non-sea days, when more people were off the ship, or early/late in the day, but there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I'll probably pop for the premium package next time to see if there's an improvement.

 

Hope this helps!

 

cjr

[Casualcruisers]

My wife and I just got off a cruise and just had the basic wifi.

it worked good for texting and email and internet searches.

 

A lot of websites (including CruiseCritic) wouldn’t load correctly and made the sights hard to use.

I was able to use MS Teams for chatting and sending pictures.

 

I was planning to upgrade next cruise, but my wife actually likes that I can’t spend all day playing on my phone while on vacation so maybe basic is enough.

[CNSfromHI]

2 minutes ago, Casualcruisers said:

...but my wife actually likes that I can’t spend all day playing on my phone while on vacation so maybe basic is enough.

👍

 

I should have mentioned this in my previous reply, too. The basic plan, despite its foibles, was just fine for us since we're not glued to our devices. I didn't mind unplugging for two weeks at all!

 

cjr

[Grandmaanne7]

24 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:

The Celebrity app proved to be fairly handy for finding your way around the ship via deck maps, checking on open/close times for bars and restaurants, discovering stuff to do each day, etc. The "My Calendar" function is unfortunately limited; users will find only their Celebrity-arranged excursions show up there, as well as reservations made for specialty restaurants, but there's no way to add personal things, such as "meet so-and-so on deck 14 at X time."

 

I imagine that if you're traveling with your family or a group, then the in-app text/chat thing might prove very useful if you're trying to find them, make plans, meet somewhere, etc. With just my wife, who was always with me, this feature was a novelty and we just sent a few goofy messages with silly emoticons to each other 😆

 

I can only speak about the basic internet package since that's what we used. First, while my bride and I could each log into the ship's WiFi individually, you can only use one device at a time per passenger. This means disconnecting from device 01 in order to log in on device 02. It's not as onerous as it might sound, but just know you can't log in each device once when you board and then seamlessly access WiFi on multiple devices, as you would on your home network.

 

Also, I found the internet responsiveness fluctuated greatly. I wish I could say it was better on non-sea days, when more people were off the ship, or early/late in the day, but there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I'll probably pop for the premium package next time to see if there's an improvement.

 

Hope this helps!

 

cjr

Was the basic wifi referenced here purchased with the all included package? Seems to me that if each passenger pays for it, each passenger should be able to use it. I did not realize that it was shared between devices. Am I reading this incorrectly?

[Casualcruisers]

1 minute ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

Was the basic wifi referenced here purchased with the all included package? Seems to me that if each passenger pays for it, each passenger should be able to use it. I did not realize that it was shared between devices. Am I reading this incorrectly?

Each person gets 1 device.

Me and my wife both had basic included in the all included package and could each use 1 device.

[Grandmaanne7]

Just now, Casualcruisers said:

Each person gets 1 device.

Me and my wife both had basic included in the all included package and could each use 1 device.

Thank you for the clarification. 

[CNSfromHI]

17 minutes ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

Was the basic wifi referenced here purchased with the all included package? Seems to me that if each passenger pays for it, each passenger should be able to use it. I did not realize that it was shared between devices. Am I reading this incorrectly?

I apologize if I wasn't clear. Our basic internet was included as part of the all-included stuff, and as Casualcruisers notes, each passenger can use one device at a time to access the internet.

 

cjr

[Grandmaanne7]

19 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:

I apologize if I wasn't clear. Our basic internet was included as part of the all-included stuff, and as Casualcruisers notes, each passenger can use one device at a time to access the internet.

 

cjr

Thanks for the clarification 

[Dk-cruiser]

Have anyone tried the Basic package, on Beyond with Starlink installed?