Newbie Questions

[ReneeFLL]

Not a newbie cruiser, but new to MSC.

How much is the internet per day or does it change by sailing? How can I find out the price before I actually book a cruise or can I? We don’t plan on booking the best value which looks like it includes the drink package and wi-fi. 

 

Diamond members get 10% off wi-fi packages? I’m guessing this comes up in the cruise planner after you have booked?

 

Are there any benefits that diamond members get that aren’t listed?

 

Do you have to eat in the MDR every night or can you eat in the buffet every night? Not sure if we will get a reasonable assigned dining time so looking at options.

 

I’m assuming you don’t have to buy their insurance? We already have a yearly plan.

[Essiesmom]

It depends on how many devices you plan to use.  On MSC you can’t log off one device and log into another device.  So if you both want to use phones, you need a two device plan.  I got a two device plan to use with iPhone and iPad.

These rates are for a 7 day cruise.

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Essiesmom

[ReneeFLL]

Yikes, I would need to buy for 4 devices since we both use our phones and iPads. With the Aurea do you only get 1 device for each person? What about with the Best Value deal? It says “browse wi-fi package”. What’s that?

[ReneeFLL]

Does the wi-fi ever go on sale or is it a numbers game like Royal?

[Essiesmom]

I don’t believe there is any distinction in price or device per experience.  EM

[Marga.Anders]

So you can't logout on 1 phone and then go online on another phone with the same package? 

[JamieLogical]

5 hours ago, Marga.Anders said:

So you can't logout on 1 phone and then go online on another phone with the same package? 

 

Nope. But if you have an android phone capable of wifi hotspotting (iPhones can only hotspot cell service), you can log in on your phone and then connect to your hotspotted phone from other devices

[JamieLogical]

16 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Does the wi-fi ever go on sale or is it a numbers game like Royal?

 

I don't believe wifi ever goes on sale. It is a fixed price per day, depending on which service you get (Browse vs. Browse and Stream) and how many devices.

[DaKahuna]

On 9/5/2023 at 8:56 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

Nope. But if you have an android phone capable of wifi hotspotting (iPhones can only hotspot cell service), you can log in on your phone and then connect to your hotspotted phone from other devices

 

Glad to hear this.  I will definitely bring my Travel Router and set it up for use in our room.  

Will use the other account with my iPhone which travels around the ship with me. 

[Até]

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I will definitely bring my Travel Router and set it up for use in our room.  

Will use the other account with my iPhone which travels around the ship with me. 

How do you go about logging in a travel router as a device into the ship internet account?

[DaKahuna]

The travel router I have has two different WiFi devices.  One is used to set up the router so that you can access it from any WiFi devices, e.g. my laptop.  I set this up with the SSID and password while at home. 

 

When I get to the ship, I got through the process of creating my userID and ping to create my account on the ship's WiFi.  I then connect power to the travel router and use my laptop or table to log into the router, using the SSID and password I created while at home.   I go into the routers configuration and go through the process of connecting it to the ship's WiFi the same as you would your mobile device.  I have found various travel routers have slightly different processes for doing this but with mine I go into the configuration, choose Bridge mode and scan for available WiFi networks.  I find the ship's network and use the account information to log into the ship's Wifi to connect the router to the ship's WiFi.  Once this is done, I leave router connected to the ship's WiFi at all times and connect my various devices to my router. 

 

The ship sees a single device connected to their network although I may have three or four devices connected.  Obviously this will only work when  I am within reach of the signal from my WiFi router.  What we normally do is use one of our two accounts for the WiFi router and the other account we use with my iPhone so I always have my iPhone connected no matter where we go.   This works out because my DW does not use her devices outside the stateroom. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 9/4/2023 at 2:34 PM, ReneeFLL said:

Do you have to eat in the MDR every night or can you eat in the buffet every night? Not sure if we will get a reasonable assigned dining time so looking at options.

 

I’m assuming you don’t have to buy their insurance? We already have a yearly plan.

 

As with any other cruise line, you can choose the MDR or Buffet each day/night. The buffet should have homemade mozzarella and possibly burrata at least one evening. That is amazing!

 

No, you don't have to purchase any cruise line's insurance, nor should you really. Good independent 3rd party travel insurance is almost always superior in coverage and lower cost than the cruse line. 

[EllieinNJ]

I also think it depends on how close you are to your sailing for internet.  When we booked our October 11 day sailing last year the internet was $114 per device.  When I check now it is $174 per device .

[mscdivina2016]

On 9/13/2023 at 3:28 PM, DaKahuna said:

The travel router I have has two different WiFi devices.  One is used to set up the router so that you can access it from any WiFi devices, e.g. my laptop.  I set this up with the SSID and password while at home. 

 

When I get to the ship, I got through the process of creating my userID and ping to create my account on the ship's WiFi.  I then connect power to the travel router and use my laptop or table to log into the router, using the SSID and password I created while at home.   I go into the routers configuration and go through the process of connecting it to the ship's WiFi the same as you would your mobile device.  I have found various travel routers have slightly different processes for doing this but with mine I go into the configuration, choose Bridge mode and scan for available WiFi networks.  I find the ship's network and use the account information to log into the ship's Wifi to connect the router to the ship's WiFi.  Once this is done, I leave router connected to the ship's WiFi at all times and connect my various devices to my router. 

 

The ship sees a single device connected to their network although I may have three or four devices connected.  Obviously this will only work when  I am within reach of the signal from my WiFi router.  What we normally do is use one of our two accounts for the WiFi router and the other account we use with my iPhone so I always have my iPhone connected no matter where we go.   This works out because my DW does not use her devices outside the stateroom. 

I have had zero luck with MSC using a travel router. Only hotspotting.

 

The issue I found was that it locks onto one device and my router cannot lock on as that device as a host.

 You may have a better router than mine if it can act as host. If it had its own address you are good to go.

[DaKahuna]

6 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I have had zero luck with MSC using a travel router. Only hotspotting.

 

The issue I found was that it locks onto one device and my router cannot lock on as that device as a host.

 You may have a better router than mine if it can act as host. If it had its own address you are good to go.

 

Radio 1 is what I use to connect my devices to the travel router. 

Radio 2 is what is used to connect to the ship's WiFi.  The MAC address that the ship's access point sees is the MAC address of Radio 2 since it uses NAT.   

 

With two devices per person, I am not sure that I really need it but will take it along anyway.  I have not sailed MSC yet but from what I have read, I do not expect to encountered any problems but will not know for sure until February.  

[macross2ii]

On 9/17/2023 at 9:10 AM, DaKahuna said:

 

Radio 1 is what I use to connect my devices to the travel router. 

Radio 2 is what is used to connect to the ship's WiFi.  The MAC address that the ship's access point sees is the MAC address of Radio 2 since it uses NAT.   

 

With two devices per person, I am not sure that I really need it but will take it along anyway.  I have not sailed MSC yet but from what I have read, I do not expect to encountered any problems but will not know for sure until February.  

We're you able to connect your travel router to the MSC wifi? We're going on MSC in April.

[tscoffey]

On 9/4/2023 at 3:44 PM, ReneeFLL said:

Yikes, I would need to buy for 4 devices since we both use our phones and iPads

 

I guess 'vacation' means different things to different people.

Edited February 16 by tscoffey

[DaKahuna]

41 minutes ago, macross2ii said:

We're you able to connect your travel router to the MSC wifi? We're going on MSC in April.

 No, I was not able to get it to work.   I could connect the router to the ship’s WiFi network but I could not get the captive portal login screen to appear.  I only wasted about an hour on it before resolving to make do with my phone and my iPad. 

[Jimmycruiser]

7 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 No, I was not able to get it to work.   I could connect the router to the ship’s WiFi network but I could not get the captive portal login screen to appear.  I only wasted about an hour on it before resolving to make do with my phone and my iPad. 

We are new to MSC and will be in a YC suite on Divina in November. Is the Included WiFi 2 devices per person or per suite? Also, can you tell me if Harvey Bristol cream, Bailey Irish Cream, and Southern Comfort whiskey are included drinks? Thanks in advance.

[Beamafar]

37 minutes ago, Jimmycruiser said:

We are new to MSC and will be in a YC suite on Divina in November. Is the Included WiFi 2 devices per person or per suite? Also, can you tell me if Harvey Bristol cream, Bailey Irish Cream, and Southern Comfort whiskey are included drinks? Thanks in advance.

Here’s the current drinks menu available on US sailings.  (MSC sometimes changes prices and included items from April). Drinks up to $16 are included across the ship for YC guests.  Items without a price on the YC bar menus are also included. 
 

Divina US bar menu.pdf

 

 

[Jimmycruiser]

14 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Here’s the current drinks menu available on US sailings.  (MSC sometimes changes prices and included items from April). Drinks up to $16 are included across the ship for YC guests.  Items without a price on the YC bar menus are also included. 
 

Divina US bar menu.pdf 1.32 MB · 1 download

 

 

Thanks!!

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, Jimmycruiser said:

We are new to MSC and will be in a YC suite on Divina in November. Is the Included WiFi 2 devices per person or per suite? Also, can you tell me if Harvey Bristol cream, Bailey Irish Cream, and Southern Comfort whiskey are included drinks? Thanks in advance.

The WiFi is for two discrete devices each.  I use mu iPhone and my iPad and my DW does the same.

 

Bailey’s id definitely available as is Southern Comfort.  I have no idea about Harvey Bristol.

 

[Jimmycruiser]

36 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

The WiFi is for two discrete devices each.  I use mu iPhone and my iPad and my DW does the same.

 

Bailey’s id definitely available as is Southern Comfort.  I have no idea about Harvey Bristol.

 

Thanks! I may try to sneak a couple bottles of Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry on board.

[DaKahuna]

@Jimmycruiser  I would not recommend it.  It’s definitely against policy. Besides I just asked at the YC bar and they do have Harvey’s Bristol cream. 
 

Edited February 17 by DaKahuna

[Jimmycruiser]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

@Jimmycruiser  I would not recommend it.  It’s definitely against policy. Besides I just asked at the YC bar and they do have Harvey’s Bristol cream. 
 

I am surprised that when you have a drinks package you can not bring your own which reduces their cost. All the luxury all inclusive lines allow you to bring as much as you want. I guess tracking who has what drink package would make it difficult to monitor and create confusion.

 

Thanks again for the help.