Internet---15% Discount Ending

[daveoc]

Just noticed when I logged into Cruise Personaliser that the message about 15% discount for the internet packages now says 'offer ends October 31st'.

 

Have to say we had the package on the recent 30 day Aurora cruise and found the basic package to be good, including in the middle of the Atlantic. The signal in the cabin was not always the best, but was acceptable, but the signal around the ship in passenger areas was usually very good.

[jeanlyon]

I saw that for a cruise we are doing next October!  A bit odd if the offer ends 31/10/23

[Gettingwarmer]

4 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I saw that for a cruise we are doing next October!  A bit odd if the offer ends 31/10/23

The offer to buy it ends 31/10/23 not when you can use it. If you are prepared to pay now you get 15% discount. If the price goes up you are ok, if the price goes down you cancel and re-order at the new price. 

[Mysticalmother]

5 hours ago, daveoc said:

Just noticed when I logged into Cruise Personaliser that the message about 15% discount for the internet packages now says 'offer ends October 31st'.

 

Have to say we had the package on the recent 30 day Aurora cruise and found the basic package to be good, including in the middle of the Atlantic. The signal in the cabin was not always the best, but was acceptable, but the signal around the ship in passenger areas was usually very good.

I had internet  issues on the Aurora cruise which I came off yesterday and got a large refund.. absolutely hopeless in the cabin, and I prepaid for the “ultimate”..

but in negotiating the discount I was told that they are updating the system to Starlink next month…so maybe that is why the discount is ending….?

[Selbourne]

I’ve never paid for WiFi on cruises, but those who have tell me that it’s poor. Has anyone who has previously paid for the old system tried the new Starlink system yet and, if so, did you find it to be significantly better?

[Megabear2]

7 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve never paid for WiFi on cruises, but those who have tell me that it’s poor. Has anyone who has previously paid for the old system tried the new Starlink system yet and, if so, did you find it to be significantly better?

I think Starlink being relatively new to Carnival hasn't gone live on many ships yet so hard to say.  However in recent times I've used the WiFi on Britannia and Arvia and found little difference in the workings of either.  Really it is a question of managing your expectations and of what you intend to use it for.  For obvious reasons being a shared system the more people logging in the less responsive it will be.  Interestingly, on Britannia although an older ship and presumably less sophisticated I found the WiFi quicker than on Arvia. Not being technically adept at such things I put it down to sheer volume logging into it and also what actions they were undertaking.

 

Noticeably on Arvia virtually every other passenger was glued to their telephone and every child and teenager appeared to be doing something with their screens as well.  The complexity of the tasks being undertaken be it Facetime, Skype or just posting on their social media accounts is naturally going to place a strain on a shared system.  With whole families apparently having their own package P&O must be raking in the money on every family ship!

 

That said we us wifi to work onboard and for most basic applications have always found the system able to cope on most occasions.  If however you download masses of data (or upload large amounts for that matter) you will encounter problems.  A lot of the complaints about "poor systems" relate to these types of processes from what I hear.  

 

Ships being very large metal things are not really conducive to electronic signals passing through them as I found to my cost during my medical emergency situation on Regal Princess last year when most of my phone battery was used up connecting and reconnecting to calls and failed Internet connections.

 

I anticipate Starlink massively improving the access but even that will encounter problems on older ships I'd imagine due to the actual build of the vessel.  Interestingly over on the Cunard board the discussion seems to indicate that the Starlink access to their vessels in cabin will require quite a lot of extra wiring work on top of simply fitting the system.  If this is correct with two UK fleets to fit retrospectively the work undertaking on the older vessels will be massive looking at the ages

 

Aurora 2000

QM2 2003

Arcadia 2004

QV 2007

Ventura 2008

Azura 2010

QE 2010

Britannia 2015

Iona 2020/1

Arvia 2023

QE 2024

 

Perhaps some of our IT experts can confirm whether the gossip is correct, I'd be very interested to hear what they believe will happen.

[Snow Hill]

This is Starlink Case Study for Carnival Corp, indicates it’s a supplement to the existing Geo Stationary Satellite system.

 

https://api.starlink.com/public-files/Carnival.pdf

[Megabear2]

37 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

This is Starlink Case Study for Carnival Corp, indicates it’s a supplement to the existing Geo Stationary Satellite system.

 

https://api.starlink.com/public-files/Carnival.pdf

Is that good?  Will it improve in cabin connectivity?

[daveoc]

Just to add to my original post. I've logged in to personaliser this morning and the advert for 15% off is still there but the wording saying it is ending 31/10/23 has gone. Make of that what you will.

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I think Starlink being relatively new to Carnival hasn't gone live on many ships yet so hard to say.  However in recent times I've used the WiFi on Britannia and Arvia and found little difference in the workings of either.  Really it is a question of managing your expectations and of what you intend to use it for.  For obvious reasons being a shared system the more people logging in the less responsive it will be.  Interestingly, on Britannia although an older ship and presumably less sophisticated I found the WiFi quicker than on Arvia. Not being technically adept at such things I put it down to sheer volume logging into it and also what actions they were undertaking.

 

Noticeably on Arvia virtually every other passenger was glued to their telephone and every child and teenager appeared to be doing something with their screens as well.  The complexity of the tasks being undertaken be it Facetime, Skype or just posting on their social media accounts is naturally going to place a strain on a shared system.  With whole families apparently having their own package P&O must be raking in the money on every family ship!

 

That said we us wifi to work onboard and for most basic applications have always found the system able to cope on most occasions.  If however you download masses of data (or upload large amounts for that matter) you will encounter problems.  A lot of the complaints about "poor systems" relate to these types of processes from what I hear.  

 

Ships being very large metal things are not really conducive to electronic signals passing through them as I found to my cost during my medical emergency situation on Regal Princess last year when most of my phone battery was used up connecting and reconnecting to calls and failed Internet connections.

 

I anticipate Starlink massively improving the access but even that will encounter problems on older ships I'd imagine due to the actual build of the vessel.  Interestingly over on the Cunard board the discussion seems to indicate that the Starlink access to their vessels in cabin will require quite a lot of extra wiring work on top of simply fitting the system.  If this is correct with two UK fleets to fit retrospectively the work undertaking on the older vessels will be massive looking at the ages

 

Aurora 2000

QM2 2003

Arcadia 2004

QV 2007

Ventura 2008

Azura 2010

QE 2010

Britannia 2015

Iona 2020/1

Arvia 2023

QE 2024

 

Perhaps some of our IT experts can confirm whether the gossip is correct, I'd be very interested to hear what they believe will happen.

Thanks. As I say, I’ve never used the ships WiFi before, but am contemplating it for our 65 nighter on Aurora as I’m anxious about the length of time we are away (if anything happens at home) and the number of sea days (which I find boring 😂).
 

With the longer cruise discount, the 15% introductory offer and my 10% loyalty discount (assuming you get that) it works out at £6.89 a day for the essential plan which, if it works well, would seem reasonable. I would only use it for email (which would be the main means of communication with home), web browsing and Cruise Critic 😂. It would also save me having to devote time in each cruise terminal or port to find and use free WiFi. 
 

Assuming that the new Starlink system is now live on all P&O ships, I thought about trying it for 24 hours on Ventura next week when we are at sea (I won’t need it for the whole cruise as I get free calls, texts and data in all European ports of call) and if it works well buy the discounted package for our Aurora cruise before the introductory offer expires. 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Selbourne

[Gettingwarmer]

10 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve never paid for WiFi on cruises, but those who have tell me that it’s poor. Has anyone who has previously paid for the old system tried the new Starlink system yet and, if so, did you find it to be significantly better?

 

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I would only use it for email (which would be the main means of communication with home),

Starlink worked very well on Sky Princess last week across the Atlantic. Great to download the paper every day and read CC. Plus see the weather and what’s going on in next port and receive email. 
Best way to communicate with home is WhatsApp. 
You can always buy the internet but cancel before you go. I’m not sure if it is on all P&O ships yet. 

[Selbourne]

10 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

 

Starlink worked very well on Sky Princess last week across the Atlantic. Great to download the paper every day and read CC. Plus see the weather and what’s going on in next port and receive email. 
Best way to communicate with home is WhatsApp. 
You can always buy the internet but cancel before you go. I’m not sure if it is on all P&O ships yet. 

Thanks. Someone else mentioned WhatsApp to me. I’ve heard of it but know absolutely nothing about it. I might need to get our kids to up-skill me 😂 

[DS_Dean]

Looking forward to Starlink system. What I have never understood about current WiFi is that the "Essential" and "Ultimate" seem to have the same speeds. The "Ultimate" is advertised as faster but twice I upgraded to it on two different cruises and had to get if refunded on both occasions as the speed was the same as "Essential".

[Selbourne]

Excuse my complete ignorance about What’sApp, but can you use that on the essentials package? 

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Excuse my complete ignorance about What’sApp, but can you use that on the essentials package? 

The essentials package works best on email, Internet and small jobs. It's not designed for large uploads and downloads and WhatsApp tends to be photo uploads etc. Obviously it should be able to handle small jobs depending on how many are using it.  Aurora being smaller you won't have the volume of users one of the big ships has but you will have the build problem.  

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Excuse my complete ignorance about What’sApp, but can you use that on the essentials package? 

Works fine on Essentials. It is great for sending photos home but just use it for text to keep in touch. You just download the App onto your phone and anyone on your contacts who has it you will be able to text. 
(If you hit the “write” symbol it will show which contacts have WhatsApp)

Edited October 24, 2023 by Gettingwarmer

[snaver]

I saw that on the cruise personaliser too, but just thought that it was for our cruise, which goes on 11 November, to encourage people to book before departure!

[CCFC]

Mine still says it finishes at the end of the month.

[DS_Dean]

Hopefully it is because of new Star Link plans perhaps 😁

[amajaa]

18 hours ago, Mysticalmother said:

I had internet  issues on the Aurora cruise which I came off yesterday and got a large refund.. absolutely hopeless in the cabin, and I prepaid for the “ultimate”..

but in negotiating the discount I was told that they are updating the system to Starlink next month…so maybe that is why the discount is ending….?

 

We have found the internet to not be good in the cabin on whatever line we have been on. We were just told to leave the door open a bit the first time and have done that ever since with no problem. Just stick the waste paper basket in the door to stop it shutting or go down to a public area.  I certainly would never have tried to claim money back. 

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Works fine on Essentials. It is great for sending photos home but just use it for text to keep in touch. You just download the App onto your phone and anyone on your contacts who has it you will be able to text. 
(If you hit the “write” symbol it will show which contacts have WhatsApp)

@SelbourneProbably best to ensure all the contacts you may want to keep in touch with are also signed up to WhatsApp before you go.

You can also set up different WhatsApp groups, so that they all receive your messages. It's really just a more user friendly text messaging system, which is  very good for sending photos, you can also use it as a phone or for video calls, although I suspect video calls might not be included in the basic package.

[Ohana27]

I use the essential package for FaceTime calls.  I need to be able to call home everyday due to my Mum having dementia, seeing me waving to her, even through a screen helps the carers to reassure her.   The essential package allows me to do this, as well as send emails, surf the web etc.   It works the majority of time in the cabin, and if there is any difficulty with connecting then a quick visit to the public areas works.  

[CCFC]

6 hours ago, amajaa said:

 

We have found the internet to not be good in the cabin on whatever line we have been on. We were just told to leave the door open a bit the first time and have done that ever since with no problem. Just stick the waste paper basket in the door to stop it shutting or go down to a public area.  I certainly would never have tried to claim money back. 

On the Princess ships they installed wifi repeaters along the cabin corridors, never had a problem in the cabin.

 

This will be a prelude to getting the equivalent of the Medallion on Princess, Carnival did say it would be rolled out to all brands.

Edited October 24, 2023 by CCFC

[Snow Hill]

14 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Is that good?  Will it improve in cabin connectivity?

Allegedly it should improve connectivity, however it will depend on what Is installed and where onboard.

[terrierjohn]

6 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

Allegedly it should improve connectivity, however it will depend on what Is installed and where onboard.

Wi fi was very good on Sky Princess, and if the medallion relies on wi fi to operate, then that also works well all over the ship.