Dc9703

47 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Micro-transactions through smartphone apps are a popular trend these days. I guess Carnival didn't want to feel left out by giving ALL of the features on the Hub app for free. 😁

What ship will you be on? How well the Hub chat feature works often has a lot to do with the ship. Not all of them have upgraded wifi service, so in those cases, Hub chat may not be as reliable. Experiences vary greatly, from working perfectly to messages being delayed to hardly working at all. If your group does purchase chat, and you find that it hardly works, talk to Guest Services. They might refund your $5 fee.

 

Your only other option, as has already been talked about, is purchasing one of the internet plans and using a messaging app of some kind. But that gets a lot more expensive than the $5/device Hub chat fee, especially in a group of 12.

I'm going on the valor.  Anyone try that one for texting?

Thanks for the quick responses.  I think i'm going to ask all the adults and grandadults to download the app.   $5/per person is small, just odd they bill people for it.  Seems a little like nickel & diming once you paid $1000+ for the room.

Glad to hear it worked well and i think i'll just use that.  Looking to give people and kids freedom to do what they want on the trip.

Going on my 1st carnival cruise in March 2020.  Was wondering how good onboard texting worked?
 

Was a little surprised to be charged $ per person to text.  I seem to recall it being free on my Holland America Alaska cruise in 2018.  Anyways, does it work well?  Do you just use it within the Carnival Hub app?  We are going as a group of 12 and wanted a simple way to communicate and coordinate while on the boat.  Any advice would be appreciated.