Carnival Pride Internet Questions

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has experience with the internet on the Carnival Pride. It is imperative that we have a good connection with emails, on the phone predominantly but also on a laptop, but not for streaming or anything. We'd be willing to buy the most expensive package to ensure this. Specifically, I'd like to know how does it do on sea days? Are there particular places on the ship it works better than others?

I know some people might be thinking, "just unplug, you're on vacation!" Unfortunately, we have no choice but to be in contact, even to send a quick email back while sitting by the pool. So I appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in the same boat as us (pun intended).

Thank you!

"Are there particular places on the ship it works better than others? "

Wifi signal and band width are 2 completely different issues. You can have 5 bars of wifi but you can still have crappy internet. This only means your device is reading the wifi signal. The ship's band width is not very good, but definitely adequate for emails and general browsing. I recorded speeds throughout the day and slow is less than a Mb, during off peak time use I got a little over 2Mb, about 1/2 the speed of 4G or LITE.

I found it to be extremely frustrating and not worth the price.

I found it to be extremely frustrating and not worth the price.

How recently did you sail?

I had was actually glad I got the best package, at times there were issues but I expected that, I was able to make internet phone calls through my Ooma phone the majority of the time to check on my teens at home. And emails etc. I was on the Pride in October and I am on her again in April. I will get the same package again.

It all depends on how many people are using the internet at the time you are trying to get on. I am on Splendor right now and some sites that wouldn't load for me most days came up easily this morning (we are docked in Puntarenas) because most folks are at breakfast and making early tours. There are some sites that are blocked no matter what package you buy (Shutterfly, Photobucket) but I don't have any problem receiving emails or texts. I buy the value plan. EM

I'm not terribly familiar with the technology that Carnival is using compared to the latest-and-greatest that RCI is using (which I DO have experience with) but as others have said, even the best internet service will often suffer during times of peak usage.

On our last few cruises I found even RCI's new typically blazing-fast service to show some lag during peak times as well - a few hours either side of a port day departure (everyone online posting photos on social media, etc) and sometimes during poor weather sea-days when a lot of people retreat to their staterooms or inside public areas and surf instead of hanging out on the Lido, etc.

Thanks, everyone. We've decided to take a chance and hope for the best on non-peak times. I appreciate all the advice.

How recently did you sail?

We sailed on 12/17/17.

If it is a medical need, call from the phone in the cabin and check up on family member if you cannot get wifi service speeds when you want it. Expensive but worth it if you need to check on a loved one.

If for work, then just check emails and send communications in down times when others are not using signal.

In Sept I had no problems except on a sea day when it was raining and everyone was on line.

Never had a problem on the Pride getting and sending email. That is after three cruises on her. Don't worry. And I didn't get the top package, I got the one just below it and it was fine. That is with the laptop. I did not have my phone on during the cruise.

Hi everyone,

 

I was wondering if anyone has experience with the internet on the Carnival Pride. It is imperative that we have a good connection with emails, on the phone predominantly but also on a laptop, but not for streaming or anything. We'd be willing to buy the most expensive package to ensure this. Specifically, I'd like to know how does it do on sea days? Are there particular places on the ship it works better than others?

 

I know some people might be thinking, "just unplug, you're on vacation!" Unfortunately, we have no choice but to be in contact, even to send a quick email back while sitting by the pool. So I appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in the same boat as us (pun intended).

 

Thank you!

Just got off the Pride today. Everything else but this was fantastic!

:( The internet is not one of her plus points. It is really really really S.L.O.W. So a lot of patience is required.

As for particular places, it seemed to work a bit better (only at times) near the Alchemy bar, a tiny bit better if I sat on the floor right at the cabin door, and a couple of times it was ok in the mermaid grill upstairs. DH was having trouble connecting even where the Pride has her "internet cafe" right outside the casino.

Similar question. We really only want to use the phones to keep in touch with the kids who will also be on board. How's texting and is one package better than the other for this?

Similar question. We really only want to use the phones to keep in touch with the kids who will also be on board. How's texting and is one package better than the other for this?

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We are on Pride right now. Several of us subscribed to the cheap social internet plan and it generally works good. Upstream (sending data) can be VERY slow at times I’ve discovered so if sending photos back home do them 1-2 at a time for best results. Otherwise everything works decent for the most part so far as what you get - Facebook and a few other social platforms. The teens are all quite happy.

Via this plan (if some are getting it anyways) Facebook messenger works great as an on-ship communication method and I discover iMessage works as well.

Understand the App for onboard texting. But with one of the ships internet packages, like the cheap one, will we be able to text home? And will there be other charges incurred by our carrier?

Understand the App for onboard texting. But with one of the ships internet packages, like the cheap one, will we be able to text home? And will there be other charges incurred by our carrier?

SMS (Texting) has nothing to do with data, it's just cellular...so no, you cannot text via ANY internet plan.

I just got off the pride. iMessage did work on the cheapest (social) internet plan, but for text only, no photos. Photos and chat did work via Facebook messenger but upstream was very slow.

In the end, no complaints, it was worth the money and generally was very reliable, if not slow sometimes. 3 of the 4 people in our stateroom had the cheap social WiFi plan so we just iMessaged/FB messaged each other to stay in touch, never needed the $5 chat plan

Understand the App for onboard texting. But with one of the ships internet packages, like the cheap one, will we be able to text home? And will there be other charges incurred by our carrier?

As noted by the previous poster, SMS is handled by cellular service.

However, I believe MMS is handled via data (cellular or wifi).

At least with my phone, it seems that if I text 2 numbers, it always gets converted to MMS. So, if you get the cheap plan, you should be able to use regular texting, as long as you have at least two phone numbers listed in recipients.

If I have this wrong, hopefully someone will come along and correct me!

SMS (Texting) has nothing to do with data, it's just cellular...so no, you cannot text via ANY internet plan.

 

I just got off the pride. iMessage did work on the cheapest (social) internet plan, but for text only, no photos. Photos and chat did work via Facebook messenger but upstream was very slow.

 

In the end, no complaints, it was worth the money and generally was very reliable, if not slow sometimes. 3 of the 4 people in our stateroom had the cheap social WiFi plan so we just iMessaged/FB messaged each other to stay in touch, never needed the $5 chat plan

Just to make sure I'm not confused. We have iphones. If we buy the ships social media service for their wifi, will we be able to text people at home that have iphones?

iMessage DID work over the cheap social wifi plan, yes, including people both on and off the ship. I had told everyone to use Facebook messenger only to stay in touch but forgot one day, used iMessage instead, and it worked....so we all started using it.

FWIW it did specifically state that iMessage was NOT supported on the social plan, so they either changed things, or it was a fluke, but it worked perfectly for all 3 of us that subscribed to the social plan, at least on our cruise, and on Pride.

Your mileage may vary.

iMessage DID work over the cheap social wifi plan, yes, including people both on and off the ship. I had told everyone to use Facebook messenger only to stay in touch but forgot one day, used iMessage instead, and it worked....so we all started using it.

 

FWIW it did specifically state that iMessage was NOT supported on the social plan, so they either changed things, or it was a fluke, but it worked perfectly for all 3 of us that subscribed to the social plan, at least on our cruise, and on Pride.

 

Your mileage may vary.

thanks!

For those reading along, iMessage will not let you SMS other people with non-iPhones.