NCL's iConcierge App

We were on the Pearl July 13-21, 2014 and tried out the iConcierge app on our Galaxy S4s. The app is currently functional on 5 ships and works through the ship's WiFi (does NOT use internet) and with your phone in "airplane" mode. While onboard, we left our phones in that mode with the app open. The app is not functional when you leave the ship (out of range of the ship's WiFi).

See the link below for more info and an instruction guide.

http://www.ncl.com/downloads/iconcierge

Download and basic use of the app is free. Install the app on your devices before you leave. You can enter your sailing date and it will feature a countdown clock (not a big deal for me!).

Once on board, you access your ship's WiFi and register via the app. Once done, you have access via the app to information about: Ports and Tours, Account Review (avoid sticker shock at the end!), Dining, Entertainment, Spa, Cruise Rewards, Bars & Lounges, Onboard Shopping, Onboard Services, NCL Credit Card, Attractions Onboard, What's Going On?

We're not interested in the Spa, Cruise Rewards and NCL Credit Card so we didn't use those sections. Account Review is useful to view the charges and balance of your onboard account.

Ports and Tours provided information about these as you might suspect. It would indicate if a tour was sold out and you could book tours via the app. As you progress through the cruise, past events disappear. I would have liked a way to "go back" and review previous days.

Under Dining, you can review the various food venues and view the menus for specialty restaurants such as Cagney's. Entertainment, Bars and Lounges, Onboard Shopping, Attractions Onboard and, Onboard Services simply provided information about those topics.

I did find useful "What's Going On?" I would scroll through that instead of looking at the printed daily guide. Found a Veteran's gathering and a beer tasting! This information was updated each day.

Up to this point, this is free. There are a couple features, of which we used one, that involves a charge. Within the app is a Messenger and Phone feature. For a flat fee of $7.95 per device you can enable this for unlimited texting and calling of other persons using onboard who are using iConcierge and have enabled this feature.

When you register, you are assigned a number which is used for calling and texting via the app. Other devices in your cabin which are enabled are automatically added to your contact list. You can manually add the number of other passengers to your contact list if desired. We used the texting feature a few times and made a couple of phone calls to each other, perhaps not $8 worth but, was still useful. We had no need or desire to constantly be in touch with each other and this app served our purposes well.

One other feature which we had no need or desire to use was "Phone Calling with Family and Friends Back Home (Nominal Per Minute Fee During Cruise)". As we weren't interested in using the app for this, I have no idea of what "nominal" means!

One feature lacking that I would have found useful was deck diagrams of the ship especially early in the cruise. I noticed that our Account Review information was not available the last evening of the cruise.

This app does not use internet...that is a separate service, which we used, and does not require use of the app.

Could we have managed without the app? Most definitely but, we did find some usefulness with it. If your are sailing on the Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Pearl or Jewel, you might look into it. YMMV

Thanks. Just downloaded it and am going to check it out :)

We were on the Pearl July 13-21, 2014 and tried out the iConcierge app on our Galaxy S4s. The app is currently functional on 5 ships and works through the ship's WiFi (does NOT use internet) and with your phone in "airplane" mode. While onboard, we left our phones in that mode with the app open. The app is not functional when you leave the ship (out of range of the ship's WiFi).

 

See the link below for more info and an instruction guide.

http://www.ncl.com/downloads/iconcierge

 

Download and basic use of the app is free. Install the app on your devices before you leave. You can enter your sailing date and it will feature a countdown clock (not a big deal for me!).

 

Once on board, you access your ship's WiFi and register via the app. Once done, you have access via the app to information about: Ports and Tours, Account Review (avoid sticker shock at the end!), Dining, Entertainment, Spa, Cruise Rewards, Bars & Lounges, Onboard Shopping, Onboard Services, NCL Credit Card, Attractions Onboard, What's Going On?

 

We're not interested in the Spa, Cruise Rewards and NCL Credit Card so we didn't use those sections. Account Review is useful to view the charges and balance of your onboard account.

 

Ports and Tours provided information about these as you might suspect. It would indicate if a tour was sold out and you could book tours via the app. As you progress through the cruise, past events disappear. I would have liked a way to "go back" and review previous days.

 

Under Dining, you can review the various food venues and view the menus for specialty restaurants such as Cagney's. Entertainment, Bars and Lounges, Onboard Shopping, Attractions Onboard and, Onboard Services simply provided information about those topics.

 

I did find useful "What's Going On?" I would scroll through that instead of looking at the printed daily guide. Found a Veteran's gathering and a beer tasting! This information was updated each day.

 

Up to this point, this is free. There are a couple features, of which we used one, that involves a charge. Within the app is a Messenger and Phone feature. For a flat fee of $7.95 per device you can enable this for unlimited texting and calling of other persons using onboard who are using iConcierge and have enabled this feature.

 

When you register, you are assigned a number which is used for calling and texting via the app. Other devices in your cabin which are enabled are automatically added to your contact list. You can manually add the number of other passengers to your contact list if desired. We used the texting feature a few times and made a couple of phone calls to each other, perhaps not $8 worth but, was still useful. We had no need or desire to constantly be in touch with each other and this app served our purposes well.

 

One other feature which we had no need or desire to use was "Phone Calling with Family and Friends Back Home (Nominal Per Minute Fee During Cruise)". As we weren't interested in using the app for this, I have no idea of what "nominal" means!

 

One feature lacking that I would have found useful was deck diagrams of the ship especially early in the cruise. I noticed that our Account Review information was not available the last evening of the cruise.

 

This app does not use internet...that is a separate service, which we used, and does not require use of the app.

 

Could we have managed without the app? Most definitely but, we did find some usefulness with it. If your are sailing on the Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Pearl or Jewel, you might look into it. YMMV

What a great breakdown of the app. I downloaded it a couple of weeks ago but didn't know what I would be able to do for free with it. Thanks for the time you took to explain it!

Excellent description of the app and its use! Great Job! :) What I have concluded by reading other threads about wi-fi and the internet is many people seem to think they are one and the same! They are not! Wi-fi is the wireless connection between your device and the ships router. The router is whats connected to the internet. You can communicate with other users on the same wi-fi network without any connection to the internet. The app uses the ships intranet not the internet for providing information on dinning, entertainment, bars, etc. The $7.95 upgrade per device lets you text and talk with other app users in addition to the free stuff. It does not use the ships cellular equipment which is usually $2.95 per min. and 50 cents per text on most carriers. One other thing, the instructions tell you to put the phone in airplane mode, but they don't mention you have to turn the wi-fi back on! Airplane mode turns off all radios on the device including wi-fi.

Excellent description of the app and its use! Great Job! :) What I have concluded by reading other threads about wi-fi and the internet is many people seem to think they are one and the same! They are not! Wi-fi is the wireless connection between your device and the ships router. The router is whats connected to the internet. You can communicate with other users on the same wi-fi network without any connection to the internet. The app uses the ships intranet not the internet for providing information on dinning, entertainment, bars, etc. The $7.95 upgrade per device lets you text and talk with other app users in addition to the free stuff. It does not use the ships cellular equipment which is usually $2.95 per min. and 50 cents per text on most carriers. One other thing, the instructions tell you to put the phone in airplane mode, but they don't mention you have to turn the wi-fi back on! Airplane mode turns off all radios on the device including wi-fi.

Yes intranet and internet are different. Thanks for pointing that out. And, you are correct...when you put your phone in airplane mode you do have to go back and specifically turn WiFi back on.

So you don't need to go to guest services to buy the texting feature?

So you don't need to go to guest services to buy the texting feature?

No. We bought the $7.95 texting feature while sitting on our butts in the terminal before we even boarded the ship. We were using it to message each other just for fun while we waited for our boarding group to be called. You register for it on your device through the app, and it's added to your onboard account.

Thank you so much for this detailed information on the iconcierge app. I downloaded this app a few days ago and am only able to use the countdown feature. Its great to know what is going to be available to me when we get on the ship. Thanks again!

Thanks for the info.

The app features that were supposed to work didn't. You pay money to be able to call or message one another through the app and it doesn't ever go through. (And no, I'm not some dumby who can't use technology, I'm 19 and better with a computer and phone than pretty much all adults).

Anyway, we got one of the two fees refunded as we complained. The calls never went through, it would just say "please hold while we try to connect to the person you're calling", or something like that. It was BS.

Anyway, buying that app's extra feature did help us considerably. Long story short, we needed internet to be able to run our business, and for some reason I got partial outside-world internet on my phone. I would get Facebook and PayPal notifications, but couldn't open the apps themselves. This was handy though because I knew when I received a payment and could email customers their item. We bought the internet package and if it wasn't for the 7 bucks we spent for the app I would have spent a lot of time on my computer using internet unnecessarily.

Other than that feature the app sucked and if you wouldn't have a use for getting PayPal notifications while on vacation it's useless. We had a Samsung Galaxy S2 and an S4.

We are looking forward to trying out this app on our first NCL cruise over New Years. We have 3 cabins of family going, so it will be helpful to be able to connect with them.

The app features that were supposed to work didn't. You pay money to be able to call or message one another through the app and it doesn't ever go through. (And no, I'm not some dumby who can't use technology, I'm 19 and better with a computer and phone than pretty much all adults).

 

Anyway, we got one of the two fees refunded as we complained. The calls never went through, it would just say "please hold while we try to connect to the person you're calling", or something like that. It was BS.

 

Anyway, buying that app's extra feature did help us considerably. Long story short, we needed internet to be able to run our business, and for some reason I got partial outside-world internet on my phone. I would get Facebook and PayPal notifications, but couldn't open the apps themselves. This was handy though because I knew when I received a payment and could email customers their item. We bought the internet package and if it wasn't for the 7 bucks we spent for the app I would have spent a lot of time on my computer using internet unnecessarily.

 

Other than that feature the app sucked and if you wouldn't have a use for getting PayPal notifications while on vacation it's useless. We had a Samsung Galaxy S2 and an S4.

Interesting that you call the app "BS" and then in the next statement, "buying that app's extra feature did help us considerably".

From what I'm reading, you are confusing the app with internet access...you don't need one to do the other. You don't need internet access us use iConcerge because it is strictly intranet via the ship's WiFi network. You can purchase internet access without having, or using, the app. You can have none, one or the other or, bot.

Just off Getaway. The app was cute- when I wanted to check my bill! We had many times when the message/phone service was not available.

And the lack of deck plans w=is a biggie.

As for the deck plans...I have the Ship Mate-Norwegian Cruise Lines App on my phone for the Dawn. It has My Cruises, Explore Your Ship, Plan Your Daily Itinerary, Research the Excursions, Chat w/Friends, Private Messages, Roll Call, Locate Your Ship, View Deck Cams, etc. It may be a little more helpful than Iconcierge, or in addition to it.

We were on the Pearl July 13-21, 2014 and tried out the iConcierge app on our Galaxy S4s. The app is currently functional on 5 ships and works through the ship's WiFi (does NOT use internet) and with your phone in "airplane" mode. While onboard, we left our phones in that mode with the app open. The app is not functional when you leave the ship (out of range of the ship's WiFi).

Thanks for the great review! My wife and I sail this Sunday on the Pearl and are hoping to be able to find each other from time to time using iConcierge. (I tend to roam off and forget the time!)

The app features that were supposed to work didn't. You pay money to be able to call or message one another through the app and it doesn't ever go through. (And no, I'm not some dumby who can't use technology, I'm 19 and better with a computer and phone than pretty much all adults).

You say you're not some "dumby" but you totally confused Internet with Intranet. Paypal is an Internet program. iConcierge is an Intranet application. I can understand that access to Paypal could be important to you. But, why would iConcierge help with Paypal? They are totally unrelated.

Don't criticize the app for not doing something that it was never designed to do.

(I tend to roam off and forget the time!)

Me too!

Thanks for the great review! My wife and I sail this Sunday on the Pearl and are hoping to be able to find each other from time to time using iConcierge. (I tend to roam off and forget the time!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You say you're not some "dumby" but you totally confused Internet with Intranet. Paypal is an Internet program. iConcierge is an Intranet application. I can understand that access to Paypal could be important to you. But, why would iConcierge help with Paypal? They are totally unrelated.

 

 

 

Don't criticize the app for not doing something that it was never designed to do.

I think you misread. I took the post to mean that Paypal notifications were happening, and that's all that consistently happened. Unless I misread.

Our iConcierge worked fine, but I was getting nonstop notifications on my iPhone from my news apps, Facebook, etc. If I clicked to access them, nothing happened, as expected. I was on airplane mode with wifi turned on the entire cruise.

I think you misread. I took the post to mean that Paypal notifications were happening, and that's all that consistently happened. Unless I misread.

 

Our iConcierge worked fine, but I was getting nonstop notifications on my iPhone from my news apps, Facebook, etc. If I clicked to access them, nothing happened, as expected. I was on airplane mode with wifi turned on the entire cruise.

I too was receiving Facebook and a couple of other notifications which was puzzling because I confirmed I did not have an internet connection...I was in airplane mode and was not logged on to the ship's internet access although I had wifi turned on. It would be interesting to know how those notifications were "sneaking" through!

We just got off the Breakaway this past Sunday, and everyone in our group with teens downloaded the iConcierge app and used the message feature constantly - you can text and call anyone else with the app who is on the ship. You just need to add their app ID# to your phone. Worked like a charm.

Not traveling with kids, there was no need for us to activate the message/call feature of the app (which is where the 7.95 comes in), but I did use the free features on the iConcierge app to check on board account, dining options etc.

Saw that the Jewel was one of the ships with this. Downloaded it to my phone. Interested to see how things work once on the ship. Thanks for the information.

We used iConcierge this past February. My husband and I loved it. When we became friendly with a few others while on board, they loved it too. No problems. No issues. It was a great tool to keep in touch re: dinner plans, the inevitable "where ARE you?!" questions, etc...

We plan to use it again when we sail to Bermuda on the 24th. So do the friends we're sailing with.

Used the app on the Getaway in June. Could not use the call features. Text worked great. My wife's phone same brand and model IPhone 5 was able to use call features. IT was a joke, he just said that some phones work and others don't. I'm sure it was some kind of setting on my phone, but he didn't bother to look at my phone. He said that this is texting app and that is what we should expect.

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Has anyone tried to use this on an IPOD touch? I don't want to drag my phone around much on the cruise b/c it's large and bulky. But I put the app on my son's IPOD and I'm wondering if I can use it to text once on the ship?

Also, I heard from an NCL rep that once you activate the $7.95 you can use it on every NCL cruise in the future without paying again.

Wondering if the $7.95 fee is per cruise.....or one time and use it on as many cruises as you go....???

Per device for the duration of your current cruise.