New way for Platinum & Elite passengers to access the internet onboard

[cruiseron36]

When the system first started years ago there was a countdown timer at the bottom right side of the screen that ticked odd the minutes as you were on the computer. Thsi is gone now.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We were given our minutes remaining when we logged in, but not when we logged out. We were using WiFi. And, I agree, charging me 'per minute' rate after my package minutes expire is NOT a convenience in my book. However, on the Emerald, Internet was so unreliable that DH and I both ended all 5 of our cruises with 150+ minutes of our 250 minutes left every cruise.

 

And I agree that the Emersld Internet cafe manager this year was a bit less than helpful, quite a change from the Emerald manager two years ago who gladly carried minutes over from one cruise to another on B2Bs. Last year on the Ruby, our packages were good until the end of the next cruise embarkation day; this year we didn't even have that (again, not that it was a big issue, as it was so difficult to log on). I really hope Internet on the Emersld improves before next winter...the Star in April on the same itinerary was so much better.

[cruiseron36]

We were given our minutes remaining when we logged in, but not when we logged out. We were using WiFi. And, I agree, charging me 'per minute' rate after my package minutes expire is NOT a convenience in my book. However, on the Emerald, Internet was so unreliable that DH and I both ended all 5 of our cruises with 150+ minutes of our 250 minutes left every cruise.

 

And I agree that the Emersld Internet cafe manager this year was a bit less than helpful, quite a change from the Emerald manager two years ago who gladly carried minutes over from one cruise to another on B2Bs. Last year on the Ruby, our packages were good until the end of the next cruise embarkation day; this year we didn't even have that (again, not that it was a big issue, as it was so difficult to log on). I really hope Internet on the Emersld improves before next winter...the Star in April on the same itinerary was so much better.

 

 

The internet cafe manager on the Emerald in March was a complete jerk. He may have been a good computer geek but he had no people skills and should not be put in a position where he interacts with paying passengers. Several people mentioned this to me without my prompting the situation. I did write it up in my comment card.

[jewopaho]

I guess this can become an issue on longer cruises, and/or if only one passenger qualifies for this perk ... but we're headed to Alaska this weekend, and between the two of us, we have FIVE HOURS of Internet time. I think we'll find other things to see and do next week. If we spend that much time online (especially in Alaska), perhaps we shouldn't be cruising.

 

I'm glad that they updated the login procedure ... really was cumbersome before the change. Of course, we compose everything off-line, then copy/paste it into Outlook. It's worked just fine for us. We've yet to use the Internet Cafe ... got a great laptop which serves us well. Speed (or lack thereof) is hit-and-miss. Generally speaking, it's not quite as bad as dial-up, but far from the what we're used to at home. Since the signals are bounced off a satellite, weather could well be an issue.

[robtulipe]

yes, it was slowwwwwwwww and AOL was down a lot..I use gmail so didn't affect me. But it was way too slow to even consider trying to send pics or attachments thus the quick copy and paste email worked just fine.

 

And here is another option for non platinum people...go to the terminals outside of the Future Cruise office which are logged on to the Princess website. On the home page, you can click on 'Princess eCards' and select one of 4 'postcards' and write up to 300 character messages and send free to friends and family. Trick is, you have to know their email address so make sure you have them written down somewhere (and not just in your contact list).

 

and agreed...I'd rather eat nails than use Outlook!

 

I always resize my pictures to a smaller size , around 100KB image size or take them with my cameras in the VGA email image size picture setting, when I know it is for viewing on a computer before attaching them to emails when onboard a ship. Word documents aren't a problem since typically they are fairly small files especially compared to most picture files.

That's a good recommendation re the Princess eCards and my experience is you can do this from any ship's computer not just the ones at the Future Cruise office but not from your own computer. I have used it to send short messages to friends and family who email addresses I have to memory when I didn't want to bother logging on with my own computer even though we have free internet on Princess.

 

Why is it you don't want to use an email program on your computer or is it only Outlook that you detest?

 

I only use one when on a cruise because it save log in time as you only need to upload and download and not compose emails online. At home and with land based WiFi I do my emailing online.

If Outlook is what you don't like other free email programs are easy to get by doing a web search for sites like

http://email.about.com/od/windowsemailclients/tp/free_email_prog.htm

Edited May 18, 2011 by robtulipe

[cruzedude]

Why write your email message in Notepad or another word program and then copy/paste into your email while online when you can completely compose your emails (including adding the email addresses and attaching pictures and documents) while working off line in your laptop’s email browser (Outlook Express, Windows Mail, etc.) and select send later

 

Most people just use web based email. Far more convinient when you may want to check email from any machine. If you are using a standalone client your method works great but most people just use some form of web based email (gmail, hotmail,etc).

 

For me gmail works so well at organizaing messages, removing spam, and prioritizing inbox I would never go back to using that horrible outlook express again. The one downside is you need internet acess. The notepad "trick" is a good workaround to conserve minutes.

[jewopaho]

I always resize my pictures to a smaller size, around 100KB image size or take them with my cameras in the VGA email image size picture setting, when I know it is for viewing on a computer before attaching them to emails when onboard a ship. Word documents aren't a problem since typically they are fairly small files especially compared to most picture files.

Good tip. Many folks don't realize just how large those files are ... and sending them from a computer using a satellite-based Internet provider can take forever. We generally resize them, and have had no difficulty.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I asked because, if you go back and read the posts from people who have sailed with the new system, they said it no longer does this!

 

It does but you have to wait for the system to compute the info & it sometimes takes 30 seconds or more. It now also gives you a complete list of all your activity each time you logout.

[chamima]

It does but you have to wait for the system to compute the info & it sometimes takes 30 seconds or more. It now also gives you a complete list of all your activity each time you logout.

 

Thanks! That's exactly what I wanted to know. :D

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

sound good I'll find out soon

[azdmelani]

woohoo, thanks for passing on this info!

[julia]

This upcoming cruise is the first one in which my husband and I are both platinum. If I tend to be the one loggin in most of the time, if I use up all of my minutes would I then automatically start tapping into his free minutes since we are on the same booking or would I have to log out and log in as him?

 

 

It is not automatic... each person has their own minutes, so yes, you would need to log on as him. Just answer the questions on the screen for "new user" (name, birthdate, cabin number) and his minutes will appear.

[remydiva]

I asked because, if you go back and read the posts from people who have sailed with the new system, they said it no longer does this!

 

Because I am a tad 'anal', I copied and pasted the summary into a notepad doc after each log out 'just in case'. Here is what it looks like altho I've changed my real name which appeared on the summary to my CC name :)

 

The first number after the time stamp is the number of minutes used per session. The second number was mB used. As you can see I had 99 minutes left after 16 days altho the 5 at sea days in the Atlantic there was no internet to speak of altho most of my eCards seem to have gone ok.

 

Username:

REMY DIVA Cabin Number:R239

Last Log In:

5/12/2011 3:24 PM Time Used: 151

 

Last Log Out:

5/12/2011 3:43 PM Time Remaining: 99

 

4/28/2011 11:09 AM 4/28/2011 11:24 AM 15 3.05

4/29/2011 7:23 PM 4/29/2011 7:37 PM 15 5.18

4/30/2011 2:32 PM 4/30/2011 2:34 PM 3 1.30

5/1/2011 8:11 AM 5/1/2011 8:25 AM 14 3.57

5/5/2011 6:05 AM 5/5/2011 6:20 AM 15 3.17

5/6/2011 4:05 PM 5/6/2011 4:10 PM 5 3.78

5/6/2011 4:36 PM 5/6/2011 4:43 PM 7 3.11

5/7/2011 12:05 PM 5/7/2011 12:06 PM 1 .85

5/7/2011 12:08 PM 5/7/2011 12:21 PM 14 1.60

5/8/2011 10:29 PM 5/8/2011 10:39 PM 10 1.66

5/10/2011 3:20 PM 5/10/2011 3:37 PM 17 10.97

5/11/2011 5:36 PM 5/11/2011 5:51 PM 15 11.05

5/12/2011 3:24 PM 5/12/2011 3:43 PM 20 6.93

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT NOTICE

 

Plan Expiration

 

As a courtesy, upon Time Plan expiration, any additional minutes will automatically be charged at the ships plan rate for this session only. This will avoid sudden session termination.

 

Time Plans

 

Time Plans can be used until you disembark the ship. Credit will not be issued for unused Time Plan Minutes.

[UandMe4Ever]

Just off the Ruby and it worked great. gail

 

Hi: All this new information is wonderful! We are platinum members and we each have 100 minutes. I login most times on my Yahoo account. My DH DOES NOT have his own yahoo email account...Question: Should he start his own yahoo account so we can utilize his 100 minutes OR can I use mine and just use his birthday, etc?:confused: This is much different then when we were on the Crown in 2006..

We are sailing on the Island Princess, 10 day Panama Canal Transit on 10-10. Any information is greatly appreciated. Would hate losing 100 minutes..This way we can keep in touch with the kids and grandkids while onboard.

Thanks very much in advance:)

Edited May 18, 2011 by UANDME4EVER

[remydiva]

Hi: All this new information is wonderful! We are platinum members and we each have 100 minutes. I login most times on my Yahoo account. My DH DOES NOT have his own yahoo email account...Question: Should he start his own yahoo account so we can utilize his 100 minutes OR can I use mine and just use his birthday, etc?:confused: This is much different then when we were on the Crown in 2006..

 

We are sailing on the Island Princess, 10 day Panama Canal Transit on 10-10. Any information is greatly appreciated. Would hate losing 100 minutes..This way we can keep in touch with the kids and grandkids while onboard.

 

Thanks very much in advance:)

 

your email account is a different issue altogether so you can each have your own account (and every couple should IMHO) OR continue to share..it won't impact the fact that you EACH have platinum minutes.

 

thus you would log on to the Princess internet site, and it asks for your name and cabin number ie.

LAST Name - Smith

First Name- Mary

Cabin Number - A234

Password- you use your birthdate to get started.

Then it comes back and says you have a credit of X minutes and then you change your password to whatever you want.

 

Next time YOU log in you fill in the boxes as above and use your new password to access YOUR 100 mins.

 

Hubby would do the same but instead, he'd enter Princess internet site (they give you a piece of paper in your cabin outlining all the steps) and type in

Last name-Smith

First name -Harry

Cabin - A234

Password -HIS birthdate, then he'd change it later to whatever he wanted.

 

Thus you'd have your password and your 100 mins and he'd have his password and his 100 mins.

 

Even if you both use the same yahoo email account, it has no bearing on your individual 100 mins.

[remydiva]

Hi: All this new information is wonderful! We are platinum members and we each have 100 minutes. I login most times on my Yahoo account. My DH DOES NOT have his own yahoo email account...Question: Should he start his own yahoo account so we can utilize his 100 minutes OR can I use mine and just use his birthday, etc?:confused: This is much different then when we were on the Crown in 2006..

 

We are sailing on the Island Princess, 10 day Panama Canal Transit on 10-10. Any information is greatly appreciated. Would hate losing 100 minutes..This way we can keep in touch with the kids and grandkids while onboard.

 

Thanks very much in advance:)

 

your email account is a different issue altogether so you can each have your own account (and every couple should IMHO) OR continue to share..it won't impact the fact that you EACH have platinum minutes.

 

thus you would log on to the Princess internet site, and it asks for your name and cabin number ie.

LAST Name - Smith

First Name- Mary

Cabin Number - A234

Password- you use your birthdate to get started.

Then it comes back after verifying your account (and calculates how many free mins you get based on length of cruise) and says you have a credit of X minutes and then you change your password to whatever you want.

 

Next time YOU log in you fill in the boxes as above and use your new password to access YOUR 100 mins.

 

Hubby would do the same but instead, he'd enter Princess internet site (they give you a piece of paper in your cabin outlining all the steps) and type in

Last name-Smith

First name -Harry

Cabin - A234

Password -HIS birthdate, then he'd change it later to whatever he wanted.

 

Thus you'd have your password and your 100 mins and he'd have his password and his 100 mins.

 

Even if you both use the same yahoo email account, it has no bearing on your individual 100 mins.

[UandMe4Ever]

your email account is a different issue altogether so you can each have your own account (and every couple should IMHO) OR continue to share..it won't impact the fact that you EACH have platinum minutes.

 

thus you would log on to the Princess internet site, and it asks for your name and cabin number ie.

LAST Name - Smith

First Name- Mary

Cabin Number - A234

Password- you use your birthdate to get started.

Then it comes back after verifying your account (and calculates how many free mins you get based on length of cruise) and says you have a credit of X minutes and then you change your password to whatever you want.

 

Next time YOU log in you fill in the boxes as above and use your new password to access YOUR 100 mins.

 

Hubby would do the same but instead, he'd enter Princess internet site (they give you a piece of paper in your cabin outlining all the steps) and type in

Last name-Smith

First name -Harry

Cabin - A234

Password -HIS birthdate, then he'd change it later to whatever he wanted.

 

Thus you'd have your password and your 100 mins and he'd have his password and his 100 mins.

 

Even if you both use the same yahoo email account, it has no bearing on your individual 100 mins.

 

Thank you for your valuable information regarding our minutes for the internet.:D I printed it out for reference, should I not remember it in 5 months! We have a "joint" email, and yahoo one is basically mine.;) DH rarely emails anyone! He says that's my "department"..He uses the shared one if he needs to email or whatever.

However, our "optonline.net" email cannot be accessed from ships. Only a yahoo, hotmail gmail and maybe a few others, so we use my Yahoo when cruising other lines if we need to.

Thanks again and safe sails always:)

[6pack]

When on a BTB cruise do you get two 7 day credits? I'm guessing so, however as we've just booked our first BTB I'm not sure. :confused:

[Toto2Kansas]

When on a BTB cruise do you get two 7 day credits? I'm guessing so, however as we've just booked our first BTB I'm not sure. :confused:

Yes, on a B2B cruise (if you booked it as two seperate cruises) you will get two seperate complimentary email packages (one for each leg of the cruise) if you are Platinum or Elite.

[DocM4]

Is the Platinum credit for each of us (husband and wife) In other words do we each get the 200 mins (our next cruise is 10 days). Thanks.

[remydiva]

Is the Platinum credit for each of us (husband and wife) In other words do we each get the 200 mins (our next cruise is 10 days). Thanks.

 

Yes, provided you are both platinum members. In my case, my husband is a Gold and I'm a Platinum (mixed marriage...hahahahah) so only I get the minutes.

[ONT-CA]

We were please to not only see the remaining time available to us but a record of each of our daily WiFi usages shown on screen as we signed off. But we have to mention the improved connections and speed. If the Golden in our fall cruise was rated a one out of ten, and believe us it was, then the Star was an 8 out of ten. Not sure why but we sure appreciate the comparatively vastly improved service.

[Kinkacruiser]

A nice improvement...thanks Princess. However, is there anything that can be done to improve the internet speed? I found 5am to be the best time to lob into the cafe , when nobody else is using computers.

Otherwise, you certainly need all those minutes allocated to you as a Platinum or Elite passenger.

[6pack]

Yes, on a B2B cruise (if you booked it as two seperate cruises) you will get two seperate complimentary email packages (one for each leg of the cruise) if you are Platinum or Elite.

 

It was booked as one cruise, however I've been told that you have to get a new cruise card once the first 7 day cruise is over. If that's true, I would assume you would receive 150 minutes of internet use for the first 7 days then it would renew another 150 minutes. We have never done a BTB so I'm unclear

[sultan_sfo]

This is iffy! We had booked 2x10days as a single 20 days. We got 250 mins on the first leg. I discussed this with the IT manager on day 2 of first leg before getting my 250 mins. She agreed as a "courtesy" to give me another 250 mins on the second leg. Then at the beginning of the 2nd leg I had to go to the IT manager and from her master computer she allocated another 250 mins but told me she would wipe out the remaining 50 mins from the first leg. DW (who did not need the minutes) got only 250 mins for the whole 20 days. In any case you will not lose much 300 mins (150 + 150) v/s 250 min for 14 days.

 

It was booked as one cruise, however I've been told that you have to get a new cruise card once the first 7 day cruise is over. If that's true, I would assume you would receive 150 minutes of internet use for the first 7 days then it would renew another 150 minutes. We have never done a BTB so I'm unclear