Internet

[Been There, Planning That]

We're going on our first Princess cruise in late summer.

 

I could not find a link to prepay/order internet minutes on the Princess web site when on the personalizer page for this cruise. I can link to spa treatments and excursions, but not internet packages.

 

I called Princess and was told that Wi-Fi connections were free, but slow. Is this the case?

 

We'd planned to buy a package. Are there any specials if done immediately upon boarding? The Princess girl gave me the costs per minute and the activation fee.

 

We'll have our own computer and had planned to use it to type Emails, save them on a thumb nail thingee and then use the ship's computers to send.

 

I'd sure appreciate any help or advice,

 

THANKS techies,

 

Ruth

[1025cruise]

The cost for internet is the same whether you use your computer or the ship's "kiosk". You will not have access to plug a thumb drive in to the ship's computer.

[VinTek]

I called Princess and was told that Wi-Fi connections were free, but slow. Is this the case?

No.

 

We'd planned to buy a package. Are there any specials if done immediately upon boarding?

Yes. You get bonus minutes if you purchase a package and activate it on the first day.

 

We'll have our own computer and had planned to use it to type Emails, save them on a thumb nail thingee and then use the ship's computers to send.

Use your laptop to send message via the WiFi package. The computers in the Internet Cafe have had their USB ports disabled. Type your e-mails, log in, send your e-mails, log off.

[chipmaster]

WIFI technically is free, but to access the internet you pay.

 

The cost is the same whether you use your own laptop and you use wifi or the computercenter.

 

Now is it slow, YES, price per bit per second actually recieved or transmitted is very very high.

[caribill]

All Princess ships have WIFI. In most cabins, the reception is good. Sometimes the cabin door needs to be propped open to obtain a strong enough signal.

Speed is basically that of dial-up and the internet may not be available at all times due to the ship's position

Using WIFI is the same cost as using the ship's computers in their Internet Cafe.

First there is a $3.95 initial sign up charge (once per cruise per user; free for platinum/elite passengers). Then 75 cents/minute unless you purchase a package. No refund for package minutes not used.

Packages:

100 minutes $55.00

150 minutes $75.00

250 minutes $100.00

500 minutes $175.00

If you sign up for a package the first day, there is usually some free bonus minutes. You can also pre-pay for a package at http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/communications/index.jsp and this will include more bonus minutes than you would get onboard. If you pre-pay, it will also include the 3.95 initial sign-on fee.

 

The package minutes can be used both on your own computer and on the ship's computers in the Internet Cafe.

The first time you use the Internet onboard, there will be instructions on how to set up your account and select a password.

Please note that on your own computer you must sign out with an address of 1.1.1.1 or your minutes may continue to be counted down. Alternatively, you can use an address of logout.com .

If you sign up on board for a package, you do so either on your own laptop or one of the ship's computers in the Internet Cafe. Either way, you can do it without the need to interact with the Internet Cafe manager.

 

If you use the ship's Internet Café computers, you cannot open attachments to e-mails. Also, the ship's computers have no application software such as Excel or Word.

[Been There, Planning That]

Caribill,

 

The Princess person sure didn't know about the link you offered. THANK YOU,

 

Ruth

[paul929207]

The internet is free if you are in a full suite. There is an internet credit if you are Platinum or Elite in the Captain's Circle.

 

All others have to pay for the internet. The costs are listed above in Caribill's post. Usually, if you buy a package on the first day, you get 10/20/30/40 bonus minutes based on size of package. If you pre-purchase a package on the Princess website, the bonus minutes are doubled.

[AKman2495]

We're going on our first Princess cruise in late summer.

 

I could not find a link to prepay/order internet minutes on the Princess web site when on the personalizer page for this cruise. I can link to spa treatments and excursions, but not internet packages.

 

 

In the personalizer, scroll down to the bottom and in the right hand column click on "Gifts & Services". On the next screen click on "Communications" and there you will be.

[Been There, Planning That]

Thanks one and all.

 

Akman you offered clear instructions, thanks.

 

Paul, elite we are not. We're fickle cruisers and don't have a loyalty to any one line. River cruising spoiled us with free internet part of the overall pricing. We even found it reasonably speedy. This will be our first Princess cruise so besides being new to the line we're obstructed window steerage passengers with NO perks whatsoever.

 

Caribill, I just purchased 310 minutes for $102.95 US. That is a reasonable price.

 

VinTek thanks for letting us know that the USB ports are not available on Princess computers. We'll use our own which of course is familiar and easy for us to navigate.

 

We're now ready to send missives home from our 30 Princess voyage.

 

Ruth

[Mike11]

Just a quick comment for information. In February, my wife and I took a 12-day Hurtigruten coastal cruise along the Norwegian coast. The wireless internet was free to all onboard. In spite of the fact that half the cruise was above the Artic Circle, the connection speed was not noticably reduced from what you might expect in your local Starbucks! Last year we took a North Atlantic cruise on Princess and the internet speed was terrible. The excuse given by Princess was that northern latitudes interferred with satelite connections. Bottom line, the internet is a money maker for Princess; the connection speed is intentionally low to increase the number of minutes used (or the equipment is substandard and they don't wish to upgrade it).

[Loonbeam]

What was the passenger count on the Norwegian cruise and did they block VOIP? Also, did they use a dedicated sat band connection since the sailed the same route all the time?. All of those could affect usage.

 

Princess uses a broad spectrum system, since the ships operate globally. In that case they are more open to interference. That said, their equipment is not state of the art and the bandwith per passenger is too low for today's device load.

 

 

 

Just a quick comment for information. In February, my wife and I took a 12-day Hurtigruten coastal cruise along the Norwegian coast. The wireless internet was free to all onboard. In spite of the fact that half the cruise was above the Artic Circle, the connection speed was not noticably reduced from what you might expect in your local Starbucks! Last year we took a North Atlantic cruise on Princess and the internet speed was terrible. The excuse given by Princess was that northern latitudes interferred with satelite connections. Bottom line, the internet is a money maker for Princess; the connection speed is intentionally low to increase the number of minutes used (or the equipment is substandard and they don't wish to upgrade it).

[caribill]

Just a quick comment for information. In February, my wife and I took a 12-day Hurtigruten coastal cruise along the Norwegian coast. The wireless internet was free to all onboard. In spite of the fact that half the cruise was above the Artic Circle, the connection speed was not noticably reduced from what you might expect in your local Starbucks! Last year we took a North Atlantic cruise on Princess and the internet speed was terrible. The excuse given by Princess was that northern latitudes interferred with satelite connections.

 

If you are on a Princess ship with 2600 passengers and 1100 crew, you have potentially 3700 people who might have access to the internet, admittedly not at the same time.

 

However, if even 10% try to use it at the same time (370 people, chances are the speed will be very slow. I doubt you have 370 people trying to use it at the same time at Starbucks or even on your Hurtigruten cruise.

 

Next time you are on Princess, try to use the Internet about 3 AM. I bet you have much faster response time then while almost everyone is sleeping.

[hansi]

We have just returned from a Grand Princess cruise and as we are Elite, we both had 250 minutes free for the Internet. I found the connection was amazingly quick, although obviously not as fast as broadband. I used it every day to write email, surf the web, and had loads of minutes left at the end.

[IECalCruiser]

While there are a few cruise itineraries where there will be no internet access for sometimes days at a time, I have found on our Princess cruises that using your own computer has been fairly effective. I use Outlook for my e-mail. I write e-mails off line and connect to the internet only to upload/download e-mail. Received e-mails are read off line. It typically takes 2-3 minutes for the upload/download. I don't often surf the web when on a cruise. I did forget my laptop on our Alaskan cruise two years ago (had my computer bag and charger with but didn't put the computer in :eek:). I attempted to use the ships computers and burned through 20-30 minutes with no success checking e-mail from my providers site. For the rest of the cruise we used our iPhones on ship or in Alaskan ports. I would not recommend relying on the ships computers for anything, IMHO. YMMV, but the above was based on using ship's WiFi on the Golden to Hawaii, the Star in South America, the Coral in Alaska and the Sapphire in Mexico and on a California Coastal.

[caribill]

While there are a few cruise itineraries where there will be no internet access for sometimes days at a time, I have found on our Princess cruises that using your own computer has been fairly effective.

 

My experience has been that it is seldom that the Internet is unavailable for more than 24 hours due to the ship's position.

 

A hardware failure is a different problem. On a recent cruise the Internet was unavailable for almost three days until a part (and technician) could reach the ship and be installed. Even the ability to make phone calls to/from the ship using ship's phones was not working due to the equipment failure.

[KirkNC]

"Please note that on your own computer you must sign out with an address of 1.1.1.1 or your minutes may continue to be counted down. Alternatively, you can use an address of logout.com ."

 

Be sure to log off, I wasted 30 minutes the first day because I just shutdown my iPad.

[celestialcruiser]

Can you use more than one computer at a time in a suite? Or do you just get one login and only one person at a time can use it on one computer? Thanks.

[paul929207]

Each person will have their own login ID, so if there are two people in the suite, they could be on at the same time

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Each person will have their own login ID, so if there are two people in the suite, they could be on at the same time

 

Happy to hear about the FREE internet in the suites, that's a nice perk! As I understand it, that includes both the internet cafe computers and wi-fi ... correct?

 

Is there are good signal throughout Princess ships? I have been on a few ships (never sailed Princess before) that had only spotty coverage - often necessitating going out into a public area/atrium to get a good signal.

 

 

Tom

[Jasperdo]

Is there are good signal throughout Princess ships? I have been on a few ships (never sailed Princess before) that had only spotty coverage - often necessitating going out into a public area/atrium to get a good signal.

Tom

I have always had a good signal in our cabin. And we always sail in an inside cabin. As others have pointed out, though, the speed can be painfully slow at times.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I have always had a good signal in our cabin. And we always sail in an inside cabin. As others have pointed out, though, the speed can be painfully slow at times.

 

Thanks.

 

...

Is there are good signal throughout Princess ships? I have been on a few ships (never sailed Princess before) that had only spotty coverage - often necessitating going out into a public area/atrium to get a good signal.

 

 

Tom

 

Forgive my typo! :o

 

Tom

[caribill]

Happy to hear about the FREE internet in the suites, that's a nice perk! As I understand it, that includes both the internet cafe computers and wi-fi ... correct? Correct

 

Is there are good signal throughout Princess ships? I have been on a few ships (never sailed Princess before) that had only spotty coverage - often necessitating going out into a public area/atrium to get a good signal.

 

 

 

The times the signal has been poor in a cabin we have been in, just propping the door to the hallway open a little with the wastebasket gave us a usuable signal.

[Pam in CA]

The times the signal has been poor in a cabin we have been in, just propping the door to the hallway open a little with the wastebasket gave us a usuable signal.

The signal strength also depends on the number of people accessing the Internet at the same time and what they're doing. For instance, if someone is uploading photos or talking on Skype, it'll be slow for everyone else. I've found that the best times are early in the morning or during the evening when most are at dinner.

[Coral]

The signal strength also depends on the number of people accessing the Internet at the same time and what they're doing. For instance, if someone is uploading photos or talking on Skype, it'll be slow for everyone else. I've found that the best times are early in the morning or during the evening when most are at dinner.

 

Princess really should upgrade their system. They can provide a better, faster, service, they just choose not to invest in their system.

 

I agree with Pam - mornings are the best time to use the internet in my experience.

[pablo222]

The signal strength also depends on the number of people accessing the Internet at the same time and what they're doing. For instance, if someone is uploading photos or talking on Skype, it'll be slow for everyone else. I've found that the best times are early in the morning or during the evening when most are at dinner.

 

Signal strength and available bandwidth are not the same thing.