Internet access for platinum/elite

[jpinperth]

Hi all,

Does anyone know if the complimentary internet minutes package for platinum and elite passengers is on a per passenger or per stateroom basis? We are two sharing a stateroom and one of us is platinum and the other is elite......any ideas?

 

Many thanks

JP

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

Hi all,

Does anyone know if the complimentary internet minutes package for platinum and elite passengers is on a per passenger or per stateroom basis? We are two sharing a stateroom and one of us is platinum and the other is elite......any ideas?

 

Many thanks

JP

 

Each of you will receive an Internet Package.

[roccomom1]

Hi all,

Does anyone know if the complimentary internet minutes package for platinum and elite passengers is on a per passenger or per stateroom basis? We are two sharing a stateroom and one of us is platinum and the other is elite......any ideas?

 

Many thanks

JP

 

I am getting close to my first cruise as Platinum and would like to know how it works to get on the internet with the free minutes. I do not bring a laptop so I assume that I would have to use theirs, but I have never done this before so I don't know how it works.

Thank you any help you can give me.

[caribill]

I am getting close to my first cruise as Platinum and would like to know how it works to get on the internet with the free minutes. I do not bring a laptop so I assume that I would have to use theirs, but I have never done this before so I don't know how it works.

Thank you any help you can give me.

 

When you first sign on the computer (either yours or a Princess one), you will enter your cabin number and your name. The system will know that you are eligible for a free package and will display a choice of buying the free package for $0 or a higher level package with the price adjusted for your free allowance.

 

Just pick the free package and you will be set to go.

 

If you and your traveling companion are both eligible, then each of you will need to sign in seperately to each get the benefit.

[KarenCL]

If you have any problems, there is usually a staff member in the Internet Cafe at some point in the day who can assist you with signing up. Just make sure that you sign off at the end of your session each time!

[roccomom1]

When you first sign on the computer (either yours or a Princess one), you will enter your cabin number and your name. The system will know that you are eligible for a free package and will display a choice of buying the free package for $0 or a higher level package with the price adjusted for your free allowance.

 

Just pick the free package and you will be set to go.

 

If you and your traveling companion are both eligible, then each of you will need to sign in seperately to each get the benefit.

 

Thank you so much for this info. I have never bothered before with trying to e-mail from the ship but with free minutes, I would like to give it a try.

[Times Prince]

When you first sign on the computer (either yours or a Princess one), you will enter your cabin number and your name. The system will know that you are eligible for a free package and will display a choice of buying the free package for $0 or a higher level package with the price adjusted for your free allowance.

 

Just pick the free package and you will be set to go.

 

If you and your traveling companion are both eligible, then each of you will need to sign in seperately to each get the benefit.

Be sure to both sign on early in the cruise. They do not allow new signons during the last day (e.g. if you use all minutes on one person's account and need to access the other's late in the cruise).

[Putterdude]

Thank you so much for this info. I have never bothered before with trying to e-mail from the ship but with free minutes, I would like to give it a try.

 

 

Remember the systems are very slow, perhaps even slower than the old dial up service, and obtain from the internet cafe the instructions for logging out of the system

[IECalCruiser]

Remember the systems are very slow, perhaps even slower than the old dial up service, and obtain from the internet cafe the instructions for logging out of the system

We were in the Coral two years ago in Alaska when I forgot my laptop and I tried to use a ship's computer to check my e-mail. I gave up after using 20 of my minutes. Relied on connecting through our iPhones on the ship's wifi or more often through AT&T in port. Using my laptop with Outlook it typically has taken 2-4 minutes on any ship we have been on to upload and download e-mail for off line reading. If you don't bring your own PC or other device with an e-mail client be prepared to burn through a lot of minutes. With your own device you can be fairly efficient.

[TracieABD]

It can be really, really slow at times... That is th providers fault. I wish Princess would change providers.

[rcacace]

It can be really, really slow at times... That is th providers fault. I wish Princess would change providers.

 

 

It involves a little more than selecting a different provider when linking through a satellite.

[TracieABD]

It involves a little more than selecting a different provider when linking through a satellite.

I am aware of that, but I have heard that there are satellite providers that offer faster connection times...:)

A girl can always hope!

[rcacace]

I am aware of that, but I have heard that there are satellite providers that offer faster connection times...:)

A girl can always hope!

 

 

If so, I'm sure it's at a much higher price that they're probably willing to pay.

I'm only grateful that we still get the perk of internet service the way it is today especially with all the talk about eliminating it. ;)

[Roxymax]

Can you use an IPad to connect to the wifi for the free minutes for members are does it need to be a true laptop?

[TracieABD]

Can you use an IPad to connect to the wifi for the free minutes for members are does it need to be a true laptop?

An iPad will work!

[twocats]

Is that really correct? That each person receives the alloted free minutes? If so, all these cruises DH and I just signed in on our laptop once and shared time. He isn't on much so this time I will definitely use his as well.

Nice surprise for the uninformed.

[TracieABD]

Is that really correct? That each person receives the alloted free minutes? If so, all these cruises DH and I just signed in on our laptop once and shared time. He isn't on much so this time I will definitely use his as well.

Nice surprise for the uninformed.

You may have to bribe your husband for his password though...;)

[caribill]

Is that really correct? That each person receives the alloted free minutes? If so, all these cruises DH and I just signed in on our laptop once and shared time. He isn't on much so this time I will definitely use his as well.

Nice surprise for the uninformed.

 

Yes, really correct.

 

when you first access the Internet, it asks for your name. So which name you entered in the past was the one whose minutes you used.

[IECalCruiser]

Can you use an iPad to connect to the WiFi for the free minutes for members are does it need to be a true laptop?

DW had a problem disconnecting her iPad from the WiFi at least once on the Coral and I signed on to her account with my laptop to sign her off. She would sometimes have the WiFi connection drop out and at times mysteriously connect again without logging on or off. This was even after closing all other open apps and I believe happened both on the Golden and the Coral last month. iPad connection to Princess WiFi still appears to be still less reliable than PCs but other than the connection issues it worked OK.

[coo359a2]

You may have to bribe your husband for his password though...;)

 

Thankfully, my husband doesn't use the internet on board. I set up the passwords so he would have to ask me if he ever wanted to use the internet.

[Pia1913]

Is that really correct? That each person receives the alloted free minutes? If so, all these cruises DH and I just signed in on our laptop once and shared time. He isn't on much so this time I will definitely use his as well.

Nice surprise for the uninformed.

 

If I didn't have his minutes too, I could never do a LIVE. :D

[TracieABD]

If I didn't have his minutes too, I could never do a LIVE. :D

 

Speaking of which...

 

Just two more days! I am on the look out!:)

[mococay]

It can be really, really slow at times... That is th providers fault. I wish Princess would change providers.

 

This is not entirely true as most cruise lines use the same provider. The Internet is slower than at home for a number of reasons, the main one being the fact that you are on a ship and high-speed Internet is simply not an option. Also, Princess has a lot more users compared to other cruise-lines. CC members know why. We are all sharing the same connection (unlike at home), we all seem to want to go online at the same time and sometimes we use services that are not at all optimized for a slow Internet connection (e-mail service from a high-speed Internet provider like Comcast for example).

[mococay]

DW had a problem disconnecting her iPad from the WiFi at least once on the Coral and I signed on to her account with my laptop to sign her off. She would sometimes have the WiFi connection drop out and at times mysteriously connect again without logging on or off. This was even after closing all other open apps and I believe happened both on the Golden and the Coral last month. iPad connection to Princess WiFi still appears to be still less reliable than PCs but other than the connection issues it worked OK.

 

If a user is online on one device you cannot login on another one, the system will say "account is already online". If you are able to do that it means the the system kicked the account offline from the first device as it should if there is no network activity for 3 minutes or so, so the situation presented is simply not possible.

There are 2 common issues with the iPads, one being the fact that they lose connection to the network quite a lot. Most of the time, if you reconnect quickly there is no problem. The second problem is the fact that most users turn off the WiFi or disconnect instead of Logging out but 95% of the times the system will drop you within 2 minutes.

[IECalCruiser]

If a user is online on one device you cannot login on another one, the system will say "account is already online". If you are able to do that it means the the system kicked the account offline from the first device as it should if there is no network activity for 3 minutes or so, so the situation presented is simply not possible.

I know that it shouldn't happen and she was probably logged off on her iPad. She was not idle, but was uploading/downloading e-mail. The same type of activity that causes no problems when she used my PC onboard. The point is that she could not sign-off or sign-on from her iPad and the only way we cleared the situation was using my PC. It doesn't make sense but it worked :confused:

There are 2 common issues with the iPads, one being the fact that they lose connection to the network quite a lot. Most of the time, if you reconnect quickly there is no problem. The second problem is the fact that most users turn off the WiFi or disconnect instead of Logging out but 95% of the times the system will drop you within 2 minutes.

She just leaves WiFi on as I do on my PC and logout from the network.

 

This was DW's first cruise with an iPad and there were issues we haven't had when connecting to Princess WiFi using our PCs or even our iPhones.