Tell me about Carnival wifi, please....

[celbercrz333]

We are thinking of taking a cruise later this year. I have a wifi enabled tablet and would take that with me. Can I use Carnival wifi and does it cost anything?

[Essiesmom]

Yes, and yes. It's not cheap. I believe rates are available on Carnival website, or someone will be along to copy & paste. EM

[shof515]

from carnival site:

If I bring my own laptop, do I need to pay for the internet service onboard?

 

Internet Café / Wireless Internet Services

To keep you connected while at sea, satellite Internet access is available via WiFi throughout the vessel (including your cabin) and in the Internet Café.

 

Internet Café

The Internet Café is open 24-hours and features individual terminals where you can surf the Web, chat online, and access your private e-mail account (Gmail, AOL, Hotmail, Juno, Yahoo, etc.) Alternatively, personalized CruisE-mail™ is available on most vessels. Please see additional information below.

 

For your convenience, the Internet Café Manager is available for assistance during posted hours.

Internet Café terminals run on Windows XP and are limited to Internet communication. Terminals are equipped with Microsoft Office readers only, not full versions of these programs (WORD, EXCEL, etc); most files can be accessed as “read only” for viewing purposes but cannot be edited or saved. Please note, on your personal laptop you can read, edit and save files without restrictions according to the programs installed.

 

Wireless Users – Laptops and other WiFi equipped devices

Got a laptop, an iPad, or a netbook? Got 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless capability (that's just geek speak for WiFi)?

 

The Wireless Internet Service is compatible with a Wireless 802.11b card, which is the industry standard. You may use your personal laptop while onboard, your iPhone and all other WiFi equipped devices and most software installed on them without restrictions. VPN access on the other hand is restricted to connections of the type, which are not IPSec or PPTP connections. Kindly discuss your VPN limitations with your company’s IT department if you are planning to work while sailing. We are not able to change your settings onboard.

 

Pricing

Instructions on how to create an account and pricing details are present on-screen in the Internet Café or on your laptop once you connect to Carnival WiFi. Internet pricing is identical, whether you are using the Internet Café terminals, your own laptop or other wireless devices. All Internet charges will be billed directly to your onboard “Sail & Sign” account.

 

Time Plans offer guests the opportunity to enjoy a lower per-minute rate. These Time Plans are transferable between Internet Café terminals and personal laptops/wireless devices, can be used anytime throughout the cruise until disembarkation and don’t have to be used in a single session. No refund will be provided for unused minutes. Upgrading a pre-selected pricing option is not available and plans are subject to change.

 

• 480 minutes for $159 USD

• 240 minutes for $89 USD

• 120 minutes for $59 USD

• 45 minutes for $29 USD

• Pay As You Go: $0.75/min

 

Printing – available in the Internet Café at $0.50 USD/job

Activation fee – a one-time $3.95 USD charge applies to each user on their first login only.

Boarding Passes – you can check in online and print your boarding passes in the Internet Café; please note, regular printing and online time charges apply.

 

Laptop rental

A limited number of laptops are available for rent; pricing and additional information available onboard.

 

Before You Go

Get the most from your cruise Internet time and your trip — make sure you're powered up and prepared before you board the ship with this handy pre-cruise checklist. Here are a few things you want to remember to pack for your cruise:

 

• WiFi enabled laptop and mobile devices

• Power supply for each of the devices you are bringing with you

• A charged battery for your trip to the ship

• Data cables to transfer pictures

• Headphones

• Laptop privacy screens

 

Best Practices

• Email – Convert your email settings to basic; you will have a better experience with less graphic intense content. Most email providers have a lite version of their service optimized for low-bandwidth users.

• Mobile websites – most websites nowadays offer a mobile interface; they are leaner, less graphic intense alternatives to their main page. Mobile pages load quicker via the leaner bandwidth available onboard and can be accessed regardless of your device: laptop, smart phone, tablet etc. A few examples:

 

- http://www.M.Facebook.com

- http://www.Touch.Facebook.com

- http://www.M.Yahoo.com

 

• Apps – consider using apps; they are tailored for your device and will improve your online experience

• Browsers – Experiment with alternate browsers for a faster experience: Chrome, Opera, Safari, Mozilla, Firefox

• Remember to log out

• Disconnect from WiFi - develop the habit of disconnecting from WiFi when ending your Internet session; leaving your device connected may slow other users’ Internet speed

• Words associated with leaner content = faster loading time: mobile, text only, lite, no media, low resolution

• Discuss VPN limitations with your company’s IT department prior to cruising; onboard personnel are not able to change your settings onboard.

 

NOTE:

Internet access via satellite is a significantly different experience than high-speed connections on shore. Onboard Internet access is not guaranteed at all times due to the nature of satellite communications, which are subject to occasional disruptions due to weather patterns and location.

 

Accessing E-mail and the Internet in the middle of the world's oceans is a triumph of cutting edge satellite technology. Our investment into this technology matches some of the most prestigious companies in the world, but even so it cannot be as fast as your home broadband. This is because the data must be transmitted over a slower wireless signal to satellites 22,000 miles above the Earth, which then bounce the data back down to the exchange. At home the data is sent down your fast cable connection to your local exchange, just around the corner from your house. We are continually reviewing our investment to secure you as fast a connection as possible and challenge fjords, glaciers and other grand geographical locations, to provide you with as seamless and consistent a service as possible

 

You can access a few free sites like carnival.com and JH blog and others

[PurpleDog]

Ive been on Elation and Victory; on both ships the wifi was amazing expensive and amazingly slow.

 

I live in a very rural part of Virginia and am used to about 2.7 mbps service from Verizon - which is terrible compared most US metro areas. But 2.7 mbps feels lightning fast compared to the wifi speed on a ship. I'm a small business owner that simply must check and respond to client emails each day at least once. I would take more and longer cruises if they had reasonable wifi rates and speed.

 

One trick I did learn was to read emails and make notes regarding them and then logoff from wifi. I then write my responses out in Word, and then paste that Word doc response into my return email. That saves and reduces the valuable time you are online.

[Nars Glinley]

We were on the Magic in December and bought the unlimited package for $99. We were told that it would only work on one device at a time and that it would only work in the common areas of the ship. As it turned out, I had 3 devices going in my cabin all at the same time and it worked just fine. Whenever I'd log on with a new device, it would tell me that it was going to log me out of my other device but it never did.

 

The speeds were really good. We Facetimed with our daughter who was back at home and it worked just fine. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised.

[tgunn1978]

We were on the Magic in December and bought the unlimited package for $99. We were told that it would only work on one device at a time and that it would only work in the common areas of the ship. As it turned out, I had 3 devices going in my cabin all at the same time and it worked just fine. Whenever I'd log on with a new device, it would tell me that it was going to log me out of my other device but it never did.

 

The speeds were really good. We Facetimed with our daughter who was back at home and it worked just fine. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised.

 

My niece also sailed on Magic in December and they turned their cell phones to airplane mode, and bought the Unlimited wifi plan for $99. She said they used it all the time and had great speed in their cabin and everywhere. They posted on Facebook and family and friends sent them messages there to keep in touch. She and I had several conversations in messenger that week. Seemed to work well. I'm on Triumph in May and hope we have the option to purchase an unlimited wifi plan.

[pe4all]

It was terrible on the Breeze. From what I understand, they discontinued the unlimited wifi package on that ship due to the problems connecting. Maybe this will limit the number of users on at once, and their wifi will work better. Have gotten it on other ships (Liberty, Dream, etc.) and it worked fine.

[DanJ]

I was surprised at how fast the wifi was on my iPad from my cabin compared to the funhub computers. It was almost painful to use their computers for flight checkin. Next time, I'll just checkin from my ipad and print the boarding passes at the airport.

[celbercrz333]

Thanks everyone. If we cruise, it may be on the Victory. Not sure yet.

[jellzbellz]

Can anyone confirm if the Dream still has the unlimited/high speed internet package?

[DanJ]

Can anyone confirm if the Dream still has the unlimited/high speed internet package?

 

No, it does not. It has the packages listed in post 3 above.

[jellzbellz]

Well, boo.

 

Thanks :)

[nwcruiselover]

Of the ships I have been on, I found the Victory to have the absolutely slowest internet speed imaginable. There were times when it took more than 5 minutes just to load a page. The poor internet employee was bombarded by angry people complaining about this, and all he could offer was that trying in the middle of the night when not too many people are on-line might be an option. The other ships I have been on have had internet service roughly equivalent to dial-up at home. There are times when it's much slower or not available at all. The bottom line is that we're all pretty used to our high-speed internet service at home and that's not what you get on the ship. I haven't been on the Magic since they offered "high speed internet" for a higher price, so I can't speak to that.

[khaide612]

Sorry to bump this up but I'm going on the Victory and someone who may want to join us has to attend school trhough video chat. Will this be completely impossible? I believe so with what I have read so far :(

[momof4boys]

In July on the Freedom we purchased the ultimate plan because the day of embarkation my son checked his bank account before leaving and saw hundreds of unauthorized foreign withdrawals. His bank was immediiately notified (we still wonder why they were allowed since he notified them he was leaving the country and the country of withdrawal was NOT one we were visiting.) but it still took them several days to really stop authorizing the withdrawals.

 

The wifi connection was horrible every day---slow and often interrupted.

 

The great thing was the staff of the Freedom allowed my son to call his bank multiple times daily for free. This kindness was allowed even though they knew he did not need this money for the cruise...!

 

I would not want to depend on the ship's wifi connection.

 

Happy sailing!

[Laurin612]

In July on the Freedom... (clipped)

 

The wifi connection was horrible every day---slow and often interrupted.

 

(clipped)

 

I would not want to depend on the ship's wifi connection.

 

Happy sailing!

 

Bummer...that is unfortunate. I will be cruising on the Freedom on Saturday--hopefully they have done something to upgrade the WIFI connection since you cruised in July. But probably not.

 

Is the "ultimate" package unlimited?

[TerryandKim]

Connections are inherently horrible as everyone described. As a point of reference, i ended up paying for $68 worth of time to set-up a paypal account and make 1 payment. The bandwidth control and uplink to the satellites are the bottlenecks.

If you're going to try to endure and stay connected on board, consider the competition. Meaning, in the middle of the day, you're competing with not only the guests but the ships services as well. I was told that the bandwidth is throttled more severely for passengers and crew during the day due to the need of reliable data connections for many of the ships financial services.

Early morning seemed to be the best time for me.

 

~Terry

[ibcnusoon]

I was on the Victory and need internet access for my business. I used my laptop in the cabin and didn't experience any slow internet speeds.

[lberbe]

is there a list of ships with the $99 unlimited internet access?

[FireMedT]

I was recently on the Glory and paid for the $40 unlimited basic speed and it was good enough to check email, send text messages over facebook, and basic web browsing for port information. Other than that I think they might be limiting the size of files you try and send or receive. I tried sending my brother a photo and it wouldn't go.

 

It was good enough for what I needed. But service was a little spotty.