HAL Wi-fi Pricing

[kiwi_girl]

Can anyone tell me the current prices for HAL's wireless packages. There was some discussion on here a while back that HAL was 'experimenting' with the pricing structure.

[jtl513]

On the Prinsendam in May they were the same old same old: 0.75/min, 100 min for $55 etc, etc. No "unlimited" option. The only thing different from my past cruises was that they no longer gave bonus minutes for the 100 min block on embarkation day, just the 250 and higher.

 

But it may not be the same on the Zaandam ...

[Krazy Kruizers]

Internet Prices

The advantage of having your own laptop is that you can work off-line and then just copy and paste once you are online -- will save minutes.

 

 

It doesn't matter whether you use the ship's computers or you take your own lap top -- the price is the same for Internet:

 

You will be charged a one-time activation fee of $3.95.

 

Satellite Internet Time Plans:

Pay as you go $0.75 Per Minute

Time Plan 1: 1000 Minutes -- $250.00

Time Plan 2: 500 Minutes -- $175.00

Time Plan 3: 250 Minutes -- $100.00

Time Plan 4: 100 Minutes -- $55.00.

 

Many times you can get bonus minutes for the various plans -- it is not always advertised -- you have to ask -- and it has to be done on Embarkation Day.

Also look for other specials advertised in the daily program.

 

Warning -- the Internet can be sloooooow at times.

 

Also when you are done - remember to type in 1.1.1.1 in the address box to log off -- or you will lose a lot of minutes.

[jtl513]

Internet Prices

 

You will be charged a one-time activation fee of $3.95.

 

Satellite Internet Time Plans:

Pay as you go $0.75 Per Minute

Time Plan 1: 1000 Minutes -- $250.00

Time Plan 2: 500 Minutes -- $175.00

Time Plan 3: 250 Minutes -- $100.00

Time Plan 4: 100 Minutes -- $55.00.

 

Many times you can get bonus minutes for the various plans -- it is not always advertised -- you have to ask -- and it has to be done on Embarkation Day.

Also look for other specials advertised in the daily program.

 

Warning -- the Internet can be sloooooow at times.

 

Also when you are done - remember to type in 1.1.1.1 in the address box to log off -- or you will lose a lot of minutes.

 

As I said:

... the same old same old: 0.75/min, 100 min for $55 etc, etc.

[sail7seas]

I like we now have the choice for extended minute plans. For longer cruises, it's nice to be able to buy a lot of minutes if you think you'll use them.

[hpeabody]

I was recently on the Westerdam, 5 doors from "the wifi spot" and was unable to get a connection on my personal laptop or iPad2. I ended up asking the internet manager to cancel and refund me and just found free wifi ashore and used my iPad2. Honestly, I have been cruising with Princess for a long time now and have never had any internet connection issues (slow, yes) on their ships. Plus it is free for me ;) I think HAL's set-up is just old and needs to be replaced with something up to date.

[comcox]

This is one of the reasons I've been sailing Swan Hellenic lately instead of HAL. On Swan I pay the equivalent of about $25 and for that I get 12 hours of internet service!

[sail7seas]

Seems to me we read here HAL is updating the WiFi on the ships.

I don't remember the details and hope someone can give the details.

 

[jtl513]

I ended up asking the internet manager to cancel and refund me ...

He actually agreed to that? :eek: I'm amazed! In the past they've given me the line that "a connection in your cabin is not guaranteed", and refuse any refund because you can always use wi-fi in the Explorations Cafe, or the ships' computers. You must be very good at sweet-talking, or I'm very bad at it, or they're changing policies.

[KirkNC]

This is one of the reasons I've been sailing Swan Hellenic lately instead of HAL. On Swan I pay the equivalent of about $25 and for that I get 12 hours of internet service!

 

Not sure the pricing of the Internet package would make me change cruise lines but each to their own.

[KirkNC]

Internet Prices

Also when you are done - remember to type in 1.1.1.1 in the address box to log off -- or you will lose a lot of minutes.

 

Be sure to pay attention to this!!!

[Cruise or Lose!]

I was on the Rotterdam 6-22 to 6-29. For mobile devices (e.g. iPad, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, etc.) we were told to type logout.com in the address bar. That's how we logged out. It worked very well. I purchased 500 minutes (with an embarkation bonus, I got 550) and shared them with my sister. They almost lasted the entire cruise, and I am a frequent user of the Net (my sister was too busy running after two adorable toddlers!)

 

This was the first cruise I was able to get a connection in my stateroom, and overall connection speed seemed to have improved considerably. I was very pleased.

[jtl513]

I was on the Rotterdam 6-22 to 6-29. For mobile devices (e.g. iPad, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, etc.) we were told to type logout.com in the address bar. That's how we logged out.

Now that you mention it, I remember that was true for my Dell netbook on the Prinsendam too. I think I tried 1.1.1.1 once and it didn't work. However, there was one strange thing with the logout.com, and that was that I never got a "usage report" back after logging out. Did you?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

This is the best way type logout.com

[Crew News]

Seems to me we read here HAL is updating the WiFi on the ships.

I don't remember the details and hope someone can give the details.

 

 

Our cabin, 5191, on the Zuiderdam (May 2013) had a Cisco repeater mounted on the ceiling. The connection speed was just as fast as the Explorations Cafe (had to go there to print a page). Pete in the cabin below shouted to me the give the connection a try before I lugged my laptop up to the Neptune Lounge. What a pleasant surprise to use my PC from an aft cabin!

 

Speed was still slowed during the peak usage hours.

 

There were 400 new Cisco repeaters installed during the recent Zuiderdam dry dock.

[startwin]

In cabin 4166 last year on the Zuiderdam, I never had any trouble connecting with the internet on my netbook. The connection was really good.

[CaveDiving]

...I have been cruising with Princess for a long time now and have never had any internet connection issues (slow, yes) on their ships. Plus it is free for me...

 

Could you please tell me more about the free WiFi presently on Princess?

 

Scott & Karen

[Krazy Kruizers]

Could you please tell me more about the free WiFi presently on Princess?

 

Scott & Karen

 

From what I was told -- if you are an Elite member on Princess you are suppose to get so many minutes of free WiFi.

We are Elite members but I have not checked into this since we don't have any cruises booked on Princess right now.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Elite members get x number of minutes depending on the length of the cruise for free.

[iancal]

We no longer bother with internet on HAL or any other cruise line for the matter.

 

The slow speed drives us crazy and the cost is excessive given the performance. We will be getting it for free on one line but even then the slow speed lures us away to other activities.

 

We now do in port wireless, and sometimes are able to find an open network when sitting on our verandah or topside when we are in port. We converted to an iPad before prior to our last extended trip and now we are hooked on it. Far better than our laptops for travel.

[ORCRUISER]

Just got an iPad. I'm going to love having it on my next cruise.

[Laminator]

It appears that as the ships go into dry dock their wifi is upgraded. The wifi on the Zuiderdam was very good after dry dock and I was in an aft wrap cabin.

[Hlitner]

Could you please tell me more about the free WiFi presently on Princess?

 

Scott & Karen

 

Princess used to give both Platinum (up to 15 cruises or less then 150 days) and Elite cruisers unlimited internet. But about 6 years ago this became a problem as more and more were using the internet so they now have actual limits. On cruises of less then 7 days all Platinum and Elites get 150 free internet minutes (if there are 2 qualifiers in a cabin they each get those min). From 8-20 it is 250 free minutes per person. 21 days or more get us 500 free min. So when we take a long HA cruise, if DW and I used 1000 min on Princess we would pay zero. If we did the same thing on HA (and we are 4 Star Mariners) we would pay hundreds of dollars.

 

I should add that most other cruise lines (that is other then HA) give their best customers some free internet time. We also get free minutes on RCI, Celebrity, Azamara, and several other lines.

 

Oh, and while we are on the internet topic....most cruise lines now have shipwide WiFi. But HA still has many ships where WiFi is only available in certain public spaces.

 

Hank

[Esri]

It appears that as the ships go into dry dock their wifi is upgraded. The wifi on the Zuiderdam was very good after dry dock and I was in an aft wrap cabin.

 

I hope that's true since the Amsterdam has a dry dock before the world cruise!