Internet - Buy now or on the ship?

[goldesq]

I am a platinum member and I know I get some free internet time. I need more though. Any benefit to buying now or should I buy when I get on the ship? I think the last time I cruised, they gave me some free time when I bought a block of time. I honestly cannot remember though.

[Essiesmom]

If you buy now, you will get more free minutes, but you will not get reimbursed as a platinum cruiser. Better to wait until onboard. EM

[goldesq]

I am confused...what do you mean by "......but you will not get reimbursed as a platinum cruiser?"

 

Oh and I just found a post that is recent of a platinum member who signed in and was offered an additional 250 minutes in addition to the free 250 for only $75 so that seems like the best deal. I only saw this one post about that though so I am not sure if this as a one time promotion on her cruise or something else.

[juniper berries]

The best buy is to buy internet minutes before you board you get more minutes and get more free minutes. :)

[goldesq]

The best buy is to buy internet minutes before you board you get more minutes and get more free minutes. :)

 

Do you know of any benefit tho as to platinum members getting better deals onboard such as my post above?

[Putterdude]

You do get a bonus if you book a package on the first day but then again with that you pay a set up fee. My inclination would be to take your free 250 mins then add the extra mins. However as DW and I each have 250 mins free we find that is adequate for us. However, perhaps someone has other ideas.

[terrific_surprise]

I have no knowledge relating to platinum benefits, but from my experience the number of free minutes included in an Internet package purchased before the cruise is exactly the same as the number of free minutes purchased during the first day or two of the cruise. There also was some kind of drawing for those who purchased the Internet package the first day or two on the ship, and pre-purchasing the package made it more difficult to get entered in the drawing.

 

So I would suggest waiting until the first day of the cruise. (But again, I have no experience with platinum benefits.)

[Essiesmom]

I meant that when you buy the package onboard, you get reimbursed the value of your free platinum minutes. But if you book prior to the cruise, they don't reimburse. When you do not have free platinum/elite minutes, buying before the cruise gets you double the bonus minutes that you would get booking the first day onboard. Been there, done that. Now, I wait until I am onboard, and book the 500 minutes package, where I get 250 free (platinum) and the next 250 cost $75. EM

[kayzmarie]

I also wait until I get onboard and then buy the additional 250 minutes for $75.00 to go with my free minutes.

[goldesq]

Ok wow...this now makes sense to me. Basically if you want a large pkg of minutes and your platinum the best deal is to buy it on the ship. When you log in on the ship, the ship basically is doubling your 250 minutes bc it thinks u are buying the pkg. you are later reimbursed for 250. Thus for bigger pkgs, it seems the best deals are onboard bc of the reimbursement factor.

 

Thanks for clarifying that.