WiFi

[wyobean]

What might I expect to pay for WiFi in the Neptune lounge on the Zuiderdam? It says WiFi for a small charge. Thanks

 

 

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[kazu]

What might I expect to pay for WiFi in the Neptune lounge on the Zuiderdam? It says WiFi for a small charge. Thanks

 

 

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the 'small' charge is the same as it is throughout the ship.

 

The Neptune Lounge has good reception but there is no discount because you are in a Neptune Suite - you will pay the same as most people on board (I think 5* mariners get a discount)

[sail7seas]

$9.99 per hour (continuous only)

$34.99 per day (24 hours)

$149.99 Voyage Rate (7 days)

[RuthC]

(I think 5* mariners get a discount)

Five star Mariners get a discount of 50% off the 100 minute package. I have been able to apply the same dollar value discount to a larger package.

[sail7seas]

the 'small' charge is the same as it is throughout the ship.

 

The Neptune Lounge has good reception but there is no discount because you are in a Neptune Suite - you will pay the same as most people on board (I think 5* mariners get a discount)

 

Before HAL switched to this new WiFi pricing, Five Star Mariners received a 50% discount off 100 minute packages. I have not heard what they are substituting to us for a discount under the new pricing system.

 

[sail7seas]

Five star Mariners get a discount of 50% off the 100 minute package. I have been able to apply the same dollar value discount to a larger package.

 

 

 

I also received the discount off a 250 minute plan under the old Wifi packages.

 

[wyobean]

Thanks, they made it sound like it was a deal...lol. I can do without it.

 

 

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[POA1]

They were testing a new pricing structure on the Zuiderdam. The old pricing had you buying blocks of minutes. VERY IMPORTANT: This is satellite Internet on a shared connection. Do not expect traditional WiFi speeds. Your link speed may show 11Mbps to 54Mbps. That's the speed you're connection to the access point gets. The gating factor is the speed from the ship to the satellite and the satellite down to the ground station. (Adds a bit of latency.) If the all seems kind of technical, just think back to dial up days. It's faster than that, but way slower than your DSL, cable modem, 3G, or 4G data.

 

Some people enjoy measuring connection speeds, throughput, and latency on vacation. What can I say? :)

[POA1]

Thanks, they made it sound like it was a deal...lol. I can do without it.

 

 

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It is. It's just not a GOOD deal.

[Krazy Kruizers]

$9.99 per hour (continuous only)

$34.99 per day (24 hours)

$149.99 Voyage Rate (7 days)

 

 

New prices -- bad deal -- JMO.

[Hlitner]

Of all the mass market cruise lines, HAL has the worst internet perks (not to mention service). Some HAL ships do not even have cabin WiFi. As to frequent cruisers, we just came off a 25 day Princess cruise where DW and I were given 1000 free internet minutes because we are Elite. But as a 4 Star Mariner we get zip, nada, nothing! On Celebrity we also get hundreds of free minutes and on RCI we get a bunch of free minutes (not sure of the current scale). It is the same on nearly every line we cruise (we have been on 14) except on HAL unless I ever get to 5 Star level. And this will never happen until HAL bans smoking on balconies :).

 

Hank

[Krazy Kruizers]

Before HAL switched to this new WiFi pricing, Five Star Mariners received a 50% discount off 100 minute packages. I have not heard what they are substituting to us for a discount under the new pricing system.

 

 

 

I have a feeling that once again we are going to get ripped off.

[CaveDiving]

I have a feeling that once again we are going to get ripped off.

 

Now c’mon guys. The wonderful 50% discount on a 100 minute package amounts to all of $27.50.

 

Let’s not get all head up about the presence or absence of a less than $30 discount.

 

Scott & Karen

[Alberta Quilter]

$9.99 per hour (continuous only)

$34.99 per day (24 hours)

$149.99 Voyage Rate (7 days)

 

On the May 18th Amsterdam cruise, the pricing was the old by the minute pricing. I understood, from the librarian, the the pricing quoted above was the pricing being tested on the Zuiderdam only, earlier in May.

 

I do not have the minute rates but if someone does, would you please post them so that the OP has all of the info in case they cruise prior to any fleet wide changes?

[CowPrincess]

Friends who were recently on the Zaandam reported it was $0.75/min with a one-time $3.95 ish activation fee. I think they said they bought 100 mins for $55 (plus the activation fee). I think that is what I have paid in the past, too.

[CaveDiving]

The per minute rates on most HAL ships are as follows.

 

It costs $3.75 to start an account, then the choices are

$0.75 per minute

100 minutes for $55

250 minutes for $100

500 minutes for $175

1000 minutes for $250

 

Scott & Karen

[Hlitner]

Now c’mon guys. The wonderful 50% discount on a 100 minute package amounts to all of $27.50.

 

Let’s not get all head up about the presence or absence of a less than $30 discount.

 

Scott & Karen

 

Now c'mon Scott and Karen :). When I cruised on Princess I paid zero (yes, a big 0) for 1,000 minutes. On HAL that same amount of time would cost me around $300. And with HAL, even if you are one of those loyal folks and have cruised 450 days you still do not get a single free internet minute. Show me any other cruise line that follows that kind of greedy policy.

 

Now we do understand that HAL offers other advantages (which is why we still cruise the line despite its antiquated smoking policy). But we would estimate that in an average year we probably cruise about 50 days on other lines because of those HAL policies. So while HAL has not totally driven us away, they have encouraged us to look to other lines first, and only to HAL as a last resort.

 

Hank

 

Hank

[cruz chic]

Of all the mass market cruise lines, HAL has the worst internet perks (not to mention service). Some HAL ships do not even have cabin WiFi. As to frequent cruisers, we just came off a 25 day Princess cruise where DW and I were given 1000 free internet minutes because we are Elite. But as a 4 Star Mariner we get zip, nada, nothing! On Celebrity we also get hundreds of free minutes and on RCI we get a bunch of free minutes (not sure of the current scale). It is the same on nearly every line we cruise (we have been on 14) except on HAL unless I ever get to 5 Star level. And this will never happen until HAL bans smoking on balconies :).

 

Hank

 

I've found the service to be same on both lines. Could you be more specific about the service problems you encountered? Sounds like you never have good experiences on Hal ships.

[Alberta Quilter]

The per minute rates on most HAL ships are as follows.

 

It costs $3.75 to start an account, then the choices are

$0.75 per minute

100 minutes for $55

250 minutes for $100

500 minutes for $175

1000 minutes for $250

 

Scott & Karen

 

Yes, I bought the 500 minute package but was not charged the activation fee, on my recent Amsterdam cruise.

 

Thank you for posting the "by the minute" plan charges.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Alberta Quilter

[hrhdhd]

Of all the mass market cruise lines, HAL has the worst internet perks (not to mention service). Some HAL ships do not even have cabin WiFi. As to frequent cruisers, we just came off a 25 day Princess cruise where DW and I were given 1000 free internet minutes because we are Elite. But as a 4 Star Mariner we get zip, nada, nothing! On Celebrity we also get hundreds of free minutes and on RCI we get a bunch of free minutes (not sure of the current scale). It is the same on nearly every line we cruise (we have been on 14) except on HAL <snip>

 

I got 87 minutes of free internet on my 2nd Azamara cruise. That's pretty sweet.

[sail7seas]

On the May 18th Amsterdam cruise, the pricing was the old by the minute pricing. I understood, from the librarian, the the pricing quoted above was the pricing being tested on the Zuiderdam only, earlier in May.

 

I do not have the minute rates but if someone does, would you please post them so that the OP has all of the info in case they cruise prior to any fleet wide changes?

 

 

 

Another example of inconsistency on HAL ships. :rolleyes:

What happens on one ship will not necessarily happen on another.

[SeaBands]

they should throw in some internet time along with a lot more.

[hrhdhd]

they should throw in some internet time along with a lot more.

 

They do throw in a lot more: gratuities, all drinks (coffees, wines, alcohol [except for a few "premium" brands that most people can live without], sodas), shuttles to port, one special shore excursion, self-serve laundry, great staff, terrific service, nice itineraries.

 

And for solos, a 125% supplement. As a solo, I can get better deals on Azamara than on HAL, that's for sure.

 

But the internet time is part of their loyalty program, Le Club Voyage. On one's second cruise, the loyalty tier includes those free internet minutes.

[CaveDiving]

I have a feeling that once again we are going to get ripped off.

 

Now c’mon guys. The wonderful 50% discount on a 100 minute package amounts to all of $27.50.

 

Let’s not get all head up about the presence or absence of a less than $30 discount.

 

Scott & Karen

 

Now c'mon Scott and Karen :). When I cruised on Princess I paid zero (yes, a big 0) for 1,000 minutes. On HAL that same amount of time would cost me around $300. And with HAL, even if you are one of those loyal folks and have cruised 450 days you still do not get a single free internet minute….

 

Hank

 

 

Now c’mon Hank :). When we cruised last winter on the Amsterdam we paid zero (yes, a big 0) for 1,200 minutes and we didn’t even use all of them. So for what it’s worth, I guess that trumps your 1,000 minutes on Princess. Are we trying to play “one-ups-manship” between Princess and HAL? You would have needed to pay $250 for your 1,000 minutes on HAL.

 

HAL is a business and decides where and how much should be charged for various services. I understand you have a criticism of the HAL loyalty program and would like Internet time to be more prominent in the program at lower star mariner levels. Great, that’s your opinion and you’re definitely entitled to it. I’m certain there are others who agree with you as well as others who really couldn’t care less. Would you rather HAL charged say, $1.00 more for all drinks to fund the expense of the Internet system? I know that certainly I would have since we very rarely drink, but I will not complain about HAL for not doing it. There are many possible options here.

 

The loyalty program is a business and marketing decision and unless HAL decides (and yes, it is their decision alone) to alter it, you’ll simply need to cruise more days on HAL ships if you’d like to receive any appreciable free Internet time.

 

And for the sake of preventing forest fires, I’m not going to comment on the HAL smoking policy.

 

Scott & Karen

[Lizzie68]

Now c’mon Hank :). When we cruised last winter on the Amsterdam we paid zero (yes, a big 0) for 1,200 minutes and we didn’t even use all of them. So for what it’s worth, I guess that trumps your 1,000 minutes on Princess. Are we trying to play “one-ups-manship” between Princess and HAL? You would have needed to pay $250 for your 1,000 minutes on HAL.

 

HAL is a business and decides where and how much should be charged for various services. I understand you have a criticism of the HAL loyalty program and would like Internet time to be more prominent in the program at lower star mariner levels. Great, that’s your opinion and you’re definitely entitled to it. I’m certain there are others who agree with you as well as others who really couldn’t care less. Would you rather HAL charged say, $1.00 more for all drinks to fund the expense of the Internet system? I know that certainly I would have since we very rarely drink, but I will not complain about HAL for not doing it. There are many possible options here.

 

The loyalty program is a business and marketing decision and unless HAL decides (and yes, it is their decision alone) to alter it, you’ll simply need to cruise more days on HAL ships if you’d like to receive any appreciable free Internet time.

 

And for the sake of preventing forest fires, I’m not going to comment on the HAL smoking policy.

 

Scott & Karen

 

OK I'll ask the question - why did you pay nothing for your internet time on the Amsterdam? I followed Jeff's blog of the World Cruise, and he was really upset with the internet service and cost - I am assuming he has as many "stars" as you, but he mentioned being reimbursed because of the awful service.