New Internet Pricing - MB vs Minute - Which Ships & Experience

[jrm116]

Just back from breakaway.

 

I was pleasantly surprised at the new internet packages.

 

A few things to note:

Based on the login page the current pricing is a promo. Regular price appears to be double. So not sure how long will last. 300mb package should be more than sufficient for most for checking/sending some emails and basic web surfing.

 

While docked in bermuda speeds were amazing and comparable to what I'm used to. Out at sea it was slow and often couldn't even login.

 

Overall, Kudos to NCL for replacing by the minute with by the MB

 

Considering the medium package. Is it worth it?

[Meanee]

Just off Epic, and had some hope that maybe, just maybe, these rates made it there as well. They didn't.

[JohnIreland]

Considering the medium package. Is it worth it?

 

Yes, very much worth it.

[cruiser01]

Yes. The medium package (300mb) at the promo price of $19 (instead of regular $39) was definitely worth it and a good size for basic internet for a 7 night cruise.

 

At $39 I probably still would have done it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[mking8288]

IMO, the new pilot MB pricing plans or scheme is a relative "bargain" at the intro prices, 50% less than regular piers - and even at "regular" prices compared to the old/existing plan by the minutes - it's reasonable vs. typical "roaming" charges by mobile carriers - as they will ALWAYS add taxes/surcharges/etc. on top of the ship/carrier's (MTN) billed rates.

 

For big Red or Verizonwireless, under the Global Roaming Plan offered for cruise ships, for which you will be using & accessing the same satellite tower & providers to upload & download, it's a minimum of $25 for 100 MB worth of data or $75 for 300 MB (BA's mid-tier plan). AT&T Wireless should be similar, maybe a bit less. We've left VZW & switched to T-Mo in 2013 and have global roaming at 2G/Edge speed + unlimited int'l texting, although we don't get online much, if at all, while we are on vacation - cruising or otherwise roaming abroad in ports. But, it's nice to know that the lowered prices now being tested by NCL with a new ISP will be welcoming for some cruisers who MUST stay in touch for whatever reasons. 300 MB data is more than adequate & sufficient for a week's worth of "disciplined" usage - it's not unusual for Mrs. "M" to use less than 75 to 100 MB worth of data for a full month as we are usually WiFi connected at home & at work

 

Thankfully, we haven't heard or seen much smartphone ringing or dinging while at sea or going off in the MDR or theater - besides, twitter feeds can usually wait and Facebook is NOT a lifeline, put it on vacation mode - (not to mention that it is "evil" in accessing everything on your device, if you don't curb & tame it) and it occupied lots of bandwidth (thankfully, blocked by ship's server connection, along with FaceTime, Youtube & similar streaming Apps)

[cruiser01]

Forgot to mention a few things I noticed.

 

Without paying for the internet you have no charge access to:

 

Google.com

News.google.com

All apple iOS push notifications

 

I can't figure out the google rationale. The push notifications I think are required to allow their app to work.

 

So any notifications you setup still come in for free. Ie. Facebook etc.

 

If you plan well I suspect you could stay in touch pretty well for free, albeit only receiving info.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[DipBrat]

I'm with you...I understood minutes but have no clue regarding MB's. Can anyone who is computer savy help me out on this?

 

Sending photos and especially videos will eat up these levels of data very quickly. Facebook and Twitter can also use up a lot of data. On the other hand, if you are using text email only these new plans will be a great deal for you. It should also speed up the speed of the internet as data hogs will be forced to change their habits. e.g. a lot of teenagers will probably burn through their data allotment on the first night.

[rics321]

I guess it comes down to volume and how often your phone might ring if turned on. We leave our phones turned on most of the time. Yea, we might get a call or two at $2.49 a minute but we just deal with it. BUT - our phones are on all the time and family or work can get in touch without any hassle. Same with texts.

 

If your phone would be ringing often, then this will not work.

 

You said something about "keep my wireless on". I hope you meant wifi, not wireless.

 

The intl plans are sometimes good. Of no value on the ship and sometimes just not worth bothering with.

 

I need to be in touch with my office at least once a day. I typically use my Skype for video chat and to make phone calls (you need to setup your Skype for this feature). Even with the slow speed of internet on ships the calls are usually crystal clear! So your per minute calling rate goes downs from $2.49 to as low as $0.30 a min depending on your package! If you are on RCI Allure of the Seas where they have an unlimited internet package now .... for $189 you can receive and make unlimited calls using Skype and it works like a charm and is mostly crystal clear.

[tray98]

Anyone on the Getaway recently who can confirm if they have these packages?

[rics321]

Anyone on the Getaway recently who can confirm if they have these packages?

 

Getaway still charges by the minute.

[tray98]

Getaway still charges by the minute.

 

Thanks for the reply

[monteman]

This thread has been very helpful. Will be on the BA in a couple of weeks and am quite interested in trying this new plan. The only thing I still am not sure of is how it works on a cell phone. What I mean is, I have Verizon on my iPhone with a data plan. I don't have an international roaming plan, and am uneasy contemplating using this plan on my phone because I am afraid somehow the data I use will go to Verizon. I am not a techie type, love new technology and use it happily. But don't understand how it works. And don't really want to, ha ha. Just want assurance that if I were to use this plan my verizon bill would NOT reflect the fact I was online for a week out in the middle of the ocean.

 

Can anyone who understands these things assure me of that?

[Okmyx]

But don't understand how it works. And don't really want to, ha ha. Just want assurance that if I were to use this plan my verizon bill would NOT reflect the fact I was online for a week out in the middle of the ocean.

 

 

 

Can anyone who understands these things assure me of that?

 

 

These are contradictory goals. If you want to be assured, then you need to learn how it works. It's not difficult.

 

Basic rule: if wifi is on and cell is off, you're fine.

[monteman]

These are contradictory goals. If you want to be assured, then you need to learn how it works. It's not difficult.

 

Basic rule: if wifi is on and cell is off, you're fine.

The second part of your answer is all I needed or wanted. That's all I will say to that. Thanks.

[computerworks]

This is meant for everyone's general info. I will be sailing on the Breakaway in two weeks; they are now on the data usage by MB plan. I am a high-usage traveler and needed to understand how this would affect my device usage.

 

First, understand that if your device is simply connected to the Wi-Fi on the ship, there are no charges to your account. That is necessary for you to use iConcierge.

 

Your real internet access is what's called "garden-walled"... meaning that you must log in thru the web browser with your account credentials in order to access the internet.

 

When you do that... that is when the "timer" starts under the old plan. where you are charged by the minute... or the new plan, where you are charged by the MB transferred... until you log out thru your browser.

 

To get ready for this new plan, I took one of my smartphones and ran a test.

 

I ran a test for the week on my Samsung Galaxy

 

One week... Jul 30 to Aug 6... Without really doing anything with the phone... 136 meg was downloaded in the background.

 

Here's how it broke down

 

48 meg - Google Play, automatically updating apps

23 meg - Facebook updates

16 meg - Google services

13 meg - Web browser

11 meg - News app autoupdating

8 meg - Gmail autoloading e-mail

3 meg - Android OS, internal overhead

various other apps... much lower MB consumption

 

So... if I just had my phone on Wi-Fi, logged in to the internet on the ship...and did nothing with it, other than keep it in my pocket, check mail and FB..

... I would have blown thru the 100 MB plan for the week.

 

This could be cut considerably if I turned off autoupdates... but the point being:

 

If you have a smartphone or tablet, once you log in to your account onboard, it will transfer a considerable amount of data just by the virtue of being logged in...without you doing anything.

 

The moral is... like the old plan... log in...do your stuff...and log out of the MTN system when you are done...to avoid paying for unnecessary data transfer.

[Okmyx]

The second part of your answer is all I needed or wanted. That's all I will say to that. Thanks.

 

 

Perhaps I should just quote you and say "ha ha".

 

Sorry if I offended you, though in my experience whenever I hear someone say they don't want to know how things work yet will be upset if it doesn't work as they want it's usually best to help them understand it all. If that's not you, so be it. Just please don't complain to Verizon if you neglect to disable the cell connection because you don't know how to turn it off... ;)

 

Also, when I travel internationally I usually put my phone on airplane mode and then enable wifi. That's been the best for me to guarantee that the cell connection is off at all times, while still permitting use of wifi networks. Depending on which phone you have, this may also be the easiest for you, too.

[BrentD]

To get ready for this new plan, I took one of my smartphones and ran a test.

 

I ran a test for the week on my Samsung Galaxy

 

One week... Jul 30 to Aug 6... Without really doing anything with the phone... 136 meg was downloaded in the background.

 

Here's how it broke down

 

48 meg - Google Play, automatically updating apps

23 meg - Facebook updates

16 meg - Google services

13 meg - Web browser

11 meg - News app autoupdating

8 meg - Gmail autoloading e-mail

3 meg - Android OS, internal overhead

various other apps... much lower MB consumption

 

So... if I just had my phone on Wi-Fi, logged in to the internet on the ship...and did nothing with it, other than keep it in my pocket, check mail and FB..

... I would have blown thru the 100 MB plan for the week.

 

This could be cut considerably if I turned off autoupdates... but the point being:

 

If you have a smartphone or tablet, once you log in to your account onboard, it will transfer a considerable amount of data just by the virtue of being logged in...without you doing anything.

 

The moral is... like the old plan... log in...do your stuff...and log out of the MTN system when you are done...to avoid paying for unnecessary data transfer.

But the fact is you can turn off nearly ALL of those things yourself so they don't use your wifi data on the ship aside from maybe the OS overhead. Turn off automatic app updating, turn off Facebook notifications, turn off your autoupdating news app. These aren't difficult things to get under control at all, you just have to be intentional about doing it before or when you get on the boat.

Edited August 13, 2014 by BrentD

[computerworks]

But the fact is you can turn off nearly ALL of those things yourself so they don't use your wifi data on the ship aside from maybe the OS overhead. Turn off automatic app updating, turn off Facebook notifications, turn off your autoupdating news app. These aren't difficult things to get under control at all, you just have to be intentional about doing it before or when you get on the boat.

 

I can... you can... but the average user may not be aware of that.

 

Hence, the reason for the post. :cool:

[DipBrat]

I can... you can... but the average user may not be aware of that.

 

Hence, the reason for the post. :cool:

 

It won't do much good to log out each time if you have automatic updates turned on. It will just mean all these updates will take place when you are logged on essentially using the same bandwidth. Everyone should make sure you are not automatically updating apps as this could easily burn through a lot of your data. It can also be annoying if the download doesn't finish you won't have access to that app until you are back in a wifi area.