The crew deserves free internet

[Wj420]

Celebrity!! Really?! The price we, the passengers pay is one thing. The crew deserve the ablirily to connect without paying.

 

Come on celebrity lovers!! Let's help our wonderful Crew! How about December for free at the very least!!

 

Months away.... The crew deserves this one benefit.....

[gek]

Celebrity!! Really?! The price we, the passengers pay is one thing. The crew deserve the ablirily to connect without paying.

 

Come on celebrity lovers!! Let's help our wonderful Crew! How about December for free at the very least!!

 

Months away.... The crew deserves this one benefit.....

 

Agreed. I was speaking to one crewman recently who was so pleased he had managed to get onto some free internet in port and make a Skype call to his wife who was at home with their 1 month old baby.

 

I'd happily give up all internet access if I thought the crew could take advantage of it instead.

[Redtravel]

I agree with giving the crew free access. I would like free unlimited access for all. Many cruise lines now include it as part of their features. I have been on trips, cruise and land, with free unlimited internet. Nice to be able to stay in touch. As elite, I get free internet for 90 min. per cruise. I seldom use all the minutes. I check with my kids at home, get current news, etc. With so much to do on a vacation, I do not spend a lot of time on the net.

[HokiePoq]

Or so many minutes per day for crew. Good idea. We've found cheap internet in many ports ($1 per hour in Alexandria for one) by following the crew. They always know where the internet cafes are.

[mittchelandsophie]

American soldiers serving in Afghanistan have to pay for their Internet as well. I could never shake the thought that my daughter was a under paid soldier paying for Internet service to keep in touch with her family.

[Megan01]

I agree! The crew should have some free internet available to them. They don't always have the luxury of getting off the ship at ports to find free or cheap internet. I couldn't imagine being away from family that long and not being in touch very often.

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

Wouldn't it be nice if they had a program where you could donate your unused internet time or donate all or a portion of your "free" Elite/Elite+/Zenith minutes to the crew.

[miched]

It is probably a good thing that they don't, and glad that they don't offer it for the passengers.

 

 

Can you imagine the ship becoming the same as it is on land. Everyone walking around tied to the Internet. Thenworkers will be too busy texting each other and the passengers busy doing the same.

 

It is nice not to have the workers or other passengers not being on the phone all the time.

 

Keep it the way that it is.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[ghstudio]

The real issue here is bandwidth....most everyone complains about how slow internet is from the ship now. Allowing the crew free access would compound the current speed problem.

 

Celebrity is upgrading their internet connectivity from the ships, but even then, bandwidth will be restricted because folks will want to facetime, skype, etc.

 

The only real bandwidth solution would be for each ship to have one or more long fiber optic cable(s) attached :)

[cle-guy]

I agree with the 2 last posters, it would be bad for free internet on current X ships, mostly due the the lack of bandwidth, and the increased traffic that would come of it.

 

Remember X has nearly 1 crew for each 2 passengers.....that's a LOT of bandwidth.

 

I remember when Marriott Hotels rolled out free internet without increasing bandwidth. It became nearly impossible to get any real work done until they fixed that.

 

A prior poster indicated some lines do give free internet even to passengers...curious to learn which one(s) do...?

 

Crew sign on knowing the job and work conditions they have, so I don't have any feelings of wanting to give them free internet. They could accept a job in another area of hospitality on land if it was that important.

 

Anyone with such strong feelings wanting them to have free internet, is free to set up an internet account on their sea pass account, and give a crew member their access and log in details. Simple.

Edited November 9, 2014 by cle-guy

[AmazedByCruising]

On my cruise the waiter was strongly suggesting getting wine by the glass or carafe, instead of the bottle we usually ordered with the wine waiter.

 

As he was an extremely nice guy, and the price difference was low, we did order the wine from him. I did ask why he was so keen on selling wine because I'm nosey. It turned out there was an ongoing contest between waiters to sell as much wine as possible. First price: a day of the ship. "Why?" He could talk to his wife and 6 and 9 year old kids back in Indonesia.

 

I won't say that internet access via satellite should be free for the crew because it really is expensive. Yet, the lines could offer free internet while in port. We only visited European ports, for which I got a virtually unlimited access to Internet by buying a "zone package" for 25 Euro/2 weeks. By making arrangements with ports of call, or simply buying the same package I did, cruise lines must be able to get similar really cheap internet access.

 

Anyway, my phone has a "tethering" option which means I can turn it into a WiFi hotspot and I let him connect and borrow the phone a night later. He was extremely grateful, couldn't stop giggling about being able to speak to his kids, and we even got to see a happy family live with kids saying "thank you" in perfect English. In retrospect, that is the one thing I liked most about the whole cruise.

 

Working 10 months in a row, 77 hours a week is hard enough. Using homesickness to sell more wine is in my opinion simply not decent. I'm looking at you, HAL.

[wwcruisers]

Wouldn't it be nice if they had a program where you could donate your unused internet time or donate all or a portion of your "free" Elite/Elite+/Zenith minutes to the crew.

 

Great Idea! We rarely use all of our Elite minutes, and I hate to see them go to waste! :cool:

[Oxo]

American soldiers serving in Afghanistan have to pay for their Internet as well. I could never shake the thought that my daughter was a under paid soldier paying for Internet service to keep in touch with her family.

 

Agree with you and your posting. Thank her for all of us.

When my DH was in Viet Nam the GIs had to wait to get through on CB radio (MARS) and many times could not even get to talk to their families as the signal would go down. At times they waited for hours and never got through. Would have been willing to pay then just to hear their voices.

 

What do they pay to use the Internet?

[Oxo]

Princess Cruise Lines used to offer unlimited free Internet to Elite and they had to stop it. We would see people sitting in the Internet Room all day long, playing on the Internet cards, games, shopping, etc. Yet people were lined up to get their turn. So, they reduced the amount of time that each level gets based on:

Complimentary Internet Credit#

Each Platinum and above Princess Cruises Captain’s Circle member will receive a complimentary Internet credit to be used either on the computers in our Internet Cafés or wireless Internet on the passenger’s personal wireless device. The amount of complimentary Internet is determined by the length of the sailing.

VOYAGE MINUTES

7 days or less 150

8-20 days 250

21+ days 500

 

RCI has even less minutes than Celebrity for Diamond 30 Minutes, Diamond + 45 Minutes.

[Redtravel]

When I am home and have nothing better to do, I surf the web and play games. On a cruise, there is so much to do, I hardly have time to spend on the web. For those people who cruise and constantly are connected, wake up and relax. Turn off your device and enjoy the cruise.

[Mparis184]

American soldiers serving in Afghanistan have to pay for their Internet as well. I could never shake the thought that my daughter was a under paid soldier paying for Internet service to keep in touch with her family.

 

I never realized that our soldiers AND the crew on Celebrity don't have access to FREE Internet. I must live inside a clam shell and find this shocking. Guess I have never given this much thought. I know we have been on other ships where the crew did have free access. As far as the ships go I can understand the bandwidth problem but they could give the crew some free access, even if they limited their hours to the less active times of day.

 

I have had free Internet access on Oceania and Azamara. Different package options often offer this wonderful perk.

 

Marion

[caladezi]

I never realized that our soldiers AND the crew on Celebrity don't have access to FREE Internet. I must live inside a clam shell and find this shocking. Guess I have never given this much thought. I know we have been on other ships where the crew did have free access. As far as the ships go I can understand the bandwidth problem but they could give the crew some free access, even if they limited their hours to the less active times of day.

 

I have had free Internet access on Oceania and Azamara. Different package options often offer this wonderful perk.

 

Marion

 

I don't think that there should be ANY comparison between the crew having free internet access and our troops. Our troops are risking their lives for us and the least we should do is allow them to use the internet without ANY COST to communicate with loved ones. The crew on our vacation retreat is nowhere near in the same category.

[Lady Chew]

A prior poster indicated some lines do give free internet even to passengers...curious to learn which one(s) do...?

 

.

 

I believe free internet is sometimes included in special packages on some cruise lines ... for example, on our last cruise, on Oceania, free internet was offered with certain bookings, I don't remember which ones, but most people had it!

 

So ... not really "free" but included in the overall fare.

[Mparis184]

Sorry, I was not comparing our troops with the ships crew, there is NO comparison. Since this thread is about cruising my focus was on the ships crew. I wasn't going to go into details about my feelings for our troops - what they have done and are doing for our freedom and nation. I had no idea our service men and women did not have free Internet service, especially overseas. I am employed by an agency who works with and for our troops on a daily basis and am surprised I never knew they had to pay for their communications .

 

Marion

[AlanAllyn]

When touring the crew quarters on the Allure of the Seas, I saw a sign for internet prices. From a crew workstation, it was 6¢ a minute. Wifi was double that overnight and 36¢ from 7am to 11pm.

 

I don't know what X's policy is.

[SheriffJoe]

:confused:I am always fascinated by people who have this odd fascination with the crew on cruise ships.....do you worry about internet minutes of the bellman at your hotel, do you ask all of the weird things from your hotel maid like you do your cruise ship room attendant? Its just a weird thing to me for so many people here to have these odd attachments to ships officers, cruise directors and anyone else they encounter on a cruise ship and wonder if you also stalk the hotel director at the Hilton too? :eek:

[BourbonNBluesLuvr]

:confused:I am always fascinated by people who have this odd fascination with the crew on cruise ships.....do you worry about internet minutes of the bellman at your hotel, do you ask all of the weird things from your hotel maid like you do your cruise ship room attendant? Its just a weird thing to me for so many people here to have these odd attachments to ships officers, cruise directors and anyone else they encounter on a cruise ship and wonder if you also stalk the hotel director at the Hilton too? :eek:

 

Hello,

 

I don't think talking to; asking questions of; becoming friendly with; sharing stories of ourselves and them; sharing stories of travels and home countries; and getting to know crew…is "odd fascination" at all. I think it is basic, friendly, polite, kind, inquisitive, human interaction.

 

And yes, I do talk, and ask questions of the staff at hotels I stay at around the world; I talk to and ask questions of Baristas at coffee-shops I visit; I talk to and ask questions of the Trainers at my Gym, and gyms in places I travel to; I talk to and ask questions of the Police Officers in my town and towns and cities I travel to; I talk and ask questions of waiters/bartenders in restaurants in my city, and foreign cities, etc, etc. Couple that with the fact that many cruisers spend quite a bit of time (daily) interacting with some of the same staff (waiters, stateroom staff, bartenders, servers) during their 7, 10, 14 days/nights on-board…so once again, it is normal, polite human interaction to ask questions of each other.

 

I've seen other threads discussing interactions with the Captain and Senior staff…So, lets guesstimate that the majority of folks that most of us come in contact with on a daily basis, are not individuals who spend months at sea, in charge of a highly technical ship, sailing the unpredictable mighty oceans; charged with the safety and livelihood of several thousand passengers and crew, day-in, day-out; who have travelled extensively throughout the world on those same mighty oceans…then, yes, if you want to say I am "weird" because of my interest in them and their stories, then so be it !

 

But, this has nothing to do with the topic of the thread, so I apologize for my digression.

 

BBL

Edited November 10, 2014 by BourbonNBluesLuvr

[benjoon]

It would be nice if we could give internet minutes to the crew as extra tips as well as cash not instead.

[johhnnyt]

Celebrity!! Really?! The price we, the passengers pay is one thing. The crew deserve the ablirily to connect without paying.

 

Come on celebrity lovers!! Let's help our wonderful Crew! How about December for free at the very least!!

 

Months away.... The crew deserves this one benefit.....

 

I applaud you for thinking about others, nice to see you thinking about the hard workers on board, and I learned something, I never realized that about troops either

 

A lot of great info on CC but so many comical posts are related to things like

"I didn't get enough ice cubes, I deserve an upgrade"

"how do I contact Mike Bayley, my steak was undercooked"

"Too little smoking areas"

"Too many smoking areas"

"I missed my flight. I want my money back"

"I didn't get my luggage tags, I wanna speak to the Vice President in charge to tags"

Edited November 10, 2014 by johhnnyt

[junetraveler2014]

:eek:

Agreed. I was speaking to one crewman recently who was so pleased he had managed to get onto some free internet in port and make a Skype call to his wife who was at home with their 1 month old baby.

 

I'd happily give up all internet access if I thought the crew could take advantage of it instead.

 

Celebrity, this cost you nothing!!!!:eek: Why can't they get internet time when they have their breaks...:confused: I would definitely give up my internet card to them. I love the Free internet for employees for the holidays idea! What about it?:mad::);)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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