Unlimited internet...

[CarnivalPlatCruiser]

Last year Carnival had an unlimited internet package on our Dream cruise... Anyone know if they are still offering this on any of the ships? I'll be on the Conquest in 15 days and would love that option again... Thanks!

 

 

 

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[CarnivalPlatCruiser]

Bump... Anyone?

 

 

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[falkcor]

i don't think so. they're trying out some new options on freedom including the new social media plan, but i don't believe i've read about the unlimited internet packages save some other 'trials' on magic but that was a while ago.

[figdu]

The current test on the freedom has three different tiers which can be purchased by day or entire cruise.

[love my grandkids]

Just pay a lot of money per minute for slow internet service. Hopefully new one will be much better.

[zgwortz]

Just got confirmation that it's currently only on the Freedom (both the unlimited packages being tested, and the higher speeds announced earlier this month), but JH has said "that will change in days ahead", and that the unlimited plans were proving very popular.

 

He also made a comment in reply to a question someone had about onboard cell phone messaging support (instead of trying to use walkie talkies) that there is "news on this coming in the days ahead", which might be relevant. I've thought for years that Carnival could make some kind of Carnival on board app which would let you do just this with your cell phones over the ship's internal wifi. (I even briefly flirted with coding it and selling the result to them -- but I didn't have the time to invest.)

 

That said… I've been inquiring about internet stuff for two years now ever since they were testing it originally on the Magic and Breeze, and new news about unlimited plans and the like has always been something in the "days ahead" for that entire time, so your guess is as good as mine on whether these things will ever be done.

[Baymax]

Just got confirmation that it's currently only on the Freedom (both the unlimited packages being tested, and the higher speeds announced earlier this month), but JH has said "that will change in days ahead", and that the unlimited plans were proving very popular.

 

He also made a comment in reply to a question someone had about onboard cell phone messaging support (instead of trying to use walkie talkies) that there is "news on this coming in the days ahead", which might be relevant. I've thought for years that Carnival could make some kind of Carnival on board app which would let you do just this with your cell phones over the ship's internal wifi. (I even briefly flirted with coding it and selling the result to them -- but I didn't have the time to invest.)

 

That said… I've been inquiring about internet stuff for two years now ever since they were testing it originally on the Magic and Breeze, and new news about unlimited plans and the like has always been something in the "days ahead" for that entire time, so your guess is as good as mine on whether these things will ever be done.

 

Carnival had an app that allowed P2P communication through their local Intranet. It was called "Carnival Funphone.. However, it never made it out of beta testing. If you're able to find a .apk to sideload, it may still work on the Carnival Breeze (the only ship testing Funphone).

 

Princess has a similar product called Princess@Sea Messenger.

[mrneil001]

Just got confirmation that it's currently only on the Freedom (both the unlimited packages being tested, and the higher speeds announced earlier this month), but JH has said "that will change in days ahead", and that the unlimited plans were proving very popular.

 

Hoping "days ahead" means by next week.. I would purchase any of the newer unlimited plans again in a heartbeat. Curious to try the premium package to see how fast "fast" is.

[LHP]

As the Mom of an adult son with Autism, unlimited internet (even if it is $200 a cruise) would be a great benefit for us.

 

Our son "stays connected" through the Internet constantly when at home.

 

John has hinted on his Facebook page, but again until I see something official.... I can only keep my finger's crossed!

[Baymax]

As the Mom of an adult son with Autism, unlimited internet (even if it is $200 a cruise) would be a great benefit for us.

 

Our son "stays connected" through the Internet constantly when at home.

 

John has hinted on his Facebook page, but again until I see something official.... I can only keep my finger's crossed!

 

Heald hints at a lot.

[drenee73]

We were on the Magic for a pilot and LOVED it - the speed was pretty decent too, shockingly.

 

I know I asked JH about the chances of Pride having better internet for the repo cruise in March and he gave me the same "stay tuned" message.

 

I did see something on a press release or in the Miami Times (whatever it's called) when they were talking about the new Hybrid system. The article said they hoped to have it fleet wide in the Caribbean by December. I can't find the article now, but it was a pretty aggressive roll out.

 

I did download the Carnival App and it seems useless for any boat not playing in the beta. :( It does have updated Pride ship layout though. The app says messaging is available and "extra fees may apply" so I don't have much hope in that.

 

We'd pay $100 to have WiFi to synch my dang fitbit. LOL Ok, so we could do that in port, but then I couldn't rub it in to my family not cruising with us that I'm eating WCMC every night. Food porn on Facebook was fun for the Magic cruise. :D

[MrMileStoner]

[jakesnana]

Carnival had an app that allowed P2P communication through their local Intranet. It was called "Carnival Funphone.. However, it never made it out of beta testing. If you're able to find a .apk to sideload, it may still work on the Carnival Breeze (the only ship testing Funphone).

 

Princess has a similar product called Princess@Sea Messenger.

 

NCL also has a similar app called Iconcierge, however, it is not free. Anyone who wants to use it must pay $7.95 per device to be able to call/message other people on the ship. DH and I have used it twice and found it worked well and was more reliable than using walkie-talkies.

Edited November 25, 2014 by jakesnana

[SMSACE6]

I am just off the Freedom and this plan was offered, and I took the 60.00 plan. It worked well, and was quite fast, and was unlimited for the duration of the cruise. Compared to the previous plan of 59.00 for 120 mins, I think this is a great deal. It was great for me, as I had to stay in touch with family on a daily basis. It was a great cruise btw:)

[jp12687]

Hey,

 

so can anyone comment on if this is $99 plan is for on device? can i transfer it between different devices at different times? so if i have an iPhone i can have it connected but say i'm sitting out on my balcony at night with my iPad can i surf the web on that?

 

thanks

[zgwortz]

From everything I've seen posted, it looks like they're using the variation where you can have multiple devices, but can only be using the internet from one of them at a time, logging in to your account from a webpage. Basically, the same mechanism as the slower current access, only unlimited and faster.

 

They had tested plans a while back which allowed you to use multiple devices, but I'm not seeing evidence of those anymore -- which isn't surprising as people were overloading the system that way.

 

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to do a sailing on the Breeze with one of the earlier unlimited tests, and it was *exactly* what I needed. I'm an independent software contractor, and work from my laptop. The advantage is I set my own hours -- the disadvantage is that I don't really get vacation days and need to be accessible most of the time. If something comes up during a cruise, they need me to work on it - and something is *always* coming up.

 

So most cruises I do some work, anywhere from just a couple hours, to several hours a day. It doesn't bother me - after all, working from the Lido deck of a ship or from someplace interesting like Paradise Point on St. Thomas beats working from home any day - and I don't have to worry about food, and have plenty of entertainment when not working. It's a big win.

 

But half the time, that work needs better internet access than the current slow, per-minute stuff on the ship. I usually get a block of minutes, but for the real work I often have to find Wifi in the ports. But… on that Breeze trip, I did most of my work at sea, was able to fully enjoy the ports, and never felt like I was taking time away from having fun. And I got a lot more work done than I normally could on a cruise - to the point I calculated I could theoretically cruise indefinitely and make a profit doing it, as long as they had that unlimited high speed internet option.

 

Not that I would - I do too much on land as well. But now that my primary residence is in Florida, I could easily cruise several times more often if they had the unlimited high speed internet available. So I've been paying very close attention to this ever since.

 

I seriously doubt they'll expand this test plan on any ships but the Freedom before I go on my next cruise on the Splendor (on Sunday), but I have high hopes that it will expand to at least a few other ships by January (when I'm hoping to schedule my next cruise… :D ).

 

One thing concerns me, though -- I was wondering why they were testing this on the Freedom instead of, say, the Breeze or Magic again. The only thing I can think of is that Freedom has gone through a makeover dry-dock this year, after the MTN contract was renewed. Makes me wonder if the Breeze and Magic were testing the Harris CapRock tech which was abandoned when they renewed with MTN. In which case, we might not see it on other ships until their own dry-docks.

 

If the Legend (which dry docked earlier in the year), or especially the Pride, Elation or Ecstasy (all of which dry docked in the last two months) is the next one we hear about, then that would lend a lot of weight to ships needing a dry dock before they can get the unlimited internet -- and that could take years to get on all the ships. Any other ship, and we can hope for a much faster rollout. Cross your fingers.

Edited November 25, 2014 by zgwortz

[LibratPDX]

Have you (or anyone else) tried this? Sounds like a great deal, but if it's dial-up speed, ugh......