Anyone use Internet on Breeze recently?

[BullDawg91]

We're cruising in a couple of weeks and I'm wondering if anyone can report on what Internet package you had if you called home via wifi with FaceTime or Facebook Messenger Voice or another app.

 

I prefer to be able to check in with relatives while we're gone so don't flame me for wanting to stay connected.

[cp2k]

I posted a similar thread dedicated to the subject here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2196875 . Please report your findings after your trip. Facetime SHOULD work. The "voice only" would likely work better though.

[jimbo5544]

I posted a similar thread dedicated to the subject here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2196875 . Please report your findings after your trip. Facetime SHOULD work. The "voice only" would likely work better though.

 

 

We were on the Breeze 4/5/15 and had the top package and FaceTime def did not work.

[BullDawg91]

I posted a similar thread dedicated to the subject here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2196875 . Please report your findings after your trip. Facetime SHOULD work. The "voice only" would likely work better though.

 

 

Right. I'm hoping a fresh thread might get some replies from recent cruisers. Either way, I'll report back in early June.

[tropical83]

We just got back from the Breeze on Sunday. We bought the best internet package they offered. It was $99 for the entire cruise. We bought it to keep up with NHL playoffs. My husband is a big Red Wings fan so he wanted to be able to watch the games. We were able to stream the games however it did go slow and buffer often. At times it could of just been that particular stream though, because we had another game on for a bit and that stream did not freeze once.

 

I don't know about face time though, sorry.

[zgwortz]

In January when I was on the Breeze, I got the premium ($99) package, and while I didn't do any video calling, I *did* manage to play an MMO game (Elder Scrolls Online) while Skype voice-chatting with three other people for over 2 hours continuous with very little lag or buffering issues. I wouldn't recommend FaceTime, but Skype (or similar) video ought to work with occasional buffering issues.

 

What's particularly impressive about this feat to me was that I went upstairs afterwards to look at the GPS map and learned we were nearly 100 miles away from ANY island at the time -- we were well north of the gap between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

 

I still have no good explanation for how this is technically possible -- I'm a computer guy and have been following the research on this for years. I knew MTN (the satellite internet provider Carnival uses) was upgrading satellites, and adding towers on islands in the Caribbean to allow seamless switching for wifi, but I thought you needed to be quite a bit closer to land to use that, and if it had been going to satellite, I'd have expected significantly more lag.

 

My best educated guess is that they've started putting repeaters on buoys, or undersea cables out to buoys, in order to extend the internet wifi range further from land into the common sea routes.

[BullDawg91]

Alright, I'm back from my Breeze cruise. I purchased just the Value package ($5 per day or $25 for length of cruise).

 

You can access Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Snapchat and some other social media sites. This also lets you use Facebook Messenger for text only. Voice and video didn't work.

 

In Facebook, you can post and read your newsfeed but you can't access websites that show in your feed - such as a story posted by the New York Times or your local newspaper. That was a little annoying but it kept me spending too much time on there. I'm sure I could have upgraded for that access. It does not allow you to check email.

 

The best part was that iMessage worked. We are an Apple family - everyone has an iPhone. When you are logged in to the package, you can text other iPhone users just like at home. I checked in at home each evening just to make sure my mother (and cat) were fine.

 

This is independent of the Fun Hub app. You pay $5 per person for the chat function for the entire length of the cruise. You can then text other users. It was flawless for us. I heard non-iPhone users had some trouble. We never did. Just be sure to download the Fun Hub app before you sail away while you have internet service.

[krufrank]

We just got back from the Breeze on Sunday. We bought the best internet package they offered. It was $99 for the entire cruise.

 

How many devices can be used on the Best Internet package offered on Breeze - for $99??

[jimbo5544]

How many devices can be used on the Best Internet package offered on Breeze - for $99??

 

any number, but one at a time.

[tatismommy]

We just got off the Breeze on Saturday and had the $99 premium package so that we could talk to our kids with Skype. It definitely did NOT work at all for us. We couldn't even keep a connection with voice only for more than 3-5 seconds let alone get the video to work. It was incredibly frustrating-and my kids really struggled not being able to talk to us for the length of the cruise. The facebook messaging and imessage worked really well though, so at least we could check in on them whenever we needed to. They could send us videos, but sending out videos to them only worked one time out of about 4 attempts. I don't know if it was just where we were located, but even when we were close to port we couldn't get Skype to work. Definitely wouldn't have spent the money on the premium package had I known that Skype wouldn't work.

[edinboro cruiser]

We bought the 99 dollar package on the Breeze during the Super Bowl cruise. Thought I read somewhere FaceTime will not work with it but my wife skyped with her mother a couple of times and it worked great. We will get it again

[Nolefan95]

We just got off the Breeze on Saturday and had the $99 premium package so that we could talk to our kids with Skype. It definitely did NOT work at all for us. We couldn't even keep a connection with voice only for more than 3-5 seconds let alone get the video to work. It was incredibly frustrating-and my kids really struggled not being able to talk to us for the length of the cruise. The facebook messaging and imessage worked really well though, so at least we could check in on them whenever we needed to. They could send us videos, but sending out videos to them only worked one time out of about 4 attempts. I don't know if it was just where we were located, but even when we were close to port we couldn't get Skype to work. Definitely wouldn't have spent the money on the premium package had I known that Skype would

 

Which itinery where you on? I am wondering if there are different results with different itineries.

[tatismommy]

We were on the 6 day western- Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel

[Blondie0428]

Alright, I'm back from my Breeze cruise. I purchased just the Value package ($5 per day or $25 for length of cruise).

 

You can access Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Snapchat and some other social media sites. This also lets you use Facebook Messenger for text only. Voice and video didn't work.

 

In Facebook, you can post and read your newsfeed but you can't access websites that show in your feed - such as a story posted by the New York Times or your local newspaper. That was a little annoying but it kept me spending too much time on there. I'm sure I could have upgraded for that access. It does not allow you to check email.

 

The best part was that iMessage worked. We are an Apple family - everyone has an iPhone. When you are logged in to the package, you can text other iPhone users just like at home. I checked in at home each evening just to make sure my mother (and cat) were fine.

 

This is independent of the Fun Hub app. You pay $5 per person for the chat function for the entire length of the cruise. You can then text other users. It was flawless for us. I heard non-iPhone users had some trouble. We never did. Just be sure to download the Fun Hub app before you sail away while you have internet service.

 

 

How do you purchase the Internet on board? Do you go somewhere to buy it or buy through your phone?

[SurferJoe57]

Which itinery where you on? I am wondering if there are different results with different itineries.

Just off the Pride; bought the $99 package for a week. We did Baltimore->Grand Turk-> HMC->Freeport.

I don't know what upgrades/new comms technology but it's light years ahead of the satellite internet I've had on prior cruises. I wouldn't expect to be able to stream video or Skype...though they claim you should be able to...please folks, you're bouncing off a satellite...be reasonable. It was refreshing to actually send and receive emails though.

Having done the Vancouver-Hawaii, understand that out in the middle of the vast Pacific, there just isn't much of a satellite footprint; however, trolling along the east coast of the US, and putzing around the rather congested eastern Caribbean, there seems to be a very good footprint.

[BullDawg91]

How do you purchase the Internet on board? Do you go somewhere to buy it or buy through your phone?

 

 

You buy it through your phone. The Hub app is key, so be sure to have it installed on any devices you want use.