Celebrity wi-fi or AT&T Cruise Ship data plan?

[Beachdays002]

Hi,

 

Has anyone here used AT&T's Cruise Ship cell phone data package? Any opinions/comparisions on which is better AT&T or Celebrity'? Would they actually have the same speed /wi-fi connection?

 

Thank you.

[gergles]

The plan through the cellular carrier is exorbitantly priced and does not use the ship's Wi-Fi, instead using a (slooooooooooooow) satellite relay to get your data back to the Internet. The ship's Wi-Fi is almost certainly a better deal and will perform better.

[Jim_Iain]

This link will take you to ATT's rates - http://www.att.com/shop/en/wireless/international/roaming.html?tab=4

 

Data is part of a package that starts at $120 for 100 Meg data, 100 text messages and 50 minutes voice.

 

As others have said the speed is substantially slower than the Ship's internet. A 100 meg is not much if one of your friends sends you a email with an attached picture.

[sasset]

WE were rarely able to get the Celebrity WiFi to work in our cabin. Constellation aft.

[rockdoctor]

Shipboard WiFi is so frustrating, I leave my iphone/iPad on Airplane and enjoy the quiet.

[Lastdance]

I was using wifi on the ship, yet AT&T wanted to charge me...Said that Celebrity must not have been working! Oh! Never heard that one until this year...

[DallasTXCruiser]

I'm confused, so I guess I need to call AT&T to figure this out before I board Connie in a week.

 

I just want access to wifi for internet use on my smartphone and not calls or text. I can use Viber for that on wifi.

[hcat]

We did great with ship's wifi on Connie...lap top, tablet...no issues...

[Kevnzworld]

The ATT international data plan INCLUDE's Celebrity ships...it's $25 for 100 mb

It's good, but the data is slow to non existent. I'm Elite + so I get four hours of free wifi. I use both, either or depending on data speed. Sometimes cell data is cheaper and faster.

[DallasTXCruiser]

I'm suite so I have 90 minutes complimentary wifi. Just need to check emails and touch base with family as I have two elderly parents

[gergles]

The ATT international data plan INCLUDE's Celebrity ships...it's $25 for 100 mb

It's good, but the data is slow to non existent. I'm Elite + so I get four hours of free wifi. I use both, either or depending on data speed. Sometimes cell data is cheaper and faster.

 

No, it doesn't. Cruise ships are separate. Look at the link posted above; the only international package with cruise data is $120 for 100 MB.

 

To everyone worried about these charges, put your phone in airplane mode, then turn wi-fi back on. You can't be billed for cellular use if you have the cellular part of the phone turned off (which is what airplane mode does.)

[Jim_Iain]

We are Elite+ so get 4 hours internet each. On my last cruise I would logon on and download my mail and browse Google News opening up stories I wanted to read later in separate sessions. It surprised me that by the end of the cruise I had only used about 2 1/2 hours so had plenty of left over minutes.

 

I get quite a number of e-mails so I usually wait to respond to them until I am off-line and then sync when I log on the next time. I'm thinking about signing up for the unlimited internet on my October TA. I'll admit it, I am addicted to the internet and I think it would really be enjoyable to access the internet on demand. I will wait to see how strong the signal is in our stateroom before making the decision. We are in a Signature suite, so am anticipating a strong signal but will see. A program called inSSIDer is great to show signal strength.

 

 

One thing to keep in mind with the ATT Service at sea that 100 meg will be exhausted extremely quickly.

[Beachdays002]

We have a business, so we do need to keep in touch. We will be on the Summit. I was hoping to use Celebrity wifi, so could take shore excursions and not have to look for wifi. Now I'm thinking we may need to purchase both. AT&T's plan is expensive.