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WiFi on board


danielundecided
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Hi,

 

Does anyone know what social media(s) are included in the WiFi packages on board the ships, and if you can still buy minutes? Thanks a lot

 

Dan

 

 

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I have asked Customer Services and you can only buy a 24 hour access package at £7.50. You can't buy minutes any longer. I have asked them to re-consider the "Minutes" packages.

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Hi, you can no longer buy minutes. You buy one of the packages detailed here: https://ask.pocruises.com/help/po/life-on-board/access_internet The £12.50 package will get you access to all social media sites but you can't stream video or download music or films. The service is very fast. The process is that you register (the librarian will help) then every time you want to buy 24 hours you just type in your username and passcode then confirm your purchase. This has proven to be less expensive than I anticipated as I haven't brought it on sea days as I've managed with free services in ports, then during multiple sea days I have brought it every so often and timed it so I get it across two days - for example 2pm - 2 pm gives you the latter part of one day and the beginning of the next. In the past I have spent £100 on slow internet, I am on a 24 night cruise, won't spend that much and will get more time and a faster service. So, whilst it sounds extortionate at first if you plan you usage it's not too bad. I hope this helps.

 

 

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Edited by Florry
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That's useful to know Florry. Thanks for posting. It sounds a good idea to do the mid-afternoon to mid-afternoon scenario. I'm doing a 28 day cruise with a lot of sea days so I could end up paying no more that I have done in the past.

 

Can I ask if it will still work on multiple devices like my iPad and phone / my husband's iPad and phone?

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We have had 14 sea days so I feel your pain! You can use it on one device at a time, so basically you have to take turns. The good thing is that you just buy the 24 hours when you want to, you don't have to commit to anything upfront, so some days you probably won't bother.

 

 

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We have had 14 sea days so I feel your pain! You can use it on one device at a time, so basically you have to take turns. The good thing is that you just buy the 24 hours when you want to, you don't have to commit to anything upfront, so some days you probably won't bother.

 

 

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Thank you for the quick reply.

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What package would you be able to use just to check your e mails and messages on while using an ipad? I am a bit confused (easy for me:D) as to what you can really use differing packages for?:confused::)

 

£12.50 per 24 hour package. Apparently the £7.50 one doesn't allow emails,

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What package would you be able to use just to check your e mails and messages on while using an ipad? I am a bit confused (easy for me:D) as to what you can really use differing packages for?:confused::)

 

They haven't made it easy (well I don't think so!) we purchased the £12.50 package which I used on my iPad & was able to check emails etc.

 

Someone did post a while ago that you could actually get your emails using the cheaper package, but I didn't try this so am unable to confirm. I didn't want to purchase the cheaper package & then find I couldn't check emails. However, it seemed that you could "upgrade" your package so if you bought the cheaper one & couldn't get emails then presumably you could then upgrade to the £12.50 option.

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Oh that's cool. So I don't have to buy a 10 day package for a 10 day cruise? I can buy 24 hours as an when I want to? Awesome

 

 

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Yes that's right [emoji1360]

 

 

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As I will only use it while at sea a few times the £12.50 package appears to be the most suitable.....and 24 hours from 14.00 to 14.00 seems a cracking idea ( thanks Florry:)).....the £7.50 option does seem totally unsuitable for anything I might need and of course local wi-fi will probably be an option when in some ports.:)

 

Thanks for all replys.....I just love this forum, so glad I found our little community.:D

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The new internet system and charges are now in place. I found that the system was very quick compared to the old one. However the charges are really high and you can't buy minutes as before. You have to buy a package and the cheapest is £7.50 a day , then £12.50 a day and the top one is £25 per day. The cost of the package is dependant upon what you want. If you intend to use video , Skype or FaceTime then you have to pay for the £25 package.

There are also packages for the whole length of the cruise but the costs are massive.

The down side of this is that because they are 24 hour packages , you lose at least 8 hours a day unless, of course , you never go to bed or sleep at all. And surely there are not many people who actually stayed glued to the Internet for a whole day !

As I have said the system is quite quick compared with the old one, but it's a pity that you can't purchase the old minutes package as before. At least you only got charged for what you actually used when logged in.

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The prices really are very high considering P&O have a reputation for lower onboard charges (drinks, tips etc). We've pre-booked Royal Caribbeans 'Vroom' fast internet for less than £5 per day for our Feb cruise with no restrictions on the level or type of use..

 

 

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There are also packages for the whole length of the cruise but the costs are massive.

 

Out of interest, what was the cost over a whole trip, and for how many days was the trip?

 

We're off on a 24 night trip, with only 7 port days. So I was thinking of getting a 12.50 package for half of the sea days (c.8) and use the package say 1pm to 1pm ish... 8 x 12.50 is a lot, so I dread to think what they'll charge for a whole trip!!!

Edited by Goosebear Mum
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Out of interest, what was the cost over a whole trip, and for how many days was the trip?

 

We're off on a 24 night trip, with only 7 port days. So I was thinking of getting a 12.50 package for half of the sea days (c.8) and use the package say 1pm to 1pm ish... 8 x 12.50 is a lot, so I dread to think what they'll charge for a whole trip!!!

 

 

It was just the amount per day multiplied by the number of days, no saving just that it's longer access.

 

 

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I'm glad I read this change as I would really have been hacked off if I found this out after booking, for what I use it for in real terms the cost has doubled. I did spend a couple of evening going through the booking process as the prices quoted you have to go hunting for, then you find somethings not quite all there. The 'From' and 'Upto' staements are misleading and then the price goes up every day. Time to look elsewhere!

 

Keith (Southend)

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Thanks, there's no benefit then. If we decide to, we may as well just purchase the 24hr periods we require.

 

 

There was no benefit on the cruise I did, however I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't change. I'm guessing P&O are assessing initial sales and how to structure charges, it might even end up changing from cruise to cruise depending on duration similar to the hydropool etc.

It's a bit of a rip off really because P&O will be buying the package based on data usage but they are selling it on to us on a time basis (and making sure that they limit what data we use), I suppose you can't blame them for maximising profit.

Ultimately everyone will be effected in different ways depending on your sea days, whether you have kids, whether you work on holiday, whether you just want to pick up email etc. One thing we all benefit from is the new fast connection, which was great.

 

 

 

 

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I have always put in the questionaire/comments that it should be based on MBytes you use, then if you want to stream video, Skype or the like you have to pay for it.

 

Keith (Southend)

 

There was no benefit on the cruise I did, however I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't change. I'm guessing P&O are assessing initial sales and how to structure charges, it might even end up changing from cruise to cruise depending on duration similar to the hydropool etc.

It's a bit of a rip off really because P&O will be buying the package based on data usage but they are selling it on to us on a time basis (and making sure that they limit what data we use), I suppose you can't blame them for maximising profit.

Ultimately everyone will be effected in different ways depending on your sea days, whether you have kids, whether you work on holiday, whether you just want to pick up email etc. One thing we all benefit from is the new fast connection, which was great.

 

 

 

 

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Out of interest, what was the cost over a whole trip, and for how many days was the trip?

 

We're off on a 24 night trip, with only 7 port days. So I was thinking of getting a 12.50 package for half of the sea days (c.8) and use the package say 1pm to 1pm ish... 8 x 12.50 is a lot, so I dread to think what they'll charge for a whole trip!!!

 

I can't remember the exact figures quoted but it was certainly over £250 for the medium package and well over £300 for the top package. Consider that you are not online the whole time and that approx 8 hours a day is lost through sleep (?) it's a rip off. I did speak two someone who is reasonably high up and I was told that they are reviewing the payments and packages. When ? Who knows.

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They haven't made it easy (well I don't think so!) we purchased the £12.50 package which I used on my iPad & was able to check emails etc.

 

Someone did post a while ago that you could actually get your emails using the cheaper package, but I didn't try this so am unable to confirm. I didn't want to purchase the cheaper package & then find I couldn't check emails. However, it seemed that you could "upgrade" your package so if you bought the cheaper one & couldn't get emails then presumably you could then upgrade to the £12.50 option.

 

That may have been me! I use gmail and was able to access it on the cheapest package, but other providers didn't work. And what a good idea to spread usage over 2 days; I never thought of that!

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But you still will lose at least 8 hours when you are asleep unless you stay awake for the night on the net.

 

 

I suppose that's no different to your internet service at home - just more expensive [emoji53] interestingly the questionnaire only asked about the quality of service and not the value and the question was asked after the open box opportunity to add comments. P&O ask feedback questions in such a way they prevent you giving the feedback you would like to give. Any survey should provide an open comment box at the very end, if the company really cares for customer opinion. Hopefully passengers will be choosy how they invest in this service and use the increasingly good port wifi (which can be picked up on the promenade deck in some ports).

 

 

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Edited by Florry
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