Wifi question/communicating with family at home

[fsuchick97]

I've heard there is a wifi package that you can buy for your trip, I haven't seen this as an option in the In room gifts & shopping section of Carnivals web page so where would I find info on this?

 

We've cruised carnival a couple of times before but This isn't something I've paid attention to in the past as this is the first time we will be leaving a little one at home and I need a way to communicate with babysitter. Is the wifi fast enough to FaceTime? If not what is the best and/or cheapest way to communicate back home.

 

Thanks so much!

[Hoosierpop]

I don't have a link, but there are different levels you can get either by day or a price for the cruise. I usually get the second level. I've never tried to face time. What we do is get an app like viber and just text people back home who also have viber. It works well for us.

 

 

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[coevan]

When you get aboard the ship, log onto the wifi on your prefered device and a price screen will come up. I am pretty sure the explanation is on CCL's website.

[Nic6318]

I've heard there is a wifi package that you can buy for your trip, I haven't seen this as an option in the In room gifts & shopping section of Carnivals web page so where would I find info on this?

 

We've cruised carnival a couple of times before but This isn't something I've paid attention to in the past as this is the first time we will be leaving a little one at home and I need a way to communicate with babysitter. Is the wifi fast enough to FaceTime? If not what is the best and/or cheapest way to communicate back home.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Hi

 

Internet connections on cruises are hit and miss. They have been getting better over the years, but nothing is guaranteed.

 

If you want convenient, a telephone call from the ship is $2/ min. If you just want to check in to make sure everything is OK, that might work for you. If you want cheap, most ports have some free or inexpensive internet available. (sometimes at the terminal building) You can find out the where to go online, or ask a crewmember.

 

hope this helps

have a great cruise

[CruisingRavyn]

The social media package lets you use most social media apps but is not strong enough to face time or call using internet ( I've tried several times and only made a successful connection once) you can use SMS messages, FB messenger, or any other type of r chat app. This package usually costs $25 for entire cruise. We use this to communicate on board (we travel in a large group) and to communicate back home. If you purchase the higher packages you may be able to FaceTime but like Nic said there's no guarantee you will get a signal strong enough. The social media package usually is pretty consistent.

 

 

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[JaneyLynn]

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152/~/carnivals-wi-fi-service-and-hub-app

 

here's the link for Carnival's web site. I'm not positive if it's on all ships so you'll need to search for the ship you're going on. The cheapest would be to get the social media package and communicate via facebook messages

[fsuchick97]

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152/~/carnivals-wi-fi-service-and-hub-app

 

here's the link for Carnival's web site. I'm not positive if it's on all ships so you'll need to search for the ship you're going on. The cheapest would be to get the social media package and communicate via facebook messages

 

Thanks so much for the link...this is what I needed!

[fsuchick97]

Thanks so much for your info everyone. I think I'll purchase the social media package so I can check in via FB and then if any kind of situation arises that requires voice communication it would be worth paying the money to call from the ship.

 

Leaving in 12 days!!!!

 

Thanks again!

[Pellaz]

While ships and internet speed vary, I've found that you can generally voice-call back home via FB Messenger using Carnival's "Value" plan, which is the tier above Social. It will save you $2/minute if you want to call home (as long as your recipient has FB Messenger on their cellphone) and you can always upgrade to the Value plan from Social during the cruise if needed. (You'll be offered a better "package deal" for the entire cruise if you get it early, though.)

 

Note that I said "voice" call, not video. Voice calling worked well, but video was too jerky and unreliable on the Value plan and I didn't want to upgrade again to the Hi-speed plan.

 

Overall, I felt that the Value plan was amazingly fast considering the signals have to make two round-trips up to geosynchronous satellites 22,500 miles up!

Edited October 30, 2016 by Pellaz

[seattleny]

Son on honeymoon cruise - sunshine a few weeks ago - purchased wifi package (not too sure which one).. very spotty - he went to guest services and got his money returned to him.

[cruznut28209]

I just got back from the Valor on an 8-day cruise. I paid for the $5 "social media" tier. You can use Facebook Messenger's calling app and it works fine. A few drops did occur, but I was able to talk via the voice feature 90% of the time I used it. I would say that if there are people you need to talk to, make sure they have FB Messenger, and just pay the$5 and use that.