Royal Princess Wifi on board

[vacationer2323]

I am thinking of ordering the internet package through Princess, the 240 minutes for $99. The primary use I want to use the internet for is to make calls to elderly family members back home. I have AT&T wifi calling so I am wondering if the wifi on board will work and is strong enough for wifi calling? Has anyone had success with using AT&T wifi calling on the Royal Princess or any Princess ships? Also, are there any other ways that you have been successful to be able to call home using wifi (perhaps some free apps) while on board using Princess' wifi?

[CanadianBurger]

Has anyone had success with using AT&T wifi calling on the Royal Princess or any Princess ships? Also, are there any other ways that you have been successful to be able to call home using wifi (perhaps some free apps) while on board using Princess' wifi?

 

I don't have any experience trying any VOIP applications, but for posting all my pics, the speed was roughly equivalent to a slower 3G connection. Given the lag inherent with satellite internet, I'm not sure how well something like FaceTime Audio would work. I'd like to hear about your results though!

[-Lew-]

Although AT&T is our cell service provider, I have not used their wifi calling feature onboard. I have, however, used Comcast's Xfinity Connect app and WhatsApp for wifi calling with success on the Royal.

 

[Tranquility Base]

Also, are there any other ways that you have been successful to be able to call home using wifi (perhaps some free apps) while on board using Princess' wifi?

I regularly use Skype from my cabin onboard numerous Princess ships.

Both to other Skype users, but also at times to landline phone numbers.

[Lucky TGO]

I am thinking of ordering the internet package through Princess, the 240 minutes for $99. The primary use I want to use the internet for is to make calls to elderly family members back home. I have AT&T wifi calling so I am wondering if the wifi on board will work and is strong enough for wifi calling? Has anyone had success with using AT&T wifi calling on the Royal Princess or any Princess ships? Also, are there any other ways that you have been successful to be able to call home using wifi (perhaps some free apps) while on board using Princess' wifi?

 

I use FaceTime with my iPad Pro and it works great. I call my son from everywhere on the ship with no problem. I walked all over the ship showing my granddaughter what the ship looks like. I don't pay for the wifi a get 500 mins. on a tenday cruise for being a elite member 250 pp for my wife & l.

Tony

[Stan S]

I have Verizon and had no luck on the Ruby with their wifi calling, but had success using WhatsApp for voice calling on wifi.

[IECalCruiser]

I am thinking of ordering the internet package through Princess, the 240 minutes for $99. The primary use I want to use the internet for is to make calls to elderly family members back home. I have AT&T wifi calling so I am wondering if the wifi on board will work and is strong enough for wifi calling? Has anyone had success with using AT&T wifi calling on the Royal Princess or any Princess ships? Also, are there any other ways that you have been successful to be able to call home using wifi (perhaps some free apps) while on board using Princess' wifi?

I recently used AT&T Wi-Fi calling in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia on the Pacific Princess and the connection was good; as good as when I used hotel Wi-Fi in Venice a few days before. I called at around 11:00PM local time.

 

 

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[Mooguy]

Hoping by next year Princess offers unlimited wifi. I have Sprint and have had sucess with wifi calling on RCI ships even before the introduction of Voom.

[caribill]

Hoping by next year Princess offers unlimited wifi. I have Sprint and have had sucess with wifi calling on RCI ships even before the introduction of Voom.

 

Be careful what you ask for.

 

I do not know RCI pricing, but on Celebrity the unlimited Internet costs $237 for a week if you book it pre-cruise. $264 if booked on board.

 

If you need Internet for 15 minutes a day, it will cost you $237 or $264 for the cruise.That's over $2.25/minute if that is all you need.

 

Only other options are $24.95 for one continuous hour of use or $49 for 24 consecutive hours of unlimited use.

 

Royal Caribbean Corp's message to stock analysts recently was that there are significantly higher onboard profits from Internet and beverage package sales.

[satxdiver]

Be careful what you ask for.

 

I do not know RCI pricing, but on Celebrity the unlimited Internet costs $237 for a week if you book it pre-cruise. $264 if booked on board.

 

If you need Internet for 15 minutes a day, it will cost you $237 or $264 for the cruise.That's over $2.25/minute if that is all you need.

 

Only other options are $24.95 for one continuous hour of use or $49 for 24 consecutive hours of unlimited use.

 

Royal Caribbean Corp's message to stock analysts recently was that there are significantly higher onboard profits from Internet and beverage package sales.

 

I imagine Princess would say the same thing as RCI. There is money to be made or they would not do it. A restaurant on land makes most of its money on alcohol sales and other beverage sales. I would expect cruise ships to experience the same thing.

[Mooguy]

Be careful what you ask for.

 

I do not know RCI pricing, but on Celebrity the unlimited Internet costs $237 for a week if you book it pre-cruise. $264 if booked on board.

 

If you need Internet for 15 minutes a day, it will cost you $237 or $264 for the cruise.That's over $2.25/minute if that is all you need.

 

Only other options are $24.95 for one continuous hour of use or $49 for 24 consecutive hours of unlimited use.

 

Royal Caribbean Corp's message to stock analysts recently was that there are significantly higher onboard profits from Internet and beverage package sales.

 

I have purchased unlimited internet on both RCI and CCL and both are pretty reasonable compared to what you described. RCI has been running some promotions lately on their cruise planner page once you've booked a cruise.

[Woobstr112G]

Although AT&T is our cell service provider, I have not used their wifi calling feature onboard. I have, however, used Comcast's Xfinity Connect app and WhatsApp for wifi calling with success on the Royal.

 

 

AT&T is our service as well and I used it this past September on the CB. It wasn't cheap.....:eek::eek::eek:

 

Bob

[Colo Cruiser]

AT&T is our service as well and I used it this past September on the CB. It wasn't cheap.....:eek::eek::eek:

 

Bob

 

 

I have AT&T as well. I avoid using them/my phone at all costs onboard.

I purchased an unlocked 6splus iPhone last year and now use a local sim card when in Italy/Greece/Turkey/France etc bypassing AT&T.

[billco]

Be careful what you ask for.

 

I do not know RCI pricing, but on Celebrity the unlimited Internet costs $237 for a week if you book it pre-cruise. $264 if booked on board.

 

If you need Internet for 15 minutes a day, it will cost you $237 or $264 for the cruise.That's over $2.25/minute if that is all you need.

 

Only other options are $24.95 for one continuous hour of use or $49 for 24 consecutive hours of unlimited use.

 

Royal Caribbean Corp's message to stock analysts recently was that there are significantly higher onboard profits from Internet and beverage package sales.

Actually, we had a positive experience with unlimited internet on our 15 day cruise on the Celebrity Millennium from Vancouver to Tokyo last September. As I remember, the cost was $245. We had a good internet connection throughout the cruise with download speeds between 2-3 mbs. Nothing close to that on Princess. Good enough to stream Netflix, HBO, and Hulu and Facetime with the kids. I look forward to the time when all the cruiselines upgrade to high speed internet.

[IECalCruiser]

As I said, we used AT&T's Wi-Fi calling on board the Pacific Princess at sea and from hotels pre and post cruise. If you have free Wi-Fi then there is no additional cost, similar to other VOIP applications. On board it is just the cost of the ship's Wi-Fi. With many free Wi-Fi locations on shore there is no need for us to get a phone with a local country SIM. Others may have different needs.

 

I tried out the AT&T Passport program which is not cheap at $40 for 200Mb and $120 for 800 Mb. However, I found that 200Mb was enough for a port intensive 15 days. I used much of the data with Google maps to guide us in Venice and Rome. The nice thing about Google maps is that once you have your trip entered you can go back into airplane mode and Google maps uses the downloaded map and GPS to keep you on track. Would check email and text messages occasionally but other apps had cellular data disabled.

 

 

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[Mooguy]

Actually, we had a positive experience with unlimited internet on our 15 day cruise on the Celebrity Millennium from Vancouver to Tokyo last September. As I remember, the cost was $245. We had a good internet connection throughout the cruise with download speeds between 2-3 mbs. Nothing close to that on Princess. Good enough to stream Netflix, HBO, and Hulu and Facetime with the kids. I look forward to the time when all the cruiselines upgrade to high speed internet.

 

 

I think it's a no brainer to compete with land based resorts.

[Colo Cruiser]

At this point on Princess can you imagine if everyone online onboard including the crew tried streaming movies.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Colo Cruiser