Internet details on Westerdam

[TAD2005]

I've done some searches on CC for answers to this question, but the latest info I could find is mid-2015.

What are the details on the Westerdam internet service. I understand that you can buy it by the minute, or in blocks of 100 minutes, 250 minutes, 500 minutes, and higher levels. Do they have an unlimited rate ? I saw $299 for unlimited back in 2015, but they didn't mention the length of the cruise. I would assume that unlimited would be sold like the unlimited laundry at a certain rate per day. I also heard that on some HAL ships they have 3 levels of service, based on bandwidth offered.

 

Does anyone have some current info. The Westy goes into dry-dock in Palermo in April, and we sail for 25 days on her in October.

[shrimpboat123]

I'm on the Westerdam right now and have signed up for the unlimited Premiere Plan. It is very good speed and reliable.

 

Here is a picture of the offering for the 19 day cruise we're on.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TAD2005]

I'm on the Westerdam right now and have signed up for the unlimited Premiere Plan. It is very good speed and reliable.

 

Here is a picture of the offering for the 19 day cruise we're on.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks Shrimpboat, that's exactly what I needed.

[shrimpboat123]

Glad to help.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DisneyDatknee]

Gosh. Why don't they roll-out that plan to the rest of the fleet. It worked great on the Breeze... but prices were way lower.

[TAD2005]

I think ships have to be careful with unlimited and cheap internet. When the 2 Carnival ships recently had engine propulsion problems that caused them to severely cut short the cruise and miss a bunch of ports, Carnival tried to appease the passengers by, among other things, giving free, unlimited internet. Everyone jumped on the internet and it quickly ground to a halt. There were so many passengers connected that the system was overloaded and unusable. I think that due to the limitations of satellite delivered internet, the cruise lines price it high enough so they don't get totally swamped by overuse. That satellite internet connection is not just for passengers, marine operations uses it, as well as all departments on the ship.

[kazu]

Just to add to shrimpboat's posting of the three plans....

 

I have found no difference between the speed of the internet on the Premier or Enhanced plan (I have had both).

 

 

It depends upon what you want to do onboard. If you want to Skype or stream videos, you need the premier.

 

 

If you just want to use the internet, send emails, post on FB, etc., the Enhanced does the trick.

 

 

Just my experience from our sailings on her.

[Taters]

I'm on the Westerdam right now and have signed up for the unlimited Premiere Plan. It is very good speed and reliable.

 

Here is a picture of the offering for the 19 day cruise we're on.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

This is great! Thanks so much for sharing. :) Does anyone know if this is available on Koningsdam?

[catl331]

This is great! Thanks so much for sharing. :) Does anyone know if this is available on Koningsdam?

It wasn't when we were on in Oct.

[Scrapnana]

Just to add to shrimpboat's posting of the three plans....

 

I have found no difference between the speed of the internet on the Premier or Enhanced plan (I have had both).

 

 

It depends upon what you want to do onboard. If you want to Skype or stream videos, you need the premier.

 

 

If you just want to use the internet, send emails, post on FB, etc., the Enhanced does the trick.

 

 

Just my experience from our sailings on her.

 

I had the same experience on Westerdam. I purchased the Premier Plan for the FLL to SD part of the cruise because it promised the fastest speed (I was not using the Skype or streaming features). Had to get a new package for the SD to Seattle portion. Purchased the Enhanced plan and saw no difference in the speed.

[richwmn]

This is great! Thanks so much for sharing. :) Does anyone know if this is available on Koningsdam?

It also was not available on Koningsdam mid February. Just the normal 100/250 minute packages

[Taters]

Thanks for the replies regarding K'dam. You'd think that the newest ship in the fleet would have this available. Sigh...

[TAD2005]

A good way to check your speed that you have, either at home or on a ship, is to log into speedtest.net. It's a site by Ookla that is used worldwide to do an independent test of your internet service provider (ISP). When you run the test, it gives you 3 numbers. The first, the Ping rate, is a response time, it tells you how fast the system will allow a response from any sites you access. This is a critical number for any interactive sites, like games or Skype. The number should fall well below 100, ideally under 30. If you have a Ping rate over 100-or 150, you will experience sluggishness in site response. The next number is the download speed, and that depends on what plan you are paying for. When an ISP advertises a 50 mb/s internet speed, they are referring to your download speed. The upload speed is usually far under the download speed, usually in the area of 1 or 2 mb/s. A very slow speed here, (under 1 mb/s) will affect your Skype or Skype video calls, because Skype is a 2-way service. It will also affect you if you like to upload lots of pictures of your cruise. Anyone on a HAL ship should run this test once and report what they see.

[Florida_gal_50]

A good way to check your speed that you have, either at home or on a ship, is to log into speedtest.net. It's a site by Ookla that is used worldwide to do an independent test of your internet service provider (ISP). When you run the test, it gives you 3 numbers. The first, the Ping rate, is a response time, it tells you how fast the system will allow a response from any sites you access. This is a critical number for any interactive sites, like games or Skype. The number should fall well below 100, ideally under 30. If you have a Ping rate over 100-or 150, you will experience sluggishness in site response. The next number is the download speed, and that depends on what plan you are paying for. When an ISP advertises a 50 mb/s internet speed, they are referring to your download speed. The upload speed is usually far under the download speed, usually in the area of 1 or 2 mb/s. A very slow speed here, (under 1 mb/s) will affect your Skype or Skype video calls, because Skype is a 2-way service. It will also affect you if you like to upload lots of pictures of your cruise. Anyone on a HAL ship should run this test once and report what they see.

Great information. Thank you.

[creel5857]

can you purchase the 19 day price if you are only sailing 15 days as it appears that is better price than the daily price x15??

[Tura Lura]

Any chance the unlimited is on Zuiderdam?