Does anybody have any feedback on the iconcierge iPhone APP?

[seadooken]

Does anybody have any feedback on the NCL iconcierge app? When I cruise, the cell phone and internet get shut off so I can relax for a week. This app however, seems a good way to stay in communication with my family that is on the ship with me. Any feedback from those that have used this is appreciated.

[Regguy]

We paid for it and it was a bust. On our devices, the notifications that you had a call or message required you to actually be in the app. So you'd have to remember to check it. We might not have had the settings right but we couldn't figure it out.

[Mike D.]

Does anybody have any feedback on the NCL iconcierge app? When I cruise, the cell phone and internet get shut off so I can relax for a week. This app however, seems a good way to stay in communication with my family that is on the ship with me. Any feedback from those that have used this is appreciated.

We used it on the Escape and found that it was probably worth it. I think it was $8 or so. On subsequent cruises we didn't bother but there are only two of us, so with a larger group it may be worth it. I do keep the app on my iPhone since, for free, it does provide other information about shipboard activities although it it often isn't terribly complete or accurate but better, IMHO, than carrying around the daily guides.

 

I do agree about having a vacation from the cell phone and internet activities yet I've not managed to completely ignore that stuff for an entire cruise. Sigh.

[Bean2010]

It did not work well on the Getaway at all so we were refunded and we didn't use it.

[Huntingdon1701]

I also tried to use it on the Getaway and it was incredibly sporadic - worked about 10% of the time. Gave up on it in the end.

[mking8288]

It did not work well on the Getaway at all so we were refunded and we didn't use it.

I also tried to use it on the Getaway and it was incredibly sporadic - worked about 10% of the time. Gave up on it in the end.

How recent ? GA is supposed to the on the newer plans and the App itself was recently updated, curious & TIA.

[Huntingdon1701]

How recent ? GA is supposed to the on the newer plans and the App itself was recently updated, curious & TIA.

 

End of May this year - the first Baltic cruise. So pretty recent.

[tonywold]

Was on the Getaway in July and it only worked about 35% of the time. Found that it had to continually be restarted and actively logged in. Hopefully they can make it more stable because it was useful when it worked.

[MCAT48]

It is hit or miss we found. Doesn't always work properly. If you all have IPhones you can use imessenger without wifi being on.

 

 

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[seadooken]

Thanks for the great feedback. Is the cost per phone? Also, it sounds like you dont get an alert when someone messages you, but when you fire up the app, do the messages that had been sent to you already show up (ie, it stores them till you open the app)? or do you actually have to have the app open to receive them?

[jpc763]

I have found that if I connect to the NCL app on my iPhone I can iMessage, no pics, in airplane mode with wifi on. Worked on ship as well as messaging back home. Didn't use frequently, but no problems. There are other threads on this topic.

[zqvol]

Depends on what you want it for. I used it on Getaway and found it very useful, BUT I was solo and only used it to check the things that I could have done on the TV. Of course, when you use it that way there is no charge for the use.

[perditax]

I'm pretty sure it's up to $15 per device now to use the messaging feature.

[Scatterbrain42]

I guess this is the thread to jump in. I have used the apps several times over the last few years and it works at times not only to contact others but also nice to check events and book things. But my question is more related to the being 'offline'. I also do that but i do notice that imessages or push updates on iphone do come in even if you don't have a internet package !.

 

It almost looks like ncl is not able to block them somehow. Since you are on the wifi but don't have a internet package they should not show 'push' messages from home. So at least in the past 3 trips (last in may) people for example where able to send me skype messages. I get the push alert and can read it but once i open the skype app its not showing.

 

Anyone know the full story on this ? I know its been like this for >3 years on multiple ships (star, dawn, epic). Pity if they raised the price to $15 but maybe they made it into a feature now allowing imessages to come in ?

 

Daniel.

[mking8288]

... Anyone know the full story on this ? I know its been like this for >3 years on multiple ships (star, dawn, epic). Pity if they raised the price to ... Daniel.

The full story is somewhere between the iOS developers & programmers and NCL's IT Dept. ... along with others, over how TCP/UDP ports are configured & firewalled, as this App connects to the inTRAnet, thus needing port 80 and another common port (22 or 443, I think) open & accessible, so that text message "headers" can go over.

 

Sure, this can be blocked and it would create lots of other obstacles & challenges. Connecting beyond the walled garden to the web, a/k/a inTERnet over satellite is blocked with this and IT can filter those "ports" in the configuration, unless fees are paid & the registered/activated users are logged in and authenticated ... that's a simplistic story in a nutshell.

 

You can see/read the message's headers, partially at least, but not necessary the full 140 or 160 characters full text when you click open to read it ... at least that's how it worked or not worked on Android & other mobile devices. I will play with that during our next NCL sailing with the iPhone to see, if & when I get down time.

 

I've seen some feedbacks, very recently, that this is now no longer a sure thing on the Escape & Getaway with the 3-tiered & social media plan being rolled out, as they probably put the "solutions" in place. The backdoor access & old way seemed to work on the Gem as recently as this May for us ... will see how it go on the BA in late October.

 

Text (SMS) messaging (not MMS) required very little bandwidth, works perfectly fine at 2G/Edge speed and IMO, the "leakage" isn't a big deal or hogging the bandwidth - those Cisco hardware are perfectly capable for filtering, throttling and restricting the flow of anything via port 80 or 8080, etc. If they really wanted to and must, it's only a few clicks away ... keep in mind that, crew members onboard - when off-duty, also do keep in touch with their loved ones, family & friends #wink #wink. 15 or 20 years ago, when ship docked - they go to their prepaid phone cards - now, they use their mobile devices like the rest.

[KarimaJ]

We used it in Nov on the Getaway (Caribbean) and a couple weeks ago on the Jewel (Alaska). It worked better on the Getaway for us. On the Jewel you had to be in the App to get the messages. They also took a while to send. We had some lagging on the Getaway too. The schedule of events was not always complete either. At $10 a device they need to improve it, not sure I would get it again. Comparing Carnival's app for $5 this is pretty pathetic.

[camper49]

We paid for it and it was a bust. On our devices, the notifications that you had a call or message required you to actually be in the app. So you'd have to remember to check it. We might not have had the settings right but we couldn't figure it out.

It is not a free app?

[Mike D.]

It is not a free app?

The app is free (at least on my iPhone) but the ability to message other people using the app on board the ship requires a fee.

 

I've had it work and not work. But the fee was refunded when it didn't. Without paying for the messaging function, there is still information available. Like daily activities so I think that makes it worth having.

 

I've generally found the folks manning the shipboard internet cafe to be helpful. Some a bit surly, but mostly helpful. So, when the app's paid functions didn't work, I had no trouble getting our money back.

 

My experience is that some URL's (namely ncl.com) are available for free shipboard on any browser. While the browser may be painfully slow, I've found it useful when I'm looking up my cruise history or other NCL information.

[sanger727]

We used it on the jade in Jan and it worked well. We got message alerts even when not in the app. Only thing we noticed is we were constantly receiving messages that we were connecting and disconnecting from the wifi - but that only seemed to affect 1 persons ability to use the app.

 

 

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[Scatterbrain42]

The full story is somewhere between the iOS developers & programmers and NCL's IT Dept. ... along with others, over how TCP/UDP ports are configured & firewalled, as this App connects to the inTRAnet, thus needing port 80 and another common port (22 or 443, I think) open & accessible, so that text message "headers" can go over.

 

... removed the rest before we scare others ...

.

 

Good to see others on the board that know their internet specs. I never traced and tested what they left open/closed and if i could hack my way around it. I personally was kinda bothered by it since i kept getting notifications from my developers issue trackers and github updates.

 

Thanks for the reply it was kind of what i ecpected and i hope others get what you mean *wink* *wink* about crew members who might want to be online at times since i don't :), i personally don't mind they closed it on the getaway (ill be on in oct) i still think the internal call/messaging system is ok at $7 or even $15 so i can reach fam. members when needed.

 

Daniel.

[bromleypod]

We just came back from the Epic and whilst onboard we discovered that we can iMessage other iPhones without a charge.

[Scatterbrain42]

We just came back from the Epic and whilst onboard we discovered that we can iMessage other iPhones without a charge.

 

Indeed that was kinda what we talked about they have 'leakage' in their system. Maybe they will remove it but been there for a few years. I personally think they should make this a 'feature' just allow (like sms small messages, on lower priority) to work and include it in the new 'all inclusive premium' thingie. Just text no images would be a good sales pitch with very little extra cost.

 

Daniel.

[Quail237]

We just came back from the Epic and whilst onboard we discovered that we can iMessage other iPhones without a charge.

We will be going on the Epic in December. We have Android phones so is there a way to message with no charge like you seem to be able to do on iPhones?

 

Thanks!

Brian