Unlimited internet/Regal Princess for Platinum/Elite

[cruzingnut]

I just got off of 2 weeks on the Regal. I found the internet to be terrible, particularly when trying to go to Facebook. Before they went to the unlimited, I never had a problem getting online. The first week (2/18-25) there were over 800 Platinum and over 400 Elite onboard. Gridlock..... I would get on and go pretty good but then it would bog down. I noticed that there is no suggestion to "log out". If all these people are on, then they go off ( not logging off) and leave their wifi on their devices on...then with all the automatic updating, etc. that most people have their devices set for ( I shut all that off when onboard), am I wrong in thinking that this is a large part of the problem?

 

I'd rather have the set minutes that I was allowed for Platinum (or whatever Elite was, now that I've just reached that--yay laundry!!:D). At least then I could get things done.

 

Linda R.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wow, we have friends who just got off the Regal yesterday who loved the free unlimited internet for Platinum and above, and she commented on how fast it was.

 

 

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[PensFan1028]

I'd have to assume they are putting the system to the test to see what it can handle until they slowly throttle it back.

 

OR...the theory that they allowed full speed initially to get the buzz out and are now reeling it back in to lesser version of what it once was.

 

We were aboard Regal in December with unlimited and it is by far the best internet I've ever had a sea. I likely added to the slowdown by streaming music most of the day ;p;p;p;p;p;p

[GloriaF]

Congratulations on reaching Elite!

 

Love the laundry feature, but be warned -- some cruises aren't as quick to get clothes back as the Regal was.

 

We were on for a week in January with unlimited internet on Regal, and liked it. Took some getting used to since we are so used to watching our minutes a cruise. I think the minutes for Elite are the same as Platinum when buying packages and using your loyalty benefits.

 

I understood that the unlimited internet was just a temporary perk bc the Ocean Medallion isn't fully functional for all cabins yet. Our cabin did not have *****, but other than wanting to see how it worked, it was no big deal.

 

Internet is always slow at sea, but seemed better on Regal this last cruise. Sorry it was not that way for you.

[tcworld]

Is the unlimited internet for Platinum and Elite just on theRegal? We are sailing on the Ruby inApril and wanted to know if we will get that perk also. I don’t see that on the Princess site. It shows a certain amount of minutes allowed.

[fishywood]

Is the unlimited internet for Platinum and Elite just on theRegal? We are sailing on the Ruby inApril and wanted to know if we will get that perk also. I don’t see that on the Princess site. It shows a certain amount of minutes allowed.

 

It is only on Regal, offered as a make-up benefit due to how FUBAR the launch of Ocean Medallion has turned out.

 

As for the OP, sounds like just dumb luck each time you wanted to log on. Yes it could be due to others' failure to log off, but don't blame automatic updates as any attempt at those would almost certainly cause the device to drop connection, even at the fastest satellite internet speeds.

[kywildcatfanone]

I'm on right now, it's working fine for me. However, I don't like that it's only one device. I haven't tried to use my account info on a 2nd device, but it implies it's unlimited for one device per person. Would like to use it on my laptop and phone. You could with the logged in minutes plan. Like the unlimited, but that seems restrictive.

[weedpindle]

I'm on right now, it's working fine for me. However, I don't like that it's only one device. I haven't tried to use my account info on a 2nd device, but it implies it's unlimited for one device per person. Would like to use it on my laptop and phone. You could with the logged in minutes plan. Like the unlimited, but that seems restrictive.

 

You can only log on with ONE DEVICE AT A TIME. Close out your IPad, open your phone. It works that way.

[Beach710]

I'm on right now, it's working fine for me. However, I don't like that it's only one device. I haven't tried to use my account info on a 2nd device, but it implies it's unlimited for one device per person. Would like to use it on my laptop and phone. You could with the logged in minutes plan. Like the unlimited, but that seems restrictive.

 

You can only log on with ONE DEVICE AT A TIME. Close out your IPad, open your phone. It works that way.[/quote]

 

Please report back if this works. I don't want to carry more electronics on my upcoming cruise than I'll be able to use.

 

Thank you.

[GloriaF]

You can only log on with ONE DEVICE AT A TIME. Close out your IPad, open your phone. It works that way.[/quote]

 

Please report back if this works. I don't want to carry more electronics on my upcoming cruise than I'll be able to use.

 

Thank you.

 

We were told by the internet staff in January that it works as stated above. We only had our cells with us, but did use the Internet Cafe computers with the same plan.

[Beach710]

 

We were told by the internet staff in January that it works as stated above. We only had our cells with us, but did use the Internet Cafe computers with the same plan.

 

Sorry if I'm being dense but did you use your cells and the Internet Cafe computer or just the Internet Cafe Computers?

[argenta01]

I was just on the Regal, Feb 11-18. Internet speed was very good. I had 3 devices with me. A laptop, an IPad and my phone. I could use any device I wanted, but only one at a time. If I was logged on to my laptop which was in the cabin, and I was now in the IC wanting to use my IPad, I would get a message saying 'you are logged on to another device. do you want to log off that device and log on to this one?' Click yes, and you are all set. :)

[cruzingnut]

I guess I'm in the minority with the internet issue I was having. I did find it worked better on port days when I was onboard and most people were off.

 

How is the internet handled on the other ships since, apparently, this unlimited business is only on the Regal right now? What do Elites get for internet on other ships? Is it the same as Platinum?

 

Thanks Gloria for the congrats on reaching Elite! We are happy with that and have been spoiled with having laundry on HAL for years. I do realize that it will take a while at times to get the laundry back; that's no problem. Just glad to have it!

 

Linda R.

 

 

It is only on Regal, offered as a make-up benefit due to how FUBAR the launch of Ocean Medallion has turned out.

 

As for the OP, sounds like just dumb luck each time you wanted to log on. Yes it could be due to others' failure to log off, but don't blame automatic updates as any attempt at those would almost certainly cause the device to drop connection, even at the fastest satellite internet speeds.

[Cruzer1001]

Is the unlimited internet for Platinum and Elite just on theRegal? We are sailing on the Ruby inApril and wanted to know if we will get that perk also. I don’t see that on the Princess site. It shows a certain amount of minutes allowed.

 

 

The new unlimited internet is part of the Ocean Medallion system. If your ship has not started the ***** install you won’t have it. If your ship has started the ***** install (currently only the Regal) the the unlimited internet is available to everyone. The frequent cruisers get the unlimited for one device free. Everyone else gets unlimited internet as a paid program of $9.95 per day when booked for the whole cruise or $14.95 for individual, ad-hoc days.

With the exception of the OP everyone I have heard from says the internet is now excellent onboard the Regal, but as someone quite rightly pointed out, with unlimited internet there is no reason or incentive to log out. That may result in traffic jams.

 

 

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[geoherb]

I thought the speed was impressive when we were on the Regal in February. My speed test of the internet came back at 27.82 Mbps for downloads the first afternoon. I never did another test. It was working well most of the time, just occasionally losing the connection.

[reedprincess]

I guess I'm in the minority with the internet issue I was having. I did find it worked better on port days when I was onboard and most people were off.

 

How is the internet handled on the other ships since, apparently, this unlimited business is only on the Regal right now? What do Elites get for internet on other ships? Is it the same as Platinum?

 

Thanks Gloria for the congrats on reaching Elite! We are happy with that and have been spoiled with having laundry on HAL for years. I do realize that it will take a while at times to get the laundry back; that's no problem. Just glad to have it!

 

Linda R.

On all other ships, Internet perk for Platinum and Elite is a set amount of minutes. Same for both levels. Amounts per Captain's Circle info on website:

 

"Each Platinum Princess Cruises Captain’s Circle member will receive a complimentary Internet credit to be used either on the computers in our Internet Cafés or wireless Internet on the passenger’s personal wireless device. The amount of complimentary Internet is determined by the length of the sailing.

• Voyages 7 days or less, 150 minutes
  
• Voyages 8-20 days, 250 minutes
  
• Voyages 21+ days, 500 minutes
  

As a Platinum Captain’s Circle Member you will be recognized as such when you initially log on to the Internet onboard. Upon the initial log on you will see a screen which shows you how many complimentary minutes you are eligible to receive. In addition, you will have the opportunity to select more minutes at the available rates. This offer is only available at the time of the initial log on.

Only usage exceeding the allotted amounts will be charged to your onboard folio. The Internet activation fee of $3.95 is waived for Platinum and Elite Princess Captain’s Circle Members."

You set up you account via Princess@Sea or in Internet Cafe - username and password, you can log in anytime you like on whatever device - one device at a time.

You must log off when you're done or your minutes will run through super fast! Internet on all other ships is slower than on Regal. Don't forget to log off, or you're out of minutes before you know it. Most just use it for quick check-ins, versus serious social media or intensive work or such. It's generally not enough bandwidth to stream, etc..

[patrickmoran]

How is the internet handled on the other ships since, apparently, this unlimited business is only on the Regal right now? What do Elites get for internet on other ships? Is it the same as Platinum?

 

Linda R.

 

Same as Platinum.

[pablo222]

If all these people are on, then they go off ( not logging off) and leave their wifi on their devices on...then with all the automatic updating, etc. that most people have their devices set for ( I shut all that off when onboard), am I wrong in thinking that this is a large part of the problem?

 

I think it was traditional diners. They get blamed here for every problem.

[weedpindle]

The new unlimited internet is part of the Ocean Medallion system. If your ship has not started the ***** install you won’t have it. If your ship has started the ***** install (currently only the Regal) the the unlimited internet is available to everyone. The frequent cruisers get the unlimited for one device free. Everyone else gets unlimited internet as a paid program of $9.95 per day when booked for the whole cruise or $14.95 for individual, ad-hoc days.

With the exception of the OP everyone I have heard from says the internet is now excellent onboard the Regal, but as someone quite rightly pointed out, with unlimited internet there is no reason or incentive to log out. That may result in traffic jams.

 

 

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The unlimited internet on the Regal is temporary, only available now while they get the bugs of ***** worked out. Once ***** is up and running to specs, internet will revert back to the minute system. This from the ***** staff on the Regal in Jan.

[xDisconnections]

The unlimited internet on the Regal is temporary, only available now while they get the bugs of ***** worked out. Once ***** is up and running to specs, internet will revert back to the minute system. This from the ***** staff on the Regal in Jan.

 

The complimentary unlimited for Platinum and Elite will most likely revert to minutes but looking at the industry trends, we should expect the option for purchasing unlimited to stay. As we have the option to purchase additional minutes in addition to the complimentary ones as an upsell, we should also expect the option to upgrade at a discount to unlimited instead of using it by-the-minute.

 

Other ships, such as the Grand Princess and Coral Princess, both not included in the Ocean Medallion rollout, offer an option at a much higher price to purchase unlimited. Princess is also very excited to introduce this emergency technology and has been gaining a lot of media attention from this as well. As more and more guests become accustomed to an unlimited package and the ease of access with higher speeds, it’s going to be harder to take away in a society that many people, especially the younger audience, need to stay connected to the Internet.

 

Other mass market cruise lines, even those under the same Carnival Corporation umbrella, have offered unlimited for years. Some cruise lines even offer Internet for free as an incentive to book a sailing.

[cruising deacon]

I just got off of 2 weeks on the Regal. I found the internet to be terrible, particularly when trying to go to Facebook. Before they went to the unlimited, I never had a problem getting online. The first week (2/18-25) there were over 800 Platinum and over 400 Elite onboard. Gridlock..... I would get on and go pretty good but then it would bog down. I noticed that there is no suggestion to "log out". If all these people are on, then they go off ( not logging off) and leave their wifi on their devices on...then with all the automatic updating, etc. that most people have their devices set for ( I shut all that off when onboard), am I wrong in thinking that this is a large part of the problem?

 

I'd rather have the set minutes that I was allowed for Platinum (or whatever Elite was, now that I've just reached that--yay laundry!!:D). At least then I could get things done.

 

Linda R.

 

I agree, it was really slow :(:(

[davidwar]

Were you able to stream audio or video? NCL blocked me when I tried to do this.

[cruising deacon]

No. It was soooooooooooo slow I didn't even think of that those.

[weedpindle]

On the Regal in Jan it was fast. Used it in the cabin, had no problems at all.

[pink845]

We were just on the Crown and I had no issues with the free internet (the Elite allocated free amount). Never set foot once in the Internet Lounge, just used the free minutes on my cellular. I also love the Messenger program (free - where we can keep track of the whole family and the Princess Patter with all the schedules and deals (ha ha) all there on the phone). Worked like a charm.