Warning FYI

[stargate fan]

We just returned from a short cruise to Cozumel and Progreso aboard the Carnival Triumph. Before left, I purchased social networking. We also paid $20 for four people able to "chat" on board between each other because we wanted to keep tabs on our 12 and 14 year old grandsons. Both services were useless. When we tried to use Facebook and Instagram, the wifi ground so slowly that it was impossible to use it. Chat was just as bad. Sometimes the chat went through; most times it did not. We actually got chats five hours after we had left the ship! Most of the time, we'd send chats only to read "undeliverable."

So save your money. Wait for a port and use your roaming feature.

My husband purchased the Hub App chat option on a cruise last year. He had constant issues with the connection. On the last night of the cruise, I went to Guest Services and inquired about the chat issues. The agent contact IT on the ship who confirmed there was a problem with the service. I was not offered a refund for the chat portion, but I requested the refund and was given the refund on our S&S account.

Moral of the story...be proactive. No one else in our group requested the refund. We did, and we got it.

[grandmarnnurse]

I don’t bother. I just unplug for the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Organized Chaos]

Back in the olden days (about 5 years ago) we communicated with each other using a very good system that has been working for thousands of years. No battery or electricity needed. We would tell our spouse, and our kids, when to meet and what time. They would use their watch, and show up. In the event that they "forgot" we made them sit through an art auction. They never "forgot" again. No need to text just to check up. We often just wandered around, and actually looked with our own eyes, to see if they were behaving or not. We learned awhile ago, if you ask a kid if they behaved they would say yes, but if they know, you aren't sitting around the pool, drinking buckets of beer, but instead actually paying attention to them, then they become afraid of misbehaving.

Back in the day, we had to get up off the couch and change the channel on the tv by hand. But I'm willing to bet you use your remote control nowadays. Point is, everyone chooses to use technology in their own way. We don't have to always like it, but there ain't much we can do about it. If I see someone who can't keep their nose off their phone, I admit, I'll probably scoff. But when we want to use wifi just to easily keep in touch with one another on board instead of notes and prearranged verbal agreements, big deal.

 

My husband purchased the Hub App chat option on a cruise last year. He had constant issues with the connection. On the last night of the cruise, I went to Guest Services and inquired about the chat issues. The agent contact IT on the ship who confirmed there was a problem with the service. I was not offered a refund for the chat portion, but I requested the refund and was given the refund on our S&S account.

Moral of the story...be proactive. No one else in our group requested the refund. We did, and we got it.

Did they give that refund as OBC? If so, then it's not much of a refund. "Here's your money back. Just go spend it with us elsewhere." :) Unless you know to use the casino cash-out trick, any "refund" issued as OBC is going right back to Carnival.

[bingomamma19]

Not understanding why someone could not go 7 days without FB or internet for that matter.

 

Before we retired that was a huge perk of cruising, away from cell phones and computers for 7 glorious days. We still enjoy that when cruising.

 

Think about it.

 

And I don't understand why anyone would want to drink on a cruise..eat shrimp...lay around in the sun etc. (I don't like to drink, eat shrimp or lay in the sun (as I am a redhead that burns easily).)

 

So what??? People do what they like on a vacation, its not for you to decide what makes others happy or comfortable.

 

Luckily we are all individuals that like to do different things, otherwise life would be pretty boring.

[geckoaz]

I am not a computer expert but it appears on older ships not wired for wifi it will be bad. I also wonder if a magnet will stick to a door and all the walls in a cabin it might hurt wifi. Being in a metal room is not a good thing for reception.

[audcc77]

I’m on the conquest now. My boss paid for premium internet so I could do a little work while waiting for my family to wake up etc. The internet has been awful. Doesn’t matter where I drag my computer, it’s still bad.

 

It takes me 20 min to download the simplest thing. Hooking up to our firm’s server would be impossible not to mention risky.

 

Oh well. I made some extra money which I promptly donated to the casino.

 

I won’t buy premium again though. I find it no different than the value package.

[cruisin from vegas]

Interesting. I have had the social plan on two Carnival ships, and a full internet plan in one NCL ship (that one was in Europe) and never had one problem. They all worked great. I have to have some kind of communication with home, as my cell phone does not work on other countries, and no plan available to do so.

[glrounds]

Not understanding why someone could not go 7 days without FB or internet for that matter.

 

Before we retired that was a huge perk of cruising, away from cell phones and computers for 7 glorious days. We still enjoy that when cruising.

 

Think about it.

 

I'm now retired, but a fellow cruiser I go with frequently is still an active business owner. He needs to DAILY be updated on the progress of his business. A couple of months ago on the SPLENDOR he found this package to be incredibly slow and almost useless. He relied on his phone in ports to get most of his information. He kinda made it clear that he was not going to join me ever again on a Carnival cruise. He is a good friend, it was kind of sad. :(

[khewston]

We purchased internet for both the Conquest and Magic. We had not problems with it. I do wonder if it has something to do with your provider.

[Organized Chaos]

Interesting. I have had the social plan on two Carnival ships, and a full internet plan in one NCL ship (that one was in Europe) and never had one problem. They all worked great. I have to have some kind of communication with home, as my cell phone does not work on other countries, and no plan available to do so.

We bought the Social plan two years ago aboard the Conquest and it worked flawlessly. Well, there were a few dead spots around, but that's understandable. But now people are reporting that it's terrible. Loading fb pages, Hub app chat messages, simple things won't even work. I don't know what happened between then and now, but something's up. We'll be on the Glory in June. More reports of terrible internet on there in recent weeks. Sure wish they'd get it straightened out.

 

We purchased internet for both the Conquest and Magic. We had not problems with it. I do wonder if it has something to do with your provider.

Someone's individual provider has nothing to do with the ship's on board wifi. That is provided by Carnival. When were you on those cruises?

[khewston]

We bought the Social plan two years ago aboard the Conquest and it worked flawlessly. Well, there were a few dead spots around, but that's understandable. But now people are reporting that it's terrible. Loading fb pages, Hub app chat messages, simple things won't even work. I don't know what happened between then and now, but something's up. We'll be on the Glory in June. More reports of terrible internet on there in recent weeks. Sure wish they'd get it straightened out.

 

Someone's individual provider has nothing to do with the ship's on board wifi. That is provided by Carnival. When were you on those cruises?

We were on both ships within the past year. My sister was on the Conquest last week and had the internet package and it worked find. She was even able to call me via Facebook every day.

We will be on the Sunshine the end of this month and have already purchased it for this cruise. Will let you know how that goes.

[SMSACE6]

I have had it work very well on other ships that I was on. It was a bit slow on Victory in 2015, but it did work for my purposes, which was to email/check on family back home daily. Before that, on Freedom in 2014 it worked very well. So I am not sure what the problem is or why it changes from ship to ship, or even on the same ship, different cruises. It does seem though that lately we are hearing a lot more issues with speeds etc.

[serene56]

Thanks for the review I will look into my carrier plan and let DS use that. Has anyone used the premium plan?

 

 

you are using the ships tower. Even if you have unlimited - even international plans-- these are not covered on the ship. By using your own devices not on airplane mode you will incurr a lot of roaming charges.

 

The chat and text are not instant.

 

 

what will the DS be needing it for>? the hub app you can mark up where you will be at any given hour. the ships may seem huge but in reality most of that ship is cabin space. very few decks where you will be- deck 5 lido deck or sports deck

[Bobbylah]

Please don't encourage people to use their cell phones in port while roaming. If they're carrier plan doesn't cover that area, they will incur heavy charges that rack up to very big bills.

 

Also, are you sure you were receiving Hub app chat messages five hours after leaving the ship? Because the Hub app doesn't work unless connected to the ship's wifi.

 

 

I had the same issues with the onboard package. I just used roaming when in ports. No big deal. Not sure about other carriers, but Verizon only charges you $10/d for a travel package when overseas.

 

If people are not aware of their terms of contract when using roaming, they deserve to get hit with large charges. Not understanding or knowing is not a valid excuse and gets used way to much these days.

[linbobky]

My husband purchased the Hub App chat option on a cruise last year. He had constant issues with the connection. On the last night of the cruise, I went to Guest Services and inquired about the chat issues. The agent contact IT on the ship who confirmed there was a problem with the service. I was not offered a refund for the chat portion, but I requested the refund and was given the refund on our S&S account.

Moral of the story...be proactive. No one else in our group requested the refund. We did, and we got it.

Had it all week and then complained and got a refund! way to go!

[Organized Chaos]

We were on both ships within the past year. My sister was on the Conquest last week and had the internet package and it worked find. She was even able to call me via Facebook every day.

We will be on the Sunshine the end of this month and have already purchased it for this cruise. Will let you know how that goes.

Sounds good, thanks. We just want to use it to communicate with one another on board. Especially with our son and his friend on this next one. Carnival says they no longer support iMessage on the Social plan, but I've been hearing that it works...at least for the most part. Two years ago, it worked just fine, but I believe Apple has made some changes since then and that's why Carnival doesn't support it. Just covering their own rear in case it doesn't work well. We're not really interested in downloading any new messaging apps just to use on the cruise. My wife and I do have fb accounts, but don't use the fb messenger app. We could if all else fails. We'd like to try the chat feature on the Hub app, but experiences with that seem to vary greatly. More bad than good lately.

 

I had the same issues with the onboard package. I just used roaming when in ports. No big deal. Not sure about other carriers, but Verizon only charges you $10/d for a travel package when overseas.

 

If people are not aware of their terms of contract when using roaming, they deserve to get hit with large charges. Not understanding or knowing is not a valid excuse and gets used way to much these days.

I disagree. Most people spend nearly all of their time using their phones in their home area and aren't aware of roaming policies since they rarely need it. Not everyone is as tech savvy as others. I don't think they deserve to be surprised with a huge bill just because they weren't aware of how it works while out of the country. In a perfect world, everyone would check with their carrier before they leave if they're not sure, but that doesn't always happen. Doesn't mean they deserve it.

[coevan]

We purchased internet for both the Conquest and Magic. We had not problems with it. I do wonder if it has something to do with your provider.

 

 

WHAT? your provider on the ship is Carnival. Your local provider is turned off.

[coevan]

"but I believe Apple has made some changes since then and that's why Carnival doesn't support it."

another WHAT? what does Carnival have to do with Apple? Do you think Carnival knows what kind of device you are using?

[Organized Chaos]

another WHAT? what does Carnival have to do with Apple? Do you think Carnival knows what kind of device you are using?

Did I say that? No. I like how you think everyone but you are technological fools who don't know what we're talking about. Carnival changed their policy. Two years ago, they supported iMessage on their Social plan. Now they specifically say it's not supported and a majority of the reports I've read on here in recent months are that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That's a big difference from two years ago when the overall experience was that it worked well, as it did for us back then. If you look around the web, it's talked about in more places than just here. Whether it was changes within Apple's closed ecosystem, changes with what Carnival allows and doesn't allow on the Social plan, or both...something changed. That's why they altered their FAQ's.

[khewston]

WHAT? your provider on the ship is Carnival. Your local provider is turned off.

This made me laugh. If you only knew how little I actually know about things like this. If it wasn't for my husband I wouldn't even know how to connect to the internet on the ship.

[coevan]

Did I say that? No. I like how you think everyone but you are technological fools who don't know what we're talking about. Carnival changed their policy. Two years ago, they supported iMessage on their Social plan. Now they specifically say it's not supported and a majority of the reports I've read on here in recent months are that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That's a big difference from two years ago when the overall experience was that it worked well, as it did for us back then. If you look around the web, it's talked about in more places than just here. Whether it was changes within Apple's closed ecosystem, changes with what Carnival allows and doesn't allow on the Social plan, or both...something changed. That's why they altered their FAQ's.

 

exactly what you said, that's why it's quoted

[lovelights]

I have a hard time understanding why some people are so concerned about what other people do on their vacations.

 

I agree 100%. Some people don't like trying to explain themselves as to why the internet might be suitable for them (like kids at home, or pets at home, or maybe it has to do with your job, etc.)

[A&Jfamily]

Hmmmmm....so you are saying you received Carnival Hub Chat messages on your phone hours after leaving the ship? Thats interesting.

 

That happened to us - sometimes 8 hours before receiving....

 

I was told the key is to leave the app open all the time...annoying. We don't use it. We asked for our money back and got it.

[seaoats228]

I was on the Fascination in March last month and used the Social package for $28 for the week. I will say that it was slow at certain times but overall it worked for me in sending both imessages and Facbook messenger messages to my husband who is disabled. That was my main reason for purchasing it. Yes some photos weren't delivered some were. I was able to upload s ome on Facebook too.

 

I have purchased it again for my upcoming cruise in May on the Miracle.

[Joebucks]

They gave me the middle plan for free one day due to some kind of issue last year. It was sure slower than what I use at home. That is how satellite internet has generally been. It still worked. It's good to see that new technologies are coming.