Eurodam - Internet plans?

[Sea42]

There seems to be different offerings for internet plans depending on the ship and/or itinerary. Can anyone tell me what plans are being offered on the Eurodam for her Alaska cruises this summer?

Thanks!

[Haboob]

Posting aboard Eurodam at Juneau now. Internet is bandwidth-type, not minutes-type. ...and significantly slower than I've seen in years.

 

As in Drudge Report timing out while loading.

 

Methinks they don't really have all the bandwidth available that they've sold. :(:(

Edited May 29, 2018 by Haboob

[Sea42]

Posting aboard Eurodam at Juneau now. Internet is bandwidth-type, not minutes-type. ...and significantly slower than I've seen in years.

 

As in Drudge Report timing out while loading.

 

Methinks they don't really have all the bandwidth available that they've sold. :(:(

Thanks for the information! A bit disappointing but I've already told our grandson that we probably wouldn't bother with it. Our experience with the internet on our last cruise 6 years ago was about the same. But I was secretly hoping for an improvement.

I hope everything else is enjoyable for you!

[Haboob]

I may be adding 2+2 and coming up with "5", but...

 

Shipboard streaming bandwidth generally takes connectivity via the "O3b" satellite constellation -- which are below the horizon north of Seattle. I can't believe HAL is that naive, especially since Princess ran into that exact problem with Regal in the Baltic last month.

 

It's 6am in Glacier Bay and non-streaming is now working fine (until folks get up?)

[Mytrip2018]

Can you use cell phone as hot spot? Att plan.

[boufa]

Can you use cell phone as hot spot? Att plan.

 

No. There are no towers at sea. Your cell phone will hit the "tower" on the ship, which routes through the same satellite system. It is very expensive regardless of carrier or plan to use your cell phone at sea. Don't even try it...you won't be happy with the bill. (I have heard of them in the $1000's in some cases).

 

In port, then yes, you can use your phone, even on the ship. Put it back in airplane mode when the ship leaves... or that Facebook update in the background that you didn't even realize happened just cost you $20 in data usage... and it does it several times an hour!

[Haboob]

No. There are no towers at sea. Your cell phone will hit the "tower" on the ship, which routes through the same satellite system. It is very expensive regardless of carrier or plan to use your cell phone at sea. Don't even try it...you won't be happy with the bill. (I have heard of them in the $1000's in some cases).

 

In port, then yes, you can use your phone, even on the ship. Put it back in airplane mode when the ship leaves... or that Facebook update in the background that you didn't even realize happened just cost you $20 in data usage... and it does it several times an hour!

 

That depends upon what his AT&T data plan charges for data at sea.

 

Last year, Verizon to a Princess ship, tethering at sea was cost-effective, but SLOW.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Haboob

[Haboob]

Back now. Lessons learned:

 

• Eurodam's router had a very annoying behavior 24/7:

» Every 20-60 minutes it would put you into "walled garden" mode: Any link would

send you to the Eurodam LAN's home page.

» Click "connect to paid internet"

» Click "no I don't want to upgrade my bandwidth"

» Click "connect"

» Wait for bing.com page to load

» Manually type in the URL you wanted in the first place.

» Rinse, repeat

 

• Eurodam switched from by-minute to by-bandwidth during her Apr '18 drydock.

• Eurodam's LAN chugs along at 72Mbps. "Broadband" by any current definition.

 

• Eurodam's upstream satellite connectivity in Alaska is another story:

» Docked in Juneau, Douglas Is. blocked connectivity to the chosen satellite. Zilch.

» Eurodam announced the mountains around Glacier Bay would block, too. Zilch.

» Daytime at sea, throughput was wonderous.

» Evenings at sea, upstream connectivity was ...glacial, if you'll pardon the pun.

[Crew News]

The internet plans are $14.99 for social media only, $24.99 for surfing, and $29.99 for live streaming (not much difference in Alaska).  Avoid the times when your fellow passengers will be using the internet, meaning connect while most will be asleep.  Bring your tablet/laptop to the Internet Cafe for the best speed during the day.  Most Neptune Suites have a room repeater to give them decent internet speed.    The internet is great in port when the ship is almost empty.

 

I use my ATT hotspot when the ship is docked in port (Skagway may be poor if the ship is docked next to the cliff, so walk away from the ship) for great hotspot speed.

 

 

[TAD2005]

5 hours ago, Crew News said:

The internet plans are $14.99 for social media only, $24.99 for surfing, and $29.99 for live streaming (not much difference in Alaska).  Avoid the times when your fellow passengers will be using the internet, meaning connect while most will be asleep.  Bring your tablet/laptop to the Internet Cafe for the best speed during the day.  Most Neptune Suites have a room repeater to give them decent internet speed.    The internet is great in port when the ship is almost empty.

 

I use my ATT hotspot when the ship is docked in port (Skagway may be poor if the ship is docked next to the cliff, so walk away from the ship) for great hotspot speed.

 

 

These rates are based on a day-by-day purchase.  HAL also has discounts if you buy the package for the whole cruise.  I have a 28 day cruise coming up on the Eurodam, and the Premium level package is $298 for the whole cruise.  That's $10.64 per day for the premium package.   We had a 13 day cruise on the Westerdam and the premium package was $189 for the 13 days.   That is $14.53 per day.  The longer the cruise, the lower the daily rate if you purchase the package for the whole cruise.  Somewhere on CC there is a chart which shows the daily rates and the rates for packages.

[richwmn]

The chart has been attached to many of the threads dealing with internet prices. Here it is again.

[tonyinoc]

On 2/20/2019 at 10:56 AM, Crew News said:

The internet plans are $14.99 for social media only, $24.99 for surfing, and $29.99 for live streaming (not much difference in Alaska).  Avoid the times when your fellow passengers will be using the internet, meaning connect while most will be asleep.  Bring your tablet/laptop to the Internet Cafe for the best speed during the day.  Most Neptune Suites have a room repeater to give them decent internet speed.    The internet is great in port when the ship is almost empty.

 

I use my ATT hotspot when the ship is docked in port (Skagway may be poor if the ship is docked next to the cliff, so walk away from the ship) for great hotspot speed.

 

Dont get the live streaming its is a blatant rip off. they only allow about 300 mb of date streaming before you drop down to a speed that wont stream. i made a complaint that i could not stream anything not even a radio brodacast of a footbal game from England at 4 am (i was in asia) and they told me i went over my allotment I told them that how could since i just woke up .. they told me to bad 

 

 

[michael620]

Which plan will allow FaceTime calls on an iPhone and checking email?

[tonyinoc]

Well the middle plan gives you email. But if you want FaceTime your need the high end plan but that gives you everything

[michael620]

Maybe I will have to content myself with iMessage instead of FaceTime 

[ithaca gal]

On ‎2‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 7:21 PM, richwmn said:

The chart has been attached to many of the threads dealing with internet prices. Here it is again.

We are booked on a 28 day cruise.  Any idea how they charge for that one?

[richwmn]

6 hours ago, ithaca gal said:

We are booked on a 28 day cruise.  Any idea how they charge for that one?

If it is also sold as 2 cruises of 14 days, maybe that way, I haven't seen anyone report that yet.

 

[catl331]

6 hours ago, ithaca gal said:

We are booked on a 28 day cruise.  Any idea how they charge for that one?

Logically it should be about 167.99/223.99/325.99  .... but logically 25 days shouldn't be the same as 20!  

[richwmn]

27 minutes ago, catl331 said:

Logically it should be about 167.99/223.99/325.99  .... but logically 25 days shouldn't be the same as 20!  

When has logic ever applied to HAL or any large corporation for that matter?

 

[Cls241]

Cell data I am hoping will work for most of my Alaska cruise.  Last time I was on Princess through Alaska and my AT&T phone worked fairly well.  Currently still on AT&T with iPhone XS-Max and I just want to receive calls and check for emergency work emails.  The rest does not matter.  I assume when we’re close to land the “phone works” unless they put in block.  I just need to turn off CELL service near Vancouver BC...