Data caps on the new HAL Unlmited Internet Plans?

[POA1]

This question is for anyone who's used the new "unlimited" Internet plans.  I've seen a couple of posts where people posted that there are caps on the data usage. The posts showed 300 MB/day on the middle or surf plan and 500 MB/day on the higher end plan.  Normally, that's enough data, but the "new & improved" Cruise Critic mobile version uses 3.0 to 3.1 MB for the initial load of a page like the main HAL forum page. In short, the mobile site is a bandwidth pig and could eat up all of my data in short order. I need the data for work stuff and I'd hate to run out and be unable to post my "Live From" in a few weeks.

 

So.... If you've got experience with the new plans, can you tell me if they're enforcing data caps?

 

I don't plan on streaming music, but I'd like to be able to post from the ship and answer questions. Thanks!

[taxmantoo]

So the unlimited plan is limited?  

[zelker]

We had it on the Zuiderdam TA in Aug/Sept (the "Surf" package) and never ran into data caps of any kind.  I was frequently on Cruise Critic (reading and posting), checked in/out eBooks through Overdrive, was on Facebook both reading and posting countless times as well … just to name a few.  If they've changed it since September, I guess I'll find out when I board the Volendam in a week but I sure hope not. 

 

PS - you mentioned streaming, and that's the highest plan and maybe that one has a cap?  

Edited November 26, 2018 by zelker

[ricka47]

Just got off the NA yesterday and had the best plan which was limited to 500 MB per day - there was no unlimited option.  I teach online and my wife sent a number of pictures and did a few Facetime calls and we did not go over the limit.  But, it was very, very slow compared to what I am used to on RCI or X.

Edited November 26, 2018 by ricka47

[Vict0riann]

I was hoping to be able to post, too, from the NS premier voyage.  But I am still having difficulties logging in to CC, and I'm afraid that may use up too much of whatever it is, as well.  I have followed the instructions about staying logged in, I clear my history and delete all my bookmarks, etc., log out and then log in again to the site the mods say to log into, but every time I come back I get the "not permitted" page, and then very slowly, CC re-loads, and I get in.  What a waste of time!

[VMax1700]

6 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

I was hoping to be able to post, too, from the NS premier voyage.  But I am still having difficulties logging in to CC, and I'm afraid that may use up too much of whatever it is, as well.  I have followed the instructions about staying logged in, I clear my history and delete all my bookmarks, etc., log out and then log in again to the site the mods say to log into, but every time I come back I get the "not permitted" page, and then very slowly, CC re-loads, and I get in.  What a waste of time!

 

It would be a crying shame if we didn't get your posts from the premier voyage  Perhaps you could email a friend who would post the emails on to CC for you?

[Vict0riann]

3 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

 

It would be a crying shame if we didn't get your posts from the premier voyage  Perhaps you could email a friend who would post the emails on to CC for you?

 

Yes, Jacqui, (kazu) said she would post for me, if I needed her to, but you know we also have limits on how much in the way of pictures we can post on CC, and I hate to make her use up a lot of her allotment.  With a full-time package,  I don't think I will need to worry about the loading and re-loading thing so much, it's just a nuisance.  

 

But I wonder if anyone else has the same problem as I do about getting on to CC?

[VMax1700]

6 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

But I wonder if anyone else has the same problem as I do about getting on to CC?

 

I did have the problem a couple of weeks ago.  I was signed in, but CC kept asking me to log in (and at the top of the screen was the 'log out' emblem. It was the same on laptop and mobile.  

I signed out, cleared cookies, ran Malwarebytes, and logged in again.  Since then I have had no problems.

[kazu]

10 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

 

Yes, Jacqui, (kazu) said she would post for me, if I needed her to, but you know we also have limits on how much in the way of pictures we can post on CC, and I hate to make her use up a lot of her allotment.  With a full-time package,  I don't think I will need to worry about the loading and re-loading thing so much, it's just a nuisance.  

 

But I wonder if anyone else has the same problem as I do about getting on to CC?

 

Ann, I won't be cruising when you are on the inaugural.  Feel free to create your comments in pages and send it to me and any photos any time you need it posted.

 

I would be happy to help you 🙂

 

Starting your LIVE thread before you leave will help too.

 

I just hope these MB aren't going to cause a problem for me and my LIVE thread on board.  So much for unlimited, eh?  I have no idea how MB are in CC posts, emails and pics. <sigh>

 

My only issue with CC is it keeps making me log on.  I do have problems on the ships with it at times.

[Turtles06]

We were also on the Zuiderdam TA/Viking Passage in Aug/Sept and purchased the middle level "surf" plan.  I noticed when I was ready to buy this supposedly "unlimited" plan the fine print stating a limit of a certain amount of MB/day, I think it was 300 but I can't recall for sure.  I did speak with someone about this before I made the purchase, and he told me there really wasn't a data cap in the sense that they would cut off your access to the internet if you exceeded it, but rather that they would slow your speeds.   All I can say is that we used the internet plenty and were never cut off.  But the second week into the cruise, the speeds slowed for us and for everyone I spoke with, all day except in the middle of the night -- I think that was more a case of HAL's internet being frustratingly slow.  But it's definitely confusing to sell an unlimited plan with data caps!

[kazu]

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

This question is for anyone who's used the new "unlimited" Internet plans.  I've seen a couple of posts where people posted that there are caps on the data usage. The posts showed 300 MB/day on the middle or surf plan and 500 MB/day on the higher end plan.  Normally, that's enough data, but the "new & improved" Cruise Critic mobile version uses 3.0 to 3.1 MB for the initial load of a page like the main HAL forum page. In short, the mobile site is a bandwidth pig and could eat up all of my data in short order. I need the data for work stuff and I'd hate to run out and be unable to post my "Live From" in a few weeks.

 

So.... If you've got experience with the new plans, can you tell me if they're enforcing data caps?

 

I don't plan on streaming music, but I'd like to be able to post from the ship and answer questions. Thanks!

 

POA1, being the tech genius that you are....how many MB''s do you think each CC post uses?  Not sure how much each pic uses. 😞

 

When I did the unlimited before, I used the middle plan, but there was no cap so I have no idea how much. I used. 😞.    

 

 

[POA1]

Just now, kazu said:

 

POA1, being the tech genius that you are....how many MB''s do you think each CC post uses?  Not sure how much each pic uses. 😞

 

When I did the unlimited before, I used the middle plan, but there was no cap so I have no idea how much. I used. 😞.    

 

 

It's not so much the posts as it is the refreshing of the page and the initial load. I don't know about you, but I see a "double load" when I first hit the site on my Android phone, Huskerchick's iPhone or her Android tablet. That's where the 3.0 to 3.1 MB data usage comes in. Each subsequent post (posted or read) takes up around 1.1 to 1.5 MB.  Images vary based on the file size of the image, so that's a little hard to tell.

 

Let me try to explain where the problem comes in. On a computer, you can run multiple processes at once.  So, if you're on Cruise Critic reading the HAL board and you decide to do something else - like work on a spreadsheet or watch a video of puppies - you don't have to reload the site unless you've closed down your browser.  Also, when you click the back button on a computer, you get a cached copy of the page from the last time you visited.  Unless you reload the page, you don't use any bandwidth.

 

Phones and tablets don't multitask*, so you wind up having to fetch the page again when you reopen the browser or hit the back button. If the middle level plan has the 300 MB limit that was on the sheet someone pasted and HAL enforces it, you'll run out of data pretty quickly on the new mobile CC. (Vastly faster than you would have on the old app and Tapatalk. They were optimized for mobile, so they did a better job of sipping data. The new CC guzzles it.) 

 

If they're not enforcing data caps when we're on the Zuiderdam in three weeks, I should be able to do a high quality "Live From" with lots of updates throughout the day. If I suddenly stop around lunchtime, it's because CC is a bandwidth piggy.

 

 

* - There are some exceptions to this, but the lack of multitasking is true in most cases.

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, POA1 said:

It's not so much the posts as it is the refreshing of the page and the initial load. I don't know about you, but I see a "double load" when I first hit the site on my Android phone, Huskerchick's iPhone or her Android tablet. That's where the 3.0 to 3.1 MB data usage comes in. Each subsequent post (posted or read) takes up around 1.1 to 1.5 MB.  Images vary based on the file size of the image, so that's a little hard to tell.

 

Let me try to explain where the problem comes in. On a computer, you can run multiple processes at once.  So, if you're on Cruise Critic reading the HAL board and you decide to do something else - like work on a spreadsheet or watch a video of puppies - you don't have to reload the site unless you've closed down your browser.  Also, when you click the back button on a computer, you get a cached copy of the page from the last time you visited.  Unless you reload the page, you don't use any bandwidth.

 

Phones and tablets don't multitask*, so you wind up having to fetch the page again when you reopen the browser or hit the back button. If the middle level plan has the 300 MB limit that was on the sheet someone pasted and HAL enforces it, you'll run out of data pretty quickly on the new mobile CC. (Vastly faster than you would have on the old app and Tapatalk. They were optimized for mobile, so they did a better job of sipping data. The new CC guzzles it.) 

 

If they're not enforcing data caps when we're on the Zuiderdam in three weeks, I should be able to do a high quality "Live From" with lots of updates throughout the day. If I suddenly stop around lunchtime, it's because CC is a bandwidth piggy.

 

 

* - There are some exceptions to this, but the lack of multitasking is true in most cases.

 

Thanks 🙂. I use my IPad for Live threads and it does reload the page.  I've even noticed that 😉

 

I guess that means that I have to buy the top package 😞. 

 

I did have screenshots of my old usage but I was using tapatalk which as you say is much more mobile friendly.

 

I find it intriguing that they call it unlimited internet and there is a MB usage limit 

 

I don't remember seeing that limit when I had unlimited internet in the past but it was a couple of years ago when I had unlimited last and my memory can be short at times 😉

 

Thanks very much for the info. 😄. I really appreciate it.

[POA1]

1 minute ago, kazu said:

I find it intriguing that they call it unlimited internet and there is a MB usage limit 

 

That's to stop the person who wants to binge on Netflix from slowing down the connection for everybody. I'm all for data caps because we're all sharing a satellite connection and I want to be a good citizen. I just wish that CC wasn't such a bandwidth hog.  I can limit the damage by using my laptop and blocking certain content that doesn't enhance my experience. (Ads.)  I'm sure I'll figure it out. You know me. I like puzzles.

 

I'm hoping that - if they throttle - it will be volume & time based, and not daily volume based.  For example, even with CC's gluttonous bandwidth usage, it doesn't come close to streaming video.

 

The high end plan for my cruise is $179.99 and the mid-range is $129.99.  Even on the high end plan, I am still ahead of what I used to spend in the past on the per-minute basis. However, as much as I like my HAL friends, I'd rather have the extra $50 in my pocket and get the middle plan.

[whogo]

33 minutes ago, POA1 said:

It's not so much the posts as it is the refreshing of the page and the initial load. I don't know about you, but I see a "double load" when I first hit the site on my Android phone, Huskerchick's iPhone or her Android tablet.

I had the "double load" with my Macbook on these two Cruise Critic pages, unless I turned off my ad blocker. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/followed/ (This page first gave me a page saying that I had to log in before viewing the page.)

The pages have recently stopped double loading for reasons unknown.

[POA1]

3 minutes ago, whogo said:

The pages have recently stopped double loading for reasons unknown. 

 

I'm still seeing the double-load on my Android phone in two different browsers (Chrome and Dolphin) and on an Android tablet in both Chrome and Firefox.  Your Macbook is a computer, so it can cache and multithread in ways that mobile devices cannot.

[POA1]

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

But I wonder if anyone else has the same problem as I do about getting on to CC?

 

Let me cheer you up. 🤡

 

I am having the problem with my primary PC browser, Firefox (64 bit). If I shut down the browser - or even if I leave the browser open but "sleep" my computer - I have to log back in.  It only stays logged in as long as I have the browser running. It can be in the background or minimized to the tray, but as long as I don't close it, I'm fine. If I close Firefox, I'm logged out. (Forgotten, forlorn, sad & lonely.)

 

I'm having an even more fun problem with 64-bit Chrome for Windows. It just keeps reloading, over and over in a loop, switching between logged in and logged out. It's kind of awesome, although I can see how it could be frustrating for people who don't enjoy watching broken stuff on the Internet.

 

The Developer Edition of Firefox has the same problem as regular Firefox.  Google Chrome Canary forgets that it's logged in, but I have it set to dump the session, cookies and logins each time it closes. (Besides, who the heck uses Canary for anything other than compatibility testing?)

 

 

[Vict0riann]

Brian, do you think they will ever be able to fix it?  I'm also having problems with the drop-down menus dropping down and obscuring the page for 10 or 15 seconds every time the cursor passes over them.  It's just another thing that slows everything down.

[Walfam]

6 hours ago, POA1 said:

This question is for anyone who's used the new "unlimited" Internet plans.  I've seen a couple of posts where people posted that there are caps on the data usage. The posts showed 300 MB/day on the middle or surf plan and 500 MB/day on the higher end plan.

500MB/day is nothing if one is going to use Facebook and post pictures, in addition to reading work emails with attachments.  That's all Verizon's TravelPass allows when on international networks, and there is no Facebooking (data hog) with .5GB/day.  I learned that the hard way.  Bummer.

Edited November 26, 2018 by Walfam
spelling

[POA1]

4 minutes ago, Walfam said:

500MB/day is nothing if one is going to use Facebook and post pictures, in addition to reading work emails with attachments.  That's all Verizon's TravelPass allows when on international networks, and there is no Facebooking (data hog) with .5GB/day.  I learned that the hard way.  Bummer.

 

I already realized that and loaded Facebook Lite for my wife to use on the trip. We have had to fight the "stop the autoplaying videos" game with FB for years. Every couple of months they'll push an update that restores video autoplay. When that happens, she blows through a full GB of data on her phone - just during breaks and lunch at work.

 

That's why I'm amazed at the low end plans being for Social Media. (It's not just HAL. It's pretty much every cruise line.) You have to move up to the mid-range to do email and view websites. Meanwhile, people are sucking up bandwidth with stupid cat videos on TweetySpaceBook. (Don't get me wrong. My internet usage isn't all work-related. I'm wasting precious packets here - although I think that's a public service. )

[Vict0riann]

Definitely a public service!

[POA1]

1 minute ago, Vict0riann said:

Definitely a public service!

 

I hope you were cheered and heartened by the fact that I'm having the same logout issue as you. I created a shortcut/bookmark to the HAL board on CC and I start there. The first thing I do is click the login link and get myself logged in. After that, I can go back and click on any of the links in the digest emails for stuff to which I'm subscribed.

 

I've messed around with my browser settings, but I was never able to get it fixed. It was working fine after they cut over to the new software, but then it stopped. Clearly, it wasn't anything I did, so I am perfectly content to blame Cruise Critic. 🤜

[Vict0riann]

It is much better to know I am not alone!

[OVgirl]

A little off topic but I noticed on my PC that if I hover over someones avatar a pop up box shows options to message, ignore user or find content. Message one didn't work for me. Anyone else see this? Or am I just late to the party?

[POA1]

They have messaging disabled. Admins can message us, but that's all right now.