Cost of On Board Internet

[UncleMike]

We are sailing on the Norwegian Breakaway in Feb 2019.  I logged on to Norwegians web site to pre-book internet for the cruise.  I was shocked at the price.  They charge $25 a day if you pre-book and $29 a day if you purchase on board.  Royal Caribbean only charges $15 a day (for high speed) if you pre-book.  Norwegian should be ashamed.  They do such a good job with everything else.  This will probably be our last Norwegian cruise.

[PTC DAWG]

If you cruise for internet price only, you could be correct...

[kathy884]

We just booked the premium unlimited wifi for one of us (DS 23) on the Getaway and it is $206.50 for the week.  I agree that's really high.  It's a price we are willing to pay, as we love it that our 23 year old will be able to keep in touch with friends at home, do some streaming (although pretty slow) and with that be happy with that to travel with us and his grandparents, and other family members.   DH and I will be keeping our phones in airplane mode the entire cruise and not using any internet (For me it's a joy to be unplugged and not able to work or communicate.  I work in the IT field).   DS and I will also be paying $10 each to be able to talk and text with others in our party who want the NCL app while on the ship who won't have internet, just really to let others know when we are heading to eat, a show, an activity, etc. in case others in our party would like to join.

 

The overall cost of the NCL cruise for us though is considerably less than RCCL large ships for a similar cabin for comparisons I've made, even with this charge.  I have a bit of a bean counter personality, so am always reading the fine print, figuring out what freebie's cost, taxes, tips, etc. looking at the things that we care about on a cruise.  Our NCL cruise is actually similar in cost to typical land based vacations for us too.  Even though our land based lodging typically offers free internet, we end up spending more in other areas.   In general, I prefer land based vacations to cruise based ones too, but I can be talked into the occasional cruise -- very easy way to travel with extended family and something my wonderful 82 year old dad who has more limited mobility and energy these day really loves and DS 23 really loves and DH is fine with on occasion. 

 

There are so many cruise options / non cruise vacation options, etc. out there, and if being charged a high price for internet is a deal breaker, there is a big wide world out there.  

 

From my limited looking, the cruise lines that include free unlimited high speed internet as part of the base price also have base prices that are not within my vacation budget.

[rbschultz]

2 hours ago, UncleMike said:

We are sailing on the Norwegian Breakaway in Feb 2019.  I logged on to Norwegians web site to pre-book internet for the cruise.  I was shocked at the price.  They charge $25 a day if you pre-book and $29 a day if you purchase on board.  Royal Caribbean only charges $15 a day (for high speed) if you pre-book.  Norwegian should be ashamed.  They do such a good job with everything else.  This will probably be our last Norwegian cruise.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic. If internet is your highest concern on vacation I'd say maybe you need to reprioritize.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, UncleMike said:

We are sailing on the Norwegian Breakaway in Feb 2019.  I logged on to Norwegians web site to pre-book internet for the cruise.  I was shocked at the price.  They charge $25 a day if you pre-book and $29 a day if you purchase on board.  Royal Caribbean only charges $15 a day (for high speed) if you pre-book.  Norwegian should be ashamed.  They do such a good job with everything else.  This will probably be our last Norwegian cruise.

Why should NCL be ashamed? Is there rationale to make that assertion. The service is there if you want it. Most people really want the NCL $15 / day service. 

 

We are currently at a hotel for the holidays and the charges here not that much different if we want premium service. 

[zqvol]

5 hours ago, UncleMike said:

We are sailing on the Norwegian Breakaway in Feb 2019.  I logged on to Norwegians web site to pre-book internet for the cruise.  I was shocked at the price.  They charge $25 a day if you pre-book and $29 a day if you purchase on board.  Royal Caribbean only charges $15 a day (for high speed) if you pre-book.  Norwegian should be ashamed.  They do such a good job with everything else.  This will probably be our last Norwegian cruise.

 

If you are picking a cruise line based on the price of Internet they maybe you should reconsider cruising.

[UncleMike]

5 hours ago, UncleMike said:

We are sailing on the Norwegian Breakaway in Feb 2019.  I logged on to Norwegians web site to pre-book internet for the cruise.  I was shocked at the price.  They charge $25 a day if you pre-book and $29 a day if you purchase on board.  Royal Caribbean only charges $15 a day (for high speed) if you pre-book.  Norwegian should be ashamed.  They do such a good job with everything else.  This will probably be our last Norwegian cruise.

Wow, this was my 4th post in over 10 years.  I did not mean to start a ruckus, I only wanted to let Norwegian know I think they are over charging for their internet.

Also, I don't know why complete strangers feel like they have the right to question my reasons for cruising, or picking a cruise line.  If you don't like my comment that I think Norwegian charges too much for their internet then say so.  Don't question my reason for wanting it.  My wife is very hard of hearing and does not socialize much on a cruise, but she enjoys being on a ship.  For her entertainment she spends quite a lot of time on Ancestry.com.

For info we have been on over 60 cruises, we are Diamond plus on RCL, Elite on Princess, Platinum on Carnival.  I think this will be our 6th cruise on Norwegian.  We like Norwegian but their frequent cruiser program is way behind RCL and Princess.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Take care.

[FPJC03]

Uncle Mike, 

Maybe it was your emphasis on downgrading your cruise experience simply for the high internet charges. If that is important to you both, then cut back on other perks on the ship. If you tend to be less social, don't visit the specialty restaurants. Since you are a cruise veteran, there are positive and negatives on every line. 

But in the end, if you put your opinion on social media, be prepared to take all the critique. If you don't like it, then stay off the boards. Unfortunately, not everyone will be sensitive to your issues. MERRY CHRISTMAS to all...

[don't-use-real-name]

Previously posted - this may give some guidance in the Internet packaging:

 

Now about that internet package - go to the internet café and talk with the manager about installing the logon-logoff apt
to your device. Then what ever plan you have use the apt to log on and remember when finished log-off RIGHT-AWAY !
If you have one of the 250 minute perk packages THINK that is only 4 hours and 10 minutes fail to log-off and when you
come back your time is up gone zilch expired and a humiliating one time trip to the café manager who MAY reset the
time back.  Best solution is sign on for the one of the UNLIMITED TIME programs converting your 250 minutes program to
rebate/reduction of the plan - something around $110 dollars or so - then you won't have worry about running out of time
slow reception of emails and other data and you will be good to use the allotted time till you are disembarked off the ship
at the end of the cruise.

Have additional minutes time because you are Platinum use that the first day and on the second day visit the internet
café and getting a better break on the program - ask the internet café manager how this works.

LINK to on board internet packages:

{https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/internet-packages}

Note the three unlimited packages - if you are just email texting low stuff go with basic - if you are doing more discuss
the merits of the advanced programs with the manager - streaming video you will probably want to the most expensive plan.

WHAT EVER PLAN - remember to log-off anyway even if you can run the clock out - THINK security !

 

 

[mking8288]

OP, the Breakaway - is the one & only NCL ship that credit & metered satellite WiFi usage by the MB data used, not by the minutes - as far as I know (sailed her 4 times over the last 4 years) every other NCL ships in the fleet do it by the minutes online (unless you are on the "pricey" unlimited plans - and, yes, when compared to RCL ... one of our nieces is loyal to them & spend $ on broadband but refused to get NCL's package last time on a T/A with 4 to 5 sea days, so understood)  

 

If you select one of the "Free At Sea" promo by NCL, you get 250 minutes to use, and, on the Breakaway - it translated into roughly a little over 1,000 minutes as it is credited as 1 GB worth of data, given the relative speed of high latency satellite at sea.  There is a meter that keep track & display minutes/MB data used and remaining - just remember, as noted above, to log off completely as the data could deplete quickly if you forget.  

 

For a typical 7 days sailing on the BA when it was homeport in NYC, I managed to do fine with 2 to 3 hours of online time, while at sea, kept a close watch monitoring usage.  

 

If you click down, use the URL linked to find your way to one of my earlier BA review, it documented how it worked on the BA before the ship moved south to N.O.  As always, check with those that recently sailed the BA, perhaps someone on the Roll Call, just to reaffirm nothing has changed lately.  Other ships, 250 minutes will go much faster, regardless of little MB data you are using.  Good luck !   Happy & safe holidays ... and, crusing.  

 

P.S.  What matters is how you see it, everyone is free & entitled to being a critic ... don't need to explain.  Regards. 

Edited December 24, 2018 by mking8288

[PTC DAWG]

13 hours ago, UncleMike said:

Wow, this was my 4th post in over 10 years.  I did not mean to start a ruckus, I only wanted to let Norwegian know I think they are over charging for their internet.

Also, I don't know why complete strangers feel like they have the right to question my reasons for cruising, or picking a cruise line.  If you don't like my comment that I think Norwegian charges too much for their internet then say so.  Don't question my reason for wanting it.  My wife is very hard of hearing and does not socialize much on a cruise, but she enjoys being on a ship.  For her entertainment she spends quite a lot of time on Ancestry.com.

For info we have been on over 60 cruises, we are Diamond plus on RCL, Elite on Princess, Platinum on Carnival.  I think this will be our 6th cruise on Norwegian.  We like Norwegian but their frequent cruiser program is way behind RCL and Princess.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Take care.

I thought your original post was fair, I even said you may be right.  

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours too.   

[17cruisesnsl]

I know on NCL you can only be logged-in to one device at a time.  I can't recall, as it's been 3 years since we cruised other than NCL, it it the same on other cruise lines? 

[Arzeena]

On 12/23/2018 at 2:45 PM, UncleMike said:

We are sailing on the Norwegian Breakaway in Feb 2019.  I logged on to Norwegians web site to pre-book internet for the cruise.  I was shocked at the price.  They charge $25 a day if you pre-book and $29 a day if you purchase on board.  Royal Caribbean only charges $15 a day (for high speed) if you pre-book.  Norwegian should be ashamed.  They do such a good job with everything else.  This will probably be our last Norwegian cruise.

 

I have to agree about the high price! No matter what the fan boys (and girls) say to defend it.

My humble suggestions:  perhaps not buy the internet? and use wifi in ports? NCL has a great product overall, so hopefully this will not be your only deciding factor.

[Arzeena]

2 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

 

I have to agree about the high price!

My humble suggestions:  perhaps not buy the internet? and use wifi in ports? NCL has a great product overall, so hopefully this will not be your only deciding factor.

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by Arzeena

[Arzeena]

On 12/24/2018 at 9:43 AM, don't-use-real-name said:

Previously posted - this may give some guidance in the Internet packaging:

 

Now about that internet package - go to the internet café and talk with the manager about installing the logon-logoff apt
to your device. Then what ever plan you have use the apt to log on and remember when finished log-off RIGHT-AWAY !
If you have one of the 250 minute perk packages THINK that is only 4 hours and 10 minutes fail to log-off and when you
come back your time is up gone zilch expired and a humiliating one time trip to the café manager who MAY reset the
time back.  Best solution is sign on for the one of the UNLIMITED TIME programs converting your 250 minutes program to
rebate/reduction of the plan - something around $110 dollars or so - then you won't have worry about running out of time
slow reception of emails and other data and you will be good to use the allotted time till you are disembarked off the ship
at the end of the cruise.

Have additional minutes time because you are Platinum use that the first day and on the second day visit the internet
café and getting a better break on the program - ask the internet café manager how this works.

LINK to on board internet packages:

{https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/internet-packages}

Note the three unlimited packages - if you are just email texting low stuff go with basic - if you are doing more discuss
the merits of the advanced programs with the manager - streaming video you will probably want to the most expensive plan.

WHAT EVER PLAN - remember to log-off anyway even if you can run the clock out - THINK security !

 

 

How much does it cost to upgrade to the unlimited plan from the "free at sea perk" of 250 mt selection?
Can you do that only once you are on board?

[esm54687]

3 hours ago, Arzeena said:

How much does it cost to upgrade to the unlimited plan from the "free at sea perk" of 250 mt selection?
Can you do that only once you are on board?

Post #5 has your answer concerning costs.... 

 

Yes, you must visit the Internet Cafe to process the upgrade. 

[kenrod]

On our 9 day cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway, we chose the Social Media option, which was unlimited access to Facebook. 

 

I was able to upload lots of pictures and it was pretty quick.  Also, I was able to use the internet without any issue.  My 14 year old son was also able to use the internet on his phone when I was not logged in.  So you can transfer this on various devices, but you can only use one device at a time.

 

The cost for this was $135.00 for the 9 days.

[jean87510]

Right now we are pricing internet for 4 upcoming cruises. 7 day sailing on rccl vision cost us for 2 devices $135. On our 11/19 sailing for 15 days it is $18.99 per day for 2 devices on rccl brilliance. On msc seaview it is 195 total for 4 devices. We have our first sailing on Norwegian for 11 days on the pearl in april. Internet for 2 devices will be over $600. Unfortunately we have work to do while on vacation plus elderly parents and children so we cant just shut off communication. I'm really baffled at why Norwegian is so more expensive. I've never seen such a price discrepancy. We have to bite the bullet and pay for it but I'm with the OP.  It's an important feature for us. Some people have to have drink package. Others like to sit by the pool. We like our internet. Just not at those quite frankly ludicrous prices.