Sharing Internet Question

[Cruisegirl6]

Hello,

 

Our last three Carnival cruises, we had the premium wi-fi package, but it was always slow and on our last cruise this past February we hardly had any service, and unable to use it.  We also tried texting one another and that was even a delay about 20 minutes time, so communicating with one another was really not good.

 

We are going on the Breeze next week, I decided not to get the wi-fi for myself but purchase the premium for my other half.  I was told by a friend that there is a way to share the internet, one person at a time, and any device can use it.  Has anybody done this?  My other question, I was told there is a carnival app that we can pay $5 and communicate with one another on the ship, has anybody done this and fine it was useful and worked well?  

[ArmchairQB]

20 minutes ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Hello,

 

Our last three Carnival cruises, we had the premium wi-fi package, but it was always slow and on our last cruise this past February we hardly had any service, and unable to use it.  We also tried texting one another and that was even a delay about 20 minutes time, so communicating with one another was really not good.

 

We are going on the Breeze next week, I decided not to get the wi-fi for myself but purchase the premium for my other half.  I was told by a friend that there is a way to share the internet, one person at a time, and any device can use it.  Has anybody done this?  My other question, I was told there is a carnival app that we can pay $5 and communicate with one another on the ship, has anybody done this and fine it was useful and worked well?  

We are just off the Magic and sailed on the Horizon last August.  Bought premium wifi on my account both times and shared it.  Only one device can be connected at a time.  You just enter the Folio number linked to the purchase and the month/day of birth on the S&S card that purchased it (through the Hub app).  You kick whoever is connected off.  You could share it amongst as many people as you want but only 1 person can use it a time.

 

We paid $5 for the Hub app chat on the Horizon but didn't get it on the Magic.  It worked fine (no need to buy any internet) but we found we were always together so no need to chat.  🙂. We thought the kids would go off on their own but they did not.  You do need to leave the app open on your phone to receive the chat.  I believe you will still get them if you close the app and receive a message - but not until you open it again.  It was reliable on the Horizon but others have noted long lags on other ships.

 

Download HUB before you board.  It can be confusing to download after you have boarded the ship. (You need to connect to carnival wifi and go to carnival.com after you board)

[coevan]

2 minutes ago, ArmchairQB said:

 It can be confusing to download after you have boarded the ship

 

 

 

Not any different then on land, go to App Store, download Carnival Hub, name ship and open. Your home wifi will proably be faster but LITE will down load without issue

[ArmchairQB]

1 minute ago, coevan said:

 

 

 

Not any different then on land, go to App Store, download Carnival Hub, name ship and open. Your home wifi will proably be faster but LITE will down load without issue

Yes, but for those of us without US plans in Airplane mode....

[coevan]

you don't have a cell phone? how do you plan on using the App?

[ArmchairQB]

47 minutes ago, coevan said:

you don't have a cell phone? how do you plan on using the App?

?? I do take my cell phone but to save roaming it is in Airplane mode when we enter the US.  BTW, Hub cn be installed on iPads as well.

[coevan]

very true, but the point was downloading it is not very confusing. We don't put our devices on Airplane mode until we leave port so we have cell and LITE in port. 

[xDisconnections]

With a bit of networking knowledge, you can easily share your Internet connection and have multiple people logged in at the same time utilizing the same minutes or Internet package.

 

Of course, that is up to one's own ethics to determine if they should do it.

Edited May 19, 2019 by xDisconnections

[Organized Chaos]

10 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

With a bit of networking knowledge, you can easily share your Internet connection and have multiple people logged in at the same time utilizing the same minutes or Internet package.

 

Of course, that is up to one's own ethics to determine if they should do it.

 

If you're referring to a travel router, that's only going to work when you, or the people sharing, are in the cabin. If they share the old fashioned way (one at a time), the one person who's connected can be anywhere where there's wifi signal.

 

18 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Hello,

 

Our last three Carnival cruises, we had the premium wi-fi package, but it was always slow and on our last cruise this past February we hardly had any service, and unable to use it.  We also tried texting one another and that was even a delay about 20 minutes time, so communicating with one another was really not good.

 

We are going on the Breeze next week, I decided not to get the wi-fi for myself but purchase the premium for my other half.  I was told by a friend that there is a way to share the internet, one person at a time, and any device can use it.  Has anybody done this?  My other question, I was told there is a carnival app that we can pay $5 and communicate with one another on the ship, has anybody done this and fine it was useful and worked well?  

 

ArmchairQB touched on it, but the Carnival Hub app does not require you to purchase one of the internet plans, it works without them. It's still handy to have, even if you don't use the chat feature. It includes deck plans, S&S account info., food venues and menus, a digital version of the Fun Times that lets you set reminders for your favorite events & activities, etc. If you'd like to use the chat feature, it's $5 for each device (for the entire cruise). It's reliability varies, depending on the ship and quality of wifi. Some people experience delays in receiving messages. I've heard that the wifi on the Breeze has been improved. Maybe not quite the quality of Vista & Horizon, but better than before. If you decide to try this chat feature and it doesn't work, you could always go to Guest Services and let them know. They'd probably offer a refund.

 

I'd also recommend downloading the Hub app, either from home or when connected to wifi elsewhere, say a hotel. The only reason being, not everyone has unlimited data to be able to download it from their cellular network without worrying about how much data they're using. If you download it prior to your cruise, it can be used as a countdown clock and it'll route you to your Carnival.com account to purchase things from the online Fun Shops. The rest of its features won't be enabled until you get on board and connect to the ship's wifi.

[Shaded Lady]

Cruisergirl- in case no one else has mentioned it, Breeze has the upgraded Carnival wifi package... it is significantly faster than on any of the older ships. They installed it two years ago on Breeze and on every new ship since then, and it will actually allow streaming, so it's much improved.

 

As for sharing a single package so that more than one person can use it at a time, I have no idea how to do that, but DH & I shared the package and just bumped the other person off when we needed it, if they weren't doing anything of any importance, or not using it at the moment.

[xDisconnections]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

If you're referring to a travel router, that's only going to work when you, or the people sharing, are in the cabin. If they share the old fashioned way (one at a time), the one person who's connected can be anywhere where there's wifi signal.

Nope, bridging connections - but still, will only work when nearby.