Diamond Member Internet Perk

[SugSug]

I just talked to the people at Crown & Anchor membership to ask if a Diamond member is entitled to any free internet minutes and the woman said "you get 24 consecutive hours of internet".  I said that no one stays awake for 24 hours straight to use the minutes.  I asked if it was for a total of 24 hours of use instead of consecutive hours and she said no, the clock starts ticking from the minute that you turn on the internet and runs for 24 hours.  Is this what anyone has experienced?  I find it strange.

[cruiseguy1016]

This is exactly how it works.

[AshleyDillo]

You get a discount that is equal to purchasing the 24 hours (1 day of Voom surf & stream).  If you elect to choose the single day option then it is free.  Your 24 hours starts at the point you make the purchase.

 

Or you can apply that credit towards purchasing a package to reduce the overall cost.  Royal doesn't offer a package that charges by the minute; you can purchase a single day at a minimum.

[davekathy]

22 minutes ago, SugSug said:

I just talked to the people at Crown & Anchor membership to ask if a Diamond member is entitled to any free internet minutes and the woman said "you get 24 consecutive hours of internet".  I said that no one stays awake for 24 hours straight to use the minutes.  I asked if it was for a total of 24 hours of use instead of consecutive hours and she said no, the clock starts ticking from the minute that you turn on the internet and runs for 24 hours.  Is this what anyone has experienced?  I find it strange.

Yes. For once they got it correct. Not strange and just the way the perk/benefit works. Better than no internet minutes. 

[George C]

We are both Diamond so we get one day each which works ok for us.

[ReneeFLL]

Unfortunately it is 24 hours straight. You used to be able to buy minutes on Celebrity (not sure if Royal did this) and the minutes were only used when you were on the computer. Wished they would do this for D and up with the 24 hours.

[cruising twosome]

We start using it around noon on a sea day and have it for 24 hours, then use my husbands for the day before we get back to check in for the airplane.

[George C]

24 minutes ago, cruising twosome said:

We start using it around noon on a sea day and have it for 24 hours, then use my husbands for the day before we get back to check in for the airplane.

We also do day before disembark to check flights.

[Tatka]

2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Or you can apply that credit towards purchasing a package to reduce the overall cost.  Royal doesn't offer a package that charges by the minute; you can purchase a single day at a minimum.

 

The only thing you need to calculate if it is a good deal. On short cruises it is good, on longer it might be worth using that 30% or so that RCI has in cruise planner.

[dswallow]

What's strange is that any cruise line still sells internet service "minutes." It's like they think the dialup days are still with us. I don't "connect to the internet" on any of my devices; my devices are connected to the internet and generally interact with things constantly.

 

🙂

[brillohead]

17 minutes ago, dswallow said:

What's strange is that any cruise line still sells internet service "minutes." It's like they think the dialup days are still with us. I don't "connect to the internet" on any of my devices; my devices are connected to the internet and generally interact with things constantly.

 

🙂

I was on MSC the past two weeks, and they sell by the MB -- a set price for 3.5GB for the duration of my 13-day cruise, or I could have paid more than double that price for unlimited usage. 

 

It was a PITA because I had to turn off auto-update for everything so I wouldn't burn through my data limit, and I had to keep logging on and off the internet connection to keep from using data "behind the scenes"... which of course meant I didn't get real-time notifications of emails and such.  

I much prefer always-on access.  

[Cruisebaza]

If you want Internet for a 7 day cruise, is it better to use the Diamond discount (which includes the one free day plus any additional discounts) or buy the pre-cruise package for $70 for 7 days (basic VOOM surf)? 

Edited November 14, 2019 by Cruisebaza
used the wrong price.

[brillohead]

3 minutes ago, Cruisebaza said:

If you want Internet for a 7 day cruise, is it better to use the Diamond discount (which includes the one free day plus any additional discounts) or buy the pre-cruise package for $70 for 7 days (basic VOOM surf)? 

Usually better to use the Cruise Planner price, unless you have two people who will each be getting 24 hours of Diamond freebie usage and you don't need full-time coverage.

For example, if you don't need continuous coverage, you can start your usage around lunch on Day 2 (still in port for most of Day 1) and that gives you coverage until Day 3 lunchtime.  Use the second freebie around lunchtime on Day 4 and have coverage until lunchtime on Day 5. Pay for one 24-hour period (probably about $24.99) around lunchtime on Day 6 and have coverage until lunchtime on Day 7.

But if you want or need coverage all day every day, you're better off purchasing in advance through the Cruise Planner.  I buy a 4-device plan, then share it with people from my Roll Call (they give me cash for their portion and I give them the log-in information).  This usually gets the price down to around $7-$8/day per device for unlimited Surf&Stream.

[handbellplayer]

Just a note on this benefit.  We bought a one-device surf and stream package (in advance, didn't use the discount) on our most recent cruise and shared it (only one device can be logged in at a time).  With 48 hours left I signed up for my 24 hours and when they expired, I tried to sign up for the next 24 hours in husband's name, but I got a message that he already had a package.  I stopped by the Voom help desk near GS and she transferred his 24 hours to my name, so we didn't have to share for the last 48 hours of the cruise.

[brillohead]

11 minutes ago, handbellplayer said:

Just a note on this benefit.  We bought a one-device surf and stream package (in advance, didn't use the discount) on our most recent cruise and shared it (only one device can be logged in at a time).  With 48 hours left I signed up for my 24 hours and when they expired, I tried to sign up for the next 24 hours in husband's name, but I got a message that he already had a package.  I stopped by the Voom help desk near GS and she transferred his 24 hours to my name, so we didn't have to share for the last 48 hours of the cruise.

Each person can only buy one internet package per cruise, so if you've already paid for one, you can't take advantage of your freebie/discount unless you go see the Voom person and they manually switch things around for you.

[handbellplayer]

8 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Each person can only buy one internet package per cruise, so if you've already paid for one, you can't take advantage of your freebie/discount unless you go see the Voom person and they manually switch things around for you.

Yep - That was the point of my post - I guess I didn't explain it very well.

[brillohead]

55 minutes ago, handbellplayer said:

Yep - That was the point of my post - I guess I didn't explain it very well.

I was just backing you up -- I ran into it on Mariner, too... they tie everything in to your "credentials" (a combination of room number, last name, and DOB) and only one package can be used per combination.

If a family wanted to purchase two multi-device packages (say a family of six needing a 4-device plus a 2-device), they would have to purchase those through two different people, too.  

 

[handbellplayer]

30 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I was just backing you up -- I ran into it on Mariner, too... they tie everything in to your "credentials" (a combination of room number, last name, and DOB) and only one package can be used per combination.

If a family wanted to purchase two multi-device packages (say a family of six needing a 4-device plus a 2-device), they would have to purchase those through two different people, too.  
 

Got it - Thanks!

Edited November 15, 2019 by handbellplayer

[George C]

It is a perk on Oasis class if you have a full suite.

[Biker19]

11 hours ago, George C said:

It is a perk on Oasis class if you have a full suite.

and Q class.

[George C]

39 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

and Q class.

What is Q class?

[Ourusualbeach]

Quantum

[Tulsacoker]

18 hours ago, SugSug said:

I just talked to the people at Crown & Anchor membership to ask if a Diamond member is entitled to any free internet minutes and the woman said "you get 24 consecutive hours of internet".  I said that no one stays awake for 24 hours straight to use the minutes.  I asked if it was for a total of 24 hours of use instead of consecutive hours and she said no, the clock starts ticking from the minute that you turn on the internet and runs for 24 hours.  Is this what anyone has experienced?  I find it strange.

Good grief, that would be a nightmare to manage / track if was based upon use. ....  

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, Tulsacoker said:

Good grief, that would be a nightmare to manage / track if was based upon use. ....  

We are elite on Celebrity. We both get 90 minutes of free use as you wish internet. Log on, the clock starts, log off the clock stops. RC could do the same.

Edited November 15, 2019 by davekathy