WIFI upgrade question

[HeatherLynne]

NCL shows I can upgrade my wifi to Unlimited from the one I got for free at booking. But when I click on it, it shows $84 but only has my husbands name highlighted. Does that mean his is the only phone/iPad that will be allowed to use it? Or is it a flat price per cabin? Is it that there's only 1 log in, so only 1 device can be logged into to the wifi at a time but we could change whose device that is by logging off one and back on to another?

 

I'm not sure we need unlimited wifi, since we usually spend our vacations off-line just doing things together. But the free 250 minutes doesn't seem like much time to check in back home when you're splitting it with 4 people in the cabin.

 

Thanks!

[egurbi]

One logged in device at a time per wifi plan. IOW, you could have 75 devices using one plan, but only 1 of the 75 can use the wifi at one time. Log out of the active device and then log-in to the second device. If you want 2 or more devices logged in at same time you will need to buy a second plan. 

[bkrickles1]

14 minutes ago, HeatherLynne said:

NCL shows I can upgrade my wifi to Unlimited from the one I got for free at booking. But when I click on it, it shows $84 but only has my husbands name highlighted. Does that mean his is the only phone/iPad that will be allowed to use it? Or is it a flat price per cabin? Is it that there's only 1 log in, so only 1 device can be logged into to the wifi at a time but we could change whose device that is by logging off one and back on to another?

 

I'm not sure we need unlimited wifi, since we usually spend our vacations off-line just doing things together. But the free 250 minutes doesn't seem like much time to check in back home when you're splitting it with 4 people in the cabin.

 

Thanks!

And I've been told that if you wait until you board and until 12:01am of the first day after sailaway, you'll save $30 and only pay $54 for the remainder of your cruise.

I'm going to be doing this on Sunday when I depart on the Encore.

At sailaway, all of our phones will be put on airplane mode and then just after midnight I'll log on and upgrade for the reduced price. That way I'll only have about 7 hours without internet and I think I can survive that while I'm drinking, eating and exploring. Lmao!

And we will share among me, my daughter and wife.

[HeatherLynne]

42 minutes ago, egurbi said:

One logged in device at a time per wifi plan. IOW, you could have 75 devices using one plan, but only 1 of the 75 can use the wifi at one time. Log out of the active device and then log-in to the second device. If you want 2 or more devices logged in at same time you will need to buy a second plan. 

That's what I thought. We're definitely good with 1 plan and probably the freebie is enough.

[HeatherLynne]

33 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

And I've been told that if you wait until you board and until 12:01am of the first day after sailaway, you'll save $30 and only pay $54 for the remainder of your cruise.

I'm going to be doing this on Sunday when I depart on the Encore.

At sailaway, all of our phones will be put on airplane mode and then just after midnight I'll log on and upgrade for the reduced price. That way I'll only have about 7 hours without internet and I think I can survive that while I'm drinking, eating and exploring. Lmao!

And we will share among me, my daughter and wife.

Interesting. I hadn't heard that before. It's worth a try for that kind of savings. I'm guessing we'll be able to use our regular cell service the day we board the ship, and possible find free wifi or cell service in our other ports. So probably the freebie wifi is fine for us. I wanted to understand how the upgrade worked in case we decide we do need it.

[bkrickles1]

3 minutes ago, HeatherLynne said:

Interesting. I hadn't heard that before. It's worth a try for that kind of savings. I'm guessing we'll be able to use our regular cell service the day we board the ship, and possible find free wifi or cell service in our other ports. So probably the freebie wifi is fine for us. I wanted to understand how the upgrade worked in case we decide we do need it.

Normally, we stick with the 250 minutes too. Just to log on every day and check emails and then log off.

My daughter wants to be able to do other stuff too, so I'll upgrade for her mostly. And $54 for the last 6 days is pretty ok.

I do know, that for our stops in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, our Verizon phones will work just as they do at home, so that's something too.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, HeatherLynne said:

Interesting. I hadn't heard that before. It's worth a try for that kind of savings. I'm guessing we'll be able to use our regular cell service the day we board the ship, and possible find free wifi or cell service in our other ports. So probably the freebie wifi is fine for us. I wanted to understand how the upgrade worked in case we decide we do need it.

But,,, If they do not offer discounted unlimited plan on Day 2, you will pay by the minute for the entire cruise. 

[bkrickles1]

13 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

But,,, If they do not offer discounted unlimited plan on Day 2, you will pay by the minute for the entire cruise. 

Why would that happen? And does that happen frequently?

I'm sailing Encore this Sunday so I'd love to know ahead of time 

[mking8288]

Don't worry ... We had the option to get all 8 days for our 8 nights cruise last month, or 7 days on day 2, or 6 days on day 3. 

 

We did 6 days minus $125 credit to upgrade, cost was $55 and further applied against non-refundable OBC. 

 

Of course, YMMV.

Edited January 15, 2020 by mking8288

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Don't worry ... We had the option to get all 8 days for our 8 nights cruise last month, or 7 days on day 2, or 6 days on day 3. 

 

We did 6 days minus $125 credit to upgrade, cost was $55 and further applied against non-refundable OBC. 

 

Of course, YMMV.

Thanks for like the 3rd time. 

I'll be on Encore Sunday so that's good news. 

[Mike_DeA]

3 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

Why would that happen? And does that happen frequently?

I'm sailing Encore this Sunday so I'd love to know ahead of time 

 

Don't worry, it will be there to upgrade on Day 2.  Can't say that it will be available after that, but guaranteed it will be there on Day 2. 

 

[Turtles06]

For those thinking that their “free” minutes will be enough, they may be, but please keep in mind that NCL’s internet is often quite slow, and you can’t accomplish quickly on a ship’s WiFI what you can at home. 

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

For those thinking that their “free” minutes will be enough, they may be, but please keep in mind that NCL’s internet is often quite slow, and you can’t accomplish quickly on a ship’s WiFI what you can at home. 

 

i am currently on the Breakaway.

it's slow as molasses during peak times, which is whenever the majority of passengers are not off the ship or not asleep.

(im typing this at 1am.)

Edited January 16, 2020 by fstuff1

[mking8288]

@fstuff1 

@Turtles06 

Sounding awful for both of you, I realized that congestion problem on the Dawn last May - and it was bad, slow ... Previously, it wasn't bad on the Escape last January.

 

Only to discover by running multiple benchmark using the Speedtest App, since I was on the unlimited 6 nights package on the Gem last month - that it was even worst, slower than the Dawn (which I knew wasn't great - especially on sea days when EVERYONE was onboard & trying to get their bandwidth's worth)

 

Question for both - not sure if you are on the "basic" unlimited or "premium, streaming" plan - when it is slow (and/or functioning) - can you stream/watch/play Youtube videos or Netflix, or watch a CNN/CNBC news segment without freezing ... hourglass spinning, etc.  If the ship's satellite WiFi cannot consistently maintain, support & provide 4 Mbps or higher, then any kind of streaming is basically impossible and a joke to market and sell.   

Previously, for the Breakaway & the Escape, it was possible & had the speedtest results to confirm ... lately, it doesn't or no longer doable - perhaps, on rare occassions only.  Average speed of 1.5 to 3.5 Mbps just not going deliver the promises of a premium onboard experience - a waste of money.  Selling multi-users discount plans just going to make matters worst, leading to more data traffic jams & congestion - as the bandwidth are just going to be narrowed.  

 

Next time we cruise Norwegian, just going to stick with our 60+60 free minutes, plus the 250 promo minutes (if we opt to select it as a freebie) - and, to make good use of roaming cellular (or local WiFI) data in ports/via land towers.  

[fstuff1]

10 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@fstuff1 

@Turtles06 

Sounding awful for both of you, I realized that congestion problem on the Dawn last May - and it was bad, slow ... Previously, it wasn't bad on the Escape last January.

 

Only to discover by running multiple benchmark using the Speedtest App, since I was on the unlimited 6 nights package on the Gem last month - that it was even worst, slower than the Dawn (which I knew wasn't great - especially on sea days when EVERYONE was onboard & trying to get their bandwidth's worth)

 

Question for both - not sure if you are on the "basic" unlimited or "premium, streaming" plan - when it is slow (and/or functioning) - can you stream/watch/play Youtube videos or Netflix, or watch a CNN/CNBC news segment without freezing ... hourglass spinning, etc.  If the ship's satellite WiFi cannot consistently maintain, support & provide 4 Mbps or higher, then any kind of streaming is basically impossible and a joke to market and sell.   

Previously, for the Breakaway & the Escape, it was possible & had the speedtest results to confirm ... lately, it doesn't or no longer doable - perhaps, on rare occassions only.  Average speed of 1.5 to 3.5 Mbps just not going deliver the promises of a premium onboard experience - a waste of money.  Selling multi-users discount plans just going to make matters worst, leading to more data traffic jams & congestion - as the bandwidth are just going to be narrowed.  

 

Next time we cruise Norwegian, just going to stick with our 60+60 free minutes, plus the 250 promo minutes (if we opt to select it as a freebie) - and, to make good use of roaming cellular (or local WiFI) data in ports/via land towers.  

 

no idea about video speed.

im on the 60min free plan so only check emails and such.

cruise critic is now FREE so i dont need to use minutes but it was unusable during peak times, thus my previous post at 1am. (and cc is mostly text!)

 

if you cruise celebrity, im able to download at 100k/sec during peak times last month.

and this was on a pre-revolutionized ship. (beginning last year, all ships that go through drydock will be upgraded to their 'Revolution' standards, with the last ship being upgraded next year.)

 

[fstuff1]

so port was canceled due to rough waves.

i couldnt even get on cruise critic. it timed out. :o

i tried like 5 times.

 

im assuming because its free that it has the lowest priority.