Today's rant disadvantage of sharing a room

[herbanrenewal]

I just found out today that I can't upgrade my internet without my roommate upgrading too. She has a phone plan that covers her international with no fees, but I would have to pay my phone carrier. I  now realize that couples dont get to only grade for one, but they usually share phones - or at least know the same people they communicate with in an emergency. So on a b2b2b that last 31 days I'd have no internet to stay in touch with my family. I think from now on we'll be booking solo. We also can't each use our shareholder benefit. If it wasn't after final payment we would cancel and get 2 interiors - it would be cheaper!

[OrcaGirl]

I was able to upgrade my wifi package without upgrading my husband's, and we're on the same booking. They didn't make it easy or obvious, but it can be done.

[phillygwm]

1 hour ago, herbanrenewal said:

I just found out today that I can't upgrade my internet without my roommate upgrading too. She has a phone plan that covers her international with no fees, but I would have to pay my phone carrier.

Your friend may be in for an unpleasant surprise:  International plans don't usually cover onboard Internet.  She should check with her carrier to make absolutely sure.

 

For instance, my AT&T plan does, but it isn't unlimited and the cost can easily exceed the NCL package cost.  It's $100 with unlimited talk/text but only includes 200 MB of data.

Edited December 19, 2022 by phillygwm

[complawyer]

i dont know, my wife is surgically attached to her cell phone, and the 1st  thing she does when we get on board is  upgrade her minutes, as for me, i take the position that my wife is with me, so there is no one i need to talk to, and i can ask her to check the daily news and sports. i never had a problem and never did ncl insist i upgrade my wifi usage. as a matter of fact, the only reason i even bring my cell phone with me, is to take extra pictures

[herbanrenewal]

43 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

I was able to upgrade my wifi package without upgrading my husband's, and we're on the same booking. They didn't make it easy or obvious, but it can be done.

how did you do it? when I tried it wouldn't let me, so I called and was told it is not possible.  The agent actually told me to "just use your friend's phone."  Because I've gotten different answers before I also tried using the chat feature.

[bluesea777]

Last cruise I upgraded mine to unlimited but my DH didn’t..

 

 

[herbanrenewal]

26 minutes ago, complawyer said:

i dont know, my wife is surgically attached to her cell phone, and the 1st  thing she does when we get on board is  upgrade her minutes, as for me, i take the position that my wife is with me, so there is no one i need to talk to, and i can ask her to check the daily news and sports. i never had a problem and never did ncl insist i upgrade my wifi usage. as a matter of fact, the only reason i even bring my cell phone with me, is to take extra pictures

That's easier to do in a relationship - but my roommate is my neighbor.   I'd also prefer to book and pre-pay because you save 15% by prepaying.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

I just found out today that I can't upgrade my internet without my roommate upgrading too. She has a phone plan that covers her international with no fees, but I would have to pay my phone carrier. I  now realize that couples dont get to only grade for one, but they usually share phones - or at least know the same people they communicate with in an emergency. So on a b2b2b that last 31 days I'd have no internet to stay in touch with my family. I think from now on we'll be booking solo. We also can't each use our shareholder benefit. If it wasn't after final payment we would cancel and get 2 interiors - it would be cheaper!

I have never seen a requirement to upgrade both people in a cabin. And we only upgraded one person to unlimited on our cruise last week. 

 

A cruise ship is not international. It is a cruise ship. So, most phone plans don't cover phone/data charges from cruise ships. 

[jtdlmc]

I was able to do it right from my NCL account with no issue.

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by jtdlmc

[ljrfrm]

I always upgrade my wifi and my husband never does as we just share it. We don't stay logged in - whoever wants to use it just logs in on their own device and we're good to go. Never an issue to both have to do it.

[Travelling2Some]

My husband always takes the upgraded package and I never take it.  As the above post shows, I just check his box and not mine and pay online before we cruise.  Never a problem.  I don't use the internet at all when we are away so he even uses up my complimentary minutes since I don't want them.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Travelling2Some

[coldflame]

12 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

I was able to upgrade my wifi package without upgrading my husband's, and we're on the same booking. They didn't make it easy or obvious, but it can be done.

This. I upgraded my plan, but not my wife's since she wasn't using it. No problem.

[fredflint]

You can have a plan for one device, I actually had to do this as they said since I had a 500 min free plan I could only upgrade to a single unlimited plan.

 

As has been posted you should be able to do it yourself, for one device.

Also as has been stated international calling does not include onboard the ship!

[laudergayle]

On the NCL app it doesn’t give you the option to select one person. Open your account on NCL.com and you can select just one person.

Edited December 19, 2022 by laudergayle

[JGmf]

16 hours ago, complawyer said:

...as for me, i take the position that my wife is with me, so there is no one i need to talk to, and i can ask her to check the daily news and sports. i never had a problem and never did ncl insist i upgrade my wifi usage. as a matter of fact, the only reason i even bring my cell phone with me, is to take extra pictures

 

Amen to that.  Sometimes if I'm with a group visiting a port, I leave that thing in the room.  NCL security staff are typically shocked that I'm "phone-less" when going through the scanners to get back on board the ship.

 

[Heartfelttraveler]

17 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

how did you do it? when I tried it wouldn't let me, so I called and was told it is not possible.  The agent actually told me to "just use your friend's phone."  Because I've gotten different answers before I also tried using the chat feature.

You can purchase or upgrade just one person in the room once onboard.  The only thing that they really stick to all in the room getting is the alcohol package.

[CILCIANRQTS]

Can’t be much of a friend if you want to go with separate cabins over the internet package…😉😎💻

[mjkacmom]

Does this friend know that international phone plans don’t usually work at sea?

[herbanrenewal]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

Does this friend know that international phone plans don’t usually work at sea?

mu friend has used hers for several years so i think she knows what she has.

 

[herbanrenewal]

1 hour ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Can’t be much of a friend if you want to go with separate cabins over the internet package…😉😎💻

Excellent friend for 45 years.

We usually share an interior or oceanview, so low end budget travelers.

Between getting two FAS instead of sharing those benefits, and  both able to get shareholder benefits instead of just one of us, and both being able to use future cruise certificate, if we booked solo sale cruises we could save money. 

[CILCIANRQTS]

1 hour ago, herbanrenewal said:

Excellent friend for 45 years.

We usually share an interior or oceanview, so low end budget travelers.

Between getting two FAS instead of sharing those benefits, and  both able to get shareholder benefits instead of just one of us, and both being able to use future cruise certificate, if we booked solo sale cruises we could save money. 

I’ll trust your judgement! 😊

[cruiseny4life]

I know others have mentioned this too, but on two cruises thus far, my husband has upgraded his internet to the unlimited plan. I've retained my 150 minutes and not been required to login. I supplemented my minutes by kicking him off his account when I wanted to get online. 🙂

 

I think your friendship, and shared room, can survive as one of you can just upgrade the internet. If one agent told you no, they are wrong. Call and talk with another one. To be fair, we did upgrade on the ship, rather than doing it pre-cruise.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

Between getting two FAS instead of sharing those benefits, and  both able to get shareholder benefits instead of just one of us, and both being able to use future cruise certificate, if we booked solo sale cruises we could save money. 

That will all depend on the specific cruise.  It is not true across the board.

[lilalila]

In the section "Explore and Plan"  for my February 25th, 2023 booking on the Escape I'm given two  choices if I want to upgrade to unlimited wifi.  Choice #1: $109.93 p/p but both people in the cabin have to purchase.  Upgrade choice #2:  $178.50 for one and the other doesn't have to purchase.

 

If I want to upgrade to premium unlimited wifi it's $179.93 p/p.

 

To the OP.  Maybe check the Explore and Plan section of your booking and look at your options under the "Internet & Photos packages" link NOT the "Offer Upgrades" link.