Question about cost to upgrade WiFi to unlimited.

[screenname2004]

Last year when we sailed on the Bliss, we can upgrade our 150 FAS WiFi minutes to unlimited for $110 on day 1 and 2 of our sailing and a lesser amount ($100 or $90?) from day 3 till day 7. Does anyone know if they changed their upgrade pricing?

[Liljo22]

I was under the impression that you could only upgrade by day 2 and you could not have used any of the minutes before the upgrade.  Someone can confirm if that is still true.  

[BirdTravels]

58 minutes ago, screenname2004 said:

Last year when we sailed on the Bliss, we can upgrade our 150 FAS WiFi minutes to unlimited for $110 on day 1 and 2 of our sailing and a lesser amount ($100 or $90?) from day 3 till day 7. Does anyone know if they changed their upgrade pricing?

I don’t think you can upgrade after day 2. For our upcoming 7-night cruise, upgrade to unlimited is $109 and upgrade to premium is $179. 

[goldmom]

DH was planning to upgrade on day 2.  Is he not allowed to use any of his minutes then on day one?  We have the FAS minutes and latitude minutes.

[screenname2004]

27 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

I was under the impression that you could only upgrade by day 2 and you could not have used any of the minutes before the upgrade.  Someone can confirm if that is still true.  

The upgrade option is gone from the app after day 1 but you can talk to the staff at Internet Cafe to upgrade from day 2. I asked about upgrading on day 5 during our Bliss cruise and got the price of either $90 ( or $100?) but did not upgrade. At the time of my inquiry, we still have 150 minutes on one of our accounts. Have no idea what happens if we used some or all of the 150 minutes.

[vacation44]

18 minutes ago, goldmom said:

DH was planning to upgrade on day 2.  Is he not allowed to use any of his minutes then on day one?  We have the FAS minutes and latitude minutes.

Would love to know also as I was planning to upgrade also for both me and my husband as our two young adult children will be using it.

[JessLCH]

45 minutes ago, goldmom said:

DH was planning to upgrade on day 2.  Is he not allowed to use any of his minutes then on day one?  We have the FAS minutes and latitude minutes.

What are latitudes minutes? I thought latitudes now got package discounts and not minutes. I am Sapphire and wondering about latitudes benefit for upgrading the wifi to unlimited.

[BirdTravels]

Casino minutes have no value so are not upgradable. 

[mking8288]

I don't have "this week's" current or latest rates/upgrade info but as of last month, I'm pretty certain you can upgrade on Day 2 of a 7 Day (Nights) cruise, apply the 150 FAS minutes - unused - and get credit for trading up, and paid for 6 day's worth of unlimited, priced at $30 per day (higher for the streaming "premium" unlimited ... which might work better for some with the optimized device(s) or hardware that's WiFi6 or at least WiFi5+ higher / 802.11.ac)

 

Basic formula that I've used over the years to calculate (rounded to nearest dollars for simplicity) $30 per day x 6 = $180 less $100 trade-up credit = $80 for 6 days vs. $109 ($29/$30 for 1 less day).   If there is 2 of you, once you've done the upgrade after 00:01 (midnight after sailing is Day 2) - the second pax's 150 minutes remained usable & can be used and shared, gifted to someone else traveling with you and/or go online on a 2nd. device at the same time, etc.

 

Unconfirmed but once you started using those free FAS minutes on Day 1, the option to upgrade is gone for that user - it might, I am not sure, the option to upgrade for 2nd person with FAS remains valid or not as long as zero airtime minutes were used.  Otherwise, once you've upgraded the first person's plan to unlimited - the second person's plan minutes are good & go ahead, use it on a different device.  Remember to check your unused balance of minutes and do the login and logout commands on a browser (iCafe has a printed written guide)

 

I always recommend doing this upgrade onboard instead of prepaying ahead, as you can sometimes get "unexpected" or "unforeseen" changes resulting in non-refundable OBC being issued or posted against your onboard account, to offset & paid for the upgrade.  Do this ahead or pre-cruise, charges must be paid for using one's credit/debit card immediately.  

 

As for the Latitudes minutes, those're long gone unless one has an very "old" booking that remained unchanged, thus grandfathered in and possible to stack on top of FAS minutes - those were given little to zero values for the uptrade (30 minutes p/p when we're Platinum then and 60 minutes p/p when we reached P Plus, all pre-Covid)

 

Latitudes discount (Sapphires, Platinums, etc.) does not apply to these trade-ups and not stackable.  

 

If going on the Bliss again, might also be worth waiting to see if Starlink will roll out to the ship by embarkation time, as terms & prices might change (upward ... LOL) and maybe they'll run "specials" to promote the "expected" & promised superior connectivity. 

[vacation44]

16 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

I don't have "this week's" current or latest rates/upgrade info but as of last month, I'm pretty certain you can upgrade on Day 2 of a 7 Day (Nights) cruise, apply the 150 FAS minutes - unused - and get credit for trading up, and paid for 6 day's worth of unlimited, priced at $30 per day (higher for the streaming "premium" unlimited ... which might work better for some with the optimized device(s) or hardware that's WiFi6 or at least WiFi5+ higher / 802.11.ac)

 

Basic formula that I've used over the years to calculate (rounded to nearest dollars for simplicity) $30 per day x 6 = $180 less $100 trade-up credit = $80 for 6 days vs. $109 ($29/$30 for 1 less day).   If there is 2 of you, once you've done the upgrade after 00:01 (midnight after sailing is Day 2) - the second pax's 150 minutes remained usable & can be used and shared, gifted to someone else traveling with you and/or go online on a 2nd. device at the same time, etc.

 

Unconfirmed but once you started using those free FAS minutes on Day 1, the option to upgrade is gone for that user - it might, I am not sure, the option to upgrade for 2nd person with FAS remains valid or not as long as zero airtime minutes were used.  Otherwise, once you've upgraded the first person's plan to unlimited - the second person's plan minutes are good & go ahead, use it on a different device.  Remember to check your unused balance of minutes and do the login and logout commands on a browser (iCafe has a printed written guide)

 

I always recommend doing this upgrade onboard instead of prepaying ahead, as you can sometimes get "unexpected" or "unforeseen" changes resulting in non-refundable OBC being issued or posted against your onboard account, to offset & paid for the upgrade.  Do this ahead or pre-cruise, charges must be paid for using one's credit/debit card immediately.  

 

As for the Latitudes minutes, those're long gone unless one has an very "old" booking that remained unchanged, thus grandfathered in and possible to stack on top of FAS minutes - those were given little to zero values for the uptrade (30 minutes p/p when we're Platinum then and 60 minutes p/p when we reached P Plus, all pre-Covid)

 

Latitudes discount (Sapphires, Platinums, etc.) does not apply to these trade-ups and not stackable.  

 

If going on the Bliss again, might also be worth waiting to see if Starlink will roll out to the ship by embarkation time, as terms & prices might change (upward ... LOL) and maybe they'll run "specials" to promote the "expected" & promised superior connectivity. 

Thank you for posting current information on the upgrade options.    I was going to wait until midnight going into day 2, but now that I see that you must not have used any minutes, I just do not think that would happen.    However, I will wait until a week out from our sailing.

[mking8288]

5 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Thank you for posting current information on the upgrade options.    I was going to wait until midnight going into day 2, but now that I see that you must not have used any minutes, I just do not think that would happen.    However, I will wait until a week out from our sailing.

That's one of the "catches" and gotcha with the internet packages - wouldn't hurt to ask on embarkation day.  Sailing out of NY (and, most ports for that matter) - usually has cell signal until 5 to 6 pm and it's then dinner time.  By the time we've finished, it's late already especially if going to the "welcome abroad" show - wait 2 or 3 hours and then go live, all (late) night long, midnight onward - not as difficult as it sound.

 

Upcoming sailing, ship not scheduled to sail until 7:30 p.m - almost certain to still get cellular coverage until 8:30 or 9 p.m. from the balcony as ship leave the port's harbor.  

[bkrickles1]

9 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Thank you for posting current information on the upgrade options.    I was going to wait until midnight going into day 2, but now that I see that you must not have used any minutes, I just do not think that would happen.    However, I will wait until a week out from our sailing.

On my last 3 ncl sailings, I've had my daughter wait until midnight going into day 2 and we've received the discounted rate and I'm happy to save those few dollars. Yes, she couldn't use any minutes before midnight, but she was ok with that. We always board around 11am, so she has until sailaway to go crazy and then dinner and entertainment keeps her busy until midnight. Last year on Joy, the first 2 had the 150 minutes, so she used mine on that first day before midnight and then she upgraded hers at 12:01am. 

We're sailing Joy again this summer and will employ the same strategy. It's not a huge savings, but I like it anyway.

[vacation44]

1 minute ago, bkrickles1 said:

On my last 3 ncl sailings, I've had my daughter wait until midnight going into day 2 and we've received the discounted rate and I'm happy to save those few dollars. Yes, she couldn't use any minutes before midnight, but she was ok with that. We always board around 11am, so she has until sailaway to go crazy and then dinner and entertainment keeps her busy until midnight. Last year on Joy, the first 2 had the 150 minutes, so she used mine on that first day before midnight and then she upgraded hers at 12:01am. 

We're sailing Joy again this summer and will employ the same strategy. It's not a huge savings, but I like it anyway.

Oh, I am all about the savings too!    We are leaving from San Juan this time and the ship sails off at 7:00 p.m.    I think I will run it by them and see what they say.  Knowing them, they will say, "we will just pay for it".

[bkrickles1]

2 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Oh, I am all about the savings too!    We are leaving from San Juan this time and the ship sails off at 7:00 p.m.    I think I will run it by them and see what they say.  Knowing them, they will say, "we will just pay for it".

My wife has trained our daughter well. She's all about the savings just like her mom! In fact, we only upgrade the one line and share throughout the week.

We have a family system and it works for us. We've been doing it for years.

I am up at 5:30am to go to the gym, shower and set up on the deck above the pool deck by 7:30am. This gives me a solid 90 minutes to 2 hours of uninterrupted wifi time while my girls are still sleeping. Lmao!!

My wife and daughter share throughout the day, with my daughter using it for 80% of that time.

I get another hour+ before dinner while I'm having my pre dinner gin and tonics and then it's all my daughter for the rest of the evening.

It's a strategy that has served us well and I'm sure we'll do the same come July on Joy.

[IsanTom]

My wife and I have 300 minutes each on a 15 day sailing, but I don't need any, so can she upgrade on day 1 02 using the 600 minutes for one internet account? How much would the upgrade cost? I'll be using my drink package while she'll be using the internet.

[cruiseny4life]

13 minutes ago, IsanTom said:

My wife and I have 300 minutes each on a 15 day sailing, but I don't need any, so can she upgrade on day 1 02 using the 600 minutes for one internet account? How much would the upgrade cost? I'll be using my drink package while she'll be using the internet.

She can just sign in to your internet package when hers is all used up. It doesn't matter what device you use. You just have to verify some information (name, DOB, something else I don't remember). 

[goldmom]

Thanks everyone for all this great information.  And yes, I forgot that the Latitude minutes are now gone.

[Monica887]

Is there an option to just get internet for a day? I usually don't get internet at all, I'm happy to disconnect, but another cruise line recently, I got sock and it was nice to pay for it for just the 2 days that I was feeling awful and completely stuck in the room. 

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, IsanTom said:

My wife and I have 300 minutes each on a 15 day sailing, but I don't need any, so can she upgrade on day 1 02 using the 600 minutes for one internet account? How much would the upgrade cost? I'll be using my drink package while she'll be using the internet.

The upgrade price should be shown under your reservation's "Offered Upgrade" for the basic unlimited and streaming/premium unlimited, and, already priced or factored your trade-in discount/credit 300 minutes ( times 2 users )  As noted above, just help get DW signed into your profile and burn those 300 minutes (6 hours worth) on Day 1 ... and with dinner & other events, get her pretty close to midnight for doing "her's" Day 2 upgrade, after switching the profile & logged out of "your" profile with the minutes already/nearly used up.  

 

Checking ours, pricing for unlimited dropped on longer cruises (15 days) to $25 per day or $375 for 15 days.  300 minutes get a trade-up credit of $145 and the full 15 days upgrade to basic unlimited is $230.  Trade-up unused 300 minutes on Day 2 to unlimited and save $25 to a total of $205.  Trade-up on Day 3, lowered further to $180 for 13 days instead of 15 days 

 

<  I recall that to be allowed on our last 14 nights cruise - reducing the billable days - by upgrading on Day 3 >  Sound confusing, it's okay ... ask about it onboard & do it later, you will save some money and at least won't be paying more on the ship.  

 

Kick the tin can here: if you own 100 shares of NCLH stocks, it's worth $250 NR-OBC for cruise of 15 days or longer, unused NR-OBC balance will be either $45 or $70 after adjusting for the WiFi charges for 14 or 13 days.  

[mking8288]

@Monica887  Short answer is "no" and that's how NCL's pricing scheme works.  They won't offer or sell you unlimited for a day, it's for the duration of the entire cruise (minus day 1 and maybe day 2 at the beginning ... although, on one of our longer 14 nights cruise - I'm pretty sure one can skip the first 3 days and start as late as day 4, if the rules hasn't changed, again, since 2019)

 

If you have 150 FAS minutes, that's 2.5 hours of limited access, which you must remember to logout after each use; and, then login again to resume & start the meter again ... otherwise, it'll be gone before midnight on Day 1.