Does it cost more for upgrade of internet on the ship?

[herbanrenewal]

I want to use OBC for upgrading internet package. Does anyone know the difference in price if booked on board vs pre-booking?

[BirdTravels]

No difference. There are the very limited few that wait until Day 2 to save a day's worth of internet charges. We never do. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Liljo22]

I am one of the limited few that waits until day 2 to upgrade.  If you hold off on using the minutes on day 1, you get full credit for the free Wi-Fi and pay one less day in the upgrade.  
 

If the ship is not leaving until 4, I am going to be too busy with dinner and exploring the ship by the time we are out if cell range.  

[UnbridledEnthusiasm]

4 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

I am one of the limited few that waits until day 2 to upgrade.  If you hold off on using the minutes on day 1, you get full credit for the free Wi-Fi and pay one less day in the upgrade.  
 

If the ship is not leaving until 4, I am going to be too busy with dinner and exploring the ship by the time we are out if cell range.  

Same. I learned this "hack" right here on CruiseCritic! A penny saved is a penny earned. 

[dad son team]

Tagging on to this thread, can internet be purchased by the day?  I need it for 1 day (really 3-4 hours) to do some work and don't want to pay for the whole week if I don't have to.

[Asawi]

9 minutes ago, dad son team said:

Tagging on to this thread, can internet be purchased by the day?  I need it for 1 day (really 3-4 hours) to do some work and don't want to pay for the whole week if I don't have to.

I seem to recall having seen something about this. Possibly in the app during cruise. I think it was around $25 for a day uf unlimited. Not 100% sure though, so need confirmation from someone else! It was announced as "news" if I recall correctly.

And FWIW, it made no difference that I had used some of my minutes a few days into the cruise. It was still credited as $200 (300 minutes, 12-day cruise)

Edit: This was on Star, in case it differs between ships. It shouldn't, but hey...

Edited August 21, 2023 by Asawi

[pcakes122]

I also wait until Day 2 - why pay more? 🤷🏻‍♀️ A reminder for the night owls... you only have to wait until midnight on embarkation day to save! 😊😉

[julig22]

4 hours ago, dad son team said:

Tagging on to this thread, can internet be purchased by the day?  I need it for 1 day (really 3-4 hours) to do some work and don't want to pay for the whole week if I don't have to.

I don't know by day but I have seen offers for additional time, thinking it was maybe an additional 150/300 minutes. It might depend on the ship.

Also, remember that you can often get free service in the ports. By your signature, it looks like you are going to Alaska on the Sun - there is usually really good service at the terminal in Ward Cove - and it's free. 

[mking8288]

FWIW, we had a recent NCL cruise with 20:00 scheduled departure on embarkation day that was additionally delayed.  Our 5G cellular signal were faster, stronger & better by most benchmarks 😁 especially on our balcony & inside the cabin.  We had coverage until about 22:30 - long after dinner, skipped the welcome show and ready to call it a night, as it was a rather long day.  By the time DW was ready to sleep, practically midnight & did the upgrade shortly there after midnight, saved $30 by not doing the unlimited (basic only, not premium) upgrade - that nearly always come out of our non-refundable OBC.  There's no "discount" or savings by waiting until onboard, aside from being able to use those NR-OBC, and, also to ascertain and evaluate how "good" the ship's satellite WiFi access is (it's mostly usable & functional ... will not surpass our true hi-speed Fios, obviously.  

 

The other consideration, to "extract" the best & optimal speeds onboard and while traveling, is to see whether - as end users - we are using the newer hardware, if not newest tech with our laptop, chromebook, iPhone or smartphone ... WiFi 5 at least, WiFi 6 preferred as the 5Ghz band is less congested, but has to be closer to the nearest signal (hotspot and/or cellular signal tower(s) - 5G isn't everywhere as many places that we visit while on a cruise are still using 4G LTE as the main backbone.  

[cruiseny4life]

I'm a cheap-o too and wait until the second day. Why not. It's not like you need internet on day one. On our European cruise, we'll be purchasing the day pass through our cell provider so we'll have service until the ship leaves port. $30 bucks will cover that day pass three times. 

 

I'm not a cheapskate like you see on whatever channel that gross show is on. 

 

Have fun!

[Pablo Diablo]

Just a heads up if you wait until day 2 to upgrade.  Do it early in the day!  Otherwise, you run the risk of the unlimited plans being "sold out".  With recent sailings being at >100% passenger occupancy, the ship's internet manager may limit the number of unlimited (basic & premium) plans to a certain maximum amount as there is only so much bandwidth that can be shared among thousands of passengers. On a recent sailing, I didn't get to the internet cafe until the afternoon of day 2, and at that point they had already sold out.  As explained to me by the iCafe manager, to (over)sell more unlimited plans/upgrades would mean poor internet service for everyone on the ship due to bandwidth constraints.

[FrostyJoe]

On 8/20/2023 at 12:00 PM, Liljo22 said:

you get full credit for the free Wi-Fi and pay one less day in the upgrade.

Can you explain what this means?  Do we get some sort of refund for free wifi?

[Aldeya]

The OP is talking about the UPGRADE on day 2. Can you just BUY a premium package on day 2 to save some money or it works only if you buy the package pre-cruise and then upgrade onboard?

[Liljo22]

10 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Can you explain what this means?  Do we get some sort of refund for free wifi?

Not a refund.  Its just cheaper for the unlimited plans if you have not used the free wi-fi minutes.  The cost of unlimited wi-fi is $209.93 for seven days but if you are upgrading from the free minutes, its only $109.93.  If you are able to wait until after midnight of the first day without using minutes, you can still get the full $100 discount plus 1 less day of plan charges.  

[mking8288]

On 8/25/2023 at 2:49 AM, Aldeya said:

The OP is talking about the UPGRADE on day 2. Can you just BUY a premium package on day 2 to save some money or it works only if you buy the package pre-cruise and then upgrade onboard?

I am 99% sure that OP can do the upgrade on Day 2, both the basic unlimited upgrade or the premium upgrade ("streaming" but mostly unblocked VPN access with certain TCP/UDP ports open) - minus the trade-in amount, which varied depending on whether it's 150 or 300 minutes, etc.  Up until now, the premium option is priced $10 higher per day or $40 per day ... if and when Starlink is "eventually" chosen for actual fleet deployment, who knows.  

 

These are screenshot of upgrade costs - based on a 7 nights and a 9 nights, less the trade-in amount allowed - similar offered upgrade for 11 nights ... Latitudes discount cannot be applied or combined ... however.   When in doubt, check the options on MyNCL App onboard and speak to the iCafe manager.  

Edited August 26, 2023 by mking8288