Difference in basic and premium wi-fi?

[39august]

I'm not tech savvy at all, so need more info before deciding whether to upgrade. We are moving from suites to regular cabins so will be having only basic unless we upgrade. My husband likes to be able to see our cameras live at home while on the ships. Will the basic wifi work for that? We don't stream movies. Any information you can give is appreciated. 

[mrgabriel]

We had basic on our last couple of cruises and I wasn't able to upload any pictures from our security cameras. On a previous cruise in the spring, I was able to get live pictures (but no video) occasionally from the centre of the ship or on the pool deck. That sailing was only half full so that may have impacted available bandwidth.

 

If you're on a cruise that stops in a lot of ports and you want to check-in occasionally, you could just use cellular while on land or in the port. 

[alyssamma]

23 minutes ago, 39august said:

I'm not tech savvy at all, so need more info before deciding whether to upgrade. We are moving from suites to regular cabins so will be having only basic unless we upgrade. My husband likes to be able to see our cameras live at home while on the ships. Will the basic wifi work for that? We don't stream movies. Any information you can give is appreciated. 

In *general* you will not be able to see live video from camera feeds with the basic plan 😞

 

Not sure when your cruise is, but X has been having great sales lately (e.g., I upgraded a cruise for $2.99/pppd). If you can wait a few weeks they will probably run a special for Black Friday..

[NaplesKnitter]

The difference is a single vs a home run!

[CNSfromHI]

3 hours ago, 39august said:

I'm not tech savvy at all, so need more info before deciding whether to upgrade. We are moving from suites to regular cabins so will be having only basic unless we upgrade. My husband likes to be able to see our cameras live at home while on the ships. Will the basic wifi work for that? We don't stream movies. Any information you can give is appreciated. 

We had basic wifi once, and I could not connect to anything throughout the trip. I just saw the "spinning wheel of death" as iPhone users often call it.

 

On our cruise earlier this year, we had the premium wifi and the difference was profound... like upgrading from two sticks to a Zippo lighter to start a fire. Bottom line, if it's important to check out your home camera-feeds, then I would pop for premium.

 

cjr

[kywildcatfanone]

Basic is for reading email only essential.  No video, images, etc .  You basically need premium to do anything other than email.

[alyssamma]

12 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Basic is for reading email only essential.  No video, images, etc .  You basically need premium to do anything other than email.

Not doubting your experience but mine has been I can do whatever I want except for video on basic. Since the OP specifically wants that, they'll need premium.

 

But I've been able to surf, send and receive pics, etc. just fine on Basic.

[hankandteri]

On the Silhouette now in the middle of the Atlantic. We upgraded to premium Wi-Fi during a flash sale, and so glad we did. Folks on board with basic have told us they aren’t happy with it. We can post and watch videos even out here. It’s really amazing. 

[CNSfromHI]

On 10/26/2023 at 1:35 PM, hankandteri said:

On the Silhouette now in the middle of the Atlantic. We upgraded to premium Wi-Fi during a flash sale, and so glad we did. Folks on board with basic have told us they aren’t happy with it. We can post and watch videos even out here. It’s really amazing. 

This was exactly our experience with both levels of WiFi -- basic was nothing but frustration; premium was terrific, and definitely amazing when out at sea. Glad you upgraded @hankandteri!

 

cjr

[GonzoWCS]

Thanks for the information here folks!

 

Cheers