Faster Internet being added to packages!!!

[gsmith2424]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Simply adding Starlink antennas isn't a miracle cure for all things Internet. The rest of the infrastructure also needs attention. The newest ships already should have, but the older might have needed additional work.

 

Speed does not equal bandwidth does not equal throughput.

Exactly. The last time I was on Sky for the November 2023 TA I looked at the WiFi receivers/points and all of them were from 2019. Those are fairly old and probably at a replacement point considering how technology advances and gets better.

[fairmontracer]

My two cents on this announcement:

1) I have not been on a Princess ship that has an Access Point in every room, even most recently a 14day on Enchanted Princess a month or so ago. The closest one to our room was down the hall.

2) Typically, I get at most, the 3Mbps download that has been mentioned here.

3) This is a direct quote from a link provided on the Princess website way back when they announced the whole Medallion program in 2018 (Pre Starlink). "MedallionNet download speeds can exceed residential service levels, often eclipsing 100 Mbps, with upload speeds exceeding 60 Mbps." The link is still on the website and we are currently getting 3Mbps.

4) I'm very interested in what the actual download speeds will be with thousands of people on it at once during a sea day.

[555]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Yes, but you got what you paid for, and there were more changes than just a simple adjustment to Internet speed. Perhaps more upgrades to the packages are coming. If not, then grandfathering should be possible.

Just like when they grandfathered the old plus packages when they started charging for casual lunches. 

[BlerkOne]

6 minutes ago, 555 said:

Just like when they grandfathered the old plus packages when they started charging for casual lunches. 

Apples to Watermelons. This has no impact on the existing internet packages.

[Trevelbond]

I've generally had good connectivity with Princess. I was talking to a crew member who seemed pretty tech savvy, and I asked, "why is it that I can stream a video on YouTube, but loading a news article can take ages?" 

 

He told me that certain websites get more bandwidth, YouTube being at or near the top of the list. They want you to be able to stream content from Discovery channel (a sponsor) among other things. 

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 hours ago, fairmontracer said:

My two cents on this announcement:

1) I have not been on a Princess ship that has an Access Point in every room, even most recently a 14day on Enchanted Princess a month or so ago. The closest one to our room was down the hall.

2) Typically, I get at most, the 3Mbps download that has been mentioned here.

3) This is a direct quote from a link provided on the Princess website way back when they announced the whole Medallion program in 2018 (Pre Starlink). "MedallionNet download speeds can exceed residential service levels, often eclipsing 100 Mbps, with upload speeds exceeding 60 Mbps." The link is still on the website and we are currently getting 3Mbps.

4) I'm very interested in what the actual download speeds will be with thousands of people on it at once during a sea day.

I think that, before the rollout of packages, people were getting much higher speeds. This was in October 2019 and we got even higher speeds a few days later, in the middle of the Pacific. Now, I’m guessing a huge majority of passengers are on WiFi nearly constantly. Princess doesn’t have the bandwidth for that. 

[rheathslc]

Unpopular opinion: I'm okay with mediocre internet on board and would not pay for it were it not included in the packages which are a big value for me even without the internet. If the package prices DO increase they will probably still be a good value for me.

 

I cruise in order to unplug. And I use poor internet as an excuse to remind work I will be 100% unavailable during my vacation. No different than when I'm camping in the mountains which I also do frequently. Thankfully my current employer totally supports checking out completely on vacation. 🙂

 

I can just use the cell service in port to do anything I absolutely HAVE to do personally (like paying bills that aren't on autopay, etc.) On my cell plan I earn international and cruise access "day passes" every month that are sufficient for what I need internet for. I can very easily turn my phone into a hot spot in port when needed. Gone are the days of insane overages for international use. And thank goodness for that. I cried when I got my cell phone bill after my very first cruise in 2007. 😱

 

I absolutely understand that many people work or attend online classes while cruising so for them, fast and reliable internet is crucial and for their sakes I hope Princess doesn't use this as an excuse to gouge us all.

[Stosh68]

On 8/7/2024 at 11:09 AM, BlerkOne said:

I wasn't aware that Princess had an access point in every cabin, which helps.

 

 

 

Every cabin is a metal box, without an AP in each cabin the signal attenuation would be massive. 

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, fairmontracer said:

My two cents on this announcement:

1) I have not been on a Princess ship that has an Access Point in every room, even most recently a 14day on Enchanted Princess a month or so ago. The closest one to our room was down the hall.

2) Typically, I get at most, the 3Mbps download that has been mentioned here.

3) This is a direct quote from a link provided on the Princess website way back when they announced the whole Medallion program in 2018 (Pre Starlink). "MedallionNet download speeds can exceed residential service levels, often eclipsing 100 Mbps, with upload speeds exceeding 60 Mbps." The link is still on the website and we are currently getting 3Mbps.

4) I'm very interested in what the actual download speeds will be with thousands of people on it at once during a sea day.

You definitely have been on a Princess ship that has an Access Point in every room. Every ship with MedallionNet has an AP behind the television. They don't look like the APs you see around the ship in the hallways but yes, they're in every room.

[PescadoAmarillo]

13 hours ago, SCX22 said:

Not quite sure of why Princess is making MedallionNet Max available.  They don't have the demographic that cares about Internet speeds.  Heck, some of Princess current demographic doesn't even understand how to connect to the Internet once on board or the difference between Intranet and Internet. 

Here we go again. Take the few CC-ers who post basic questions on this forum as representative of all baby boomers. Some of us have been doing all of our financial management on iPhones on ships since before you were born! 😉

[BlerkOne]

30 minutes ago, Stosh68 said:

 

Every cabin is a metal box, without an AP in each cabin the signal attenuation would be massive. 

Pretty much. In the good old days, if you complained about WiFi troubles, they would suggest you leave your cabin door open.

 

With suites and larger cabins, and balconies and such, there can still be areas of a cabin with poor reception.

[mikjr]

On 8/7/2024 at 8:19 AM, BlerkOne said:

An increase in package prices is overdue and expected. It's why I pre-purchase for cruises months in advance.

 

 

If you have to cancel your cruise before final payment, I assume the internet fees paid upfront are not charged, right??  

Edited August 8 by mikjr

[BlerkOne]

12 minutes ago, mikjr said:

If you have to cancel your cruise before final payment, I assume the internet fees paid upfront are not charged, right??  

I assume you are charged at the time of purchase, but don't know. You can also cancel purchase of a package. If before final payment, you should receive everything back, except maybe the deposit.

 

What will be refunded if I cancel?
If you’ve pre-paid for shore excursions or onboard purchases, you will receive a full refund. The Princess Cruises refund policy states that you will also receive money back on Government Taxes and Fees (as defined in your Passage Contract) transfers and surcharges. You may also receive a refund for part of your cruise fare depending on the length of your itinerary and how far in advance of your departure date that you cancel. Read our Passage Contract to learn more about refunds.

[SCX22]

15 minutes ago, mikjr said:

If you have to cancel your cruise before final payment, I assume the internet fees paid upfront are not charged, right??  

 

You are charged upfront front when you purchase Internet packages pre-cruise.  The charge is pushed through and will appear immediately on your CC.  If you cancel the cruise, all ancillary charges are refunded to your CC.  It will show as a line item on the Travel Summary.  The problem is how long the refund will take.  There are some reports that the refunds take too long.  Personally have never had to renege on a pre-cruise purchase.  I can say any overpayments made on EZAir have been promptly refunded to me once I get my CVP involved.

[greenie082756]

Hi all,

 

I do not exactly remember when these packages started. I think around 2018.

 

I do remember that if was one plan for $40 a day which simply included:

Wi-Fi, drinks *up to $12 per cocktail and gratuity

 

That was perfect. Now they have decided to expand this, and they are IMHO taking something that was so simple to understand and blown it up to a giant question mark. 

 

[SCX22]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Here we go again. Take the few CC-ers who post basic questions on this forum as representative of all baby boomers. Some of us have been doing all of our financial management on iPhones on ships since before you were born! 😉

 

They're your peers.  You should have a word with them.  Apparently, it's offensive if someone from my generation says something.  😜

[PescadoAmarillo]

3 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

They're your peers.  You should have a word with them.  Apparently, it's offensive if someone from my generation says something.  😜

Now you’re getting it!!! Have a word?  I’ve spent hours on ships getting people connected to WiFi from their iPhones in the past 15 years.  I have no issue at all with lack of knowledge. It’s lack of curiosity that I don’t understand. 

[AlpacaBag]

On 8/7/2024 at 4:27 PM, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks. I thought they might do something like this, deriving value from out of thin air.

 

Speeds haven't been great on my current Canada/New England cruise, mostly between 2 and 3 mbps.

 

 

I wonder how badly us non package buyers will get shafted once this change happens.

Thank you for using fast.com to speedtest. It is the most accurate for testing while on a cruise ship. The other speedtest apps, like meteor and speedtest.net don't provide the most accurate representation for cruise ships.

[kywildcatfanone]

Are they going to lower the speed of non package internet or keep it the same as now and offer faster?

The standard internet has been fine for us in the past, especially with on demand tv content.  

[TRLD]

5 hours ago, Trevelbond said:

I've generally had good connectivity with Princess. I was talking to a crew member who seemed pretty tech savvy, and I asked, "why is it that I can stream a video on YouTube, but loading a news article can take ages?" 

 

He told me that certain websites get more bandwidth, YouTube being at or near the top of the list. They want you to be able to stream content from Discovery channel (a sponsor) among other things. 

There is also an aspect of how much communication has to take place during the function. A ship may have good bandwidth, but latency is still.an issue for sat. internet. With streaming it is optimized for lots of data to be downloaded with minimal packets being uploaded so the impact of latency is reduced. For other activities such as reading news the process has much more handshaking taking place and latency shows it's impact.

[MacMadame]

On 8/7/2024 at 8:37 AM, voljeep said:

and you are fine with the sure to come price increase also?  for more something you may or may not need?

I don't understand complaining about a price increase *that has not happened*.

 

Princess has now added several things to the Plus fare that weren't there when I first booked without raising the price. You won't see me complaining about that! And if they do raise the price before my cruise, I will decide then if it's worth upgrading and/or complaining based on what the new price is and what it includes.

[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Are they going to lower the speed of non package internet or keep it the same as now and offer faster?

The standard internet has been fine for us in the past, especially with on demand tv content.  

Their statement says that they plan to maintain the same speeds for those who don't purchase packages. 

 

They might be able to do it. Then again, if they get more package buyers - especially those who are large bandwidth consumers - then service could suffer for those who don't have packages. We'll see.

[90scruzer]

On 8/7/2024 at 8:56 AM, BlerkOne said:

Nobody is forced to buy a package. Choice is good.

note:  MAX internet is unavailable without package at any price.   So there is no choice if the classic is insufficient.   choice is only a valid argument when there is a competitive choice.  It's like saying "if you don't like how bank A does business, use bank B that doesn't."  Good luck finding bank B.   I'm not saying I expect anything different from Princess.   This is their business model.   take it or go on a land tour 😛

 

I could support all those with the package's alcoholic bender with my abstinence, but then their marketing hype is a non-starter as it is a money losing proposition.   I'm too Scottish for that!  It will never happen, but still looking for "kids grade" ie. non-alcoholic version.  

[rheathslc]

Well, it happened. As most of us suspected it would.

$90/day for Premier (starting August 31st from what I've seen). But so far no change to Plus.

 

Glad I upgraded a few days ago. Which I did for the Specialty Dining and $20 drink limit, not the internet)

 

[voljeep]

9 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

Well, it happened. As most of us suspected it would.

$90/day for Premier (starting August 31st from what I've seen). But so far no change to Plus.

 

Glad I upgraded a few days ago. Which I did for the Specialty Dining and $20 drink limit, not the internet)

 

will you now upgrade to Premier 90?