E-sims and internet WiFi on Pacific Adventure

[Evange]

Just doing my cruise shopping. Wifi for three of us is about $25 per day x 3 x 10 days. Crazy amount. 
 

Was thinking to buy e sims instead as my NZ plan doesn’t do ocean roaming. Any advice on this issue is very welcome as really no idea how to deal with this as the grandchild is bound to want some internet, and husband also likes keeping up with his news.

 

[arxcards]

Ocean roaming via sim is potentially more expensive than paying for ship wi-fi. It is doable for SMS and very short calls, but connecting for internet data could cost you more than your cruise. Check out any fine print on any e-sim plan. Instead of 3 wi-fi internet plans, just share one - only catch is one connection at a time.

[Evange]

Thanks I didn’t know you could do that. I thought you are only allowed to use one device per person and that gets signed into once and you are stuck with that device the entire trip.

 

Do you mean that we can all sign in with our own devices using the one sign up but only one device at a time? That would work well as our Mail and contacts are on our own devices. 
 

[lyndarra]

31 minutes ago, Evange said:

Do you mean that we can all sign in with our own devices using the one sign up but only one device at a time? That would work well as our Mail and contacts are on our own devices. 
 

That's correct. Remember the days (if you're old enough) when a home had only one phone and you had to queue up to make a call?😟

[ceeceeDee]

Just make sure that everyone is aware when someone is using the wifi because if they log on you will be 'booted' off. Four of us shared wifi quite successfully by 'booking' a time and advising the others when our 'session' had finished.

[Evange]

Thanks for that info has saved me heaps! 

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 hours ago, Evange said:

Thanks I didn’t know you could do that. I thought you are only allowed to use one device per person and that gets signed into once and you are stuck with that device the entire trip.

 

Do you mean that we can all sign in with our own devices using the one sign up but only one device at a time? That would work well as our Mail and contacts are on our own devices. 
 

Yes, and the person currently using it can also switch between devices, which I did on our world cruise when I wanted to use my laptop instead of my phone.

[yarramar]

5 hours ago, Evange said:

Thanks for that info has saved me heaps! 

You can do even better than that and get a travel router. To use it, you log into your PC, set up the router to connect to the ships WiFi and then all of your devices are connected at the same time through the router. It also gives you more security so you cannot be eavesdropped on.

I have done this and had 2 iPhones, a PC, an iPad, watch, camera and Firestick all connected at once. The only drawback is that to use WiFi outside your cabin, you have to log on with a single device but can reconnect on returning.

They are very inexpensive. This one is available from Amazon NZ

[SinbadThePorter]

1 minute ago, yarramar said:

You can do even better than that and get a travel router. To use it, you log into your PC, set up the router to connect to the ships WiFi and then all of your devices are connected at the same time through the router.

 

In Windows (and presumably something equivalent in Macs), there is a facility in "Settings" under "Network and Internet" called "Mobile Hotspot". You can use this to setup your laptop as a wireless router allowing multiple connections through it. So no need for a travel router. As you move around the ship with your laptop, you also bring along your connections.

[yarramar]

2 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

In Windows (and presumably something equivalent in Macs), there is a facility in "Settings" under "Network and Internet" called "Mobile Hotspot". You can use this to setup your laptop as a wireless router allowing multiple connections through it. So no need for a travel router. As you move around the ship with your laptop, you also bring along your connections.

Do you know if a mobile hotspot under Windows works when connected to WiFi and not a cell signal? My iPhone doesn't allow hotspot connections unless connected to a mobile network. The ship uses WiFi

[yarramar]

4 minutes ago, yarramar said:

Do you know if a mobile hotspot under Windows works when connected to WiFi and not a cell signal? My iPhone doesn't allow hotspot connections unless connected to a mobile network. The ship uses WiFi

I just tried it. Yes it does work, my iPhone was able to use my laptop using my home WiFi

[SinbadThePorter]

2 minutes ago, yarramar said:

I just tried it. Yes it does work, my iPhone was able to use my laptop using my home WiFi

 

I've done it onboard several ships.

 

The only caveat is that the laptop needs to have a reasonably modern wireless chipset. My guess is that 99% of laptops would be fine.

[Evange]

Gosh that’s great news. I was wondering how crew got by and figured there must be some useful hack. Wasn’t planning to take the laptop but now may consider it. It was going to cost an extra aprox 800 if I did the three. Great people. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Evange said:

Gosh that’s great news. I was wondering how crew got by and figured there must be some useful hack. Wasn’t planning to take the laptop but now may consider it. It was going to cost an extra aprox 800 if I did the three. Great people. 

On their wages, paying for ship wi-fi is a luxury. Crew get by through not using wi-fi on the ship at all, and making a beeline to the nearest free wi-fi point when they get ashore.

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

I've done it onboard several ships.

 

The only caveat is that the laptop needs to have a reasonably modern wireless chipset. My guess is that 99% of laptops would be fine.

The other caveat to using a device as a router is that you all have to be in proximity to each other.

[SinbadThePorter]

5 hours ago, Evange said:

Gosh that’s great news. I was wondering how crew got by and figured there must be some useful hack. Wasn’t planning to take the laptop but now may consider it. It was going to cost an extra aprox 800 if I did the three. Great people. 

 

Just a reminder to always test these things at home before you go.

[Sea_Croozing]

Just to tag on to this thread, we will be embarking on a cruise from Sydney to Singapore and then a New Zealand Cruise. I am wondering if any has a recommendation for a SIM for my phone so that I can have data access to Google Maps and such while we are on shore.

 

Thanks

[Evange]

https://www.airalo.com/oceania-esim

This is the e-sim I was looking at and you get a weeks free trial. That’s if your phone takes one. Otherwise in NZ, Skinny is the cheapest at $8 per month but the amount of data is about 250MB per month but you can buy more and top up each day via the app as you need. Skinny,co,nz is the website and look at prepay. You can buy them, from a supermarket or any appliance store that sells laptops and phones. 

[Evange]

There’s also an App called Tantu Map GPS offline navigation. Download the places you need. I’ve used it on NZ roads when no internet and it’s pretty good.