One of the biggest complaints from guests onboard cruise ships is not only the generally poor to average quality of the Wi-Fi onboard but also and in particular the cost of it and also when someone forgets to switch off global roaming and then gets a massive bill when they get home for accessing the ship’s phone system!
With guests today across all demographics not only wanting to browse websites, read and sending emails, post updates to social media sites, to be fair Wi-Fi on many ships is faster than its ever been, but performing more data-intensive tasks, such as downloading or uploading photos, using Wi-Fi calling and apps such as Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp and others and streaming TV shows, movies or music can be an extremely frustrating and time-consuming and also very expensive process, with some cruise lines not allowing or supporting streaming at all.
Of course, many of us realise that the ship’s Wi-Fi is provided by satellite and we are told that is very expensive and we are also told that affects the speed and quality and who knows if that is true or not or is it the system or price the cruise company is willing to pay to get satellite access.
While many of the top-end luxury companies including Viking Ocean, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd, Silversea Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, and Azamara Club Cruises provide free Wi-Fi or probably actually just include it in the price many of the mainstream cruise companies generally charge and see Wi-Fi as an important onboard revenue source, with Cruise Critic giving the following interesting insights
Royal Caribbean
Speed: Great
Cost: Low
Royal Caribbean’s VOOM internet is the gold standard when it comes to cruise ship Wi-Fi, with the fastest speeds out there. Some Cruise Critic forum members report speeds of up to 24Mbps, which, believe us, is fast! With Voom, there’s not much you can’t do. Need to upload pictures to Facebook or Instagram? Not a problem. Want to catch up with your favorite show on Hulu? You can do that, too. From streaming to Wi-Fi calls and VoIP applications on messaging apps, everything is supported.
Access to the internet on Royal Caribbean is tiered and is priced accordingly with prices varying by ship (generally speaking, none of the packages cost more than $20 per day except day passes). The Surf package is the slowest and is best for those who just want to use social media apps or check email. The Surf & Stream package is what supplies the super-fast internet.
Prices for each package are by device (one, two or four), per day with the lowest prices being for those who purchase a four-device plan; single-day passes are also available.
Celebrity Cruises
Speed: Great
Cost: High
Celebrity Cruises’ Xcelerate unlimited internet is fast enough to enable streaming and VoIP capabilities on a pretty reliable basis. Recent upgrades have increased the speed of the Wi-Fi on Celebrity ships by 70x what it previously was; however, the Internet can still be constrained by the ship’s location, as well as by how many people are trying to use the internet at once. Cruise Critic forum members, however, report few problems streaming movies and live sporting events on a consistent basis.
The cost for internet is a bit pricy, starting at $249 on a seven-night cruise. Buying a package before the cruise gets you a 10 percent discount off the onboard price.
Norwegian Cruise Line
Speed: Good to great
Cost: High
Norwegian Cruise Line’s internet ranges in speed, but can go quite fast. Though the line would not divulge its Wi-Fi’s top speeds, Norwegian did recently invest to expand its bandwidth by 40 percent in time for the 2018 summer season. Most capabilities are supported, but you have to purchase the correct plan for what you want to do. Only one plan supports streaming, though depending on the ship’s location and how many people are online at a time, you might be able to use a basic plan for VoIP apps.
The prices for Norwegian’s plans are at the higher end for the cruise industry. For unlimited access to just social media sites, the cost is $14.99 per day ($105/week). An unlimited Wi-Fi package that does not support streaming of any kind (music or video) is $29.99 per day ($210/week), while an unlimited plan that supports streaming is $34.99 per day ($245/week).
You can also pay as you go or purchase a 250-minute package, but neither of these supports streaming. (All packages cost 15 percent less if purchased pre-cruise, and cruises of 13 days or longer receive a small per-day discount.)
MSC Cruises
Speed: Great on MSC Seaside; average on other ships
Cost: High
MSC Cruises offers high-speed internet on its newest U.S.-based ship, MSC Seaside. (Europe-based MSC Seaview may offer the same speeds, but there are no confirmed reports of this yet.) Speeds for the premium plan are fast enough to support streaming and VoIP, but because MSC offers packages by data, rather than time, using high-data functionalities (like streaming movies or TV shows) will use up your plan rather quickly.
Plans are offered by data level and device usage. At the lower end is a one device, 1.5 gigabyte plan ($50) that’s best for checking email and using social media, including posting photos and text messaging. A two device, 3GB plan ($100) and four device, 6GB plan ($160) are best for fuller usage of the internet, with the latter better for anyone looking to stream. (Keep in mind, one hour of streaming on Netflix uses about 1GB of data for SD video or up to 3GB for HD video.)
Silversea Cruises
Speed: Good
Cost: Low (free) for standard; medium for premium
Silversea’s standard internet, which is complimentary to all passengers, is generally reliable and supports most basic tasks, but its premium Wi-Fi is where the speed really comes in, generally fast enough to support both streaming and VoIP on a reliable basis. According to the line, Wi-Fi speeds can go as fast as 2.9Mbps, slow for land-based internet, but at the high end for cruise ships. The average daily speed, of course, is less (the line could not provide a number), as the ship changes position and the number of people connected at any given time goes up or down.
Standard internet is free for everyone on Silversea Cruises, but those staying in larger suites get the premium Wi-Fi for no additional cost. Cruisers with standard who want to upgrade to premium can do so for $29 per day.
Carnival Cruise Line
Speed: Average to Good with the Premium Plan; great on Carnival Horizon
Cost: Low
Carnival Cruise Line has concentrated on making its internet more reliable, leaving its investment in increased bandwidth and speed for its newest ships only (namely Carnival Horizon and Vista). As a result, Carnival’s Wi-Fi on most ships tends to be the slowest of the big three cruise lines and is the only one to not support streaming — you can use VoIP with its top-tier plan (not including FaceTime) but sites like Netflix, Hulu and Spotify are blocked.
Carnival’s internet pricing, on the other hand, is the best there is at sea. A Social Wi-Fi plan costs $5 per day and includes access to standard social media sites, as well as messaging apps. The VoIP function of such apps (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, etc.) does not work with this plan. The Value Wi-Fi plan costs $12 per day, gives access to most websites and occasionally will be fast enough to support the voice functionality of messaging apps.
The Premium Wi-Fi plan costs $17.70 per day and provides access to everything in the Social and Value plans, but does so at a higher speed (three times that of the Value Plan). It also supports VoIP calling on messaging apps and Skype (but not FaceTime), but be prepared for a noticeable lag time. (Prices are for plans purchased for the duration of the sailing; there is a discount if plans are purchased pre-cruise.)
In stark contrast to those operators is that I just noticed that amongst the inclusive package Virgin Voyages provides offers guests aka “sailors” in the UK, is free Wi-Fi and it is part of an overall inclusive package they say worth over $600 in value and always included.
Virgin Voyages saying Wi-Fi is included so browse, post, and stay connected with wifi — whenever you want, and wherever you are on the ship.
They go on to say that unlimited WiFi browsing is included for all Sailors, with no charge for social media, email, web browsing or messaging, adding that an upgraded premium entertainment package is also available for just a bit extra with the fastest speeds to support streaming, but is subject to availability.
The $600 inclusive package also includes the no kinds Adult-by-Design 18+, all food from refined dining to relaxed casual, at any and all of the 20+ eateries, so no additional charges there, all tips and gratuities are included, so no nasty surprises there, group workouts included, including yoga, meditation, cycling, HIIT classes, and more, so all group fitness classes are covered and as described by Virgin Voyages, “basic bevvies” are included with still and sparkling water, non-pressed juices, sodas, teas, and even drip coffee.
And of course….Wi-Fi!
Wake up cruise lines, Wi-Fi is as imporant today as water, air and sunlight!
A report by John Alwyn-Jones, Cruise Editor, Global Travel Media and Global Cruise News.
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