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Celebrity Cruises offers two internet packages for passengers who book the cruise-only fare. Some cruise lines will continue to limit streaming services and will not even allow them while at sea, so make sure to check the policies of the cruise line you’re considering before booking your tickets. Many cruise ships now offer Wi-Fi capabilities onboard, but there are a few things to consider before deciding on the best option.
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MedallionNet is the Wi-Fi service of Princess cruise lines, and recently they announced some improvements to their service even to help accommodate those that might need to work while onboard. With Celebrity, Premium Wi-Fi is the top-tier package you can add to your cruises on Celebrity for near-constant coverage while cruising. This package is great for those wishing to stream movies and such while underway and seems to have fairly good reviews from previous customers.
Price: Complimentary to $9.99 per day
With this program, you’ll pay a set price for the amount of data you use rather than how long you use it. Most cruise lines these days have options for onboard internet, but you’ll need to pay for access, and not all types of internet service are equal. You can further reduce costs by joining loyalty programs or using onboard credit. For mid-to-upper-tier customers, you can often enjoy free Wi-Fi or discounted prices for internet packages. With onboard credit, you can apply it to internet service and use it for free. Viking, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have unlimited internet access included in their base cost.
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If you’re not able to wait for ports of call (or don’t have international data on your phone), it might be worthwhile to pay for a Wi-Fi package. Remember, staying connected throughout the entire cruise is possible, but it’s about finding the right balance for your budget and connectivity requirements. For more cost-effective methods, consider using specialized cruise roaming packages or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots in port. Most of the other major cruise lines are not far behind either. In fact, for me it’s now one of my deciding factors on what cruise ships I will sail on – Do they have Starlink?
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Instead, they team up with maritime communications companies that rent large amounts of bandwidth to cruise companies. With that in mind, yes, internet on a cruise often costs a pretty penny. If internet connectivity is important to you, there are more and more cruise ships outfitted with technology that enables high-speed internet.
Disney Cruise Line, for example, has updated its internet access and pricing packages for four out of its five ships. But if you’re out at sea, it’s probably not a great idea to use your phone plan for service. Happily for cruisers, Wi-Fi is nearly always available, though the type and costs will vary.
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Most other mainstream lines also offer suite passengers and members of its loyalty programs some or all their internet time free or discounted. Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit are the first ships in the luxury fleet to use Starlink. The Unlimited Wi-Fi plan includes unlimited access to websites, email, social media (excludes TikTok) and all apps (but no VPN). The Unlimited Premium Wi-Fi package adds VPN access and streaming.
They also charge based on the number of devices used at one time. So if you want to connect two devices at once (such as a husband and wife both surfing the internet), then you’ll pay twice as much. Companies have been attempting for years to speed up connectivity on cruise ships.
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Members who book a Suite or Verandah Plus category can also combine their loyalty and suite Wi-Fi minutes. Perks of membership range from a 5% savings, including 30 free Wi-Fi minutes, or 20% toward a Full Voyage Unlimited Package at the Azamara Circle Adventurer level. For Discoverer Platinum members, there's a 100% savings on Wi-Fi that provides a Full Voyage Unlimited Package, no matter the category of cabin or length of the voyage. Want to know what's available at sea before booking your next cruise? Here's a list of the available Wi-Fi plans and pricing for each of the major mainstream and luxury cruise lines.
Be sure to perform any large downloads prior to boarding or access content when fewer people are online such as early mornings or late evenings, when possible. Look at the cruise line websites and reviewers on popular websites like the CruiseCritic Forums who can be brutally honest in reviewing such amenities. Real-life examples may help you from being frustrated mid-cruise and not enjoying a hard-earned vacation due to slow internet when you are already out to sea. It will depend on where in the world/ocean you are, where in the ship you are, how many other people are using at the same time, etc.
Which Cruise Lines Have Starlink? - Cruiseline.com
Which Cruise Lines Have Starlink?.
Posted: Mon, 13 Nov 2023 18:10:43 GMT [source]
Disney Cruise Line offers different internet plans based on the ship and cruise destination. You can get a package discount when you join the cruise line’s loyalty program. Classic-level members of Celebrity’s Captain’s Club get 10% off all internet packages.
Most river cruises also include internet in their pricing for all passengers. The Email plan is 200 MB, which would amount to between 15 and 60 minutes of time online. The Surfing plan provides 500 MB, suitable for light surfing for approximately five hours. Passengers on Silversea can use their own personal devices to access the internet in their cabins or throughout the ship. Computers with internet access are also available onboard via internet cafes on all ships. Seabourn offers a complimentary Surf package to all guests, one device per guest.
In the past, cruise ships had limited or no internet access for passengers, but today many major cruise lines offer internet plans with varying levels of speed, coverage, and cost. MSC Cruises offers packages based on the number of devices connected, restrictions on websites and bandwidth usage. For example, its Standard package for a seven-night cruise would be $99.90 (purchased pre-cruise) and allows two devices access to social media and chat sites and apps for up to 3,000MB of data. The least-restrictive MSC package is $199.90 for unlimited data and access for one device on a seven-night cruise.
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