Will I be able to stay in touch with family & friends back home?
This question was answered on our Cruise IQ show on August 17, 2017.
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The availability and speed of Internet access onboard cruise ships varies greatly between cruise lines. Before you are out of cellular range, you should put your phone into airplane mode. This will allow you to connect to the ships wifi, without connecting to their costly satellite based onboard cellular service. The majority of cruise lines will charge you for Internet usage based on a per-minute program, but some offer tiers with including minutes or unlimited plans. There also cruise lines like Carnival that offer packages based on different connection speeds. For example, their least expensive package called “Social” is good for social media access, but not for video calling, web-connected apps or websites. If you are looking for performance internet at sea, Royal Caribbean’s Voom service is the leader. Voom rivals connection speeds on land with their exclusive satellite network, and offer guests two speed choices. The Surf plan is great for web browsing, email and social media, while the Surf & Stream option adds the required speed to stream music and movies from services like Spotify & Netflix or use video chat.
Carnival Corporation has announced plans to outfit their ships from their many cruise line brands with high-performance wi-fi. Read More