Changes to the way internet is billed on board

[Goofy559]

Hi - did a search and didn't see this - apologies if I missed it. Just received the following info from my TA at DU:

Hi Everyone,

Disney Cruise Line has announced they will be changing the way they charge for Internet usage on the ships. Instead of charging by the minute, they are not charging by the megabyte. Here is the new fee structure:

· Pay as you go $.0.25 per MB
· Small 100 MB for $19.00, 19 cents per MB
· Medium 300 MB for $39.00, 13 cents per MB
· Large 1,000 MB for $80.00, 9 cents per MB.

Concierge guests in Cat S, T, V will get 100 free MB of free internet. If the guests goes over then the pricing above will apply.

Concierge guests in Cat R will get free internet for the length of the cruise.

These changes will be rolled out over the next month. Here is the schedule:

Disney Magic- 2/3
Disney Dream- 2/16
Disney Wonder- 2/26
Disney Fantasy- 3/8.


HTH - Lisa

 

[acourtwdw2]

How much data or time is that? I use the Internet on the ship to check into my classes and either download or upload that weeks homework. Which package would be best fi

 

[Dug720]

Maybe I'm weird (or stupid), but minutes made a lot more sense to me.

 

[Ravenne]

Using DCL's onboard app doesn't incur Internet usage charges, does it? Can you still use the app with the phone in Airplane mode as to not incur Internet and data charges?

 

[Prose]

In a way I understand this - if you are just checking email, you are not using a lot of download data but the slow internet speeds meant in the past that you paid for many minutes. I think they are trying to make sure that people who Skype, Facetime, etc. and use a lot of the data bandwidth are paying more than those who just want to download a single file or check email, no matter how long it takes. You are paying for bandwidth used, not butt-in-seat time.

 

[erionm]

Using DCL's onboard app doesn't incur Internet usage charges, does it? Can you still use the app with the phone in Airplane mode as to not incur Internet and data charges?

From the DCL Navigator app description:

To use Disney Cruise Line Navigator, download the app, and once on board, connect to the ship’s WiFi network—complimentary to app users only—and enjoy your cruise!

The connect instructions also state to place the phone into airplane mode.

 

[AliceIn]

How much data or time is that? I use the Internet on the ship to check into my classes and either download or upload that weeks homework. Which package would be best fi

You can calculate data usage here:

http://www.calculatorweb.com/calculators/datausagecalc.shtml

At the bottom of the page you can see what a weekly estimate would be.

 

[wiigirl]

You can calculate data usage here:

http://www.calculatorweb.com/calculators/datausagecalc.shtml

At the bottom of the page you can see what a weekly estimate would be.

Thanks.

 

[dvldawg411]

In a way I understand this - if you are just checking email, you are not using a lot of download data but the slow internet speeds meant in the past that you paid for many minutes. I think they are trying to make sure that people who Skype, Facetime, etc. and use a lot of the data bandwidth are paying more than those who just want to download a single file or check email, no matter how long it takes. You are paying for bandwidth used, not butt-in-seat time.

This is a really helpful explanation. Thanks!

 

[sippican]

You can calculate data usage here:

http://www.calculatorweb.com/calculators/datausagecalc.shtml

At the bottom of the page you can see what a weekly estimate would be.

Thank you.
Now that's something I can understand!

 

[DL1957]

If I am understanding this correctly this is better when the connection is running slow. Many times it can take serveral minutes to bring up something which takes up the time you are charged for and the new way is charging you for what you are viewing.

 

[JohnDS]

still expensive but makes a lot more sense than the by the minute plan.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Edited to add: (Apologies - I had typed this and went into a meeting before sending - I see that I'm simply repeating what another poster mentioned above)
===================================================================

Aside from being yet another moneymaker for DCL, I assume this likely relates to those users who were using significant amounts of bandwidth for such activities as Skype and other social media.

I have a feeling that most people have absolutely no idea how much data their internet activities use up, so there could be a few nasty surprises when parents spend $80 purchasing a Gb of data for their kids and find out that they've used it all up in the first 24 hours of being on the ship.

 

[thdarragh]

Hi - did a search and didn't see this - apologies if I missed it. Just received the following info from my TA at DU:

Hi Everyone,

Disney Cruise Line has announced they will be changing the way they charge for Internet usage on the ships. Instead of charging by the minute, they are not charging by the megabyte. Here is the new fee structure:

· Pay as you go $.0.25 per MB
· Small 100 MB for $19.00, 19 cents per MB
· Medium 300 MB for $39.00, 13 cents per MB
· Large 1,000 MB for $80.00, 9 cents per MB.

Concierge guests in Cat S, T, V will get 100 free MB of free internet. If the guests goes over then the pricing above will apply.

Concierge guests in Cat R will get free internet for the length of the cruise.

These changes will be rolled out over the next month. Here is the schedule:

Disney Magic- 2/3
Disney Dream- 2/16
Disney Wonder- 2/26
Disney Fantasy- 3/8.

HTH - Lisa

Sounds good. This is the way the industry does it and the price is very reasonable. 100 mb should last a week unless you are loading lots of graphics/music/ pics etc

 

[Shazzie B]

Makes checking in with the kids much more reasonable, our 1st holiday leaving them at home, they''ll be 21 & 19 and we have family within a couple of miles but it'll make keeping in touch cheaper, not worried about downloading stuff, just e-mail exchange

 

[queenofheartsfan]

Very interesting! Thanks for the info!

 

[gotomu212]

This makes me very happy. Last cruise I had to send a few emails and I was looking at my screen yelling SEND, SEND as the minutes crept up and the system showed the little spinning wheel. This seems a lot more equitable

 

[TAK]

That's great news. We were just on our cruise a few weeks ago, and we had to check our email each day -- just email, nothing else. (I like being unplugged online in general, but sometimes family/work/security requires you to just check in periodically. )

I used the calculator and we probably used at 12 MB, tops, but we paid $30 on the old system. This will save us a lot next time.

 

[Sonja99]

Good news!

 

[su_A_ve]

Edited to add: (Apologies - I had typed this and went into a meeting before sending - I see that I'm simply repeating what another poster mentioned above)
===================================================================

Aside from being yet another moneymaker for DCL, I assume this likely relates to those users who were using significant amounts of bandwidth for such activities as Skype and other social media.

I have a feeling that most people have absolutely no idea how much data their internet activities use up, so there could be a few nasty surprises when parents spend $80 purchasing a Gb of data for their kids and find out that they've used it all up in the first 24 hours of being on the ship.

Except that it's almost impossible to do Skype or any high bandwidth application - satellite connection is as low as dialup...

I do agree that most people have no idea how much data they use, specially if they tend to use WiFi where available.