Please tell me about wifi on DCL

[iloveeeyore]

We sail on the Fantasy on January 4 and would love a way to stay connected-enough to text home and check business e-mails. We know there's a small amount of free wifi if you sign up on embarkation day. What happens after that? Are there any suggestions for the best ways to stay connected? Verizon is our carrier and we have android phones, if that matters.

Thanks!

 

[T & R]

The free wifi is kind of a joke. It's a small amount of free megabytes and if you check one or 2 e-mails, it's usually used up and done. The free wifi is only available on the first night.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

The free wifi is kind of a joke. It's a small amount of free megabytes and if you check one or 2 e-mails, it's usually used up and done. The free wifi is only available on the first night.

As long as I'm careful about turning off auto backups/updates and anything else that uses data in the background, I can usually get the 50MB free wifi to last about 3 or 4 days, then I purchase the small package (100mb for $19).

OP: The following link has the prices for the DCL internet packages: https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-internet.htm

 

[Sparky Duck]

We went with a group of friends so that meant a little less texting, since they were right there, but with the free and $20 plan, I think I left mb behind on the boat. That being said, everyone was scrambling to do there fantasy football teams on excursion to MK day, so it’s still limited

 

[bobbiwoz]

I use the free and generally buy a small package. I personally think DCL should do a lot better for its customers

 

[Travel60]

Slow and expensive. That said, we don't use the internet on a cruise. Don't even bring laptops, put our phones in the safe til we are in port. We give our kids and our neighbors the ship's contact info for emergencies. We have Google Fi so we usually get decent service at normal rates in most ports. We will turn our phones on to see if there are any important messages then turn them back off. It's vacation. The world will keep turning without us

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We sail on the Fantasy on January 4 and would love a way to stay connected-enough to text home and check business e-mails. We know there's a small amount of free wifi if you sign up on embarkation day. What happens after that? Are there any suggestions for the best ways to stay connected? Verizon is our carrier and we have android phones, if that matters.

Thanks!

If you sign up by midnight on embarkation day, you get 50 MB free. If you use that up, you'll get a pop up asking if you want to purchase a package.

I've found the internet on most cruise ship to be pretty much the same. Slow, but usable.

We typically just get the free package and that carries us over up to 7 nights. But we only check our emails every 2-3 days. And we've got a lot of stuff (like images) turned off on our laptop.

Depending on your itinerary, your phone could be usable in US ports (like St Thomas).

 

[FigmentSpark]

Yeah, don't try to hook up a laptop, but a tablet or phone might get you through with the 50mb if you're just doing emails and you remember to sign off each time.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yeah, don't try to hook up a laptop,

That's what we use - a laptop.

 

[Starwind]

We just got back from a B2B2B on the Dream. We signed up for the free 50 MB for each cruise.

Using an iPhone and with the phone locked down so background updates etc were turned off, I checked email most days using the Gmail app on the phone. Each "session" would use about 5 MB of the data, though some used more (one for some reason used about 10 !). The 50 MB was enough to get through the 3 or 4 day cruise. 1 cruise I ran out of the 50, the other two I had data left over when we got back to Port Canaveral.

Note that I only actually opened important emails (e.g. email from DCL confirming placeholder purchase), so almost all emails were not opened (eg all the normal daily retailer email list ads), which may or may not have had an impact on data usage.

SW

 

[over50visits]

Yeah, don't try to hook up a laptop, but a tablet or phone might get you through with the 50mb if you're just doing emails and you remember to sign off each time.

Absolutely we don't use a laptop, just another couple of pounds and large thing to lug around. Not sure I've every seen anyone use one. Before you connect to the wifi on embarkation day, take good care of turning off possible data users...automatic download or updates, anything that runs in the background (lots of apps, location services, diagnostics, people near me, weather alert, etc.) Turn off image downloads on mails. We have found the person at the wifi desk to be VERY knowledgeable and helpful in making sure all data using apps are blocked. Then get the wifi service, and check soon to make sure there's no data leaking through. Then we turn off our wifi in case we're going to keep the phone on, and turn it on once a day for a quick text/email check.

Of course you have to remember to turn everything back on when you get back to port! Not as easy as it sounds in case you found some obscure app you forgot about.

Or, that's a lot of trouble to make sure you catch everything. You could just do what you think of at first, then spring for the extra $19 later when you need some more data. Might be worth those few dollars to reduce if not eliminate the stress of worrying about using up your allocation!

 

[tvguy]

Slow and expensive. That said, we don't use the internet on a cruise. Don't even bring laptops, put our phones in the safe til we are in port. We give our kids and our neighbors the ship's contact info for emergencies.

My mom was a frequent cruiser and her attitude was "there is nothing that can't wait until I get home, don't ruin my vacation". That has been my attitude also. But I don't do e-mail on my phones or my tablet anyway. So while we leave the ship contact info, our kids pretty much know that everything can wait.
I know some people feel they have to be in contact with their business or work. I am reminded of what the Judge said one time when I was on jury duty talking about the possibility of the jury being sequestered......cut off from everything for up to 2 weeks. He was pretty harsh, but pointed out people will carry on after you die, so a few days out of touch is no big deal for anyone.

 

[rere101399]

Verizon has an option for cell service, I think it’s five or ten dollars a day