15 Cruise Wifi Tips, Secrets & Mistakes to Avoid

Are you going on a cruise & wondering if you need to buy the cruise internet package, use an international plan or simply go without? Here are the tips you need to save money on cruise ship wifi & more!

In this video I share what to expect on a cruise, when it comes to wifi & internet service. We also go through how to get faster wifi & free wifi with the latest cruise tips & tricks! Learn the mistakes to avoid on a cruise, when it comes to using your phone & internet. Plus, find out the best ways to keep in touch with other cruise passengers & people back home!

These are the frequently asked questions about cruise ship wifi, including Cellular at Sea, VPN's & more! First time cruisers will find this video helpful, as well any cruise travelers. Carnival cruise line, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages, Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line are all mentioned in this video full of cruise information. These cruise tips are needed for travelling in 2023 & beyond!

RESOURCES I RECOMMEND

🛳 THE ULTIMATE CRUISE PLANNER 🛳

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CRUISE ESSENTIALS

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Please note that I am unable to give personal cruise and travel advice. If you leave a comment I try my best to answer.

ABOUT ME
Hi! I'm Ilana! I live in Montreal, Canada with my husband Frank. We can often be found dreaming about and planning future cruises, ideally to hot and sunny destinations! I believe in having fun, being kind and that you are never too old, or too young, to live the life of your dreams!

Please note that I do not sell cruises on Life Well Cruised. This and all other videos are for entertainment purposes only. I share my own opinions, personal experiences and information with other cruise travellers, which I hope can be helpful. Please contact your travel agent or the cruise line directly for advice and any information specific to your booking.
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Some of the video footage are courtesy of RCCL, Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises and NCHL.
Music Credit: Surf Time by Lux-InspiraMusicMusic Credit: Surf Time by Lux-InspiraMusic
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[thechapmans]

Hi Ilana!
I recently discovered a great tip about wifi while cruising. While discussing my husbands accessibility needs with an associate on carnival, they informed me that my husband gets free wifi the entire cruise since he uses a continuous glucose monitor for his diabetes.
I was very happy to hear that and very grateful that they openly offered this during our discussion. Hope this helps others!

[kitspraggins]

Do us all a favor and keep making these videos. You help my wife and I have a phenomenal and worry-free trip. We thank you so much

[karenpuopolo]

Best thing is to disconnect use that time with family and friends and to look at the actual view not just a screen shot lol

[eileenpoletick]

This was mentioned in the video but it doesn’t seem to be clearly stated by the cruise line. I travel with a phone, laptop and ipad. RCCL’s VOOM wifi is $20 for the 1st device plus an extra fee for each additional device. This is a daily fee. This was excessive so I purchased service for one device and hoped for the best. When I got on board, however, I discovered that my single daily fee covered all my devices as long as I only used one at a time. As the video mentioned, I was able to log off on one and sign on to another. This worked fine without having to purchase service for 3 devices. The daily fee is still outrageous but at least I only had to purchase 1 for the peace of mind of staying in touch with my kids at home.

[rickcudmore]

We enable airplane mode before we sit in our seats when flying to our cruise destination. Checking with the crew where the wifi spots are has been very helpful in the past.

[ekujj]

I just bring my portable StarLink and install it on my balcony.

[thelonggame]

4:27 *THAT* is the reason I had issues with my cell on my last cruise. I didn't put it in airplane mode, and no one mentioned it before!

[hollid]

On RCCL, I always get a soda package, and for my upcoming cruise they had a really good deal for soda and internet for $140 for 7 night cruise. Right now, the internet alone is that price!

[tigerkhanshort]

Thank you so much for the information about the ship's app and whether it would work without the Wi-Fi package. You saved me the $20 fee a day for 8 days!

[Jesusismyonething]

Just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Panorama. Hubby and I shared the premium plan and we hopped back and forth among four different devices. We always connected to a VPN as well.

[williamoday]

My experience has been that access speeds are higher on port days because the ship's available bandwidth is being divided among a much smaller number of passengers. Speed is also highly dependent upon distance to the nearest access point. Remember, a cruise ship is pretty much a huge Faraday Cage. Its construction is all but designed to block radio signals, which is exactly what Wi Fi is. We've been able to boost connection speed by simply propping open our stateroom door. In fact, we carry our own wedge doorstop for just that purpose. Propping open the door just a few inches strengthens the signal but still provides some privacy. As for VPN use, I have been able to activate it after connecting to the ship's system (once past the captive portal). Bear in mind, however, that adding that additional layer of protection will further reduce traffic speed. I've also used a mobile hotspot (while in port) on occasion.

[garyball]

Hi Ilana,
This would be one of the most informative and benefical videos on cruising tips that I have seen. The explaination of how "Airplane Mode" is used with the Wi-Fi clarified a lot of doubt for myself and really appreciate the advice. Love all of your videos which provide so much valuable information to make our cruising more enjoyable. Cheers.

[MrWatlow]

We sailed Royal Caribbean Allure Of The Seas and got The Key which included the wifi and it was awesome 🤩. The Key is absolutely worth it!!

[PrincessCelESF]

Do NOT wait until the final night of the cruise to use the Wi-Fi to make any departure arrangements! I was trying to use the internet to help with a tech issue at home (my mom is not tech savvy and was caring for our children) and I couldn’t get any websites to load from anywhere on the ship because so many had purchased one day Wi-Fi access that night. They had to make do until I got to our hotel on land that day so I could handle things with steady internet access. 🙄

[jeffperlman]

Great tips for using internet. Also, once we reach land, we just turn on cellular, turning off airplane mode. In USA, PR, USVI, you can usually use your cell phone provider plan, and, most providers AT&T, VZN, T-mobile have cellular coverage while on land in another country, often for $10 to $15 daily, as used, check the countries, with the providers, but, usually the Caribbean is included.

[matthewchernesky]

Great video! My partner and some friends and I are going on Oasis for the first time (our first cruise too!) soon and we got the WiFi package . All of your videos have been so helpful with planning!

[christophersteele]

My family and I just cruised on the Sky Princess to the Norwegian Fjords August 9 2023. The WIFI was blazing fast throughout the trip. We could stream UHD video from YouTube the whole voyage. The Star Link internet made a huge difference. What a pleasant surprise. This was our third Princess cruise and the internet on the previous two was very slow. Alaska and Eastern Caribbean. I hope this continues to be the case on future Princess cruises.

[sakriso]

The online cruise line that does NOT allow you to login and out of different devices with a single plan is MSC. There is something unique about their system requiring you to purchase a multi-device plan.
Another tip that works is to use a travel router to connect multiple devices. This works well for those in their stateroom/cabin, not roaming the ship.

[jabbitt]

Get ONE plan per cabin. Turn on Airplane mode. TURN ON HOTSPOT. Free internet for the rest of the cabin/group.

[lyndaconrad]

I'm going to be going on my first cruise next year on Celebrity Silhouette. I just got the "cruise only" rate because I'm not a drinker and I didn't realize that it was combined with the basic wifi. Cue panic mode lol. I went to my cell phone provider and found out that they have an international add on data package - $35 for seven days. $5/day is a heck of a lot cheaper than the $20/day they want on the ship lol.