Do you ever think Disney will adjust its thinking on WiFi on board?

simpleohio

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Do you ever think Disney will adjust its thinking on WiFi on board?

No issues with getting charged here.

But why by data?

Royal Caribbean does the voom I loved it.

Done Disney almost 10 cruises. So I am loyal. But wow the differences in service for internet is night and day. I loved how they just do a flat rate and you don’t have to worry about monitoring.

Think they will ever change?
 
I WISH!!!!! I’m about to go on my 18th & 19th Disney cruises. I’ve done 3 Royal. People who have never experienced Royal’s VOOM internet seriously do not even realize how sadly lacking DCL’s offerings are. I’d say the difference is night and day but honestly it’s so much more than that.

My best guess is we need to be noting it in the comment cards. We need to be calling them on it every chance we get. DCL makes changes citing “industry standards”. Their internet, however, is falling so sadly behind modern industry standards.

And all-inclusive adult beverage packages. Industry standards on DCL? Not even remotely close. A beer discount and overpriced bottles of wine aren’t even in the same ballpark.
 
I assume they will eventually but DCL appears to always lag way way behind on things like internet, webpages, digital ordering.... so I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes them awhile.
 
My simple answer is yes they will, at some point.

There are two sides to changing the way they handle internet, Technology and guest experience.

Technology - That is simple and just a money issue. During dry dock and/or especially as the new ships roll out expect enhancements in some way. They need to invest capital into the ability to handle the demand so that the guests have a good experience. We were fortunate enough to have unlimited internet on our last DCL cruise and it was fine. Actually it wasn’t too bad compared to our previous cruise on RCCL with the internet package. Maybe speed was a little better on RCCL but I was on vacation so I limited my usage on both cruises.

Guest Experience - DCL has broke the mold on a few things in the cruise industry. Some of that has been good and bad. Previously I would argue that the technology had some limitations and they didn’t want complaints about poor internet service impacting the guest experience. Now I could see that they want to “control” the guests from spending time on their phones, iPads, etc. so that can be by having some restrictions on usage. It seems to be that DCL has some work to do overall. As the number of cruises with discounts (Canada, Florida and Miliary) continue to mount it demonstrates that they need to increase value for the experience. Improved internet packages could be one way, along with improvements to the Castaway Club level perks and tweaks to guests packages (drinks, excursions, maybe even a special dining package or other experiences) to help improve the head count for each cruise.
 
Last edited:


@ScooterScott44 - When I was on Anthem & Harmony I watched people utilizing the internet and thought it was kind of brilliant seeing so many live on social media...even me posting to my social media several times daily...it’s advertising for Royal Caribbean that guests have paid for. Friends and family share in the fun...then they get excited, share it with others, and now there’s all these additional people thinking they would like to be on that ship. Smart. So smart.
 
I doubt they'll do anything as long as people are willing to pay through the nose for a few minutes of data.

I'll be happy if they fix the shutters photo department and the missing photos I have had after every cruise. ;)
 


Do you ever think Disney will adjust its thinking on WiFi on board?

No issues with getting charged here.

But why by data?

Royal Caribbean does the voom I loved it.

Done Disney almost 10 cruises. So I am loyal. But wow the differences in service for internet is night and day. I loved how they just do a flat rate and you don’t have to worry about monitoring.

Think they will ever change?

The price and slow speed encourage me to put devices away on the cruise and just relax. I'd like to think I would continue to do so if that was free or cheap unlimited Internet...
 
Do you ever think Disney will adjust its thinking on WiFi on board?
Not unless it presents a serious financial advantage for them over the current system.

Personally, I don't have a problem with it. I have a strict 'no electronics' rule outside of reading or watching material at bed when I take my grandchildren away on vacation anyway. If they want to play video games, chat with friends, ect, they can do that at home and are welcome to stay there. At Disney World, I always thought it was sad when I saw whole families turned away from each other with their faces stuck in screens (and thought it was clever when I saw whole families using their phones to play games together in lines, increasing both their quality family time and entertainment value.)

Same with the beverage packages. I am drinker and would certainly enjoy an unlimited beverage package on a cruise BUT am perfectly happy not having one on a Disney Cruise because I am taking my grandchildren on the cruise to spend time with them, not boozing it. Yes, I still plan on indulging but for what would be appropriate on kid-centric vacation, not racing to get the full benefit of an unlimited beverage package.

Just My Opinion!
 
Last edited:
My problem with the current internet situation is my ability to be accessible to my family when I cruise. I cruise without my husband and sons at least once every year, sometimes more. I need to be accessible to them. If you think the emergency contact provided in the back of your cruise booklet is reliable, think again. Last year a situation came up where hubby was desperately trying to contact me on an at-sea day. He started calling the number & all DCL numbers he could find around noon. He finally spoke with me at 9 pm. Over $100 in charges on our credit card, I think maybe closer to $200 but I could be wrong. You know, they require a credit card number when you call that emergency number, right? If I had internet accessible throughout that day he could’ve simply messaged me and I could’ve FaceTime called him. The entire situation that went down (without going into detail) would’ve been entirely different had I been reachable that day. What happened that day has effected our lives since and will for quite some time to come...and not in a good way. At the very LEAST it’s a lot of $$ that could’ve funded more travel, when I think about it. THIS is why I’d like to have better internet options.

I had purchased internet access on the cruise last year. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how my phone was in airplane mode with WiFi off then I’d sign back into the WiFi and half my data vanished. You can’t just stay sitting on the WiFi connection. It’ll all be gone in a short time. I took my phone to the internet desk person, they changed all the settings, restored data on the package for me twice, rechecked my phone twice, and still the data magically vanished without me using it at all. It was crazy. The 3rd time I ran out of purchased internet access I figured enough. It’s only 1 more day. Well, that 1 day was THE day I needed it.

Sometimes being in touch is imperative. I know since that happened last year I stress a lot more than I ever have before when I’m out of touch with home. I’m never 100% relaxed. Every port or opportunity to access cellular I use my AT&T international plan to check in at home. I’m even considering getting a satellite phone at this point...but those won’t receive a signal unless you’re outside.

Royal introduced VOOM on newer ships starting a few years back. They’ve since retrofitted it onto some of their other ships so its obviously a profitable thing to do. The ships they’ve made this possible on during construction and retrofits are larger with more guests than what Disney’s ships have and it works. It’s not impossible. You can’t really say Disney wants a captive audience and don’t want people on devices. I mean, hello - My Disney Experience. They’ve developed the onboard app for the ships and continues to upgrade and improve that. There’s no reason not to make decent streaming WiFi available onboard. For me? The sooner the better. Can’t happen soon enough. Here’s my money. Charge me daily. Take my money. The peace of mind would be so worthwhile.
 
If I were to make a guess, they may do something different on the new ships. If it is well received and profitable, they may begin working it into the older ships during major drydocks.
 
It took Disney forever just to get Wi-Fi into their theme parks and hotels so they’re definitely behind.
 
Do you ever think Disney will adjust its thinking on WiFi on board?

No issues with getting charged here.

But why by data?

Royal Caribbean does the voom I loved it.

Done Disney almost 10 cruises. So I am loyal. But wow the differences in service for internet is night and day. I loved how they just do a flat rate and you don’t have to worry about monitoring.

Think they will ever change?
I hope not. I like having limited wifi onboard. It helps to keep people a little more in the moment & out of their phones.
 
I sure hope they do something. The wifi connection will hang and then it's all gone in no time. I ended up getting a cruise plan through AT&T last month for our cruise just in case the DCL stuff wasn't working well. So thankful that I did this since it let me call my DM and check on her when we were at sea and I didn't have data (had that on land, just not at sea). Some of us aren't using the connection to play games or post on social media - we are checking on family members and cruising would be a much better experience without the struggle of making it all work (and worrying about getting a huge bill somehow). I certainly hope DCL joins the other cruise lines who offer this.
 
I agree with previous posters, I’d like to have a length of cruise Internet package on Disney. “Unplugged” and “not at work” are two very different things for me. I prefer to be off of work and “plugged in”.
 
I would like better internet. I am buying it on our RCCL Cruise later this week. On Princess I get it free due to my status and it works fine.
 
I always thought it was sad when I saw whole families turned away from each other with their faces stuck in screens (and thought it was clever when I saw whole families using their phones to play games together in lines, increasing both their quality family time and entertainment value.)

LOL. gotta have a little imagination. You KNOW they were interacting with each other while playing things like "head's up". But what you don't realize is that they could easily be interacting with each other the times you're judging them for, too. They just don't want to say things out loud, so they text them instead.

You know, they require a credit card number when you call that emergency number, right?

Yep.

What happened that day has effected our lives since and will for quite some time to come...and not in a good way.

That's horrible.
I'm not sure I could keep cruising Disney until they do have wifi, with that in my background.

It helps to keep people a little more in the moment & out of their phones.

Eh. One can be in the moment AND communicating with others. And that's what phones do. they help us communicate with others. I'm both sitting in my living room, aware of the living room, AND talking here AND texting with a friend in CA. I'm in three moments and I'm enjoying them all. If only I were sitting on a ship on the sea, as well....
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!







Top