Internet issues persist for Carnival Cruise Line ships sailing along the North-Eastern Seaboard of the United States. This week, the cruise line issues a new letter to guests booked onboard two Carnival cruise ships sailing from New York and Baltimore, saying internet connections would be limited.
This is the second time in a month that Carnival has informed guests of internet access issues onboard. The problem seems to only seriously affect ships sailing in this area. It is particularly painful as Carnival recently announced it would be increasing prices for internet connections onboard its vessels.
Guests Informed of Limited Wi-Fi Access
Guests sailing onboard Carnival Magic today, September 17, from New York City, and guests sailing onboard Carnival Legend from Baltimore, Maryland, today and September 25, have been informed that their cruises will have limited internet access during the voyage.
The email, sent to guests booked on any of the three voyages, said the following: “Due to challenges with some of the ship’s satellites, there will be limited Wi-Fi access during your cruise.”
“We will automatically refund all pre-purchased Wi-Fi packages as onboard credit to your Sail & Sign® account. The social and value plans will still be available for purchase at the discounted pre-cruise price, should you decide to purchase on board on a daily basis. The premium plan will not be available.”
Carnival Magic’s cruise departs today, September 17, from New York City, and will be heading to Saint John, New Brunswick; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Sydney, Nova Scotia, and is due to return to New York on September 24. The following cruise will be a six-night Bermuda cruise, which seems unaffected now.
Carnival Legend
Carnival Legend will sail from Baltimore today on an eight-night Eastern Caribbean cruise. With calls to Turks and Caicos on September 21, and Amber Cove, Dominican Republic, on September 22, this voyage is also affected by the Wifi problems.
However, there could be even more bad news for guests booked on this voyage. The cruise is scheduled to be in the exact area where tropical storm Fiona will pass in the coming days.
Carnival already issued a different letter to guests onboard Carnival Legend, stating the following:
“Together with our Fleet Operation Center in Miami, we have been actively monitoring Tropical Storm Fiona, which is located in the Caribbean. Since the safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority, we will remain a safe distance from the storm at all times. We will continue to monitor the weather and provide you with timely updates should our itinerary be impacted.”
The second voyage affected by Wifi issues is a six-night Bermuda cruise from Baltimore, departing September 25 and returning to Baltimore on October 1.
Carnival Raises Prices for WiFi
Carnival Cruise Line issuing statements that the Wifi will not be strong enough to offer the premium package onboard comes at a painful moment for the cruise line.
The premium plan is the highest-rated Wifi package onboard Carnival’s ships and is supposed to enable guests to make video calls and perform other high-bandwidth activities on their devices.
Carnival said recently it would be implementing a price hike for its internet packages from October 1. The base package costs $8.50 per day if guests purchase the package before sailing. This price will increase to $10.20 per day.
The value package is increasing to $14.45 per day, an increase of $3.40 per day from the old rate of $11.05. The Premium package will increase with $2.55 to $17.00 per day. These are the pre-purchase prices, if guests decide to purchase onboard, these prices go up by an additional 15%.
The issues with internet connections have persisted for some time now onboard the Carnival Cruise Line ships, pointing to a much bigger problem that seems to be plaguing the IT systems onboard the vessel. It begs the question of why Carnival is not moving to Starlink Maritime, a move that Royal Caribbean made a few weeks ago.
