Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas Wi-Fi

From April 3rd to April 16th, 2014, I sailed on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas ship (the rates posted are current at the time of this sailing). I used the ship's Wi-Fi considerably (approximately 1,500 minutes) which is the most I think I've ever used the Wi-Fi on any of their ships I've been on. The ship's Wi-Fi worked really well. I never had a problem getting on though I think I did get bumped off a few times for unknown reasons. The Wi-Fi is available throughout the ship including all cabins. I primarily used it in my inner cabin and, it worked fine there. I can't tell you how fast the connection speed was though I had no problems holding a texting chat with a friend on Facebook.

The pay as you go rate is a very high 85 cents a minute. The pre-paid plans available are as follows:

38 minutes - $24.95 which breaks out to 66 cents a minute
90 minutes - $49.95 which breaks out to 56 cents a minute
208 minutes - $99.95 which breaks out to 48 cents a minute
555 minutes - $199.95 which breaks out to 36 cents a minute
1,599 minutes (the Wi-Fi sheet showed 1,666) - $399.95 which breaks out to 25 cents a minute

I bought the 1,599 minute package as I didn't want to have to worry about my Internet time. I was on a 2 week cruise and, I figured correctly I'd use most of the time up. I think this package would be better for families vice 1 person like myself.

I discovered that Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi has connection problems with Google's Chrome browser and Mozilla's Firefox. I would try to log in at the connection page and, it would repeatedly hang up. I was never able to connect to their Wi-Fi going solely through those browsers. Apparently, you must use Internet Explorer though I did discover a workaround for my Nook e-reader which is an Android device which I'll blog about later. Microsoft doesn't make an Internet Explorer version for Android devices which creates real problems for those who want to use them on Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi. I mentioned this to Royal Caribbean on my cruise feedback. I don't know if Royal Caribbean will do anything about this problem.

You can use your Crown & Anchor Wi-Fi discounts on the pre-paid plans. I used my Emerald discount which was 15% and saved $60!

Overall, Legend of the Seas's Wi-Fi worked really well but, it was expensive. I wish Royal Caribbean would introduce an unlimited plan like they have on their Allure of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas. If you want to save money, you would do well to look for places in the various ports that offer cheaper Wi-Fi. I found them in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Happy web surfing all!

Update October 18, 2014: I did a Maine/Canada cruise Legend of the Seas last month. I was able to re-check the ship's Wi-Fi rates. They haven't changed. Because of its expensive rates, I searched for and was able to find places during the cruise that had free Wi-Fi such as Starbucks on Commercial Street in Portland, Maine.

FYI, for Diamond Members, I found out they got 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi. I don't know why you get less time on this ship than I got on Independence of the Seas.

Overall, I wasn't pleased with the ship's expensive Wi-Fi rates. Unless you really need to get on the Internet, I'd avoid using this ship's Wi-Fi. You will really pay a lot for the privilege.