The one thing that cruisers want….

If your a regular cruiser, or even if you’d like to go on your first cruise, it seems there’s one thing that all passengers want on board. But are they paying too much for it?

A new survey by CruiseAway has found that of 1,400 respondents, eight out of ten participants generally want free internet use on board. It seems like a simple ask in this digital world but unfortunately, cruise ship Wi-Fi prices can be sky high.

Of 46 per cent of survey respondents that indicated they want to have access to internet while on board, more than a quarter feel this service should be a given. 16 per cent marked having the internet as of less value, while only 13 per cent state it is not important at all. In fact, internet access on cruise ships is now standard – but the data transmission is often slow. 

Surprisingly, nearly 20 per cent were willing to pay up to 15 dollars a day to access the internet. For less than one percent, spending any more money is not acceptable.

So how do people want to be charged for wi-fi? Almost half of the respondents would prefer a weekly rate, and 36 per cent want a daily flat rate. Would you?

However, the luxury of free internet is currently unavailable on most ships: Only Hurtigruten and Regent Seven Seas offer free Wi-Fi at present – several shipping companies wish to follow in 2016. Passengers travel far away from reality pricing when on board: The cheapest flat day rates are for the equivalent of about $20 AUD on board the ships of the OASIS and Quantum class of Royal Caribbean Cruises.

For the majority of shipping companies, passengers can purchase minute or data packets: MSC Cruises charge $19 AUD per hour. Guests of Celebrity Cruises and Disney Cruise Line can surf for about $45 AUD per hour, while Norwegian Cruise Lines charge just under $55. The larger the minute package is, the cheaper the price per minute. On Costa Cruise ships, there are data packets starting at 250 MB for $40 AUD. Normally, a fee-for-minutes will be offered; however, this may seem relatively expensive to guests who regularly pay between a dollar to a dollar and a half. 

Why do cruiser want to be online anyway? 83 per cent of participants said they want to send and receive private messages and mails, read news current news and world events. 

Tell us, have you been on a cruise? Did you wish there was more affordable or even free Wi-Fi?