Recognizing the need for its crew members to stay connected with family and friends and receive a quality internet service, Carnival Cruise Line has invested in additional bandwidth for the fleet. The company announced a major increase of the current data volume by 50% per crew member, compared to before the pause in operations.
"We want to provide you with an update on the ship's internet capabilities. While there has been limited global satellite internet capacity since the end of last year, we are pleased to inform you that all ships will have sufficient internet capacity starting this month." Carnival Cruise Line said in a letter sent to the team members.
Despite the latest enhancements, pricing for crew internet plans will not change. Carnival current internet packages for crew include: 24h (social media only) for $4; 100minutes for $10; 450minutes for $40, which are one of the most affordable in the cruise industry, CCL said.
In addition, Carnival will offer complimentary use of the instant messaging app WhatsApp, and will be discontinuing the Port Day discounted plan ($1 for 4 hours), starting June 1, 2022.
According to a fellow crew member, for now only Carnival's newest ships are upgraded, while the older ones still need improvements in bandwidth capacity. Hopefully, Carnival will resolve these issues as soon as possible in order for all team members to enjoy a good quality internet service.