I was surprised how much money you can save on a Royal Caribbean internet package with one change.
No matter which mainstream cruise line you sail on, you're going to have to pay for a WiFi package if you want to use the internet.
While prices for an internet package are cheaper today than they used to be, it's still an expense. Especially if you want to get everyone in your family access too.
You can save money by taking advantage of a loophole in Royal Caribbean's pricing and opting to buy a multi-device plan, rather than a plan for everyone individually.
When you go to Royal Caribbean's app or website to buy WiFi packages for your cruise, you're given the choice of buying a one device plan, or a multi-device plan.
The multi-device plan is probably intended to be for a person to be able to use more than one device at at a time, but there's no restrictions or rules to say someone else couldn't use your internet plan too.
While prices for an internet package will vary by ship, sail date, and which promotion is active, I found this hack almost always is cheaper.
Royal Caribbean incentives guests to pay for more devices by discounting the per-device fee with the more devices you add.
So instead of buying everyone a one device plan, share a multi-device plan with your family.
Here's a breakdown of the cost difference for a 7-night cruise:
- 1 device package: $167.93
- 2 device package: $272.93 ($105 more)
- 3 device package: $398.93 ($126 more)
- 4 device package: $517.93 ($119 more)
If we bought 4 one-device packages, it would cost $671.72.
Rather than paying $167.93 for each person, you're paying less and less with each additional device that you add to a multi-device plan.
The catch with sharing an internet package
There's no question sharing a multi-device internet package will save money, but there's one downside to it.
Everyone will share the same login credentials, and it's easy to accidently disconnect someone else who's already signed in.
When you buy a multi-device package, it allows that many devices as you purchased to be logged in concurrently.
That means if you have the 3 device package, after 3 devices are logged in, when a fourth device attempts to login, it will disconnect the first device.
It's not necessarily a big deal, nor a reason not to buy it, but you should be aware of how it works. Additionally, you should have a way to contact the people with access to let them know when this happens to prevent a round-robin series of everyone disconnecting each other.
Keep in mind that you can have as many different devices use your internet package during your cruise, but only a fixed number at once. You can switch from one device to another device, such as disconnecting from your phone to use your laptop and vice versa.
More Royal Caribbean wifi tips
Now that you're saving money with this internet package hack, here's a few more tips you should know about Royal Caribbean's internet.
Every Royal Caribbean ship uses Starlink internet, which means it's true high speed access at sea. For many years it was substantially slower, but now it does work pretty darn well.
This means you can use a VPN to conduct work, stream a movie, or make a video call with friends or family. The internet works well enough to support this. It is satellite internet, so intermittent slow downs or pauses in service do happen, but they are rare.
If you buy an internet package, you can use it at Royal Caribbean's private destination of Perfect Day at CocoCay in The Bahamas with no additional cost.
Internet access will work while your ship is in Labadee, but there's no WiFi access around the private destination.
Whether you buy an internet package or not, always put your phone into airplane mode at the start of your cruise to avoid costly bills later.
Just recently one passenger didn't do this and ran into a surprise $1,300 bill because of roaming charges.
While in airplane mode, you can still make and receive phone calls and text messages by enabling the WiFi calling feature on your phone. It's free to do so, and you can set it up and test WiFi calling while at home.
And yes, you can use the Royal Caribbean app without purchasing an internet package at all.
When you get on the ship, there will be an option after connecting the WiFi network if you want to use an internet package or just access the app.
Choose the app, and then your app will work during your cruise.
