Royal Caribbean WiFi Cost: Is the Internet Package Worth It?

Did you know that Royal Caribbean International boasts the fastest internet in the entire cruise industry?

Whether you’re looking for onboard internet to send emails, make video calls, or stream movies, the Royal Caribbean cruise ships have a high-speed internet plan for your trip! With the implementation of Spacex’s Starlink, cruisers can purchase a VOOM Surf and Stream Package that works really well onboard the ships.

However, this internet package does come at a cost in addition to your cruise fare. So, you may find yourself wondering:

• How much VOOM costs?
• Should you purchase it for your kids or just the adults?
• Is the WiFi price worth it in the end?

In the post below, I’ll explain how I found a great deal on the Royal Caribbean internet package through a Black Friday Sale. I’ll also let you know whether or not I personally think the internet package is worth it on your cruise.

VOOM Internet

Many cruisers would agree that you really don’t get the full cruise experience when you’re attached to a cell phone, tablet, or laptop during your trip. However, people have all sorts of reasons for wanting (or even needing) internet access while on vacation.

I’ll go ahead and admit it here that my family is completely guilty of spending downtime on our devices while cruising. After all, a vacation is supposed to be relaxing right?

Some of the most common reasons you may want to buy the Royal Caribbean internet package include:

• Checking in at work
• Communicating with family members on land
• Turning in assignments for school
• Watching favorite shows or movies
• Posting on social media

Regardless of your reason for purchasing a Wi-Fi package on the cruise, you’ll want to ensure that the internet plan actually works. This is where Royal Caribbean International excels as it provides surfing and download speeds up to six times faster than any other cruise line.

Royal Caribbean’s VOOM internet service is currently available on all of the ships. This groundbreaking internet at sea offers super fast speeds for guests wanting to surf the web while sailing.

So, how do you buy it?

When you access your Royal Caribbean cruise planner account, you’ll see the option to purchase the internet package. Note that Royal Caribbean used to offer a VOOM Surf Voyage Package; however, this option is no longer available after they began using Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Instead, you will find the VOOM Surf and Stream Package as the sole Wi-Fi package available. The VOOM Surf & Stream Package features fast internet speeds that allow you to participate in video chat, post on social media, stream movies, etc.

Internet Package Cost

The Royal Caribbean internet package is available for different prices depending on your sailing. It’s also important to note that the cost fluctuates a lot, so you’ll want to check the cruise planner regularly.

I’m a bit of a fanatic about getting the best deals on things, especially in the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner. So, I checked the price daily before our trip and noticed that the Royal Caribbean WiFi cost ranged from $19.99 to $25.99 per person per day.

On my family’s most recent cruise aboard the Oasis of the Seas, the cost of wifi typically hovered around $19.99. So, for our family of 4 at a price of $19.99 per day, the internet package would have cost $79.96 per day of the cruise.

Black Friday Sale

We chose not to purchase the Royal Caribbean internet package at the $19.99 price listed above. Instead, we waited for the annual Black Friday Sale in November.

Luckily, Royal Caribbean provided discounted prices for their VOOM internet package during this sale. We were able to score the VOOM Surf + Stream Package for just $13.99 per person per day!

On a side note, we were also able to get a big discount on the beverage packages during the Black Friday Sale. You can read all about the drink options and prices in our post on Royal Caribbean Beverage Packages. In that article, we also let you know if the Deluxe Beverage Package is worth it or not.

Piece of Advice

When you click to purchase the internet package, you’ll be prompted to choose the people in your party who you would like included in the package. For example, my stateroom had 4 members of our family assigned to it, so I could specify which family members I wanted to purchase the package for.

You could easily purchase the package just for the adults in the stateroom or just for one person in the stateroom in order to save money. During this process, I learned a really easy trick to saving money on the internet package.

Instead of purchasing an internet package for each person in your stateroom, it’s almost always cheaper to buy Wi-Fi for ONE person and then add additional devices.

In other words, when purchasing the internet package for my family, I selected my name ONLY. Then, I chose the Multiple Devices option to select the number of devices (up to 4) I wanted on my account.

For some reason, it was way cheaper for us to purchase VOOM internet for one person on four separate devices than it was to buy one device for four separate people.

Getting Started

After boarding the cruise ship, it’s really easy to get started with the onboard internet.

• Just put your device in Airplane Mode.
• Turn on Wi-Fi on your device and choose the ship’s guest wifi.
• Create your internet account and password.

After completing those steps, your Royal Caribbean internet package should be up and running! The image below shows a copy of the VOOM instructions that we received in our stateroom.

If you purchased internet packages for multiple people in your party, each person will have his/her own login and password. However, if you purchased an internet package for multiple devices, all of the devices will share the same password.

Sharing a Package

In order to save money on Royal Caribbean’s internet packages, many cruisers choose to purchase a VOOM package for one member of their travel party. Then, they share the package throughout the cruise.

This works well for those families who are comfortable taking turns using the internet during their vacation. If you decide to share an internet package, it’s important to note that one person must log off in order for a second person to access the package.

In order to save the headache of going through and having to login each account until the right one is disconnected, I suggest disconnecting the device FIRST before logging in on the new one.

So, if you purchased an internet package for a single device, that device must log off before the new device is able to use your password. I will note here that this was one of the more frustrating issues with the internet package onboard until we started following the tip in the green box above.

My family and I had purchased the package for four devices. Whenever we needed to activate a new device, the internet did not prompt us on which device to remove. In other words, when I wanted to use my laptop instead of my phone, I would login to the internet on my laptop. 

But it wouldn’t ask which device I wanted to disconnect. So, another member of my family would sometimes get annoyed when their device got disconnected.

Extra Information

Below are a few of the questions we had about the Royal Caribbean internet packages before experiencing them for ourselves:

How do you cancel the Royal Caribbean Internet package?

Before your sailing, you can cancel the Royal Caribbean internet package easily by calling RCCL or through your online Cruise Planner account. If you notice the price has gone down in the Cruise Planner, it’s super easy to cancel and rebook for the new price.

Is Wi-Fi free on Royal Caribbean ships?

Wi-Fi is not free on Royal Caribbean ships. If you are interested in Wi-Fi solely for communicating with others onboard, the cheapest option available is the chat feature in the app. This allows guests to chat with other guests in the Royal Caribbean app for free.

Additionally, you may receive free Wi-Fi depending on the stateroom or other packages you book. For example, guests who have added The Key to their cruise package will receive Wi-Fi as part of their The Key fee.

Finally, if you booked a suite in the Star or Sky class, you will receive a VOOM Surf and Stream Package for each person in your room. You can read more about the suite benefits in our post on Royal Caribbean Suites Perks.

Does the internet work on shore excursions?

The internet packages do not work unless you are on the Royal Caribbean ship or at Perfect Day at CocoCay. That being said, many of the ports you visit will have Wi-Fi available, so you can always connect there.

Is the Internet Package worth it on Royal Caribbean?

If you’re looking for the full internet experience on your trip, then we totally think the Royal Caribbean internet packages are worth it. 

My husband and I were able to stay connected with work and others at home. Plus, my young kids were able to stream their favorite shows and movies during downtime in the room.

Overall, we would recommend the Royal Caribbean internet package if you’re wanting an internet connection during your trip. We really lucked out in catching the Black Friday Sale that offered discounted prices for the package.

If you’re wanting to stay connected while also saving money, I think it would be doable to purchase a package for just one or two devices. Then, the other members of your family could take turns using the packages when needed.

I suggest weighing the cost of the packages with your need of being connected. Then, just go with whatever works for you and your family to have the best vacation experiences possible!

Have you used a Royal Caribbean internet package? Share your experiences with it below!