New Cruise Internet Service Allows Use on Ship and Land, as Cheap as $8.67/Day

Staying connected while on a cruise is easier than ever.  But the cost of those Wi-Fi plans on the ship can rack up quickly, especially with multiple devices. 

Add in the fact that you can’t take that internet plan with you when you’re walking around an exotic cruise port in the Caribbean, and you’re stuck with a phone in airplane mode or risking surprise phone bills when you get back home.

A new service called OneRoam is attempting to change all that, and with prices as low as $8.67/day for unlimited data, it could exactly what cruisers have been looking for. 

If nothing else, it looks promising.

What is OneRoam?

OneRoam is a global travel eSIM service that offers unlimited high-speed mobile data for use both at sea on cruise ships and on land.   Yes, that means you can use it on the ship and also when you’re walking around a foreign port.

The service covers more than 150 crountries and works on over 200 cruise ships from 25 cruise lines, including Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, and others.

It uses an eSIM profile that travelers install on compatible unlocked phones, getting rid of the need to swap physical SIM cards or rely solely on ship Wi-Fi.

The list of compatible phones is pretty exhaustive, so chances are fairly good that it will work with yours.

What’s the Cost?

For a typical 7-night cruise, OneRoam’s 7-day “Global + Cruise” unlimited plan costs $89.99 total, which works out to about $12.86 per day.

Longer options provide even lower daily rates: a 15-day plan is $159.99 ($10.67 per day) and a 30-day plan is $259.99 ($8.67 per day).

If you just want to try it for one day it will cost $19.99 for the Global + Cruise package.

Plans can be purchased and topped up through the OneRoam website or mobile app (available for iOS and Android). And the “validity period” begins only when the eSIM connects to a supported network.

Cruise Line Wi-Fi

Every major cruise line offers Wi-Fi plans that you can purchase ahead of the cruise or once you’re on the ship.  Speeds are much better than they used to be, but prices are always changing.

Carnival Cruise Line has a “Value Wi-Fi Plan” that starts at $23.80 per day, Royal Caribbean’s 1 device plan starts around $23.99 a day, and Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Voyage Wi-Fi Pass” is $29.99 per day.

So, for a 7-day cruise with one device you’re looking at spending at least $167.

While these plans make it very convenient to connect your devices to the internet, they do not extend to use in ports, unless you’re in one of their private destinations.

Phone Carrier Options

Some of the major U.S. carriers also offer cruise-friendly roaming, but with daily fees and limits.  Too many times we’ve written stories about cruisers who left their phone on roaming without a cruise or travel plan.  As you might expect the bill afterwards was often north of $1,000.

Here is what the three big carriers offer:

• AT&T: International Day Pass costs $20/day per line. Gives unlimited talk & text + 500MB high-speed data (then slower). Works on 400+ cruise ships and in ports on the same day.
• Verizon: Cruise Daily Pass is $20/day per line. Unlimited talk & text to the U.S. + 0.5GB high-speed data (then unlimited at slower speeds). Charged only on days you use it at sea.
• T-Mobile: Strong for ports (included data/text on most plans in 215+ countries), but no high-speed data at sea. Turn roaming off in port to avoid ship network charges; at sea, expect pay-per-use rates.

How Does OneRoam Work?

OneRoam’s setup is fairly straightforward.  Users need to confirm their device is unlocked and eSIM-compatible, select a plan based on the itinerary and number of days needed, download the eSIM profile, and activate it when connecting to a supported network.

The service is designed for cruise passengers, crew, and others who want cellular data that can be used on almost any cruise ship.

 A Roam Rewards loyalty program is available for repeat customers as well, so it’s a viable option for those veteran cruisers.

What Kind of Speeds to Expect

This was my first question with this kind of service.   According to the service details on the OneRoam website, it supports LTE/5G/3G/2G networks with unlimited data.

Performance with any at-sea internet service can vary based on ship location, weather, and network congestion.

OneRoam delivers cellular data directly to the phone, which is different from the full-ship Wi-Fi experience.  Heavy video streaming or major bandwidth hogging activities might not be as reliable, but again, it depends on the above factors.

The service is still pretty new, so we’ll have to wait on user feedback to see what cruisers think of the reliability and speed of the connections.

In a press release about this new service Willie Moore, Executive Director of OneRoam said this:

“OneRoam removes the complexity and unpredictability travelers often experience when trying to stay connected across multiple countries and maritime networks. Our goal is to provide a seamless connectivity experience that works wherever the journey takes them, whether at sea or land.”

Feel free to check out plans at OneRoam here and let us know if you’ve used the service before.