Yes, I know. Why would anyone want to be on Zoom during a cruise? Unfortunately, for some of us, we still have to work while on a cruise ship. And the big question is… Can you get on Zoom while cruising with Carnival?
You CAN get on Zoom while cruising with Carnival, but there are some things you need to know.
The first thing you’ll need to know is you will have to buy Carnival’s most expensive internet plan. You’ll need the “Premium Wi-FI Plan” which starts at $14.45 per day. The total cost will depend on the length of your cruise. You cannot buy internet for just one day; it has to be for the length of your cruise or for however many days are left on your cruise.
So, if you buy it on the first day of a seven day cruise, you’ll have to pay for all seven days. If you buy it on the third day, you’ll have to buy it for all the days remaining. If you don’t really want to Wifi, but have a meeting on the fifth day of your cruise, wait until that day to buy it to minimize the number of days you have to pay for.
You can get a discount by buying early.
You can save a little money by buying your plan in advance. Carnival offers a 15% discount for pre-paying for internet, but the order has to be placed by 11:59 p.m. the day prior to your cruise.
How to get on Zoom
Once you are on board, connect to Carnival’s Wi-Fi which can be a little tricky. You can find instructions here.
Then you can launch Zoom. If you don’t have the Zoom app, make sure to download it early. It could take a while once on board.
Launch Zoom, join your meeting and you are good to go.
It will work, but it may be slow.
While Zoom video and audio will work, you may be limited to what else you can do. For example, while on Zoom on the Carnival Vista (at the Red Frog Pub) I needed to follow a link and watch a short video. The video would not load; presumably because the Zoom app was taking up most of my alloted bandwidth. Web pages loaded just fine, but video wouldn’t.
I was also online during the evening which meant the ship’s internet was slower. This may or may not be a problem for you depending on what time you get online.
My Zoom meeting lasted two hours and I was never disconnected.
I hope this helps! Happy Sailing!
