VOOM SHARING QUESTION

[bigaznn]

I'll be sailing on Liberty of the Seas on Jan. 14.  This is my first cruise ever and i had a question about how Voom works.  I'll be sailing with my family.  There are 9 of us total and we have 3 different reservations.  We are looking to save on some costs if it's possible.  My question is if I were to purchase the 3 device Voom plan on my account; will i be able to share my password with the other people in my group even though we are in separate rooms and reservations?

[monorailmedic]

Anyone can use the log-ins, yes.  That in mind, each set of credentials can only be used on one device at a time.  So if the first set of credentials is used on Person A's iPhone, and then Person B logs it with the same credentials, it will let them log in and it will work, but Person A will now be logged out.  Make sense?

[bigaznn]

9 minutes ago, monorailmedic said:

Anyone can use the log-ins, yes.  That in mind, each set of credentials can only be used on one device at a time.  So if the first set of credentials is used on Person A's iPhone, and then Person B logs it with the same credentials, it will let them log in and it will work, but Person A will now be logged out.  Make sense?

Let me see if I understand what you're saying.  So If I were to order 3 different lines then I'll have 3 different credentials?  So I'd be able to keep credential A for myself, give credential B to another room completely and credential C to another room completely to use and all 3 credentials can be used at the same time.  

[monorailmedic]

1 minute ago, bigaznn said:

Let me see if I understand what you're saying.  So If I were to order 3 different lines then I'll have 3 different credentials?  So I'd be able to keep credential A for myself, give credential B to another room completely and credential C to another room completely to use and all 3 credentials can be used at the same time. 

You got it.

[bigaznn]

I appreciate it.  Thank you for clarifying.

[twangster]

On Anthem I purchased a two device plan and was given a single code that simply allowed two devices to be connected at the same time.  I was not given two codes.  Liberty may be different.  

[notorious.dds]

16 hours ago, bigaznn said:

This is my first cruise ever and i had a question about how Voom works.  I'll be sailing with my family.  There are 9 of us total and we have 3 different reservations.  We are looking to save on some costs if it's possible. 

One option is to bring a router with you that supports WISP mode such as the TRENDnet TEW-817DTR.  This option would allow you to share a single connection with mulitple devices.  It would mean that the connections would have to occur within range of the router (unlike traditional connections that work anywhere on the ship.) But, it could be a good money saver.

Using a router in WISP mode is much like using a traditional wireless router with one main difference: The router itself is connected to the internet wirelessly as opposed to being connected via ethernet wire.

By using a router in WISP mode, the router is the device which gets athenticated to VOOM.  The first client connected to the WISP router will be asked to authenticate to VOOM.  Once authenticated, subsequent devices that connect via the WISP router get to share the connection without additional authentication.

I just did this last week (December 2017) on the Oasis using an old router that I loaded with a 3rd party firmware (DD-WRT) and configured it to work in WISP mode.  It worked great.

That being said, the WISP router will loose its internet (and subsequently, so will all of the devices connected to it) if you try connecting directly to VOOM using the same access code that was already used to authenticate the WISP router.  In your situation, if all 3 of your state rooms are adjacent to eachother, one WISP router might be able to cover all three.  If that's the case, you might consider buying one code just for the router. This would give internet access to EVERYONE in your family for the cost of ONE device.  

 

[Matt]

15 hours ago, twangster said:

On Anthem I purchased a two device plan and was given a single code that simply allowed two devices to be connected at the same time.  I was not given three codes.  Liberty may be different.  

Yes, that's how it has worked across the fleet for me.  Each plan you purchase gets one code.  So if you get a 3 device plan, you will get one code that you can absolutely share among as many people as you want.  But as Billy pointed out, once all the available slots are taken up, no other devices can log on until one of the other devices logs out.

[twangster]

I suspect the purpose of a single code for a multi-device plan is to avoid cruisers getting together and sharing multi-device plans among strangers. 

For example with the group cruise coming up if five of us got together and shared a single five device plan purchase, we would really need to trust each other not to oversubscribe the 5 devices with spouses or other friends otherwise one of the original five would be hosed.  In a family that is manageable but among strangers who might seek to share a muilt-device plan there is more risk.

[Matt]

3 minutes ago, twangster said:

I suspect the purpose of a single code for a multi-device plan is to avoid cruisers getting together and sharing multi-device plans among strangers. 

For example with the group cruise coming up if five of us got together and shared a single five device plan purchase, we would really need to trust each other not to oversubscribe the 5 devices with spouses or other friends otherwise one of the original five would be hosed.  In a family that is manageable but among strangers who might seek to share a muilt-device plan there is more risk.

You may be right.  I always assumed it was one code per plan to simplify things and avoid "We lost our device #4 code"  One code to rule them all...there can only be one (code)...or something like that.

[Guest toodle68]

Something to consider..  but this does not feel much different than buying a drinks package and sharing it.. which resulted in each person in the room needing to purchase the drinks package.  Maybe it might not be too long before each person in a room will need to purchase an internet plan.

 

[tiny260]

6 minutes ago, toodle68 said:

Something to consider..  but this does not feel much different than buying a drinks package and sharing it.. which resulted in each person in the room needing to purchase the drinks package.  Maybe it might not be too long before each person in a room will need to purchase an internet plan.

 

I don't think so, to me it's not the same, this past October on Allure we bought the 2 device package, typically for my wife, she uses her cell phone and her iPad at the same time. But one day I needed to check an email from work so I just made sure she wasn't on her second device and then logged in to VOOM on my cell phone, did what I needed to do and then got off.

RCCL is going to care about devices (So they can effectively manage bandwidth on the VSAT), IT security is going to stop more than the allocated numbers of devices from logging on.

If anything I see communication becoming more economical as consumers require additional connectivity. There is already LTE coverage offshore now, it's very limited, usually just around the offshore oil platforms, but it is offshore.

[monorailmedic]

6 minutes ago, toodle68 said:

Something to consider..  but this does not feel much different than buying a drinks package and sharing it.. which resulted in each person in the room needing to purchase the drinks package.  Maybe it might not be too long before each person in a room will need to purchase an internet plan.

You bring up and interesting point.  I'm not sure I see it that way but am receptive to hearing different opinions.  To me, with internet packages you're distributing a commodity which is, for the purposes of this conversation, practically limitless (no single Voom user is doing so much with their phone/laptop that there is a notable difference in overhead to RCI).  With a drink package, two people consuming alcohol on one package actually does represent an increase in overhead.  Further, with the alcohol package, that's someone who would otherwise be paying for drinks (a la carte or w/ another package), whereas with Voom, if you didn't need to be connected all the time, and your friend didn't need to be connected all the time, but you both wanted some access, you'd simply pass a phone/tablet/computer back and forth using the same package, something I don't think most would argue is problematic.

Another factor is that many (if not most) guests wanting to be connected want that connection constantly (I know I do), and the percentage of guests with this desire will only increase.  Wanting to maintain that connection means you won't be able to share, and I suspect the percentage of guests who want that constant connection will only increase over time (essentially, this is why we see everyone moving away from metered connections, where you buy X minutes or X megabytes).

Looking at it yet a third way, sharing a drink package would be like paying for one person to eat at a buffet but actually having two people eat there.  You're doubling consumption.  If however there was a conveyor belt of food which never stopped, and uneaten food went into the abyss, then you'd be paying for the access to the food, and not the food itself.  Being as how time you didn't use the internet connection is gone (it's a perishable commodity in this way), I see Voom like that conveyor belt, and the movement as time.

It's a genuinely interesting thing to think about - so I really am receptive to hearing differing opinions on this one.

[Guest toodle68]

I agree with both of you.. but well, we have all seen many items increase in fees and RC is the same as any corporation. They will look at and prod/test many things to find the most profit. That sweet spot between pissing off some customers vs. increase in revenue. Communication costs generally come down over time, not up.

[monorailmedic]

5 minutes ago, toodle68 said:

I agree with both of you.. but well, we have all seen many items increase in fees and RC is the same as any corporation. They will look at and prod/test many things to find the most profit. That sweet spot between pissing off some customers vs. increase in revenue. Communication costs generally come down over time, not up.

Absolutely - it is a business like any other.  That in mind I'd be surprised if they went this way as I suspect in the next year or two we'll see most major lines offering lower prices and faster connections as lack of connectivity becomes a disqualifier for some and connectivity becomes a more valuable marketing tool for the cruise lines.  Table stakes essentially.  Now granted, room for price increases in the short to medium term seem possible, only because RCI is the cheapest in terms of internet access, with the exception of social-only plans from Carnival brands and NCL.  I could see this happening where RCI created social plans which could even be a loss-leader for the sake of publicity, with the added benefit of people holding onto their device, increasingly their likelihood of an "upgrade" to a higher-cost plan. 

Ultimately however they could try anything, so we shall see.

[twangster]

37 minutes ago, monorailmedic said:

Absolutely - it is a business like any other.  That in mind I'd be surprised if they went this way as I suspect in the next year or two we'll see most major lines offering lower prices and faster connections as lack of connectivity becomes a disqualifier for some and connectivity becomes a more valuable marketing tool for the cruise lines.  Table stakes essentially.  Now granted, room for price increases in the short to medium term seem possible, only because RCI is the cheapest in terms of internet access, with the exception of social-only plans from Carnival brands and NCL.  I could see this happening where RCI created social plans which could even be a loss-leader for the sake of publicity, with the added benefit of people holding onto their device, increasingly their likelihood of an "upgrade" to a higher-cost plan. 

Ultimately however they could try anything, so we shall see.

Delta started offering free in-flight texting starting earlier this year.  Text uses such little data it would be a huge differentiator for RCI to offer free texting.  I doubt many people are buying Voom just to text.  Most folks simply unplug.  There is an opportunity for a cruise line to offer free texting without eating into internet sales which would be very appealing to the younger generation and since texting uses such little data the cost is negligible.