Princess MedallionNet Cost 2026: Is the WiFi Worth It?

Princess MedallionNet costs $24.99/day for one device (Classic), $44.99/day for priority bandwidth (Max), or $44.99/day for up to four devices (Multi-Device Classic) — as of August 2026, and pricing is dynamic. It’s bundled into the Princess Plus and Premier fares, and Captain’s Circle Elite loyalty members get 50% off onboard à la carte.

MedallionNet is one of the better-regarded ship networks afloat, and unlike lines that nickel-and-dime you with a messaging-only tier, every Princess plan is unlimited data. The catch: there’s no bargain entry plan, so the smart play is knowing when the fare bundle pays for itself and when to pair a single cheap day of ship WiFi with an eSIM in port.

Princess MedallionNet Pricing Breakdown

Princess sells MedallionNet in three à la carte tiers. All are unlimited (no data caps) for the day or voyage you buy, and all connect through your Medallion-linked account across the ship.

The standout value is Multi-Device Classic: at $44.99/day for up to four devices, you’re paying roughly $11.25 per device per day — less than half the single-device Classic rate. For a couple with two phones and a laptop, or a family, it’s the obvious pick. Max costs the same $44.99/day but buys priority bandwidth for a single device rather than more connections, so it’s aimed at one heavy user (think a remote worker on back-to-back video calls) rather than a group.

Captain’s Circle Elite discount: If you’ve earned Elite loyalty status, you get 50% off onboard à la carte MedallionNet. That drops Classic to about $12.50/day (roughly $87.47 for a 7-night cruise) — the cheapest legitimate way to get a full voyage of Princess WiFi. Confirm the current terms with Guest Services once you’re aboard, since loyalty perks change.

Buy before you board. The onboard walk-up rate is always the priciest option. Add MedallionNet through the Princess app or Cruise Personalizer ahead of embarkation, and remember that the biggest savings lever isn’t a coupon — it’s the fare bundle.

When Princess Plus or Premier Beats À La Carte

Princess Plus and Premier are per-guest, per-day fare bundles that fold WiFi in with a stack of other perks — crew appreciation (gratuities), a drinks/beverage allowance, premium desserts and fitness classes, and, on Premier, extras like specialty dining, photo packages, and reserved theater seating. Plus includes one-device MedallionNet; Premier includes up to four devices.

Because the bundle price covers far more than WiFi, the decision comes down to what you’d buy anyway:

• Take the bundle if you already plan to pay gratuities and want a drinks package. Between crew appreciation and a few drinks a day, the bundle typically justifies itself on those two items alone — which makes the WiFi effectively free.
• Buy à la carte if you don’t drink much and just want connectivity. Paying the full Plus/Premier day rate purely to unlock WiFi is more expensive than buying MedallionNet on its own.
• Solo travelers who only need one device: Classic à la carte, or Plus if the drinks and gratuities appeal.
• Couples and families wanting up to four devices: Premier if you’ll use the wider perks, otherwise Multi-Device Classic à la carte at $44.99/day.

One gotcha: fare bundles are usually purchased per guest for everyone in the stateroom, so don’t compare a single MedallionNet plan against a bundle for just one person — run the math for the whole cabin.

Speed and Network Reality

Princess has long positioned MedallionNet as a premium maritime network engineered for lower latency than the geostationary satellite systems that made old cruise WiFi painful. That lower latency is what makes video calls, messaging, and streaming feel responsive rather than laggy. It is not the single, uniform fleet-wide Starlink rollout you get on Royal Caribbean or Norwegian, so real-world performance depends on your specific ship, itinerary, and how many passengers are online at once.

Published and independently reported figures generally put typical MedallionNet throughput in the ~10-30 Mbps range on equipped ships (per cruise-connectivity coverage from outlets like CruiseFever and SeatWiFi and Princess’s own materials). Treat that as a directional estimate, not a guarantee — expect the top of the range on quiet mornings and the bottom during peak evening congestion. The Max tier’s priority bandwidth is designed to hold up better when the network is busy.

I won’t quote a single measured speed for a specific ship, because there isn’t one honest number — it swings too much by sailing. What’s dependable is the qualitative verdict: on a modern Princess ship, MedallionNet is good enough for messaging, email, browsing, social, and most one-on-one video calls, and it’s a genuine step above the legacy satellite experience.

Is MedallionNet Worth It? Who It’s For

Worth it for: solo cruisers who want reliable everyday connectivity (Classic), couples and families sharing several devices (Multi-Device Classic is the value king), Elite loyalty members (the 50% discount makes it a no-brainer), and anyone buying Plus or Premier for the drinks and gratuities anyway.

Think twice if: you’re a light user on a port-intensive itinerary, or you only need a signal for a couple of at-sea days. With no cheap messaging-only tier, Princess’s $24.99/day floor means a casual user can overpay fast — which is exactly where the hybrid strategy below earns its keep.

The eSIM-at-Ports Hybrid Strategy (The Money-Saver)

Here’s the trick most Princess guides skip: you rarely need to buy MedallionNet for the entire voyage. An eSIM delivers fast, cheap 4G/5G the moment you step ashore, so you only need ship WiFi on actual sea days.

The playbook:

1. Buy MedallionNet only for your at-sea days (Princess sells day passes, so you’re not locked into a full-voyage plan).
2. Before you leave home, install a regional eSIM covering your cruise route and leave it switched off.
3. At each port, toggle the eSIM on — it latches onto a local carrier within about a minute and gives you 30-80 Mbps for the 6-10 hours you’re docked.

Here’s the math on a 7-night, port-heavy itinerary with roughly two sea days:

Strategy	Cost (7 nights)	At sea	In port
MedallionNet Classic, full voyage	~$174.93	~10-30 Mbps	~10-30 Mbps
Hybrid: Classic on 2 sea days + regional eSIM	~$70-80	~10-30 Mbps (sea days)	30-80 Mbps (eSIM)
eSIM only (no ship plan)	~$20-30	No coverage	30-80 Mbps

Two days of Classic ($49.98) plus a $20-30 regional eSIM lands around $70-80 total — roughly $95-105 less than a full-voyage Classic plan, and you get faster speeds during the hours you’re actually ashore.

Match the eSIM to your region: Holafly's unlimited regional plans are ideal for Caribbean and Mediterranean sailings where you don’t want to watch a data meter; Saily (built by the NordVPN team) is the per-GB value pick for Europe and Mexican Riviera ports; and Airalo offers the widest country coverage for mixed or Asia-Pacific routes.

Get a Saily eSIM for Your Princess Cruise

The one operational rule that saves you from a nightmare bill: turn off Data Roaming on your eSIM line before the ship leaves port. Princess ships broadcast maritime cellular (“Cellular at Sea”) that can charge several dollars per megabyte if your eSIM connects at sea. On iPhone: Settings → Cellular → your eSIM line → disable Data Roaming. For a full region-by-region breakdown, see our guide to the best eSIMs for cruise ships.

Using a VPN on Princess WiFi

MedallionNet is a shared public network — thousands of passengers on the same infrastructure — so treat it like any hotel or airport WiFi. Before you log into banking, email, or work systems, connect through a VPN so your traffic is encrypted end-to-end and invisible to anyone else on the ship’s network.

Secure Your Cruise WiFi with NordVPN

NordVPN is my default recommendation for ship use: its WireGuard-based NordLynx protocol adds minimal latency, which matters on a satellite link, and the kill switch stops any accidental unencrypted traffic if the connection drops. Surfshark is the better pick for families, since it allows unlimited simultaneous devices on one subscription. Whichever you choose, install and sign in before you board — the app needs internet to authenticate the first time.

How Princess Compares to Other Lines

MedallionNet sits in the upper-middle of the pack: pricier at the entry level than budget-tier plans on some lines, but unlimited across the board and genuinely usable for everyday connectivity. If you’re still deciding which line to sail — or want to see how MedallionNet stacks up against Royal Caribbean’s VOOM, Norwegian, Carnival, and the rest — read our full comparison of the best cruise WiFi across every major line. You’ll also find more sailing tips in our cruise guides hub and the best cruise lines for digital nomads.

The Verdict

For most Princess cruisers, the right answer is one of three: take Plus or Premier if you’d pay for the drinks and gratuities anyway (the WiFi rides along free), grab Multi-Device Classic at $44.99/day if you’re sharing across a couple or family, or — if you’re a lighter user on a port-heavy route — run the hybrid strategy: a day or two of MedallionNet for sea days plus a regional eSIM at every port. Elite members should simply buy à la carte and take the 50% discount.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Princess MedallionNet cost?

MedallionNet has three à la carte tiers (as of August 2026, and pricing is dynamic): Classic at $24.99/day for one device, Max at $44.99/day for one device with priority bandwidth, and Multi-Device Classic at $44.99/day for up to four devices. A 7-night solo Classic plan runs about $174.93. It’s also bundled into the Princess Plus (one device) and Premier (four devices) fare packages, and Captain’s Circle Elite members get 50% off onboard.

Is MedallionNet included in Princess Plus and Premier?

Yes. The Princess Plus fare bundle includes one-device MedallionNet, and Princess Premier includes up to four devices. Both are per-guest, per-day packages that also cover crew appreciation (gratuities), a drinks allowance, and other perks. The bundle only wins if you’d separately pay for those extras — if you just want WiFi, à la carte MedallionNet is usually cheaper than buying the whole package.

Is MedallionNet fast enough to work remotely or video call?

For many cruisers, yes. Princess has marketed MedallionNet as a lower-latency network engineered for maritime use rather than the legacy geostationary satellite that made old cruise WiFi painful, and reported throughput on equipped ships is commonly cited in the ~10-30 Mbps range (it varies by ship, itinerary, and passenger load). The Max tier adds priority bandwidth for heavier use. For mission-critical calls, schedule them for port days and connect through a regional eSIM instead.

How do Captain’s Circle Elite members get the WiFi discount?

Captain’s Circle Elite loyalty members receive 50% off onboard à la carte MedallionNet purchases. On a Classic plan that drops the rate from $24.99 to about $12.50/day (roughly $87.47 for a 7-night cruise). The discount applies to onboard à la carte pricing; confirm current terms with Guest Services after you board, since promotions change.

Is MedallionNet cheaper if I buy it before the cruise?

Generally yes — the onboard walk-up rate is the most expensive way to buy. Princess lets you add MedallionNet through the Princess app and Cruise Personalizer before you sail, and the biggest savings come from bundling it into Princess Plus or Premier at booking. Pricing is dynamic and varies by sailing and promotion, so compare the à la carte day rate against the bundle before you commit.

Can I use an eSIM instead of MedallionNet on a Princess cruise?

An eSIM only works in port, not at sea, so it can’t fully replace ship WiFi — but it’s the key to the money-saving hybrid strategy. Buy MedallionNet only for your at-sea days and switch to a regional eSIM from Holafly, Saily, or Airalo at each port for fast 4G/5G. On port-heavy Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, or Mediterranean itineraries, that combination can cut your connectivity spend well below a full-voyage MedallionNet plan.

Should I use a VPN on Princess ship WiFi?

Yes. MedallionNet is a shared public network, so use a VPN before logging into banking, email, or work accounts. NordVPN or Surfshark are solid choices; install and sign in before you board, since the app needs internet to authenticate. Connect with a WireGuard-based protocol to keep the latency overhead low on the satellite link.

Sailing the Mediterranean on Princess? Line up a pre-cruise hotel near your embarkation port before the ship leaves.