GigSky

If you’ve ever taken a cruise, you know the price of ship WiFi is quite expensive. My husband and I are avid cruisers but never bought the ship WiFi. Before our last cruise a few weeks ago, I wanted to know if other alternatives were available. I found GigSky.

GigSky is an eSim that works on land, at cruise ports, and most importantly, on ships. On their home page they show a partial list of countries where their service works. If you’re looking specifically at cruises, go to the Cruises dropdown. Click where your cruise is going, then decide how much data you need. 

When choosing your plan, keep a few points in mind: GigSky is data, not WiFi, so you’ll need to estimate how much you think you’ll use. We were on a 5 night cruise with a 1GB plan for me. That was enough to keep up with email and a little bit of social media. Take into account if you’ll have access to free WiFi when you’re in port. If not, you may need a larger plan. The larger the plan, the longer time period you have to use it. Also, the service doesn’t work at sea until the ship is about 12 miles away from land.

You can buy the plan from home, and activate once you arrive at your destination. I bought my plan on the cruise ship once we boarded, then activated. Make sure while using any eSim that you turn off your primary eSim or you may get hit with roaming charges and a very large cell phone bill when you get home.

The easiest way to purchase and install a GigSky eSim, which works with Apple and Android, is from their app. GigSky has plenty of help articles and videos to explain their service and installation. Within the app users can keep track of how much data is left. If necessary, data can be topped off during the trip.

Yes, having to go into settings to turn off Airplane mode and WiFi in order to use GigSky, then reversing the process when done, can be a bit tedious. But using a GigSky eSim allowed me to keep up with email and stay in touch with family. Messages doesn’t work as there’s no phone number attached to GigSky. For texting use Whats App or Facebook Messenger. 

Will I use GigSky again? Yes. We’re cruising out of Spain later this year for 9 nights. Purchasing WiFi on the ship will cost about $400. Plus we’ll need a land plan. As of now, GigSky is $140 for 15 days for both of us. It’s not as fast or convenient as using ship WiFi, but the price differential makes it a valid option.