Key Aspects:
- A TikTok video shows a 10-year-old boy upset about not having WiFi on his family’s Disney Cruise Line sailing.
- The boy’s stepdad reassures the boy and lets him know he’ll be okay on the Disney Magic cruise.
- Disney Cruise Line offers WiFi packages for guests who can’t handle the detox.
When 10-year-old Luca from Ohio learned there’d be no WiFi on his family’s recent Disney Magic voyage with Disney Cruise Line, his reaction was probably not dissimilar to most children (as well as adults!).
A TikTok clip posted by his mom, Brittney Mettke Powers, shows stepdad Gerard Powers gently consoling the child.
“Enjoy this time on the cruise, OK?” he says. “You’ll get WiFi, but it’s gonna hurt not having it for a while, but it’ll get better,” Gerard says.
“Each day, it’ll get better, and it’ll be easier and easier to live without WiFi,” he continued, with Luca giving a chuckling “okay” in response.
Brittney shared the video of her son’s “full-blown WiFi/Roblox detox” and added, “Sorry bud, guess you’ll just have to suffer through this Disney cruise instead.”
The simple post went viral, with many weighing in on Luca’s dopamine crash.
“This sounds silly, but if it’s hard for an adult with coping skills to leave their phone at home, it’s definitely hard for kiddos,” responded one viewer.
Another laughed and reminded Luca that he’s on a ship entirely geared toward him having fun. However, it is important to note that Luca is autistic.
While the majority of the comments raised concerns about too much screen time for kids, those who know and love Disney Cruise Line wished they could be on the voyage. “I definitely would be okay without [WiFi] for a week,” said one.
Even hard-hitting media sites like Newsweek picked up the clip, with Brittney admitting this was the family’s first cruise and that they had warned their four children that WiFi would be sporadic on their vacation.
At Sea Without WiFi
While the lighthearted post sparked a debate, Luca wasn’t entirely without WiFi on his vacation. The 1,750-passenger Disney Magic, which currently sails from Port Canaveral, and all Disney Cruise Line vessels offer complimentary WiFi access on its Navigator app.
Although this app only allows messaging between passengers and access to schedules and menus, the cruise line also sells tiered packages, so passengers don’t have to go through withdrawal.
The Connect@Sea is data-based and accessible via the Navigator app, as well. Guests can select basic Internet package from megabyte usage or pay-as-you-go. These provide passengers with ways to surf the web; access social media, texts, and e-mail; and make video calls.
Premium plans can also bump guests up with streaming capabilities for access to platforms like Disney+, Netflix, YouTube, and music services.
These packages allow up to four devices simultaneously, though if that limit is exceeded, one device may get dropped.
Yet even with a package, onboard WiFi on any cruise line isn’t always as smooth as at home. Satellite-based systems like Starlink are making cruise WiFi better and faster, although passengers may see speeds dip notably during the evenings when excursions are over and usage spikes.
In fact, he and his siblings are already asking when they can go on another cruise.
