Recognizing the importance of the crew to keep in contact with their families and friends, Princess Cruises has introduced free Whatsapp for its shipboard employees. Starting February 14, the free texting service is available on six Princess cruise ships, and the company is working hard to expand the program throughout the fleet.

“As part of our commitment, we are proud to announce that beginning February 14, we will provide our Princess team member's FREE, unlimited access to WhatsApp. Caribbean, Crown, Regal, Royal, Ruby, and Sky Princess will be the first ships to enjoy this free service and we are working hard to expand this crew benefit to all ships with MedalionNet throughout the year.” Reads the letter distributed among the Princess Cruises crew members.

“We are proud and excited to share this with all of you and want to thank you for all your hard work and fulfilling our shared purpose. We know real-time contact with your family and friends is very important, and are delighted that CrewNet continues to deliver better connectivity than ever before through our MedalionNet technology.” 

Princess Cruises is the fourth cruise line in the past four months to announce free WhatsApp texting to their shipboard employees.

Disney Cruise Line rolled out free texting for their crew members across the fleet in October 2019. Holland America Line followed, announcing free WhatsApp texting for the crew across its 14 ships in December 2019, just in time for the Christmas holidays. Azamara, the luxury boutique brand of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. started complimentary WhatsApp texting for the crew in January 2020.

We all know how important it is for the crew to keep in touch with their loved ones back home, especially when we are away for months at a time. Free WhatsApp texting will be very much appreciated and we hope that other cruise lines will follow this trend.

Wondering which cruise line is next to offer free WhatsApp for their crew? Let's see next month who will join the club :)