Cruise eSIM comparison
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Short answer
Start by deciding how many eSIMs you want to carry. Some of these plans keep working when the ship ties up, so one purchase covers the whole trip. The rest switch off near land, and pairing one with a cheap regional eSIM for the ports usually still comes out ahead on price.
After that it is your ship and your budget. Check the vessel appears on the provider’s own list before you pay, because the lists genuinely differ. Every head-to-head below puts two of them side by side on price per gigabyte, ship coverage and what happens the moment you dock.
| Provider | Works at sea | Works in port | Ferry plans | Free trial | From | Best $/GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GigSky | Yes — 290+ ships | Yes, on Cruise + Land | Yes — the only ferry-branded plans | 100 MB free, no card | $4.99 | $5.95/GB |
| Saily | Yes — 28 operators | No — activates only beyond 12 nm | No ferry-branded plans | None | $16.99 | $11.00/GB |
| Maya.net | Yes — narrower fleet | Yes, on Global + Cruise | No | None | $49.99 | $15.00/GB |
| OneRoam | Yes — 200+ ships | Yes, and 140+ countries on land | No | None | $19.99 | $13.00/GB |
| eSIM.dog | Yes — Telenor Maritime | No | No | None | — | — |
| Voye Global | Yes — 220+ ships, 27 lines | No — sea only by design | No | None | $16 | $10.80/GB |
| Red Bull MOBILE eSIM | Yes — 150+ named Telenor vessels | On the Cruise & land plan only | Yes — Stena, DFDS, Brittany, Color Line | None | $5.45 | $16.35/GB |
How to choose between them
The decision is not really about price per gigabyte — it is about whether you need data on port days as well as sea days, and almost everyone does. That single question separates these four more than any figure in the table above.
GigSky: The default, on the widest ship list in the market and the only free trial. Maya and OneRoam also cover sea and port on one purchase; GigSky is alone in selling ferry plans.
Saily: Cheapest per gigabyte at sea, but it stops working in port by design. Budget for a second eSIM for port days.
Maya.net: Unlimited by duration rather than by allowance, which suits heavy use on a short sailing. Check your ship is on the list first.
OneRoam: Unlimited land-and-sea on one eSIM, priced by duration and quoted in GBP, EUR and CAD as well as USD. The simplest single purchase if you refuse to think about gigabytes.
eSIM.dog: Cheapest way onto a ship network at all, and the dearest per gigabyte by a wide margin. Fine for messaging, wrong for anything else.
Voye Global: The same Cellular at Sea network and the same price ladder as Saily, on a slightly wider ship list. No trial, so there is no way to confirm your hull before paying.
Red Bull MOBILE eSIM: The only consumer route onto AIDA, Costa, P&O, Cunard and TUI ships, which the Cellular at Sea providers largely miss. EUR 5 is the cheapest entry anywhere; 250MB is a lifeline, not a connection.
If your itinerary is port-heavy with only one or two sea days, none of these is the right first purchase. Buy a good regional eSIM for the countries you are visiting and add a minimal ship Wi-Fi package for the crossing — that combination is usually cheaper than a maritime plan sized for a week.
Head-to-head pages
Each of these puts the two catalogues side by side, plan by plan, on effective cost per gigabyte rather than headline price.
Prices, coverage type and which one wins for which traveller.
Prices, coverage type and which one wins for which traveller.
Prices, coverage type and which one wins for which traveller.
Prices, coverage type and which one wins for which traveller.
Prices, coverage type and which one wins for which traveller.
Prices, coverage type and which one wins for which traveller.
Prices, coverage type and which one wins for which traveller.
Cruise eSIM comparison FAQ
01Which cruise eSIM is best overall?+
GigSky, for most people, because it is the only one that covers sea days and port days on a single plan and the only one with ferry-branded plans. Saily is cheaper per gigabyte at sea but does not work in port at all, so the true cost of a Saily trip includes a second eSIM.
02Why are there only seven to compare?+
Because only seven consumer eSIMs can actually use a ship’s maritime network, and all of them resell one of just two wholesale operators. Every other cruise-marketed eSIM is an ordinary land plan with cruise wording on the landing page — it works at port stops and dies about 12 nautical miles out.
03Is any of them cheaper than the ship’s Wi-Fi?+
Usually, and by a lot. Ship Wi-Fi runs roughly $16–40 per device per day and is billed per device. A maritime eSIM is shareable over your phone’s hotspot, so one purchase covers everyone in the cabin.