# Cruise Lines Improving Internet Service at Sea



## MULTIZ321 (May 17, 2016)

Cruise Lines Improving Intenet Service at Sea - by Arlene Satchell/ Business/ sun-sentinel.com

"More cruise lines are trying to solve one of the biggest irritants of cruising: slow internet connections.

Royal Caribbean International, MSC Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Carnival Corp. & PLC all have announced steps recently to upgrade technology on their ships.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has now joined them.

Norwegian, based in Miami, said it will quadruple the speed of internet service on the company's 23 ships by July, delivering speeds similar to those in homes and offices.

All ships in the company's three brands — Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises — will receive technological upgrades, including new satellite dishes, through a partnership with communications provider EMC.

The company also recently ramped up the speed of internet connections in key ports...."





Norwegian Escape, the newest and largest ship for Norwegian Cruise Line, was christened at PortMiami on Nov. 9. (Norwegian Cruise Line)


Richard


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## artringwald (May 17, 2016)

I'll be more impressed if they stop charging $1/minute for connection time.


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## Talent312 (May 17, 2016)

With free Wi-Fi hot-spots in many ports, it's sort'a silly to pay cruiselines' exorbitant fees.
But some folks can't live without being connected... Just like alcohol and gambling.
.


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## am1 (May 17, 2016)

Talent312 said:


> With free Wi-Fi hot-spots in many ports, it's sort'a silly to pay cruiselines' exorbitant fees.
> But some folks can't live without being connected... Just like alcohol and gambling.
> .



Have to pay those things that come in the mail every month somehow. 

This is great news.


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## artringwald (May 17, 2016)

Talent312 said:


> With free Wi-Fi hot-spots in many ports, it's sort'a silly to pay cruiselines' exorbitant fees.
> But some folks can't live without being connected... Just like alcohol and gambling.
> .



Haven't had much success with free hot-spots. Mostly we've gone on excursions that didn't stop at places with free WiFi. I got good at downloading email and Quicken transactions and posting a picture to Facebook in less than 3 minutes each day.


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## Passepartout (May 17, 2016)

The above mentioned 'upgraded' Wi-Fi is now charged by the day, no longer a per-minute charge. Often as a perk, like pre-paid gratuities, a drink package, or on-board-credit, Wi-Fi is a negotiable benefit for booking.

Stay tuned, I'll try it soon and report back. There are questions in my mind- like will it be fast enough to support Skype, or can it be shared by multiple devices. My hunch is that it is a per-device add-on, and won't be fast enough for heavy downloading- like video.

Still, it should be an improvement over the slower-than-dialup at half-a-buck-a-minute rate.

Jim


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## Southdown13 (May 17, 2016)

We took a repositioning transatlantic cruise last October aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale.  We had some onboard credit, and we purchased wifi (Voom, installed in 2014) for the last 5 nights of our trip. The cost was $15/day and 50% off the second device. We were able to Skype with no problems, and we were surprised that we able to stream Netflix. There were a few brief periods of outage due to ship positioning, but otherwise the connection was great.  Several crew members told us they loved it because they could easily connect to family and friends and not have to wait until the next port to call.


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## mdurette (May 17, 2016)

I may be in the minority here....but personally, I like the fact that on cruises I truly disconnect, because I am way too cheap to pay for the access.  I love the fact that I put my phone (which is also my work line) in a safe and not look at it at all.

I recall last April we were on a cruise and last port was Key West.   Everyone had their phone out and was buried in their email, facebook, etc.   It actually  annoyed me.


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## Ken555 (May 18, 2016)

mdurette said:


> I may be in the minority here....but personally, I like the fact that on cruises I truly disconnect, because I am way too cheap to pay for the access.  I love the fact that I put my phone (which is also my work line) in a safe and not look at it at all.
> 
> 
> 
> I recall last April we were on a cruise and last port was Key West.   Everyone had their phone out and was buried in their email, facebook, etc.   It actually  annoyed me.





Offering internet on cruise ships allows some of us to travel by ship when we wouldn't even consider it otherwise. I've done three 11-14 night repositioning cruises in the last 18 months and would never have gone had they not had an unlimited internet option so I could keep in touch with my office and do a little work. 

I am continually amazed at how some people think their personal opinion on how best to vacation should be imposed on others.


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## hntngfamly (May 20, 2016)

I am excited to hear of the improvements to wifi while cruising. Our travel is limited to places that have fairly reliable wifi or data connection for phones/tablets, due to my husbands business. Can't wait to hear additional first hand experiences.


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## BocaBoy (May 28, 2016)

Ken555 said:


> I am continually amazed at how some people think their personal opinion on how best to vacation should be imposed on others.



My sentiments exactly.


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## am1 (May 28, 2016)

BocaBoy said:


> My sentiments exactly.



Mine as well.  Have to pay for the trip and put food on the table when we are at home somehow.


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## dioxide45 (May 29, 2016)

Ken555 said:


> I am continually amazed at how some people think their personal opinion on how best to vacation should be imposed on others.





BocaBoy said:


> My sentiments exactly.





am1 said:


> Mine as well.  Have to pay for the trip and put food on the table when we are at home somehow.



Not sure that's anyone was trying to impose their vacation style on anyone. Isn't the purpose of the forum to be sharing your opinion? Doesn't mean you HAVE to do it too.


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## Ken555 (May 29, 2016)

dioxide45 said:


> Not sure that's anyone was trying to impose their vacation style on anyone. Isn't the purpose of the forum to be sharing your opinion? Doesn't mean you HAVE to do it too.




Obviously. Yet the sentiment remains among some, and seems to be a common response whenever Internet or having to work (stay in touch with office, etc) while traveling is mentioned. 

This is changing, though, since internet access is becoming much more prevalent among traditional vacation-only venues (such as cruise ships) and is in demand by different types of travelers, not just those who need to work, for many reasons. 

Still, it's absurd for someone to be upset because other people are connected while they are on their vacation. Scroll up and you'll see what I mean...as if others using their phones while "on vacation" would materially affect their ability to enjoy their trip...just ridiculous.


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## Passepartout (May 29, 2016)

Here's my report on Celebrity Silhouette's new broadband. Works well, but EXPENSIVE. $299 for the cruise, or $33 a day, 1/2 price for the 2nd device. Or $.99/min. I am using free wifi ashore.

You folks need an occasional break from me anyway.

Jim


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## Ken555 (May 29, 2016)

Passepartout said:


> Here's my report on Celebrity Silhouette's new broadband. Works well, but EXPENSIVE. $299 for the cruise, or $33 a day, 1/2 price for the 2nd device. Or $.99/min. I am using free wifi ashore.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





I paid for Royal's new service (which is fast enough to stream video) for just ~$10.50 per device per day for an upcoming cruise. 

Also, I booked a Windstar cruise for next year which has the slower internet but we got it for free for our group (great prices, too, considering it's a repositioning cruise).


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## isisdave (May 29, 2016)

For cruises mostly near land and not many sea days, I still suggest a US T-mobile account. In most countries, they give free texting and (slow, 2.5G) data (but no limit), and 20 cent per minute voice.  On our recent Med cruise, this worked everywhere but Gibraltar. On ship, texts were free to receive and 50 cents to send, which is a good way to find your misplaced spouse on a big ship.

There's no contract, and they're GSM so you can pop their SIM into an old phone for a month. Not sure if this is also available on prepaid. This enabled us to avoid paying for show ship Internet.

The data speed is plenty fast for Google and most websites, but of course not Netflix or even YouTube. But for looking for tours in your next port, it's great.

Using WiFi in some smaller ports worked fine; in bigger ones, 60 people connecting to one hotspot = slow. Some Spanish cities have free wifi in plazas and parks.

I like the pay-by-the-day featureof the new shipboard services, though not at $33. That lets you handle an emergency or business crisis and not have to check your crystal ball to see how big a "package" to buy.


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## Ken555 (May 29, 2016)

isisdave said:


> For cruises mostly near land and not many sea days, I still suggest a US T-mobile account. In most countries, they give free texting and (slow, 2.5G) data (but no limit), and 20 cent per minute voice.




I have this and have used it in multiple countries. It works, but it's painfully slow. 

Instead, on my last two European trips I've bought local SIM cards and been much, much happier for not a lot of money. And, it's getting easier in Europe since the EU is forcing carriers to allow roaming from one to another without huge fees. Earlier this month while in Europe I used the UK 3 prepaid service, which I consider among the best, since it includes service in numerous other countries at no additional cost. I prepared my account ahead of time and on the first day in Spain I activated the 30 day prepaid unlimited internet service, which provides up to 30GB (I believe) of Internet in countries other than the UK and unlimited in the UK at 3G/4G/LTE speeds. Total cost was ~$35 for the month and I used it in Spain, Sweden, Finland and the U.K. I used my T-Mobile SIM in Germany since I was only there a few days and currently Germany is expensive for mobile prepaid options.

However, back on topic, I tend to prefer repositioning cruises with few ports, so internet on board is essential for me to travel via ship.

ETA: the 3 service also included tethering, so I was able to get a few other devices we had online while there. Using navigation software and yelping a few restaurants is much, much faster with 3G or better speeds. Also, FYI, I was able to get a sim, a calling package (which I didn't use) and 10GB of data in Russia for just ~$4.80. Using T-Mobile 2G service is fine if that's the only option, but it really isn't these days.


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## mdurette (May 29, 2016)

dioxide45 said:


> Not sure that's anyone was trying to impose their vacation style on anyone. Isn't the purpose of the forum to be sharing your opinion? Doesn't mean you HAVE to do it too.




Thank you dioxide, because I wasn't.   

To others, So we are clear, I AM the person that works through almost every vacation.   I'm talking to customers in the middle of Magic Kingdom,  I am up at 5am return emails, I miss afternoon pool time because I have to call into a meeting, I am always connected.    Do not assume that I don't know what that is like.

But once a year, I take a cruise and I disconnect.   And yes, it will still bother me when my husband, kid, people we are traveling with and 1/2 the ship has their head buried in their phone because we are in a US port and they have service.   It's not an opinion on how to travel, it is just how it made me feel that particular morning.


To everyone, travel safe and have fun.....in whatever style suits YOU best.  Because that is what it is all about.


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## isisdave (May 30, 2016)

Thanks for that info, Ken555. We started the cruise in Spain and Italy, but of course only a few days of each and I hadn't found a multi-country plan for the Mediterranean countries that was not outrageous. (Funny how when you start looking for these things you start getting ads for $10/day rentals that sound like you're doing them a favor.)

Did you put the 3 SIM into your T-mobile phone, or do you have another for this purpose? If the former, did you forward the T-mobile to the 3, or just let it go to voicemail? (With a 9-hour time zone difference, I have to shut off the phone, or at least the ringer, to avoid 2am calls.)


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## isisdave (May 30, 2016)

duplicate.


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## Ken555 (May 30, 2016)

isisdave said:


> Thanks for that info, Ken555. We started the cruise in Spain and Italy, but of course only a few days of each and I hadn't found a multi-country plan for the Mediterranean countries that was not outrageous. (Funny how when you start looking for these things you start getting ads for $10/day rentals that sound like you're doing them a favor.)
> 
> 
> 
> Did you put the 3 SIM into your T-mobile phone, or do you have another for this purpose? If the former, did you forward the T-mobile to the 3, or just let it go to voicemail? (With a 9-hour time zone difference, I have to shut off the phone, or at least the ringer, to avoid 2am calls.)





Yes, I use my iPhone (which I bought for T-Mobile, and had it unlocked within a few months of purchase...not quite as easy to do with other carriers). You can forward calls to the UK 3 number, but then you'd be paying long distance to T-Mobile for each forwarded call. Instead, I forwarded my T-Mobile number to my office voip system, which I was able to access via an iPhone app and received voice messages via email. Over the last ~10 years when I traveled abroad, and before we had this voip system, I have simply paid for a Skype account which did the same and is very inexpensive...you could even use a Google Voice account today for this task.

You are correct about interruptions at 2am. I kept my iPhone/iPad/MacBook Pro on Pacific time so all emails had that time zone in messages (in the past I've changed it, but I was more sensitive to not telling everyone where I was in each email for this trip), and I used the iPhone as an alarm clock (which was fun, since I had to be awake enough  to figure out the time difference when tired...). But, I receive quite a number of notifications (app messages, text messages, etc) and so I simply put the phone into airplane mode when I went to sleep so it didn't wake me up. My point is that even if you prevent incoming calls at 2am, you may have alerts and other messages which cause the phone to wake you up.

I return to Europe in the fall (for another transatlantic cruise) and will be in Portugal and Spain. Portugal isn't covered by the UK 3 plan (at least not yet) so I simply plan on buying a local SIM when there, and for the few days in Spain I might buy a local SIM there as well, since that will be less expensive than buying another month of UK 3 service (last year in Spain I bought a SIM and 2GB of data for just €10 or so).


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## MPERL (Jun 6, 2016)

*Royal Wi FI*

We just did a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Eastern Caribbean and did a 2 device wifi package, I think it was $150, purchased ahead of time. The wifi speed was very nice. I do not know the exact speed, but it was lightning faster than GoGo on the American Air jets.


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## Ken555 (Jun 6, 2016)

MPERL said:


> We just did a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Eastern Caribbean and did a 2 device wifi package, I think it was $150, purchased ahead of time. The wifi speed was very nice. I do not know the exact speed, but it was lightning faster than GoGo on the American Air jets.





FWIW, AA just selected a different provider for their new planes instead of GoGo since they were unhappy with the performance. The other provider will apparently offer up to 12Mbps per seat (which would be rather fantastic, if true).


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## Passepartout (Jun 6, 2016)

I am on Celebrity's service right now. It works great, but at a cost. They gave us 2.5 hours gratis, but I have been metering it. Beats paying almost $300 for a 2 week cruise. Hope you missed me. Back home tomorrow.

Jim


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## Helios (Jun 7, 2016)

Ken555 said:


> Yes, I use my iPhone (which I bought for T-Mobile, and had it unlocked within a few months of purchase...not quite as easy to do with other carriers). You can forward calls to the UK 3 number, but then you'd be paying long distance to T-Mobile for each forwarded call. Instead, I forwarded my T-Mobile number to my office voip system, which I was able to access via an iPhone app and received voice messages via email. Over the last ~10 years when I traveled abroad, and before we had this voip system, I have simply paid for a Skype account which did the same and is very inexpensive...you could even use a Google Voice account today for this task.
> 
> You are correct about interruptions at 2am. I kept my iPhone/iPad/MacBook Pro on Pacific time so all emails had that time zone in messages (in the past I've changed it, but I was more sensitive to not telling everyone where I was in each email for this trip), and I used the iPhone as an alarm clock (which was fun, since I had to be awake enough  to figure out the time difference when tired...). But, I receive quite a number of notifications (app messages, text messages, etc) and so I simply put the phone into airplane mode when I went to sleep so it didn't wake me up. My point is that even if you prevent incoming calls at 2am, you may have alerts and other messages which cause the phone to wake you up.
> 
> I return to Europe in the fall (for another transatlantic cruise) and will be in Portugal and Spain. Portugal isn't covered by the UK 3 plan (at least not yet) so I simply plan on buying a local SIM when there, and for the few days in Spain I might buy a local SIM there as well, since that will be less expensive than buying another month of UK 3 service (last year in Spain I bought a SIM and 2GB of data for just €10 or so).



Ken - It sounds like your preference is to buy local SIMs.  Is there an International SIM you have tried and liked?


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## Ken555 (Jun 8, 2016)

moto x said:


> Ken - It sounds like your preference is to buy local SIMs.  Is there an International SIM you have tried and liked?





If by international, you mean one which works in multiple countries then the closest I've come is the UK 3 (three.co.uk) service I described. Of course, T-Mobile is a great option, but it's just too slow for me unless it's for a short time (a day or two at most) or when faster options just aren't easily found. Depending on where you are going, a local sim for each country may not be difficult and less expensive than many of those services which work everywhere and charge a lot per minute or per mb.


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## Talent312 (Jun 10, 2016)

Just returned from a Baltic cruise on RCL and found these free hot-spots...
Museums -- Like the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.
Ports -- In Tallin, Estonia, folks camped outside the souvenir shop. 
Tour Bus -- Offered by some tour buses (or the one parked next to yours).

I stayed connected well enuff that my secretary complained that I was supposed to be gone.
.


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## isisdave (Jun 11, 2016)

And of course McDonalds and Starbucks in most countries. Post Offices in the UK. We found quite a few cities particularly in Spain with free WiFi in their parks or plazas, and sometimes throughout the tourist district.

Cadiz has good wifi (and about 20 seats)  in the port office right next to the ship; but that's where 40 or 50 people trying to connect will bog it down. The last hour before sailing is usually better at these sites. Dubrovnik has several places at the port where it's not free but I think it was €1 for an hour or €2 for 4.


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## VacationForever (Jun 11, 2016)

I am currently on a Celebrity cruise right this moment, using the onboard wifi.  Pretty good speed.


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## Karen G (Jun 11, 2016)

We just returned from a Viking Ocean cruise around the Baltic Sea. Wi-fi is available throughout the ship and is included with the cruise.  It was great to have it because I was using my iPhone as my camera. Each day I posted my pictures to Facebook. Once they were posted I deleted them from my phone so that I had space for the next day's photos. Friends and family enjoyed going along with us on the trip through the photos.

Now that we're home I've had fun going back over the cruise pictures and remembering each place we went.  I just ordered My Social Book, which is a printed book of Facebook pictures/posts that covered the dates of our trip.


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