Skype blocked by cruise ships

[ETinCA]

Hi all,
I was on the Eurodam and Skype was blocked by their internet service. This is the first time I have been blocked by using Skype on a ship. I like to use Skype on board to show family our locations. It has been great to have. I noticed that many ships how now signed on to this system. Does anyone have a solution to go around the ship system so it doesn't recognize it as "telephony" as it shows?
Thanks!

[holacanada]

Hi ETinCA,

I'll tried Skype on my lasts 2 cruises on Noordam —
It's a No No situation. Not Possible. Nada. !!

They probably block Skype because they don't make any money with that.. :(
They prefer to charge you a lot for using their system..?
For me they make a very bad decision. It's unfortunate but... money talk I presume...

Holacanada will be on Volendam in 75 days, 23 hours, 27 minutes and 38 seconds
On route to Kobe — PanPacific

[sue1898]

Must be a new development as we used Skype on the Eurodam in April without a problem.

[lka1012]

Uh, What is Skype?

clue-impaired kathy

[jtl513]

They probably block Skype because they don't make any money with that.. :(Sure they would make money on it, but just the regular internet 75/55/40 cents per minute rather than the cell phone rate.

[Atomica]

I'm not really surprised they're starting to block Skype.

It uses a tremendous amount of bandwidth, and considering ships connections are notoriously slow to begin with, blocking it makes sense from a technical standpoint.

In regards to the question about Skype:

Skype is a type of internet telephony software/service that essentially allows you to place phone calls over the internet and avoid long-distance charges. At our office, we tried to use this a few years ago to communicate with partners in Toronto and Paris. While it was a great idea, problems with the software (and frequently, people's microphones on their computers) prevented us from adopting it, and we now still place good ol' fashioned phone calls.

[riverclub]

If you bring your cell phone, there's an agreement between Holland America and Seamobile that allows siome cell phones to work while cruising at sea. From the Holland America site:
"Mobile Phones
Through an agreement with SeaMobile, a leading provider of satellite-based broadband services, Holland America Line lets you take advantage of your wireless devices while at sea. Using your own mobile phone and telephone number, you can make and receive calls to and from fellow travelers who are on the ship, and friends and family who are far away on land. If you currently have the service through your home provider, you can also send and receive text messages. Other available wireless services include use of PDAs, such as your Blackberry.®
All billing for calls made while on the SeaMobile network are billed as a roaming charge on the regular carrier's invoice. Charges appear as "SeaMobile Roaming Charges".
The use of the service requires compatible wireless/mobile phones or devices and qualified wireless service with a home mobile service provider that has a roaming agreement with SeaMobile.
Availability of service is not guaranteed; it depends on the participation of your home mobile service provider and service permissions. Prepaid phone plans are not supported. If your phone does not work, please check with your home provider. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. "



AT&T is an approved carrier. I believe the cost is $2.49 minute. They also have a data plan. I'm sure there are others. Be sure your actual mobile phone is compatible. Some aren't.

[Charles4515]

Hi all,
I was on the Eurodam and Skype was blocked by their internet service. This is the first time I have been blocked by using Skype on a ship. I like to use Skype on board to show family our locations. It has been great to have. I noticed that many ships how now signed on to this system. Does anyone have a solution to go around the ship system so it doesn't recognize it as "telephony" as it shows?
Thanks!

Are you talking about their computers or you laptop? i can't see how the block it on your laptop since Skype uses the same ports as the internet and uses random ports.

[brucory]

That is a shame...

A friend called me from the Millenium recently and gave me a little tour. it was great. I was hoping to use skype on our next cruise.

Dissapointing...

:(

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I agree with Aaron, I think it has more to do with Bandwidth. Skype uses so much that it would block others from using the Internet or make using the Internet extremely slow. Without people logging into Skype it helps to speed up the internet for everyone else. My guess is that anytime any of us have complained about how very slow the internet was one more people were logging into Skype.

[sjclynn]

Are you talking about their computers or you laptop? i can't see how the block it on your laptop since Skype uses the same ports as the internet and uses random ports.

Skype is difficult but not impossible to block. It is a very aggressive and, depending on what you do for a living, hostile application. It is notorious for its "get to the Internet by any means possible" approach.

That said, firewalls that employ stateful packet inspection can identify and block Skype packets based on their signature. On the ship, this would happen at the gateway and all systems using that gateway would be blocked.