Internet and Transatlantic sailing

I am looking at sailing on a transatlantic crossing and have a question about internet access during the crossing. Who has had experience with this and can you tell me if you were without internet for any length of time? I am required to keep in touch with work, and not by my choice. :(

I am looking at sailing on a transatlantic crossing and have a question about internet access during the crossing. Who has had experience with this and can you tell me if you were without internet for any length of time? I am required to keep in touch with work, and not by my choice. :(

Internet is available, at times connection can be difficult but you can keep in contact. 5 TA's and no problems :)

We never lost the connection on our Transpacific sailing on Rhapsody in 2013. We lost it for 2 days in 2011. As part of her makeover, RH received new communications equipment, and I recall reading that RCI was going to upgrade the fleet in that regard.

We had no issues with Internet access on the Northern Arlantic crossing, but if you are on the southern crossing, you are at sea for longer so your results may vary.

Thanks for the replies!

Yes, it would be the southern route because the cruise ends in Galveston. Has anybody been on that route that can enlighten?

Thanks for the replies!

 

Yes, it would be the southern route because the cruise ends in Galveston. Has anybody been on that route that can enlighten?

We were on a similar route from Barcelona to New Orleans 2 years ago. I was able to use the internet every day. After leaving Tenerife, the TV channels go out for a few days, except for a couple that are streamed over the internet.

Some ships have and will have

Unlimited Internet service .

Ones that don't have varying minutes plans.

Been on both south @north TA and had no problems:eek:

There are always variables that could impact performance including time of day, the position of the ship, weather and overall demand.

In general, the satellite coverage is good on the crossings.

Keith

Thanks for the replies!

 

Yes, it would be the southern route because the cruise ends in Galveston. Has anybody been on that route that can enlighten?

You should have no problems. My work requires that I post daily to the Internet. I have made 12 T/A cruises and with a few exceptions the Internet has been available every day. This includes the southern route to Galveston.

No one can guarantee what it will be like but our experience is that it's been fine.

Keith

Have done two Barcelona to US cruises and just recently a Fla - Southampton.

Had no problem accessing internet on the first two albeit a tad slow, the last one was mostly a washout. Very slow internet and a few days none at all. I guess it is weather dependent. Enjoy your cruise.

We're doing the TA to Galveston in November and were wondering the same thing about using a laptop. So I assume you have to pay the ship

for WiFi use? If so are there varying plans? Or is there a website where

I can read this information?

Thank you

Peggy

We're doing the TA to Galveston in November and were wondering the same thing about using a laptop. So I assume you have to pay the ship

for WiFi use? If so are there varying plans? Or is there a website where

I can read this information?

 

Thank you

Peggy

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqSubjectName=Life+Onboard&faqId=310&faqSubjectId=334&faqType=faq

Have done more then a dozen crossings and never lost internet service. That being said, keep in mind that internet service on most mass-market cruise ships is very very very slooooowwwww.

Hank

I am looking at sailing on a transatlantic crossing and have a question about internet access during the crossing. Who has had experience with this and can you tell me if you were without internet for any length of time? I am required to keep in touch with work, and not by my choice. :(

Recently took Navigator from New Orleans to Rome. No problem with the internet, though it is typical of ship internet. If you use it at off times it may be slightly faster. I was unable to hook on to the hot spot in the spa area, but as I had an aft cabin on deck 10, I usually just went to the computer center. I was able able to log on in my cabin a couple of times, but on the Navigator RCI makes no claim that internet is available throughout the ship. Cost was $150 for 500 minutes and I had a coupon for some bonus. I had a problem signing off one day, and guest services solved that quickly and gave me a credit for the extra time I was signed on.

As I also have to be accessible for work-related reasons, I bought a $25 package from Verizon for 100MB. I was able to read and respond to e-mail without any difficulty except for a day and a half when the system was down for me, and 8 hours behind for my wife on her Blackberry. Guest services connected me with Verizon, which reported that it was a world-wide problem with the system, unrelated to RCI or the Navigator. (This is unrelated to the alleged world wide shortage of snails.) We never used our phones for actual phone calls, which remain expensive. We have owned for over 10 years an English cell phone through telestial which gives us inexpensive phone calls in many countries.

Thus, if you have to stay connected, as we do, then I recommend getting the data package from your Smart Phone provider, so you can read and respond to e-mail for a small charge. Verizon is $25 for 100MB. For the 3 weeks we were away, neither my wife, my daughter, nor I hit 100 MB. RCI does not charge for use use of smart phone e-mail. RCI gets a cut from Verizon. For review of documents (things too big to be seen on a smart phone screen), buy and use an internet package. We used just over 500 minutes for the 15 days we were on the Navigator.

I download my pictures each night to my laptop. For the 500 minutes we were on line the computer was never able to finish backing up my pictures to the cloud. They finished, quite quickly, in Sorrento, when we had a land based connection. If you can turn off such applications while on board, you will improve your connection speed slightly, although the connection speed is more related to how many of your fellow cruisers are on line at the same time as you, how many are using Skype, and how many are uploading pictures.