Recent Rhapsody Cruisers - how is the internet?

We were on Rhapsody in 2014 for Alaska cruise. Loved the ship, but the internet was truly unusable. Since then have cruised Princess and found much better internet connection - obviously not like at home, but DH was able to download work emails and respond, even with a company vpn, which always slows things down.

I hear about Voom on RCI now, but wondering if it has been added to the smaller ships. We have a cruise on Rhapsody booked next month in and out of Venice (Croatia and Greece ports) and there are work issues looming. Has anyone used internet on Rhapsody recently? How was it?

I know it's all a little subjective and most of us cruise to unplug. But in this case, if DH can't count on a connection at least once a day, he will skip the cruise (DD and I will still go, but it's decision time for him).

TIA for sharing your experience!

Rhapsody does not have the high speed O3b internet that the Oasis and Quantum class ships have. However, I believe they have increased the bandwidth, so it did seem somewhat faster this past February than it did a few years ago on our Alaska cruise. Still nothing like Oasis.

Thanks, Bob. I was hoping you'd chime in!

Thanks, Bob. I was hoping you'd chime in!

You're welcome.

I sailed on Rhapsody Apr. 1-8, and my TA asked about the internet service just this morning. This was my response:

I’d call it “adequate”. We were in room 3055 and I had 2 bars out of 5. Some common areas had good strength; others, none at all (Diamond Lounge, poolside, dining room). I used mine for email and web surfing – I didn’t do any video streaming so I can’t comment on that, but I suspect it wouldn’t be too good as there is a bit of lag time between requesting and receiving data.

Also, one irritant was that I had to log into the RCL system *each and every time I used the iphone*. It’s supposed to keep you logged in for 2 hours, but that didn’t work for me. Also, many times I had to select “forget this network”, restart the phone, and then reconnect. It was a pain.

Would I get VOOM again on Rhapsody? Yeah, because the alternative is to go without, and I can't imagine that.

I sailed on Rhapsody Apr. 1-8, and my TA asked about the internet service just this morning. This was my response:

 

I’d call it “adequate”. We were in room 3055 and I had 2 bars out of 5. Some common areas had good strength; others, none at all (Diamond Lounge, poolside, dining room). I used mine for email and web surfing – I didn’t do any video streaming so I can’t comment on that, but I suspect it wouldn’t be too good as there is a bit of lag time between requesting and receiving data.

 

Also, one irritant was that I had to log into the RCL system *each and every time I used the iphone*. It’s supposed to keep you logged in for 2 hours, but that didn’t work for me. Also, many times I had to select “forget this network”, restart the phone, and then reconnect. It was a pain.

 

 

Would I get VOOM again on Rhapsody? Yeah, because the alternative is to go without, and I can't imagine that.

LOL, You and I share a travel agent! I asked her this yesterday. She asked you, then emailed me your response. Isn't she great?:halo:

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Would you say that if one had to be able get work emails, that would at least be something that he could count on?

We were on Rhapsody last week 8th to 15th and I would agree with what bcarney said. It was ok for emails and the likes of Facebook but one problem I did have was we could be sitting in the Schooner bar for example with full wifi signal but was unable to join the network for some reason, the next time it would work OK. We were 3 in a cabin and each had our own connection so it wasn't a case of one of us having to log out to allow another to join.

Would you say that if one had to be able get work emails, that would at least be something that he could count on?

I would not count on it working all the time. While it works, yes, it's adequate for e-mail, but outages can happen at any time.

We were on Rhapsody last week 8th to 15th and I would agree with what bcarney said. It was ok for emails and the likes of Facebook but one problem I did have was we could be sitting in the Schooner bar for example with full wifi signal but was unable to join the network for some reason, the next time it would work OK. We were 3 in a cabin and each had our own connection so it wasn't a case of one of us having to log out to allow another to join.

I would not count on it working all the time. While it works, yes, it's adequate for e-mail, but outages can happen at any time.

Thank you for the feedback. Just having a realistic understanding of what to expect is super helpful!

We sailed in December, and I will echo what others have said, but perhaps a little better experience than they did. We were in 7660, center aft, and as long as we were connected, we generally had great reception. That said, one of the nights was spotty, and it happened to be the night my husband's doctoral work was due. It made that specific evening stressful trying to get connected and beat the deadline. We were finally able to get everything to work and upload two minutes before the midnight deadline.

That said, we are booked on her again ine December 2018, and he will still have assignments due during the trip. Wouldn't hesitate to go,

For what it's worth, we were on the Vision Oct 2015. The connection was so slow that customer service and the concierge were crediting sea pass accounts with free computer time. We were using the ships computers and it would take a minimum of 20-30 minutes just to sign in to our email server, or just freeze and then never connect.

Worst we've ever encountered on a ship. Too bad, because if RC upgraded and charged accordingly (for decent service) it would go a long way overall towards increased customer satisfaction. The way it's done now is charging a high price for horrible service-not cool.

YMMV

Happy Cruising,

tnt10

For what it's worth, we were on the Vision Oct 2015. The connection was so slow that customer service and the concierge were crediting sea pass accounts with free computer time. We were using the ships computers and it would take a minimum of 20-30 minutes just to sign in to our email server, or just freeze and then never connect.

Worst we've ever encountered on a ship. Too bad, because if RC upgraded and charged accordingly (for decent service) it would go a long way overall towards increased customer satisfaction. The way it's done now is charging a high price for horrible service-not cool.

YMMV

Happy Cruising,

tnt10

Didn't they first start installing VOOM in 2016? We were on Rhapsody in Oct of last year, and it worked fine. Not real fast, but adequate for a ship at sea.

I think the problem might be everyone having the unlimited package and on at the same time which slows things down.

Just got off this morning and had no problems with it. It wasn't as fast as at home, but it didn't disappoint either.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

Very helpful - thank you! I think I've convinced the hubs to go!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Didn't they first start installing VOOM in 2016?

VOOM is just a marketing name RCI gave in May last year to its internet service on all ships, regardless of the underlying technology or performance. Nothing new was installed on Rhapsody (nor most of the fleet).

LOL, You and I share a travel agent! I asked her this yesterday. She asked you, then emailed me your response. Isn't she great?:halo:

 

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Would you say that if one had to be able get work emails, that would at least be something that he could count on?

Michelle is da bomb! Great lady to work with.

In answer to your question, I'd say you could rely in your own device 90% of the time, and if it didn't connect to the wifi hotspots, complain to guest services and they should allow you to use the hard-wired machines to access the internet. I had an issue where my credit card company cancelled my card mid-cruise, and I wound up having to use the computer in the Diamond Lounge to do an online chat with customer service. That worked fine when my wifi access didn't work. So at least you have a fallback option.

Just another point to consider. Depending on how often he needs to be on the internet, most of the ports you will be visiting have free internet in the cafes. So you can have a coffee and he can work!

Voom advertised as Fastest on the sea...wouldn;t like to use the slowest as its very poor.

Voom advertised as Fastest on the sea....

on some ships.

I'm on the ship now. The internet is not fast. Or good. If you're anywhere where you'll get cell service, use that and save the $$. It's ok sometimes to check the web, email, Facebook. Forget steaming Netflix or similar.

A belated follow up, as this thread is obviously still surfacing- we had a pretty good, not great wifi experience. DH was able to connect to his vpn, and to slowly download large contracts and all emails. So that was acceptable.

The internet was useless for any kind of calls. WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime- nothing worked.

Easy stuff like iMessage and Facebook worked well.

Thanks for the input before we went. We had a great cruise!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The internet was useless for any kind of calls. WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime- nothing worked.

That's because of latency. The signal has to travel from the ship, to a satellite, to (maybe) another satellite (they're not geosynchronous like TV satellites), to the ground, and *then* it enters the regular "internet" like it would at home. Even at the speed of light, that takes time.

I'm sure you've seen live news broadcasts where there is a long pause between an anchor talking, and the on site reporter talking ... that's caused by the same thing. So even if your VoIP call worked, you'd likely be stumbling over each other as someone attempts to speak into the silence, not knowing the other person has already started talking.

So even if your VoIP call worked, you'd likely be stumbling over each other as someone attempts to speak into the silence, not knowing the other person has already started talking.

It works quite well on O3B equipped ships tho Rhapsody is not one of them.

It works quite well on O3B equipped ships tho Rhapsody is not one of them.

this was my understanding - the big new ships with real Voom, you can call or stream. Not the old, little ships like Rhapsody.

Still, even with less oomph, we greatly preferred the way RC does internet, with a set fee and unlimited minutes. We have cruised on Princess and it's a pain deciding how many minutes to pay for and then keeping track. Plus, when it's slow to download emails, that is far less annoying if you're not paying by the minute!

Just got back from a 10 day cruise on Vision. The Surf and Stream was very slow and anyone who complained (myself included) got a partial refund. I got 1 third back which was about acceptable but there was no way you could use it for anything other than basic e mails, facebook and similar.