Silversea announce on Facebook free WiFi for all

Just got the e-mail. I believe it said...All Ships, All Voyages, All the Time...didn't notice a date.

Just got the e-mail. I believe it said...All Ships, All Voyages, All the Time...didn't notice a date.

duct tape, I wonder if this will impact on the complimentary internet package with the WC.

I have just seen an announcement from the Silversea Facebook page which says: 'Silversea is the first ultra-luxury cruise line with yet another benefit - free WiFi. Beginning with sailings in January 2016, every guest will receive at least one free hour of WiFi per day, with select suites receiving unlimited free WiFi.'

YES!! Great news. Did just check their website and nothing shows there about this major development. Nothing on their site for recent news media releases on this subject. Am planning for a Feb. 2016 Silver Cloud ten-day South Africa cruises. This will make things easier. BUT, with things being "free" how will affect the quality of service and the data loads being sent up and coming back to the ship? Too many people trying to use the web can slow things down. Hopefully Silversea plans accordingly.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:
http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/s....php?t=2157696
Now at 24,209 views for these postings.

To update what I had just posted, if you look on our Feb. 2-12, 2016 South Africa cruise, it does show what is reflected below.

"Included in this Cruise
Free WiFi throughout the ship"

When checking a Silver Cloud Nov. 2015 cruise, there is no line listed promising such a benefit of "Free WiFi throughout the ship". This seems to make it more seem to be more "real" and official. Will make a web screen shot for my records.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139
for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 109,731 views for this posting.

A simple way to see all the 2015 and 2016 voyages WIFI by room class. Just go to Silversea home page, scroll to the bottom, Under "travel Information" at the bottom, click on "WIFI PACKAES" and it will show you everything you ever wanted to know about ships WIFI. Even breaks it down by world cruises and expeditions....

Great news! Even more glad about my April 2016 cruise now!

An hour a day is no more than I get on any other cruise line and much less than some. A small step within the industry, a gigantic leap for Silversea.
In other words, a big yawn.

Yeah. Read the small print. Unless you are in a high end suite, you get 1 free hour a day. OK for some people, I guess... but if you are still working and need more time than that, not so free. Regent still gets the nod on this one, all free, 24/7. Still wouldn't give up SS, though!

Slightly better than implied by the earlier posts, what it says is:
2016 Voyages
• Unlimited Internet access for guests in Medallion, Silver, Royal, Grand, and Owner's Suites
• One hour of Internet access per guest/per day for guests in Vista, Terrace, and Veranda Suites
•For additional tiered packages, please click here

So, we're expecting 2 hours total for the 2 of us...possibly different logins or (hopefully) they take the easier route and credit the suite with 2 hours/day.

Annoyingly, this is for our Med cruise next May...this year each suite on a Med cruise gets 2 hours per guest per day...maybe it'll edge up if they have problems selling out the ships.

Regent still gets the nod on this one, all free, 24/7.

That's now only true for Gold (75 nights) or above unless you were grandfathered under the previous Silver (20 nights) or above. Unless it has changed very recently, none included for the lowest suite categories (some included for the higher levels). However, we're well above Gold so I'd agree that we're ahead on Regent WRT wifi.

Just got the e-mail. I believe it said...All Ships, All Voyages, All the Time...didn't notice a date.

Not till next January

Morning all.

Hate to remind people of the obvious, but unless SS significantly upgrades the service to ease contention that was dsigned for a more limited use then the next set of howling complaints here will be "what is the point in offering free (included) wifi to everyone if no one can download anything?". To explain this over simply, everyone will be cramming to get through the same size pipe at the same time and so effectively you will spend some time crawling and some time completely stationary or sent back ie disconnected.

Unless there is significant investment in upgrades ... call me a cynic but based on everything else - I doubt there will - then what will happen is that many of those with unlimited wifi will be (if like me) downloading or buffering live streams to watch stuff I want to in the evening. If it is unlimited free for many it will be in this mode for a fair amount of time. This will kill the speed for everyone. And what about those in suites with fringe or non-existent reception.

For those interested in the topic it has been discussed before and earlier threads might be helpful to some.

The first thread is where I offered some practical suggestions on how you might increase speed in your own favour on ships with wall socket internet connections by creating your own wifi hotspot for "unlimited" numbers of passengers. In my hotel currently I have set this up and it not only means that we have a strong signal but our speed is currently three times the speed of the hotels wifi which everyone else is sharing.

"Internet, iPhone and iPads"

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1972739

.... and ....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1814834

Promises are one thing .... and we all know about those .... .but delivery is a completely different issue.

Jeff

Just received the email which makes it clear that the free WiFi starts in Jan 2016.

The first thread is where I offered some practical suggestions on how you might increase speed in your own favour on ships with wall socket internet connections by creating your own wifi hotspot for "unlimited" numbers of passengers. In my hotel currently I have set this up and it not only means that we have a strong signal but our speed is currently three times the speed of the hotels wifi which everyone else is sharing. Jeff

Appreciate Jeff's smart suggestion and technical option to boost ship Internet speed. Agree, as I noted earlier, that hopefully, Silversea will be ready for the "use impacts" as "free wi-fi" drives up, UP, UP demand for access for such ship-board systems.

I had not notice initially, that "free" one hour of wi-fi is "PER PERSON", not just per suite or room. BUT, how will Silversea manage on the usage between what I might use in accessing the Internet . . . versus . . . what and when my wife does her mail/web use?? Will it be two hours combined/total to be used under one room sign-in? Or totally separate accounts for each of the two different people in the room? On our recent 26-day Silver Cloud sailing, we had the $16 a day unlimited web package that worked well. BUT, both of us could not be signed on at the same time. That was fine. I would be signed off when she wanted to access the web. That worked out to be no problem to accomplish and use under those rules.

Any speculation for how Silversea will manage and set-up the "PER PERSON" use and sign-on process in the future for couples in their suites?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 179,133 views.
http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/s....php?t=1227923

[color="Blue"][size="3"][font="Georgia"]
Any speculation for how Silversea will manage and set-up the "PER PERSON" use and sign-on process in the future for couples in their suites?
http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/s....php?t=1227923

they do it currently with each person in the suite creating a password and signing in with their last name, suite # and password. Also time is accumulative if you miss a day....

But will it be accumulative when it's free?

But will it be accumulative when it's free?

One big catch; only free when you really pay for it.... same as getting married.

On the Spirit from Lisbon to Barcelona in May everyone had free internet and we didn't notice a slow down. The ship was full also. Only one person per room could be on at a time. I'm pleased of this new change. Something all of us has been asking for.

Morning all.

Hate to remind people of the obvious, but unless SS significantly upgrades the service to ease contention that was dsigned for a more limited use then the next set of howling complaints here will be "what is the point in offering free (included) wifi to everyone if no one can download anything?". To explain this over simply, everyone will be cramming to get through the same size pipe at the same time and so effectively you will spend some time crawling and some time completely stationary or sent back ie disconnected.

Unless there is significant investment in upgrades ... call me a cynic but based on everything else - I doubt there will - then what will happen is that many of those with unlimited wifi will be (if like me) downloading or buffering live streams to watch stuff I want to in the evening. If it is unlimited free for many it will be in this mode for a fair amount of time. This will kill the speed for everyone. And what about those in suites with fringe or non-existent reception.

For those interested in the topic it has been discussed before and earlier threads might be helpful to some.

The first thread is where I offered some practical suggestions on how you might increase speed in your own favour on ships with wall socket internet connections by creating your own wifi hotspot for "unlimited" numbers of passengers. In my hotel currently I have set this up and it not only means that we have a strong signal but our speed is currently three times the speed of the hotels wifi which everyone else is sharing.

"Internet, iPhone and iPads"

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1972739

.... and ....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1814834

Promises are one thing .... and we all know about those .... .but delivery is a completely different issue.

Jeff

Jeff,
Dirty little secret: I had no problems on the WC streaming from Netflix and Amazon Prime. For technical reasons I do not understand, I assume because the "home" account is in Fort Lauderdale, the computer sees your device as being in the US. When we are in other countries (most specifically our home in Grand Cayman) I cannot access these services, as it says my computer is out of the US. I had no trouble with buffering. Enjoy!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maracamama View Post
Regent still gets the nod on this one, all free, 24/7.

That's now only true for Gold (75 nights) or above unless you were grandfathered under the previous Silver (20 nights) or above. Unless it has changed very recently, none included for the lowest suite categories (some included for the higher levels). However, we're well above Gold so I'd agree that we're ahead on Regent WRT wifi.

Staring next year, Regent is offering unlimited wifi for all suites levels. Still a slight advantage for Gold and above as we get unlimited wifi for each of us (two logins) whereas the new free wifi is one login per suite.