Recent internet on the Star

[kwahl1]

Oh I became so discusted with the second rate internet on the Star I could of chewed the cables! I honestly had quicker dial-up service in the early 90's. It had been mentioned somewhere that people sending photos via the net were using up the bandwidth, etc and the best time to use the internet was 2:30 AM. You would think Princess would be looking for some technology boost or some geek would be able to bolster the internet poor performance image here in the 21st century. I swear, when I used the internet just once, it took 24 minutes to send a one line note to the US. And the people in the internet cafe were so upset! Cussing and pounding the table, venting. True certain frequent cruisers get free access to the internet, but who has that time to just sit there and watch an idle computer screen. It does no good to offer internet on the ship if the internet cafe manager is stuck with inferior equipment and all he can do is sit there at the desk and tell people the same song and dance, "it's just slow, you'll have to be patient".

 

Platinum members. If it's free, you get what you pay for.

[Pam in CA]

In order to significantly increase the bandwidth, the cost of Internet would go up significantly. :( It would take a major investment, the cost of which would be passed on to those using the Internet. :(

 

When the motherboard wasn't fried, I found that before 8am, I could connect pretty well at "relatively" good speeds. During dinner, perhaps at 7pm, was also a pretty good time. Using a text-based email client or one that allows you to download, respond offline, and then send also helps.

 

I think that if Princess blocked VOIP and the sending/receiving large files, the Internet would be faster for everyone.

[orilian]

I was on the Star last week and except for the day it was down I found the Internet quick. I was usually in , sent emails and out in less than 10 minutes.

It was faster than my Internet here!

Guess I was in the right place at the right time.

[thinfool]

Generally you can find identical complaints re: slow internet on forums for HAL, Carnival, RCL, X, Princess, Cunard, etc, etc.

 

A moving ship, stationary satellite, weather conditions, heavy usage all account for these problems.

 

They are what they are....and they arent going away.

 

It was made clear to us on our 'behind the fun' tour of the Carnival Glory that the ship uses the internet for ship's business very heavily during the wee hours of the morning, leaving the daytime congestion to the passengers.

 

Better use of your time would be to use an internet cafe at your next port. A 30 minute check of email onboard would easily be cut to <10 mins. onshore.

[skynight]

Just came off the Star. So many passengers on wi fi at the same time during peak periods clog up a satellite system which is slow to start with. I found no real issues, you have to have vacation patience. When it was slow logging on I assumed there were just too many people on the local server so I shut down and selected another time. When it came time to print my airline boarding passes, it took about 15 mins maybe less. There was a 2 day period when the system was down. We were told it needed a part. As far as "free internet" it is a nice perk. We had 250 mins each (500 mins total) for each of the 2 weeks. 1000 mins for the 30 day voyage. More than enough, we only used about 200 of them.

[littlesteelo]

The internet connection provided on all cruise ships is a satellite connection provided by one service provider. Satellite internet speeds on land are mediocre at best, and they will be even worse at sea. It is difficult to maintain a steady connection, and the bandwidth provided to the ship is small and very expensive for the cruise line, hence why it is so expensive for passengers.

Princess have absolutely no control over the speed or reliability of the connection. The manager in the internet cafe is not 'telling people the same song and dance', because he is right, it is a slow speed, and you have to be patient.

 

As has been said before, if you really need to use the internet, use the port connection. It is usually free and fast. Why waste cruise time sat at a computer trying to send emails to people? I prefer just to cut myself off from the outside world when I am on a cruise. I just tell people not to try and contact me for 2 weeks, as I won't be replying.

[chsalas]

The internet connection provided on all cruise ships is a satellite connection provided by one service provider. Satellite internet speeds on land are mediocre at best, and they will be even worse at sea. It is difficult to maintain a steady connection, and the bandwidth provided to the ship is small and very expensive for the cruise line, hence why it is so expensive for passengers.

Princess have absolutely no control over the speed or reliability of the connection. The manager in the internet cafe is not 'telling people the same song and dance', because he is right, it is a slow speed, and you have to be patient.

 

As has been said before, if you really need to use the internet, use the port connection. It is usually free and fast. Why waste cruise time sat at a computer trying to send emails to people? I prefer just to cut myself off from the outside world when I am on a cruise. I just tell people not to try and contact me for 2 weeks, as I won't be replying.

 

Totally agree! Internet on the ships at sea is satellite based, slow as sin. So don't complain, don't expect to do much with it except send a few emails and small pictures. Enjoy your vaca and stay away from that computer!

[caribill]

When Internet first was available on Princess ships, it was pretty well limited to passengers using it on the relatively few computers in the Internet Cafe and crew using it on the relatively few computers in their crew area.

 

Now there is the potential for all the passengers and crew to have their own PC, tablet, smart phone, etc. with Internet capability and the same for the crew.

 

At busy times, over 1000 people could be trying to use the Internet instead of the less than 40 originally on the few Princess computers.

 

You may get great communication speeds at your local Barnes and Noble or McDonalds, but not if hundreds of people are trying to use it at the same time.

[MDSue]

I experienced the same frustration last year on the Star. I agree with others, that most ships have slow Internet, but my experience on the Star was the worst ever. When I tried to get online to print out my boarding passes for my flight home (unfortunately, everybody uses the Internet more on the last day), I wasted a full 30 minutes of expensive time and never could get on the website to get my tickets- very frustrating. My sister had better luck with hers, though.

I do wish that the ships could find better ways to improve their Internet service on the ship. I feel your frustration.

 

By the way, slow Internet service was my only complaint on an otherwise wonderful cruise on the Star. If it wasn't for that, the trip would have been pretty darn near perfect.

[Coral]

When Internet first was available on Princess ships, it was pretty well limited to passengers using it on the relatively few computers in the Internet Cafe and crew using it on the relatively few computers in their crew area.

 

 

Ironically, it was half the cost back then then it is now. I remember it being .35/a minute when the Coral Princess first sailed. Princess was either doing it by themselves or using a different company for their internet. When they switched companies, the price doubled.

 

I think this is a huge money maker for the cruise lines and I think the current company they use isn't very good.

 

I really don't buy the argument that "this is the best they can do because it is at sea".

[Pam in CA]

Ironically, it was half the cost back then then it is now. I remember it being .35/a minute when the Coral Princess first sailed. Princess was either doing it by themselves or using a different company for their internet. When they switched companies, the price doubled.

Interestingly, sometime before the Coral Princess, not sure when it changed, the cost was $7.50/15 minutes or any portion, not a per-minute rate. If you used 18 minutes, for instance, you were charged $15. The Internet person would give you a timer that you stopped and turned in when you were done. Talk about slow! It was awful.

[Matcodixon]

They have been trying to figure out a way to use cable internet instead of the satellite, or even DSL but they have not come up with a way to have a reel on board large enough to store all that cable on when they are in port..

In the meantime.. satellite is what it is..Expensive and slow

What can you do? Save sending the Photos and video until in port or back home. A text message is a few KB a photo can be more than 5 MB and a video can be much more than that. Perhaps they should start charging by the MB instead of the minute?

[azbirdmom]

I found the Internet on the Star to be no worse than it was on any of the other ships. I've just learned that if it takes a minute or so to paint a page, I just log off and try again later. I agree that best times are dinner time or late at night.

[kwahl1]

Ironically, it was half the cost back then then it is now. I remember it being .35/a minute when the Coral Princess first sailed. Princess was either doing it by themselves or using a different company for their internet. When they switched companies, the price doubled.

 

I think this is a huge money maker for the cruise lines and I think the current company they use isn't very good.

 

I really don't buy the argument that "this is the best they can do because it is at sea".

Cargill

I think you are thinking along the same lines as me. This is the 21st century. Technology belongs to the USA and I'm really suprised there isn't something out there better for the crusie industry. Some Seve Jobs is sitting there right now in his garage thinking this could be the next new gizmo."4G speed for my fellow cruise passsengers". :p

[Coral]

I think you are thinking along the same lines as me. This is the 21st century. Technology belongs to the USA and I'm really suprised there isn't something out there better for the crusie industry. Some Seve Jobs is sitting there right now in his garage thinking this could be the next new gizmo."4G speed for my fellow cruise passsengers". :p

 

I think they are probably able to buy more bandwidth for their satellite connection for each ship but just choose not to.

 

This is definitely a money making service that is provided. I don't think the cruise lines are losing money off of this at all.

[Matcodixon]

Cargill

I think you are thinking along the same lines as me. This is the 21st century. Technology belongs to the USA and I'm really suprised there isn't something out there better for the crusie industry. Some Seve Jobs is sitting there right now in his garage thinking this could be the next new gizmo."4G speed for my fellow cruise passsengers". :p

Part of the problem with cellphone technology is that it relies on fairly closely spaced towers. This can be a bit of a problem out in the ocean.

[scmexico]

When I was on the Star the internet speed was OK until we went south of the Falklands. It did improve again when we were north of Punta Arenas.