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Campaign for free wifi on all RCCL ships?

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negc

negc

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Considering how slow internet service is now with its high fee structure, I shudder to think how slow it would be if there were not a charge and just about everyone on board was accessing it.

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Big_G

Big_G

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Not true. A lot of hotels offer free wifi. I think the bigger issue is that wireless at sea is very expensive to purchase. The provider is making a tidy sum too. The competition for bandwidth would make it extremely slow, yes, ever slower than it currently is. Remember, it's not the same at sea as it is on land.

 

Is it really free?

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NorbertsNiece "Live from...." Rare

NorbertsNiece

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I've not worked out how much I've spent posting live blogs whilst cruising. Looking forward to a river cruise with free wifi included at hotspots on board. Absolutely the crew would be using it actively, less so the passengers. Just my opinion but it could be a real attraction for those considering RCCL for their cruises against other lines. I truly believe that those of us who use wifi whilst on board are, and w could continue to be, a significant minority.

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GHZ is a frequency. if you are suggesting this turn into a bandwidth for internet service, that would be 5gb. And that would be a maximum theoretical bandwidth. Shifted to 12ghz, there would only be a maximum effective bandwidth of 1.2gb (to which internal equipment might even throttle it more). And considering satellite latencies, it would probably only be 600-800mb of practical bandwidth. Add to this the latencies of receiving stations and/or dropouts related to the ship being a moving object, it may well drop to 400mb of actual usable bandwidth (or less, depending on the equipment actually providing services on the ship). Certainly usable for a typical user, but adding numbers of other users (not to mention what is needed for the ships staff). Add to this the 1/2 second round-trip limitation, and it isn't long till service is saturated and observed response is poor.

 

 

Ok yeh but I took it that you would understand that it's just digital information of pulses running at 5GHz being modulated on a carrier KU band 12-18GHz.

 

Gigabytes or gigahertz it's still information at that repetition rate being modulated onto a carrier wave which in this case is KU band.

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Static events

Static events

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I've not worked out how much I've spent posting live blogs whilst cruising. Looking forward to a river cruise with free wifi included at hotspots on board. Absolutely the crew would be using it actively, less so the passengers. Just my opinion but it could be a real attraction for those considering RCCL for their cruises against other lines.

 

I agree it would be a good selling point for RCCL to offer free wifi.

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mommabean

mommabean

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I've not worked out how much I've spent posting live blogs whilst cruising. Looking forward to a river cruise with free wifi included at hotspots on board. Absolutely the crew would be using it actively, less so the passengers. Just my opinion but it could be a real attraction for those considering RCCL for their cruises against other lines. I truly believe that those of us who use wifi whilst on board are, and w could continue to be, a significant minority.

 

They say you get what you pay for. In this case I think WE get what you pay for. To that I say "thank you". :)

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mommabean

mommabean

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No thanks. I do not want to subsidize other people's Wifi by paying higher fares.

 

Me neither. If in fact they did raise the cruise price to cover it. But if they offered it to attract customers.... Hmmm, it would probably force the price up more quickly for that reason alone. Which would put us back to the same point; Paying more to subsidize the use of others.

 

I'm with you on this one.

 

Just make the prices reasonable which they now aren't in my opinion.

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xxHadleyxx

xxHadleyxx

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I say no.

 

I personally don't want to have a link to the real world, first of all.

 

Second, I know that they have no choice but to have satellite coverage only, so it's never going to be cheap or fast.

 

Putting one and two together, I don't want to pay for other people's coverage. I'd rather my fees be lower and make the people who want the coverage pay for it. Much like the specialty restaurants.

 

Oh, and FWIW, wi-fi isn't free in Europe.

 

I basically agree with this post--I do not want to subsidize it for others and I prefer to be (mostly) unplugged when on a cruise :)

 

I will say that there is more and more free wi-fi in Europe though, that info in the above post is outdated. Take your laptop to Burger King, Quick, McDoanlds, Starbucks, etc and also to MANY local coffee shops and you can get an hour (or more) of wi-fi free in most places here.

 

The villefranche port terminal had it as well (free) :)

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xxHadleyxx

xxHadleyxx

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Not everyone understands that for some people the option is to either remain in contact or stay home. Folks who can completely disconnect from the world while they go on vacation are very fortunate.

 

This is true. My husband has often had to connect while on vacation. His job has required it. They also pay for a phone with internet capabilities that work from anywhere. If there is a higher charge from the ship, and they insist on being in contact with him on vacation, then they pay for it.

 

You make choices when you travel, and that includes deciding if you want to (or can afford to) travel somewhere where the cost in staying in contact is going to be higher. No one is forcing anyone to take a cruise :p

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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Should people who want to use the swimming pools on the ship pay extra?

 

:eek::confused:

 

By that argument you would have the cruise itself be free and be charged for your cabin, every time you use the bathroom, see a show etc...

 

Swimming pools have been on ships for an extremely long time and yes to some degree they are included in the cost of the cruise weather you use them or not (I don't) just like many hotels have swimming pools that you may or may not use. As others have discussed the cost for shipboard Internet is a lot more expensive than land based and therefore to offer it free then the cost of the cruise would go up.

 

It is an extra just like the specialty restaurants. If you want the extras then you can pay for then but don't pass the costs on to those that don't.

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Big_G

Big_G

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I think a great compromise would be to offer free, but slooow, internet and then offer a premium package of higher speed internet for those who want to pay.

 

They'd have to upgrade the ships to high speed internet first. :D

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Trekker954

Trekker954

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Many hotels do give you free wi-fi

 

 

I mean hotels such a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt types, not residence inn, hampton inn, etc.

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ticktoneer

ticktoneer

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I mean hotels such a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt types, not residence inn, hampton inn, etc.

Thanks for clarifying it.

 

The Marriott next to SeaWorld FL did free wi-fi last year and a lot of the large chains like Hilton, Marriott, Radisson etc. do free wi-fi in Europe.

 

:-)

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