Campaign for free wifi on all RCCL ships?

[bouhunter]

Absolutely not!!! I don't want to use wifi on the ship when I cruise so I don't want to pay for you to use it. When I take a vacation I want to get away from work and constant communication. I don't care if you want to use it and be connected 24 hours a day, but I don't want to pay for it!!

 

Well put!! We turn off our cell phones and put them in the safe and don't take laptops or tablets. If people want wifi let them pay for it.

[Ocean Boy]

However if a lot of people go elsewhere because they value a new service offered by competitors, the people remaining will end up paying more because there is a diminishing market.

 

According to your theory of economics cruises that are not selling well should have higher pricing because of "diminishing market". We all know those are the cruises that have a fire sail to fill up the ship.

[lucymorgan]

According to your theory of economics cruises that are not selling well should have higher pricing because of "diminishing market". We all know those are the cruises that have a fire sail to fill up the ship.

 

 

I don't think that my opinion qualifies as a theory of economics:D ! I work with a lot of economists but I wouldn't classify myself as one.

 

I agree cruise companies have fire sales where they make no, little or negative profit. But this is not sustainable.

 

Eventually either the existing companies adapt to the new markets (eg a growing number of people who want good cheap internet access) or other companies come along and take over much of their market share with a different business model. Look at newsagents, pharmacies, airlines, supermarkets.

 

I am not an expert but as society changes, companies stay the same at their own peril. The existing customer base will sustain them for a while but.....

[emski83]

In Australia, Perth we have free wifi at Mcdonalds, Hungry Jack (burger king). Also throughout the city and some cafes plus some hotels.

I have never used it in those places but I think on a ship if it were free with over 3000 passenger it would be very slow

[radiojw]

The new fleet of RCCL ships are connecting to a new constellation of Satellites.

 

O3B networks (backed by Google, and others) are providing high speed data services, which are on par with land based services (most of these new Satellites can handle 10Gbps+ of switching capacity)

In O3B's case, they can support 80Gbps.

 

In the past, the older Satellite networks are Geosynchronous, which means latency of 600ms+. O3B can do 150ms, due to their "medium" earth orbit.

 

 

Now, while O3B are able to drop the prices of connectivity, there still is a significant cost with Satellite connectivity. Those Satellites are very expensive to deploy, and only last ~10-15 years before they need to be replaced.

 

With that said, WiFi will never be free on cruise lines.

 

 

In comparison, a 100Mbps line in a metropolitan area runs about $1,000-$1,500. 100Mbps with O3B runs about $15-20k per month (estimate).

Edited November 25, 2014 by radiojw

[DirtyDawg]

...

With that said, WiFi will never be free on cruise lines....

 

Long ago most people thought it was impossible for heavier-than-air machines to fly.

Not so long ago most people said you couldn't land a human on the moon and return him safely to earth.

More recently people thought it was impossible to land a probe on a comet after a ten year, 6.5 billion km trip.

And who would ever have believed minuscule IQ'd Reality TV personalities would become rich and famous.:eek:

 

The one thing I've learned over the past few decades on this planet, NEVER SAY NEVER!

Edited November 26, 2014 by DirtyDawg

[John&LaLa]

Long ago most people thought it was impossible for heavier-than-air machines to fly.

Not so long ago most people said you couldn't land a human on the moon and return him safely to earth.

More recently people thought it was impossible to land a probe on a comet after a ten year, 6.5 billion km trip.

And who would ever have believed minuscule IQ'd Reality TV personalities would become rich and famous.:eek:

 

The one thing I've learned over the past few decades on this planet, NEVER SAY NEVER!

 

You don't really believe we landed on the moon do you. :p

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

[LetsGetWet!]

In comparison, a 100Mbps line in a metropolitan area runs about $1,000-$1,500. 100Mbps with O3B runs about $15-20k per month (estimate).

Actually, both AT&T and Google (at least) are offering residential 1Gbps service for about $100 per month, with an aggressive rollout schedule for additional cities.

[Briitini]

Great, so everyone can have their noses in their phones and laptops like on land? (including me) NO THANKS! :rolleyes:

[tabbi_cakes]

If it was free then everyone would use it. Then it would be waaaaaaaaaay too slow.

[kontraxed]

First day on the ship - first thing I do when I get to my cabin is turn off my phone and put it in the safe. Part of my cruise vacation is being totally disconnected from everyone for a solid week. I am not one of those people with the over developed thumb muscles from constantly being on my cell phone and I don't bring a lap top. Therefore, I don't want to pay for other people's usage. I'm fine with having wifi be one of those individual usage fees.

[Briitini]

First day on the ship - first thing I do when I get to my cabin is turn off my phone and put it in the safe. Part of my cruise vacation is being totally disconnected from everyone for a solid week. I am not one of those people with the over developed thumb muscles from constantly being on my cell phone and I don't bring a lap top. Therefore, I don't want to pay for other people's usage. I'm fine with having wifi be one of those individual usage fees.

 

This.

[MidwestOceanToo]

Wouldn't be free in my case under any conditions. Would be the cost of a new phone after my wife threw it overboard.

[radiojw]

Actually, both AT&T and Google (at least) are offering residential 1Gbps service for about $100 per month, with an aggressive rollout schedule for additional cities.

 

This is for RESIDENTIAL services. They are able to offer it at $100 because they do not expect customers to use it at 100% 24/7.

 

 

I'm talking carrier grade ethernet/fiber optics for "business".

Edited November 26, 2014 by radiojw

[LetsGetWet!]

This is for RESIDENTIAL services. They are able to offer it at $100 because they do not expect customers to use it at 100% 24/7.

 

 

I'm talking carrier grade ethernet/fiber optics for "business".

I also have a business plan from TWC here for my home office which my company pays for, and I guarantee you the cost is nowhere near your numbers - I'm paying a little over $100/mo for 100 Mbps on the small business plan, which would be available for small businesses wishing to set up hotspots for their customers too.

[John&LaLa]

I also have a business plan from TWC here for my home office which my company pays for, and I guarantee you the cost is nowhere near your numbers - I'm paying a little over $100/mo for 100 Mbps on the small business plan, which would be available for small businesses wishing to set up hotspots for their customers too.

 

But can it support 1000+ simultaneous users

 

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[LetsGetWet!]

But can it support 1000+ simultaneous users

 

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Thanks for helping to make my argument. How many land-based businesses offering free Wi-Fi to their customers need to support 1000, or even 100 simultaneous users? Almost none, that's how many. All the arguments about how cruise lines need to offer free Wi-Fi because so many land-based businesses do are just silly. It's beyond comparing apples to oranges, more like apples to basketballs!

 

(Oh, and to answer your question, yes it could, if the local network attached to that Internet connection was properly designed to do so.)

[John&LaLa]

Thanks for helping to make my argument. How many land-based businesses offering free Wi-Fi to their customers need to support 1000, or even 100 simultaneous users? Almost none, that's how many. All the arguments about how cruise lines need to offer free Wi-Fi because so many land-based businesses do are just silly. It's beyond comparing apples to oranges, more like apples to basketballs!

 

(Oh, and to answer your question, yes it could, if the local network attached to that Internet connection was properly designed to do so.)

 

I have no idea what your argument was, I just don't think your provider expects that kind of draw on your $100 line. BTW, Vegas hotels can easily have 1000 simultaneous users, sure there are others. And if it matters, I am against free WiFi on ship as well

 

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[ocav]

My 2 cents here,

 

I don't agree with it being free because it will slow the service down and make it practically unusable however;

 

Royal can use it as a marketing perspective, firstly cafes and restaurants that provide free wifi provide a terrible service, but they are more likely to get customers from providing that service,

 

And secondly, People are more likely to book a holiday from seeing people talk about them online (aka here, Twitter, Facebook) and seeing them enjoy it than an multi-million dollar ad campaign. This is simply why Royal markets themselves through companies like Awesomeness TV, they make web series onboard, show off the ship in the video, and the stars who have followings online tweet about it while they are onboard (and they are given free wifi from Royal to do just that).

 

I've been to hotels which charge $50+, yet if I go with someone I know who's got a decent following online, the fees get waived very quickly.

 

Allowing you to Tweet/Facebook while you are on holiday provides RCI with free promotion, so as much as I don't agree with it being free, I agree with it being at a more reasonable cost because it's all about that free marketing.

[TubbyMrT]

Unfortunately, the bandwidth available to Wi-Fi is finite, not infinite. Opening it to unlimited customers would simply provide slow service to the point of no service for everyone.

 

In other words, if everyone used it, it would be unusably slow.

 

While the new low earth orbit satellites help improve available bandwidth, it is still finite. The ship can only handle so much traffic with its network equipment and the satellites can only handle so many ships/airplanes.

 

The broadband link to the satellite is very expensive considering the amount of traffic generated by the customers and employees of the ship.

 

Having Wi-Fi available for a fee, enables the number of customers using the service to be regulated. If too many use it, the price will go up. If to few use it, the price will go down.

[Grandprix]

To each there own.

I go on a cruise to get away from computers, cell phones and all the other distractions of modern life. They won't make any money on me by trying to sell me internet airtime.

As an aside, I have been at concerts where 90% of the spectators film the performance on their cell phone instead of watching the band with their own eyes. Flabbergasting.

[jnojr]

Hi all,

 

I think we should start a campaign for RCCL to set a cruise industry first by offering free wifi on all RCCL ships.

 

There is no such thing as "free".

 

It costs them money to install equipment, maintain it, answer questions, provide for sufficient bandwidth, etc. It ain't cheap. So, they can either offer it for a certain price and let those who really want it pay for it; or they can hide the cost in the fares everyone pays so everyone else can subsidize the few AND increase bandwidth utilization because everyone else will figure, "Hey, it's 'free', I might as well get out my iGadget!"

 

I'd rather not pay for it. I don't want to have my nose stuck in electronic gadgets on vacation.

[jnojr]

To each there own.

I go on a cruise to get away from computers, cell phones and all the other distractions of modern life. They won't make any money on me by trying to sell me internet airtime.

As an aside, I have been at concerts where 90% of the spectators film the performance on their cell phone instead of watching the band with their own eyes. Flabbergasting.

 

You are so right! And even as iPhones get bigger and bigger, people are holding up iPads so I have bright lights in my eyes while I'm trying to enjoy the show! I really had a good belly laugh at what Peter Frampton did! :D

Edited November 26, 2014 by jnojr

[PCWalton1]

To each there own.

I go on a cruise to get away from computers, cell phones and all the other distractions of modern life. They won't make any money on me by trying to sell me internet airtime.

As an aside, I have been at concerts where 90% of the spectators film the performance on their cell phone instead of watching the band with their own eyes. Flabbergasting.

 

Just out of personal curiosity, this message string is titled "Campaign for free wifi on all RCCL ships?". You state you cruise to get away from electronics. Why in the world would you even bother to open this message string let alone provide a response that as no value to the topic (of course I am doing the same with this response :p).

 

Just curious.

[LetsGetWet!]

I have no idea what your argument was, I just don't think your provider expects that kind of draw on your $100 line. BTW, Vegas hotels can easily have 1000 simultaneous users, sure there are others. And if it matters, I am against free WiFi on ship as well

My point was, and is, that if you're paying anywhere near the $1500 quoted by the other poster for a 100 Mbps line, you're more than likely overpaying significantly! I think that pricing estimate is way out of date.

 

I'd be willing to wager that the large strip hotels in Vegas have significantly faster internet service than a single 100 Mbps feed. But yes, they would fit into the extremely small percentage of businesses with the potential for 1000 simultaneous users. ;)