Recent Cruisers, Any Internet Issues?

[hpeabody]

I just disembarked the Sapphire Princess this morning, I had been aboard since Jan 28th. The internet on this ship was down (Yellow caution sign, LIMITED OR NO CONNECTIVITY) more than it was up. I (and anyone else who also used the same provider) was unable to connect with my email service, which has not happened to me on past cruises like this. Sometimes I could access my email via a horrible third party website called mail2web.com, but it was slow and did not always connect. AND! I had to use the internet cafe work stations, the mail2web.com would not work at all on my laptop. The internet cafe manager blamed it on my email provider. People actually pay for the internet service on a ship and this service provided by MTNSat was unreliable and unaceptable. The internet cafe manager did agree with me. Lesson learned, shift important email to Hotmail. Yahoo or Gmail prior to embarking on a cruise.

 

I wonder if other ships had internet reliability/connectivity issues recently like I experienced. On Princess ships it is all with the same company, MTNSat.

Edited February 9, 2014 by hpeabody

[Pam in CA]

The Sapphire WiFi system is being upgraded or something. They are installing large TVs even though the TVs on the ship are relatively new. When I was on a couple of weeks ago, they were replacing/upgrading the WiFi on Emerald deck. Two of the four days, there were technicians replacing wiring. I asked what he was doing and he said, "Upgrading the WiFi." I didn't have any WiFi those days. I suspect/hope they are installing the interactive system the Royal has.

 

IMHO, they should have notified passengers. :(

Edited February 9, 2014 by Pam in CA

[caribill]

Lesson learned, shift important email to Hotmail. Yahoo or Gmail prior to embarking on a cruise.

 

 

Are you saying that people who used Hotmail, Yahoo mail or Gmail did not have the problems you were having?

 

If so, then the problem was not with the ship's WI-FI because those mail services should have had just as bad a response.

 

The only problem I have had with mail2web on a ship is if you do not give the correct password for your mail service, mail2web may never respond.

[Woobstr112G]

Are you saying that people who used Hotmail, Yahoo mail or Gmail did not have the problems you were having?

 

If so, then the problem was not with the ship's WI-FI because those mail services should have had just as bad a response.

 

The only problem I have had with mail2web on a ship is if you do not give the correct password for your mail service, mail2web may never respond.

 

I hope whatever upgrades they are doing allow access to various email providers. Last March, when we were on the Sapphire, I was unable to access my Roadrunner (Time Warner) email. The Internet cafe manager told me there was a conflict that couldn't be resolved. This was a pain as I had to wait four days till we got to Hilo to respond to some lost Travelers Check issues.....

 

Bob

[caribill]

Last March, when we were on the Sapphire, I was unable to access my Roadrunner (Time Warner) email. This was a pain as I had to wait four days till we got to Hilo to respond to some lost Travelers Check issues.....

 

 

This is where mail2web.com can be very useful as you can use it to get to your RR account.

[Amtrack Springfield]

We were on the Ruby in The middle of January and was very very slow. We moved over to the Crown and it worked fine.

[AZJerry]

My email is thru a small hosting service and I've always been able to access it through their preferred web mail pages, Squirrelmail (simple and mostly text only) and Roundmail (more full featured). I also can access that same email through through my Android phone.

[hpeabody]

Are you saying that people who used Hotmail, Yahoo mail or Gmail did not have the problems you were having?

 

If so, then the problem was not with the ship's WI-FI because those mail services should have had just as bad a response.

 

The only problem I have had with mail2web on a ship is if you do not give the correct password for your mail service, mail2web may never respond.

 

I had no issues with access to Hotmail or Yahoo using my laptop, even in my cabin (when the wifi was up) To use Mail2web I had to go use the internet cafe workstations.

 

I do have Time Warner RR. It seems this has been an ongoing issue that neither side appears interested in resolving anytime soon. The answer/work around is to use the sucky Mail2web.com. Actually the internet cafe manager told me the other Time Warner RR customers onboard could not even get Mail2web to respond at all, I was the only one mail2web worked for. I had much better luck at McDonald's off the ship with no issues at all getting what ever I needed.

 

Pam In CA

I did see workers laying wire in the ceilings, but no one told us passengers wifi service would be little to none, not even the internet cafe manager. I had one of those new big Samsung TVs in my cabin. I would have loved to take it home with me, LOL. It was great! Now if only Princess would get some real TV channels. Are all ships getting the new big Samsung TV or just The Sapphire because she is getting ready for the Asian market.

[Colo Cruiser]

Mike, who is doing a live Ruby right now says the internet service is non existant.

 

Its a money pit and trying to get the stingy internet managers to credit minutes is tough. They are responsible for any credits given back during their contract, it detracts from their final payout. So they will fight you tooth and nail on it. :rolleyes:

[Pam in CA]

Pam In CA

I did see workers laying wire in the ceilings, but no one told us passengers wifi service would be little to none, not even the internet cafe manager. I had one of those new big Samsung TVs in my cabin. I would have loved to take it home with me, LOL. It was great! Now if only Princess would get some real TV channels. Are all ships getting the new big Samsung TV or just The Sapphire because she is getting ready for the Asian market.

They didn't tell me, either. I'm assuming that the Sapphire is being prepared for the interactive TV but I don't know for sure. Nothing else makes sense to replace new TVs and re-wire the WiFi. And, I assume it's for the Asian market. Princess usually rolls out upgrades such as TVs, mattresses, etc. while passengers are onboard rather than in dry dock. However, my guess is that the interactive TV is going to be rolled out to ships as they go through dry dock over a period of time. I'll try to find out more when I'm back on her in three weeks.

 

The ships will never get major US broadcasting stations on a regular basis. Far too expensive as they have to pay for the rights to broadcast. Plus, on many Princess cruises, Americans are in the minority. However, the Royal had a number of channels in addition to the BBC and CNN International. They had CNN US as well as Fox News, ESPN, etc. Can't remember all the channels. That could have been because of where the ship was sailing or it could be what will always be available.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Pam in CA

[Coral]

People actually pay for the internet service on a ship and this service provided by MTNSat was unreliable and unaceptable. The internet cafe manager did agree with me. Lesson learned, shift important email to Hotmail. Yahoo or Gmail prior to embarking on a cruise.

 

I wonder if other ships had internet reliability/connectivity issues recently like I experienced. On Princess ships it is all with the same company, MTNSat.

 

It is my understanding that the Internet Manager is a contract employee for their internet company, not a Princess employee (though he may wear a tag that says Princess).

[caribill]

It is my understanding that the Internet Manager is a contract employee for their internet company, not a Princess employee (though he may wear a tag that says Princess).

 

At least Princess has an Internet Manager passengers can speak with.

 

On RCCL you have to speak with the Passenger Services desk personnel about any Internet questions/problems.

[SadieN]

Mom and Sis were on Carnival Miracle in December. Wifi was so bad that those who complained to Guest Services were refunded their money.

[mococay]

Mike, who is doing a live Ruby right now says the internet service is non existant.

 

Its a money pit and trying to get the stingy internet managers to credit minutes is tough. They are responsible for any credits given back during their contract, it detracts from their final payout. So they will fight you tooth and nail on it. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for making me laugh :)

That is not even close, they can and they will refund minutes if a user was unable to get anything done, they may have a problem when someone will come back claiming that they were online for 30 minutes and nothing worked when the usage shows 50mb used.

[mococay]

It is my understanding that the Internet Manager is a contract employee for their internet company, not a Princess employee (though he may wear a tag that says Princess).

It is true, they work for the Internet provider.

Edited June 2, 2014 by mococay

[Once Upon A Time]

Recent experience on the Ruby was very disappointing.. A little worse than we had experienced on other Princess Cruises..Internet Manager as frustrated and the lines of complaining guests seemed never-ending..

 

A short time later we were on the Coral which was the complete opposite.. Fastest, most consistent wifi we've experienced. We were told it had recently been upgraded to a new system.. Also, the elevators on the Coral were something to behold. The ship was full, yet we NEVER (I'm not exaggerating) waited more than 15 seconds for an elevator..mostly, we push the button and a door opened.. Kind of scary..:eek:

[Pam in CA]

Recent experience on the Ruby was very disappointing.. A little worse than we had experienced on other Princess Cruises..Internet Manager as frustrated and the lines of complaining guests seemed never-ending..

 

A short time later we were on the Coral which was the complete opposite.. Fastest, most consistent wifi we've experienced. We were told it had recently been upgraded to a new system.. Also, the elevators on the Coral were something to behold. The ship was full, yet we NEVER (I'm not exaggerating) waited more than 15 seconds for an elevator..mostly, we push the button and a door opened.. Kind of scary..:eek:

A lot depends on where you're sailing. Did you take the exact same cruise on the Coral as you did the Ruby? Otherwise, you're comparing apples to oranges, not to mention that there are a lot fewer people on the Coral as the Ruby plus the demographics were probably different. Edited June 2, 2014 by Pam in CA

[Times Prince]

I had no issues with access to Hotmail or Yahoo using my laptop, even in my cabin (when the wifi was up) To use Mail2web I had to go use the internet cafe workstations.

 

I do have Time Warner RR. It seems this has been an ongoing issue that neither side appears interested in resolving anytime soon. The answer/work around is to use the sucky Mail2web.com. Actually the internet cafe manager told me the other Time Warner RR customers onboard could not even get Mail2web to respond at all, I was the only one mail2web worked for. I had much better luck at McDonald's off the ship with no issues at all getting what ever I needed.

 

Pam In CA

I did see workers laying wire in the ceilings, but no one told us passengers wifi service would be little to none, not even the internet cafe manager. I had one of those new big Samsung TVs in my cabin. I would have loved to take it home with me, LOL. It was great! Now if only Princess would get some real TV channels. Are all ships getting the new big Samsung TV or just The Sapphire because she is getting ready for the Asian market.

RE: Time Warner - your first problem is trying to use mail2web. If you simply logon to your email at https://webmail.nyc.rr.com/ you will get access every time. This works for us, and we are serviced by TWC near Austin, TX (note: trying to logon using webmail.austin.rr.com, which is what I would expect, does not work when offshore.)

 

Second: Thank God Princess does not get "real TV channels" - that's part of what we are trying to get away from when going on a cruise.

[pablo222]

I just disembarked the Sapphire Princess this morning, I had been aboard since Jan 28th. The internet on this ship was down (Yellow caution sign, LIMITED OR NO CONNECTIVITY) more than it was up.

 

Isn't Sapphire in Japan? Japanese law requires that satellite communications

be turned off within their territorial sea.

 

And, as others have said, usually the internet 'manager' is a vendor

employee. (like mtn)

[SeaCBear]

On the Regal last week the internet worked well most of the time, although there was no connectivity at all in the Sanctuary area. But in our cabin, and in the Piazza area it worked well enough for us to FaceTime home every day.

[cdngrl]

Isn't Sapphire in Japan? Japanese law requires that satellite communications

be turned off within their territorial sea.

 

And, as others have said, usually the internet 'manager' is a vendor

employee. (like mtn)

 

no, the diamond is in japan. the sapphire is in asia but I think each cruise spends only one day in japan. i'll be boarding in october! :) I'm not sure how much area the 'territorial sea' is though.