Wi-Fi on Constellation

[larhode]

We are booked on Connie for a Trans Atlantic in April. Last year we did a crossing on the Allure with the new "voom" internet system. It was faster than my high speed internet at home and we had unlimited access for a very reasonable price. Just wondering if they have a similar system on Connie and whether they also have an unlimited package.

[az_tchr]

Unlimited package at a couple hundred dollars and you would need unlimited minutes as the system is slower than dialup. Connie is scheduled for a new system and no idea when it will come as well as to the other X ships.

 

FWIW - we were on that cruise last year and checking a few emails took 20-30 minutes.

[dabear]

Agree that the Connie wi-fi system is very slow. We were on the ship 2 1/2 months ago.

[Wine-O]

Unlimited package at a couple hundred dollars and you would need unlimited minutes as the system is slower than dialup. Connie is scheduled for a new system and no idea when it will come as well as to the other X ships.

 

FWIW - we were on that cruise last year and checking a few emails took 20-30 minutes.

 

That's a bit of an exaggeration. :D It's never taken more than a couple of minutes to download e-mail. On Silhouette last November was the worst I've ever experienced, and I've been on every S-Class and M-Class ship except Infinity. E-mail has never been a problem, but trying to download a podcast on Silhouette last year took anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. I've never had this happen before on any of the other Celebrity ships. Usually only 5 minutes or so.

 

I'm wondering with all these unlimited packages and people staying connected 24/7 if it eats up most of the bandwidth.

[az_tchr]

On my TA it literally took 20+ minutes to download my emails - plural - and to log on. And I do understand satellite coverage in the middle of the ocean make internet that was already slow even slower. Then add in the internet packages and the fact that almost 75% of cruisers were Elite or above with at least 90 minutes of free internet. Rarely was able stay connected in the afternoon for over 10-15 minutes. Kept dropping. Connecting in the computer lounge was a bit better and no drops.

 

Internet shares the ships communications, phones and everything else with internet being the lowest priority.

 

You are correct that internet packages divide already narrow bandwidth into ever smaller slices.

[Wine-O]

On my TA it literally took 20+ minutes to download my emails - plural - and to log on. And I do understand satellite coverage in the middle of the ocean make internet that was already slow even slower. Then add in the internet packages and the fact that almost 75% of cruisers were Elite or above with at least 90 minutes of free internet. Rarely was able stay connected in the afternoon for over 10-15 minutes. Kept dropping. Connecting in the computer lounge was a bit better and no drops.

 

Internet shares the ships communications, phones and everything else with internet being the lowest priority.

 

You are correct that internet packages divide already narrow bandwidth into ever smaller slices.

 

My experience with e-mail is completely different from yours, even in the middle of the Atlantic. Not sure what e-mail client you use, but I use Outlook. I open Outlook and compose all my e-mail and send it to the outbox. Then I connect to the internet on the ship and hit the send/receive button, and it takes less than a minute or two to send/receive.

 

Now, if you are sending/receiving large files and/or pictures, of course it will take much longer.

 

We took Connie across the Pond in April 2014 and had few problems. We'll see what happens this April.