Ocean Medallion

[Haboob]

The Internet connection from Regal during our recent T/S was atrocious. Quick to get on and access the first site, very slow to impossible to access down within a site, even to the point of locking up. Just BAD!

 

I'm presuming that "T/S" is a fat-fingered "T/A" (I've done similar)

 

Now you know why techies pronounce "leading edge" as "bleeding edge". :o

 

Over and above the expected "we've never connected to that satellite before" issues, Princess apparently

never got the memo that the only satellites that can give Regal the jaw-dropping upstream connectivity

that she gets in the Caribbean are in Medium Earth Orbit down at the equator, that they drop below the

horizon at about 48º of latitude (Seattle / Southampton), and become increasingly hard to track as they

drop near the horizon.

 

Interestingly, Princess finally read the memo last week, and now quotes no internet offers at all for

Regal's T/A next April.

[Globehoppers]

I'm presuming that "T/S" is a fat-fingered "T/A" (I've done similar)

 

Now you know why techies pronounce "leading edge" as "bleeding edge". :o

 

Over and above the expected "we've never connected to that satellite before" issues, Princess apparently

never got the memo that the only satellites that can give Regal the jaw-dropping upstream connectivity

that she gets in the Caribbean are in Medium Earth Orbit down at the equator, that they drop below the

horizon at about 48º of latitude (Seattle / Southampton), and become increasingly hard to track as they

drop near the horizon.

 

Interestingly, Princess finally read the memo last week, and now quotes no internet offers at all for

Regal's T/A next April.

 

Best connection we have ever had at sea was on Hurtigruten Fram in Antarctica waters south of the Antarctic Circle. Very fast, quick and easy.

[Haboob]

Best connection we have ever had at sea was on Hurtigruten Fram in Antarctica waters south of the Antarctic Circle. Very fast, quick and easy.

 

Yep.

 

The issue is upstream connectivity via satellite. Finding bandwidth for 400 folks is easy-peasy, not so 3600.

[bobby3334]

I did the TA and the above is exactly what the head Internet guy said. They exist in the North but are hard to find and get time on. They were searching but couldn’t find one

[Haboob]

I did the TA and the above is exactly what the head Internet guy said. They exist in the North but are hard to find and get time on. They were searching but couldn’t find one

 

Regal used the "O3b" satellites in the Caribbean. Those satellites are a tech marvel: They have dish antennae

to track ships just like ships have an antenna to track a satellite. They each have bandwidth for the Regal's

3600 pax plus those of 11 other ships. :cool:

 

 

The O3b's drop below the southern horizon about when you reach the latitude of Seattle or Southampton.

After that, you're dealing with much less capable satellites. Regal probably doesn't mount enough satellite

dishes to aim at enough satellites up there to replace the O3b's. :rolleyes:

 

FWIW, Princess dropped all internet offers on Regal's Apr '19 T/A last week. The webpage is blank.

[Rengy98]

I just got off the Regal Princess and the Medallion was a nightmare.  I was travelling with a friend, so we would give our bartenders/bar waiters, etc. our individual medallions.  About 9 days into our 14 day cruise we went to Passenger Services just to get a handle on our bills and realized that almost all charges were posted to MY folio.  Also, because you get no bill to sign anymore, there were drinks that we did not even order charged to my account (and which were more expensive than those we ordered!).  They tried to correct some of the charges, but said they couldn't correct the first 7 days as it was a "back to back" cruise.  When I wrote to customer relations, I got a call back and was told that there was no way to tell how the charges would be posted and that we should "check our bills every day or so"!!!   Who wants to have to go down to Customer Relations every day, stand in line, just to make sure your bill is correct!!!   From now on,  I will go back to the old "card" system and sign for what we order.  Never had this problem on my previous 15 Princess cruises.   

[newport dave]

31 minutes ago, Rengy98 said:

I just got off the Regal Princess and the Medallion was a nightmare.  I was travelling with a friend, so we would give our bartenders/bar waiters, etc. our individual medallions.  About 9 days into our 14 day cruise we went to Passenger Services just to get a handle on our bills and realized that almost all charges were posted to MY folio.  Also, because you get no bill to sign anymore, there were drinks that we did not even order charged to my account (and which were more expensive than those we ordered!).  They tried to correct some of the charges, but said they couldn't correct the first 7 days as it was a "back to back" cruise.  When I wrote to customer relations, I got a call back and was told that there was no way to tell how the charges would be posted and that we should "check our bills every day or so"!!!   Who wants to have to go down to Customer Relations every day, stand in line, just to make sure your bill is correct!!!   From now on,  I will go back to the old "card" system and sign for what we order.  Never had this problem on my previous 15 Princess cruises.   

We've not had receipts to sign for our last couple of cruises and they've all been with a cruise card.  Also no need to queue at guest services to check your bill.  You can use the machines located nearby or if you have a smart phone or tablet on the Princess@sea Web page using the ships intranet, so no need for paid for WiFi access. 

[Thrak]

I check my folio daily using Princess@Sea. I believe it's a different deal on Medallion cruises but I'm sure the folio is still available. When we sailed on Emerald with the drink package we had a drink charged that wasn't ours and also every time I ordered a drink while in the Princess theater the waiter would get it from the Casino Bar and those clods charged me every time even though I had the drink package. It was easy to fix each time but a pain in the neck.