Princess Internet a joke!

[Bruin Steve]

I just got off the Emerald Princess yesterday...

 

First off, being Platinum Captain's Circle members, even for this short 3-night cruise, we got a free 150 minutes each...Good, huh?  Not if they are completely unusable...

 

First thing one discovers is that just logging onto the internet is a confusing two -step process...You have to log in to Princess at Sea, then click on a button that says "Connect to Internet"...While you're doing this (and slowly), your minutes are ticking away.  Logging off is even worse...it's at least a two step process...and one of the links is hidden under a pull-down...Click in the wrong order and your minutes just keep disappearing--because you haven't really logged off...I lost about 85 of my 150 that way!

 

Then, once on the internet, you find out that Princess has censored a whole lot of websites...

 

For example:  247 Sports--owned by CBS--runs fan pages and fan message boards for college and pro teams.  For me, it's the "Bruin Report Online" site--the go-to place to get news, interviews and recruiting info, etc. as well as fan message boards to discuss sports.  Guess what?  BLOCKED by Princess.  Apparently, someone at Princess thought it must be a gambling site...and they have decided to be everyone's protector against all internet vices and evils--real or imagined...

 

Of course, you don't get a message telling you it's blocked...You just get a message that it didn't load...so, you try again, waiting through a blank screen each time...and burning those valuable minutes...

 

[susancruzs]

I have never used Princess internet by going to Princess At Sea.  Setting up 1st time has never taken more than a few minutes, and I'm never close to the States on my cruises.

Unless there is something brand new I was on the Emerald for 30 days (So. America) last year, also Royal for 15 days (Canada), no problems at all.

 

I follow the Packers, constantly check all the sports sites no matter what time of year I'm cruising, never have an issue.  I also answer questions at another site, fill in for one of the mods at times, I've done this from the ship when they are short handed and need me.

[Mike45LC]

The fact that one website you enjoy is supposedly blocked by Princess renders the entire internet "completely unusable"?  Little bit of hyperbole here, maybe??

 

Boy, this is a life or death situation.

[Bruin Steve]

Gee...Did I touch a nerve with people?

 

Do you really think Princess Internet is good?!?

 

Yes...the card on the desk in the cabin instructs you to enter via Princess@Sea...

No, my specific fan site is far from being the only site blocked by Princess...

Yes...the Internet was painfully slow..slower than even any other cruise line I’ve been on...websites kept “timing out”....and there were several flat-out outages...

 

And I was not the only one complaining...Others in line with me at Guest Relations piped in to say they had the same problem with the system draining their minutes.  One women noted that, earlier, at the Internet cafe, the guy stationed there was restoring minutes for several passengers...but, unfortunately, I went too late at night and he was off-duty...and guest relations was unable to handle this (they do on Celebrity, BTW)...

[skynight]

Sites are blocked that Princess believes will chew up satellite band width or maybe it was a miscalculation by someone at HQ. You don't know & I don't know. I was on the Emerald this past winter for 37 days. I had no problem at all logging off the internet suing Princess@Sea. It was very simple. I use very few sites, mostly just e-mails.  Not being able to access a sports web site on a 3 night cruise does not sound like a critical issue.

[AF-1]

the new medallion net is fast wifi; and maybe that website won't get blocked on ships using medallion net

[Colo Cruiser]

This is nothing new.....

Princess Internet has always been terrible. 

 

Now with MedallionNet activated ships it is awesome! 

That is all.......

[RMMariner]

Princess internet is slow. Celebrity internet is slow. Oceania internet is slow. That is the only ones I have been on. As Colo Cruiser says, this should be changing.

 

Sometimes it is faster. Sometimes it is non-existent. I agree with you there.

 

I disagree that it is difficult to log on and off. It just takes getting used to.

 

As far as blocked sites, I doubt it was to protect you from gambling, it was more probably a bandwidth thing.

[jeromep]

Generally speaking, MedallionNet ships have much more usable Internet than the old satellite Internet of the ships that have not been equipped with MedallionNet.  MedallionNet is just a marketing term, but does represent next generation satellite Internet.

 

Selling Internet access by the minute is very old school, and even worse when speeds are much slower than we are used to with terrestrial Internet.  I think we are all spoiled having data center connection speeds into many of our homes and then when we go on vacation we expect the same performance.  To be honest, I'm glad to unplug for a few days and enjoy the people I'm around and places I don't normally see.

[Woobstr112G]

2 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

Gee...Did I touch a nerve with people?

 

Do you really think Princess Internet is good?!?

 

Yes...the card on the desk in the cabin instructs you to enter via Princess@Sea...

No, my specific fan site is far from being the only site blocked by Princess...

Yes...the Internet was painfully slow..slower than even any other cruise line I’ve been on...websites kept “timing out”....and there were several flat-out outages...

 

And I was not the only one complaining...Others in line with me at Guest Relations piped in to say they had the same problem with the system draining their minutes.  One women noted that, earlier, at the Internet cafe, the guy stationed there was restoring minutes for several passengers...but, unfortunately, I went too late at night and he was off-duty...and guest relations was unable to handle this (they do on Celebrity, BTW)...

 

I thought the internet was quite good.  Ruby last month.....

 

Bob

[Sillyjilly]

Internet on any cruise ship is spotty at best. Why, oh why, do people have such difficulty understanding this?

[Cruise-Crazzy]

I determine what days during the year I will be able to survive without the internet, then plan my cruises for those days.

[Colo Cruiser]

8 minutes ago, Sillyjilly said:

Internet on any cruise ship is spotty at best. Why, oh why, do people have such difficulty understanding this?

Not even close on MedallionNet installed ships. 

[Ep010835]

MN on the Emerald isn't supposed to be rolled out until August 3.

 

MedallionNet is currently available on: Caribbean Princess®, Coral Princess®, Regal Princess®, Ruby Princess® and Royal Princess® ships.

Coming soon throughout 2019: Island Princess® by May 15, Crown Princess® by July 12, Emerald Princess® by August 3, Sky Princess® by October 27, Golden Princess® by December 20 and Enchanted Princess® by June 19, 2020.

 

If they keep to their advertised schedule, that's when the good times begin.

 

Until then good luck getting even 2 mbps. 

[Mike45LC]

Bruin:  Your original post declaring the entire internet unusable did NOT reference the speed, just the fact that you found the log on-log off protocol unbearable, and that your favorite site was allegedly blocked -- based simply on your inability to access it twice.  You made no reference to the slow connection speed.  Maybe that's how they teach at UCLA, to completely forget about the most important point.  (Just some cross-town digs here, don't take it seriously!!)

 

I understand that they are fixing the internet speeds, but I can relate to that complaint!

 

[bemis12]

4 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

I just got off the Emerald Princess yesterday...

 

First off, being Platinum Captain's Circle members, even for this short 3-night cruise, we got a free 150 minutes each...Good, huh?  Not if they are completely unusable...

 

First thing one discovers is that just logging onto the internet is a confusing two -step process...You have to log in to Princess at Sea, then click on a button that says "Connect to Internet"...While you're doing this (and slowly), your minutes are ticking away.  Logging off is even worse...it's at least a two step process...and one of the links is hidden under a pull-down...Click in the wrong order and your minutes just keep disappearing--because you haven't really logged off...I lost about 85 of my 150 that way!

 

Then, once on the internet, you find out that Princess has censored a whole lot of websites...

 

For example:  247 Sports--owned by CBS--runs fan pages and fan message boards for college and pro teams.  For me, it's the "Bruin Report Online" site--the go-to place to get news, interviews and recruiting info, etc. as well as fan message boards to discuss sports.  Guess what?  BLOCKED by Princess.  Apparently, someone at Princess thought it must be a gambling site...and they have decided to be everyone's protector against all internet vices and evils--real or imagined...

 

 

 

 Any chance they blocked that website because of how bad UCLA sucks? 

[Coral]

41 minutes ago, Sillyjilly said:

Internet on any cruise ship is spotty at best. Why, oh why, do people have such difficulty understanding this?

Not really. They can have good internet - Princess has just been very slow at implementing it.

[jasbo49]

4 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

I just got off the Emerald Princess yesterday...

 

First off, being Platinum Captain's Circle members, even for this short 3-night cruise, we got a free 150 minutes each...Good, huh?  Not if they are completely unusable...

 

First thing one discovers is that just logging onto the internet is a confusing two -step process...You have to log in to Princess at Sea, then click on a button that says "Connect to Internet"...While you're doing this (and slowly), your minutes are ticking away.  Logging off is even worse...it's at least a two step process...and one of the links is hidden under a pull-down...Click in the wrong order and your minutes just keep disappearing--because you haven't really logged off...I lost about 85 of my 150 that way!

We're still waiting to hear why your 150 minutes were "completely unusable."

 

I don't think the Princess Internet is perfect. Sometimes I have trouble signing on the first time. But once I'm signed on, I've never lost a single minute logging in or out. The minutes don't start until you start using a browser and logging out is instantaneous.

 

It seems to me the OP has posted a number of things in the past that are not friendly to Princess. That is fine, but it makes me wonder, why did you sign up for a Princess cruise?

 

Jim

[Sillyjilly]

2 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Not even close on MedallionNet installed ships. 

 

Op wasn't talking about Medallion from what I read.

One sailing I can have perfect internet connection and on the very same ship the following week it's the pits.

This is nothing new IMHO.

Can't wait to see how well Medallion works. I'll have to wait until next year to find out.

[Expat Cruise]

I like the internet on Princess, becasue they charge lots of money $29.95 per day top package (old system) most people do not take the package, which makes the speed good. I have had very few issues using the system. As for blocked sites very easy to fix VPN. Which blocks Princess or any internet provider from seeing what sites you go too. 

 

For those who think it is costly at $29.95 per day, yes if you want to post to CC, Facebook or other social sites. But if you use for business and can conduct business allowing you to cruise several times a year it is in fact very cheap.

[Brisbane41]

7 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

I just got off the Emerald Princess yesterday...

 

First off, being Platinum Captain's Circle members, even for this short 3-night cruise, we got a free 150 minutes each...Good, huh?  Not if they are completely unusable...

 

First thing one discovers is that just logging onto the internet is a confusing two -step process...You have to log in to Princess at Sea, then click on a button that says "Connect to Internet"...While you're doing this (and slowly), your minutes are ticking away.  Logging off is even worse...it's at least a two step process...and one of the links is hidden under a pull-down...Click in the wrong order and your minutes just keep disappearing--because you haven't really logged off...I lost about 85 of my 150 that way!

 

Then, once on the internet, you find out that Princess has censored a whole lot of websites...

 

For example:  247 Sports--owned by CBS--runs fan pages and fan message boards for college and pro teams.  For me, it's the "Bruin Report Online" site--the go-to place to get news, interviews and recruiting info, etc. as well as fan message boards to discuss sports.  Guess what?  BLOCKED by Princess.  Apparently, someone at Princess thought it must be a gambling site...and they have decided to be everyone's protector against all internet vices and evils--real or imagined...

 

Of course, you don't get a message telling you it's blocked...You just get a message that it didn't load...so, you try again, waiting through a blank screen each time...and burning those valuable minutes...

 

 

 

Just to help you out on some and to agree on others.

 

Regarding logoff. Always type logoff.com into the address bar and it solves almost everything and ensures you log off all the time.

 

That said I have been on Emerald Princess and I suspect it has wifi connectivity issues with some parts of the ship suffering black spots that have a harder time accessing the wifi system than other areas of the ship. They kind of hinted that to me when I was on it and suggested I am better off inside and in a public lounge area.

 

Now regarding your censorship issues. Yes I have noticed this too and I think it is totally unreasonable and disgraceful behaviour. I do not think it is Princess doing this, I think this has more to do with the company that hosts the internet services they provide.

 

What I noticed is that Princess internet outright bans what could be perceived as "adult entertainment" sites which are not necessarily those type of websites at all. What is even more baffling is that they also target non-English language websites. As an example I go to Japan almost every year. Japan has a lively and thriving nightlife in major cities. A lot of websites that discuss safe and interesting nightlife areas are off limits when using the Princess website. Examples are the famous robot restaurant in Tokyo. Maybe a little controversial and similar in lines to the French Moulin Rouge type cabaret, but my thoughts is that it is completely disgraceful to treat grown adults like this and censor out sites that discuss such forms of entertainment. Even if the website discusses anything remotely what it perceives as adult nature it is censored. I discovered this in Japan two years ago when I had a wifi card that was able to hook up to the local network and as I soon found out the system on Princess censored out a number of sites I was tying to look at. 

 

 

[Mike45LC]

38 minutes ago, Sillyjilly said:

 

Op wasn't talking about Medallion from what I read.

One sailing I can have perfect internet connection and on the very same ship the following week it's the pits.

This is nothing new IMHO.

Can't wait to see how well Medallion works. I'll have to wait until next year to find out.

Silly, you are correct that the OP was not talking about Medallion.  But no one said he was.

 

Princess ships that have been upgraded to Medallion have had their internet upgraded from the ridiculously slow connections that some Princess ships have had.  Colo was pointing out that the internet connection issues on Medallion ships and on pre-Medallion ships are different.

 

[oskidunker]

42 minutes ago, Expat Cruise said:

I like the internet on Princess, becasue they charge lots of money $29.95 per day top package (old system) most people do not take the package, which makes the speed good. I have had very few issues using the system. As for blocked sites very easy to fix VPN. Which blocks Princess or any internet provider from seeing what sites you go too. 

 

For those who think it is costly at $29.95 per day, yes if you want to post to CC, Facebook or other social sites. But if you use for business and can conduct business allowing you to cruise several times a year it is in fact very cheap.

Free foe elites. And there are alot of elites. Worked well on the Grand but I did not try to upload photos or watch videos. 

[modes]

It was great last week on the Royal.

[Expat Cruise]

20 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Free foe elites. And there are alot of elites. Worked well on the Grand but I did not try to upload photos or watch videos. 

Yes but they do not give you the top level internet when they give free minutes for Platinum and Elites. The paid interest is much better, having used both free minutes and paid saw a big difference.