Teleworking! Will X be the first to find a way to increase wifi speed/reliability?

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just thinking out loud; we're probably a decade away, but its inevitable, one day we'll have reliable high speed ship wifi.  I would book cruises immediately so I could successfully telework if there was reliability wifi.  If you didn't know, SpaceX has deployed 775 Star Link internet satellites, this may not be a solution yet it is an interesting data point.

[Arizona Wildcat]

You might today.  It all depends on where you are cruising.  Falkland Islands and South likely to never have great coverage.  Mid ocean also limited and little reason to put in more satellites for ship traffic.  In the Caribbean service is great today.  

Not sure what reliability WiFi is.  I have always had WI-FI on board.  Everywhere on TAS and around Australia.  Again I was transmitting photos and data.  Voice was difficult to impossible in remote areas.  Think it will be so for many years.

[NutsAboutGolf]

10 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Not sure what reliability WiFi is.

 

Being able to conduct an one hour Zoom call during business hours on a sea day.  🙂

[PTC DAWG]

I cruise to get away....not work...call me old fashioned, I don’t care.  Life is too short. 

[Sweetnspicy]

5 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I cruise to get away....not work...call me old fashioned, I don’t care.  Life is too short. 

I get that, but for some of us we can’t take much time off of work. It’s easier to check in once a day so everything doesn’t go to hell. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

18 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I cruise to get away....not work...call me old fashioned, I don’t care.  Life is too short. 

 

Assuming one has the capability to telework, why not be on a stateroom balcony teleworking?  Work the morning-afternoon, "play" on the cruise at night, if there's a port I want to visit I take a vacation day 🙂

Edited November 1, 2020 by NutsAboutGolf

[emmas gran]

I use Zoom twice weekly within our home to contact some within the UK, I would not consider it a reliable Communication source onboard a ship. It can drop out at home so when relying on satellites who knows what will happen. Also if you a in a public area   a lot of people could be within your earshot 

 

Liz

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by emmas gran

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Being able to conduct an one hour Zoom call during business hours on a sea day.  🙂

Am pretty sure others would have a different definition.  When I was attempting to arrange nursing home care while on a TA I needed voice and preferably video calls throughout the day - every day.  My business hours are 24 hours a day as locations in NAmerica, Australia and UK.  I hope for no calls but hard to predict when needed.  Wish I could schedule when problems will occur.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Am pretty sure others would have a different definition.  When I was attempting to arrange nursing home care while on a TA I needed voice and preferably video calls throughout the day - every day.  My business hours are 24 hours a day as locations in NAmerica, Australia and UK.  I hope for no calls but hard to predict when needed.  Wish I could schedule when problems will occur.

 

Ditto 🙂

[grandgeezer]

4 hours ago, Sweetnspicy said:

I get that, but for some of us we can’t take much time off of work. It’s easier to check in once a day so everything doesn’t go to hell. 

If you are that irreplaceable, maybe you should just stay home. If things go to hell, and you aren’t available, the sky will probably fall and the world would come to an end.

[ECCruise]

4 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I cruise to get away....not work...call me old fashioned, I don’t care.  Life is too short. 

Bulletin:  There are people who can travel while they work.  We traveled for leisure 6 months every year for years.  And made good money to pay for that travel.

Everyone's situation is not the same.

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Bulletin:  There are people who can travel while they work.  We traveled for leisure 6 months every year for years.  And made good money to pay for that travel.

Everyone's situation is not the same.

Exactly!!!  It is the reason I am able to take a 27 day cruise, with 11 sea days total, I am happy to sit on the balcony on many of those sea days, work productively, while enjoying the view of the ocean, rather than looking out at the skyscraper next door.  We all travel in the manner that suits us best!

[Baron Barracuda]

Have found the Voom internet on Royal to be very quick.  No trouble skyping or streaming.  They've been using it since debut of Quantum back in '14 so surprised hasn't migrated across X ships as well.

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, Baron Barracuda said:

They've been using it since debut of Quantum back in '14 so surprised hasn't migrated across X ships as well.

Weren’t they improving the Internet as they were upgrading the ships? 
I’m sure there was a Tech guy on board who was taking pictures of the renovations on Silhouette when she was going through them in January 2020. She then came out of dry dock and he remained on board for the TA.

I also remember downloading the Celebrity App, in preparation for our cruise( which never happened) , it wasn’t ‘ live’ as the Internet wasn’t then active.

[ECCruise]

3 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Have found the Voom internet on Royal to be very quick.  No trouble skyping or streaming.  They've been using it since debut of Quantum back in '14 so surprised hasn't migrated across X ships as well.

Yes.  Celebrity claims "high speed internet" but it is not at the level of Royal.

We've watched our home cable on Voom in the middle of the Atlantic on a crossing and virtually no buffering or problems.

Not the same on Celebrity.  "Fast" but not at that level.

[Jim_Iain]

Not sure about the rest of you but I was able to work remotely from sea for the 4 years prior to retirement.   While Zoom wasn't out yet I was able to conduct conference calls using GoToMeeting (I didn't use Video) 

 

At the end of each meeting I would have to submit Financial Consolidations that would run up to 50 Megs.   I only had one problem on a TA while dodging a hurricane.

[Algebralovr]

I used Zoom from Alaska on the ship in 2018.  I used it on Silhouette to attend work meetings in February 2019 in the Caribbean.  I used Zoom to teach on Reflection in February 2020 (mid-February, before the crazy started.)

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, Algebralovr said:

I used Zoom from Alaska on the ship in 2018.  I used it on Silhouette to attend work meetings in February 2019 in the Caribbean.  I used Zoom to teach on Reflection in February 2020 (mid-February, before the crazy started.)

Good to hear.   I was pretty sure you could use it.   I have been able to stream Netflix but they have pretty good buffering.

[DrKoob]

6 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Have found the Voom internet on Royal to be very quick.  No trouble skyping or streaming.  They've been using it since debut of Quantum back in '14 so surprised hasn't migrated across X ships as well.

 

Royal has its own satellites. Seriously. And they don't let X or Azamara use them. Their Voom is as good as our cable modem at home. X, not so much.

[sanger727]

20 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Assuming one has the capability to telework, why not be on a stateroom balcony teleworking?  Work the morning-afternoon, "play" on the cruise at night, if there's a port I want to visit I take a vacation day 🙂

 

Because it will cost you alot more to be in a stateroom balcony teleworking than to be at home... If I'm spending money to be on vacation, I want to be on vacation. Not working during the day and on vacation in the evenings. 

 

While this isn't an issue for me personally, teleworking isn't an option and when I'm off I'm able to be off. I can see the whole going on vacation and checking in once or twice a day if you need to. But wouldn't even consider a "working" vacation. 

[PTC DAWG]

18 hours ago, ECCruise said:

Bulletin:  There are people who can travel while they work.  We traveled for leisure 6 months every year for years.  And made good money to pay for that travel.

Everyone's situation is not the same.

I'm talking about myself, not trying to judge anyone else.  If someone doesn't want to really get away, and can't leave work alone, more power to them.  

 

I will say that the dude on the pool deck with the speaker phone on wide open talking "business"...is quite obnoxious....more important than anyone else on the ship.  The guy on the next door balcony is just as obnoxious doing the same thing too, FWIW.  

Edited November 2, 2020 by PTC DAWG

[PTC DAWG]

18 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

If you are that irreplaceable, maybe you should just stay home. If things go to hell, and you aren’t available, the sky will probably fall and the world would come to an end.

LOL.....

[PTC DAWG]

On a side note, ethernet cables work better...just get longer cables.  🙂

[ECCruise]

16 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I'm talking about myself, not trying to judge anyone else.  If someone doesn't want to really get away, and can't leave work alone, more power to them.  

 

I will say that the dude on the pool deck with the speaker phone on wide open talking "business"...is quite obnoxious....more important than anyone else on the ship.  The guy on the next door balcony is just as obnoxious doing the same thing too, FWIW.  

It just sounded like you were being judgmental, thanks for clarifying.

But for many, it does not have anything to do with "can't leave work alone."  For us, e.g., it literally was our job.  We could work anywhere in the world and did it, like I said, for around 6 months a year (all leisure travel, no business).

 

And TOTALLY agree with you on the clods on speaker phones or ZOOM calls on their balcony.  Or the pool deck.  Or any of the restaurants.  Obnoxious x10.

Edited November 2, 2020 by ECCruise

[TeeRick]

This is somewhat ship dependent and where you are on the ship- and how many users are on and streaming at peak times.

I have found the situation much improved on Edge (and presumably on APEX).  On these new builds they put routers in the cabins and that helps a lot.  Edge was a very good internet experience for us - no issues.  Streaming was just fine.