Internet on Silhouette. Am I O.k. with basic or do I need to upgrade?

[cachouonacruise]

I know that there is quite a bit of discussion on these boards regarding internet; however, I am not sure where we fit, even after reading quite a few of these posts.

 

Basically, my wife and I only plan to use internet, to exchange a few messages via Facebook with family and friends and also to post a few pictures, still on Facebook.

 

Based on what I have read, taking in consideration that we are not planning to do any streaming, I thought basic internet would be sufficient. But, comments on these boards about the speed of basic internet leave me to wonder.

 

I would welcome any experience or suggestion on this topic. Thank-you in advance for your help! 

[upwarduk]

4 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

Based on what I have read, taking in consideration that we are not planning to do any streaming, I thought basic internet would be sufficient.

It was OK for us on our Silhouette staycation last summer.

I had better connection using my iPhone than my iPad.

In previous years I have found it often depends on the position of the ship in relation to the satellite. 
We have had dire internet connections on aTA.

[Beachin2]

Just off the Silhouette yesterday.  We upgraded to the stream, and the connection was still pretty slow (even by ship standards) and the ship was just 1/2 full.  As passenger loads (and internet loads) increase I would expect it to get slower still.

[Pinboy]

While we haven't been on a cruise in a while, I found that the basic internet was sufficient for our needs ( similar to what yours seems to be ) especially later at night ( after 11pm ) when quite a few ( 90 % )" Guests " are sleeping. 

Try it for a day and if it's too slow you can upgrade at the Internet Lounge on deck 6.

Suggestion : Make sure you log off after each use---- which I forgot to do and used up my 90 free minutes on day 1. 

[Ken the cruiser]

From what I've found from various CC threads since cruising started back up, 1000-1100 passengers appears to be the breaking point. But, once you get onboard and after everyone has boarded, do some tests to see how it goes. You can always go down to the IT folks and have them upgrade your services to Streaming where they will also apply any Loyalty discounts to your upgrade purchase.

 

Have you heard yet what the estimated passenger count is yet?

[cachouonacruise]

36 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Have you heard yet what the estimated passenger count is yet?

 

Thank-you very much for your feed-back!  In answer to your question, no, I have not heard the passenger count. Do you know, What is the best way to find that out? 

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

 

Thank-you very much for your feed-back!  In answer to your question, no, I have not heard the passenger count. Do you know, What is the best way to find that out? 

One way would be to find a current CC thread with someone posting from the Silhouette and ask them if they’ve heard an estimated count for the next cruise yet?

[Turtles06]

20 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

 

Thank-you very much for your feed-back!  In answer to your question, no, I have not heard the passenger count. Do you know, What is the best way to find that out? 

Go down to Guest Services and ask them. 😊

[cluso]

We don't spend a lot of time on the internet while cruising.  However, we do get one of the International (broken down by region) plans from AT&T for one of our iPads so we can use it in ports.  While in port it works on the ship and off the ship.  Not sure if it works for an inside cabin on the ship due to all the metal.

[Ken the cruiser]

47 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

 

Thank-you very much for your feed-back!  In answer to your question, no, I have not heard the passenger count. Do you know, What is the best way to find that out? 

One additional note, I believe you get a 10% discount if you upgrade to Streaming at least 2-3 days prior to boarding. Just some additional info to consider. 

[sayvan]

Currently on the Silhouette… we came on with the basic but I’ve upgraded.  It’s much better but really depends on what you plan to do.  We use Snapchat a lot with family and it wouldn’t even load with the basic.  It does with stream.  I would recommend the upgrade before you get on board.  Much cheaper!  

[CruiserFromMaine]

We got off the Silhouette yesterday and it was ok but slow for email, web surfing and Facebook. One issue, though, is the user interface for Cruise Critic, of all websites, was messed up and was unusable! Also, apps wouldn’t update and I couldn’t text someone back home who didn’t have an iPhone. I could text someone else with an iPhone. Strange. 

[hrhdhd]

15 minutes ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

<snip> One issue, though, is the user interface for Cruise Critic, of all websites, was messed up and was unusable! 

Yes, on my cruise last month, I could read posts on CC but not post. I decided to upgrade for my cruise next month and see if I notice a difference.

[JamieLogical]

I haven't been on the Silhouette, but I can tell you that on the Equinox and Summit, the "surf" internet is more than useless. Definitely do NOT plan on uploading any photos. If you were around in the age of dial-up modems, imagine about a 28.8 modem.... It was basically just enough access to make you frustrated. Could read a headline, but click in to try to read an article or load a photo.... no dice. I learned to just use it for texting (no photos in texts) and use the Celebrity app. Trying to read any news/social media is an exercise in futility and definitely don't even bother with trying to POST to social media.

 

How much does it cost to upgrade from the included "Surf" wifi to the "Stream"? I think it might be worth it if you hope to be able to actually do anything with the wifi.

[dateacher]

Is "Stream" what is showing as Premium on the website and "Surf" what we get for free?

 

[cachouonacruise]

3 minutes ago, dateacher said:

Is "Stream" what is showing as Premium on the website and "Surf" what we get for free?

 

I believe you are correct; at least, this is also my understanding.

Edited February 26, 2022 by cachouonacruise

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

We got off the Silhouette yesterday and it was ok but slow for email, web surfing and Facebook. One issue, though, is the user interface for Cruise Critic, of all websites, was messed up and was unusable! Also, apps wouldn’t update and I couldn’t text someone back home who didn’t have an iPhone. I could text someone else with an iPhone. Strange. 

Yup! That's the issue I initially ran into when we were on the Apex in an SV with approximately 1700 passengers onboard. Definitely not good if you've opened a live thread covering your cruise, like I usually do, and can't even post to it. 😎

[Ken the cruiser]

42 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

I haven't been on the Silhouette, but I can tell you that on the Equinox and Summit, the "surf" internet is more than useless. Definitely do NOT plan on uploading any photos. If you were around in the age of dial-up modems, imagine about a 28.8 modem.... It was basically just enough access to make you frustrated. Could read a headline, but click in to try to read an article or load a photo.... no dice. I learned to just use it for texting (no photos in texts) and use the Celebrity app. Trying to read any news/social media is an exercise in futility and definitely don't even bother with trying to POST to social media.

 

How much does it cost to upgrade from the included "Surf" wifi to the "Stream"? I think it might be worth it if you hope to be able to actually do anything with the wifi.

You just caused me to flash back to the 80s when I was in the USAF and we had 2400 baud modems! Ah, what great memories!! 🤣

[JamieLogical]

41 minutes ago, dateacher said:

Is "Stream" what is showing as Premium on the website and "Surf" what we get for free?

 

 

Yes, I guess they just recently changed the names. Surf=Classic and Stream=Premium now.

[hawkesbaynz]

We are on the Silhouette next month and I need to book British Airways Business Class flights using air miles immediately when availability comes out. If I do not grab them 355 days prior to to our return from Buenos Aires they will disappear.

 

I managed to grab the Santiago flights but I found that the other 2 seats had also gone on completion of the booking. Can be stressful but saves about £3000. 

 

I have little use for Streaming for the majority of the trip but will need it for 7pm after leaving Cartegna. Remind me, can I book a day or 90 minutes worth? Only 12 points shy of Elite as I believe that is a perk. 

[dateacher]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Yes, I guess they just recently changed the names. Surf=Classic and Stream=Premium now.

So for free we get a total of 90 minutes.  How many do we get with the premium?

[JamieLogical]

18 minutes ago, dateacher said:

So for free we get a total of 90 minutes.  How many do we get with the premium?

 

I didn't think any of the plans were limited by minutes, just by speed?

[dateacher]

4 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I didn't think any of the plans were limited by minutes, just by speed?

Someone mentioned 90 minutes so I thought that was it. I could definitely be wrong.

 

[cachouonacruise]

27 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I didn't think any of the plans were limited by minutes, just by speed?

I may be wrong, but I believe that the free 90 minutes mentioned has to do either with the guest loyalty status or booked stateroom (suite).

 

It is also my understanding that you can buy only the Basic or Premium package, which are unlimited use of wi-fi, differenced by their speed.

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

I may be wrong, but I believe that the free 90 minutes mentioned has to do either with the guest loyalty status or booked stateroom (suite).

 

It is also my understanding that you can buy only the Basic or Premium package, which are unlimited use of wi-fi, differenced by their speed.

The 90 minutes is a benefit of Elite status.

Suite guest get free Premium WiFi for one device for the first two passengers. 
 

I believe you can buy in increments of 24-hours.