Is the Internet on board ships sailing the Caribbean 2022 sufficient to work remotely?

[EvaDestruction]

We will be sailing on the Rotterdam for a B2B cruise (21 days) in November.  I work remotely from home and wondered if anyone knows if the strength of the internet with the Premium WiFi package will be sufficient to be able to work remotely as we cruise the Caribbean?  We just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago, and although we could look at various websites and check email, I never could log into my remote site to work and I sure would hate to lug my work stuff if I won't be able to work.  

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[seagarsmoker]

I would not even think that is a possibility to count on.  Yes, you can look at various websites and check your email most of the time.  That being said, in the Caribbean, I rarely can play online games except for around 3 am - 6 am, then it pretty much is a slow crawl. 

[CruiserBruce]

Given your experience in Alaska, I wouldn't consider it in the Caribbean. Yes, it probably will be better, but doubt it will be "good enough".

[larrywizzit]

39 minutes ago, EvaDestruction said:

We will be sailing on the Rotterdam for a B2B cruise (21 days) in November.  I work remotely from home and wondered if anyone knows if the strength of the internet with the Premium WiFi package will be sufficient to be able to work remotely as we cruise the Caribbean?  We just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago, and although we could look at various websites and check email, I never could log into my remote site to work and I sure would hate to lug my work stuff if I won't be able to work.  

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Are we talking a VPN? I doubt it will support that. 
 

Remote Desktop, maybeee?? I don’t know and I’m not hopeful. I’m on the same boat for 32 days in February/March and I have a few days per week to work. At worst I’m going to wait for port days and use my mobile as a hotspot. 
 

Also when in port, I expect less usage and better internet when not moving. 

[OmarOak]

E Mail is fine though probably not with large files attached.

 

Things like Zoom or Teams have not been very functional.

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, EvaDestruction said:

We will be sailing on the Rotterdam for a B2B cruise (21 days) in November.  I work remotely from home and wondered if anyone knows if the strength of the internet with the Premium WiFi package will be sufficient to be able to work remotely as we cruise the Caribbean?  We just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago, and although we could look at various websites and check email, I never could log into my remote site to work and I sure would hate to lug my work stuff if I won't be able to work.  

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Since internet satellites are positioned over the equator, the signal strength in the Caribbean is very much better than in Alaska. The ship bandwidth is shared between the ship needs and passengers' wishes.  This means that late evening, and especially after midnight, the ship needs are less and more bandwidth is available to passengers. 

 

It is my experience that internet connection speed is determined by a number of factors:  stateroom walls are metal, some Neptune Suites may have their own repeater in the stateroom, many repeaters are located in hallways, and there are unobstructed repeaters in public areas. 

 

Some passengers get better internet speed when they eliminate the metal walls obstruction by sitting in their open room doorway, setting up near the Internet Cafe, or seated at a Deck 9 indoor pool table (my favorite around 10:00 PM if I need a good connection). 

 

In the Caribbean last year, there was sufficient speed for a family in the Deck 9 hot tub to pass a tablet around to wave to their family members back home.  On another note, halfway through that cruise, I upgraded to the Premium package and noted a doubling of speed.  I also tried adding the minimum three-devices package to my account (for $10/day) to keep everything connected and will do so on all future cruises.

 

Feel free to ask lots of questions to help in your planning.

 

[12cruise2]

Besides what's mentioned above, I think the biggest problem is that you can't count on service available exactly when you might need it.  If you can work at any time, then that's one thing; but if you have to use the internet at specific times, then I would not count on it at all.

[OHCruiser]

I follow a guy on Youtube who cruises to create content and he has an awful time--across many cruise lines--when it comes to getting consistent wifi.  It depends on so many variables.  He often has to wait until the ship is docked to finally post.

Personally, I wouldn't depend on it for necessary work product.