Really really bad wifi

[Mary229]

For the people who work on ship,, I made this same comment to a YouTuber the other day as he complained about Princess WiFi. “You’re making money, get a satellite internet service. You can’t expect the consumer passenger to pay for commercial service for your enterprises.  That is not the purpose of ship wifi.  Ship wifi is for consumer purposes”

 

that said with more and more people streaming and the lines reducing their tv choices they really need to up the service.  It is unbearable for reading email when everyone starts watching their favorite steaming service.  

[*Miss G*]

Just now, Mary229 said:

And this 

 

If it’s absolutely mandatory for me to have daily reliable internet then a cruise ship is not the place for me. 

 

Okay, last word on this for me because I think we have derailed this thread enough and a few words in a post does not provide clarity.  There is too much room for misinterpretation, as we have clearly seen.

 

If it is mandatory for me to have daily reliable internet then a cruise ship is not the place for me.  Internet (and me) being the operative word.  Not phone calls.  Not SMS.  Not limited data.  That was the original goalpost.

[Florida_gal_50]

It’s not just passengers that should have decent service it’s the crew too.  They do use the internet on the ship.  It’s much cheaper for them.  I guess there would be some on this thread that would say they should stay at home it they have families 🙄.

[RuthC]

I have to wonder if the wired full computers in the Internet Center had the same problem as those with their own devices. 

When I was on the Nieuw Statendam, at a much more extreme latitude, I didn't have a problem with the internet connection on the ship's computers, for the most part One or two days there were some temporary connection issues of short duration, but that was about it. I would expect a cruise in the Caribbean to be at least as good. 
The worst time was the last night when so many people were trying to check in for flights. By then we were back to civilization at a more moderate latitude, so it was clearly demand that slowed things to a crawl. 

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

It’s not just passengers that should have decent service it’s the crew too.  They do use the internet on the ship.  It’s much cheaper for them.  I guess there would be some on this thread that would say they should stay at home it they have families 🙄.

There is a reason that you find lots of crew members around free internet locations on shore. While they use it, many consider it to be too expensive at the price they are charged.

[curmudgeon98]

11 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Just back from a Panama Canal cruise on Eurodam - LOTS of people complaining about the poor wifi.

 

 

Yes, we started out with the basic package and found it extremely limited (like dial-up).  Upgraded to the premium, and it was no better.  One big frustration was that we couldn't do wifi calling on our phones even in the off hours - wifi calling worked for us on Princess, Azamara, and Seabourn.  The last three days of the cruise, it got much better and wifi calls suddenly started working...  I'm wondering if they had something misconfigured, or a satellite out of service or something.  

 

To be pedantic, the wifi network on the ship mostly worked ok, it was the uplink from the ship to the internet that was the major problem. 

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, ldtr said:

There is a reason that you find lots of crew members around free internet locations on shore. While they use it, many consider it to be too expensive at the price they are charged.

It is very, very reasonable on the ship for them.  I’ve found free internet on shore to be super slow.  Have you ever talked to a crew member about this because I have, or are you just assuming?

[DaveOKC]

Just back from a Panama Canal cruise with many stops in small ports.  In each of them I was able to use my cellphone to access the Internet, check mail, etc. without a problem and RIGHT FROM MY CABIN!  Really no need to use HAL's service unless you need to access everyday (cellphone does not work while at sea of course).  My cost was only for the data used, which was $1 to $2 a day.  Of course I was not downloading large files.

[Crazy For Cats]

40 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Just back from a Panama Canal cruise with many stops in small ports.  In each of them I was able to use my cellphone to access the Internet, check mail, etc. without a problem and RIGHT FROM MY CABIN!  Really no need to use HAL's service unless you need to access everyday (cellphone does not work while at sea of course).  My cost was only for the data used, which was $1 to $2 a day.  Of course I was not downloading large files.

We use TMobile and do the same.  There is no data charges.  There would be a charge if we actually called someone.

[0106]

Anyone have experience using your iPhone’s data on Verizon when out of the country.  Best info I could find was it cost $10 a day which includes calling.

[FlaMariner]

6 minutes ago, 0106 said:

Anyone have experience using your iPhone’s data on Verizon when out of the country.  Best info I could find was it cost $10 a day which includes calling.

 

Her Majesty uses the Verizon "international plan" and it works well....At least in Europe in the Caribbean, Mexico....calls, texts and surfing w/her phone. 

 

(She has not used it on the ship.....the answer is based on land)

 

[*Miss G*]

33 minutes ago, 0106 said:

Anyone have experience using your iPhone’s data on Verizon when out of the country.  Best info I could find was it cost $10 a day which includes calling.

 

Here is an example of the message you’ll receive once Verizon notices you are in another country.  The $10 per day spans 24 hours so if you begin at 5:00pm on Tuesday it covers you until 4:59pm on Wednesday.  

 

It pulls from your plan allowance so if you go over that you will be charged as per your plan.  You will need to turn data roaming on and the session will carry through to other supported countries.  (I.E., you will continue your 24 hour session if you start it in one country and then turn roaming on again in the next country.)  

 

Connectivity is only as good as the signal strength in your area.  For example, I was able to use FaceTime to speak with my husband whilst in Italy but it was spotty due to the weak signal I was receiving.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[carnivaljunkie]

I think that a big part of the problem is that HAL included internet in the Have it All package.  I have been on 50 plus cruises and never purchased internet.  Logging on in ports has always been enough.  My upcoming cruise includes Have it All and, therefore, WiFi.  It appears that many current cruisers have Have it All, and may be using WiFi for the first time.  I am not sure but does Navigator use ship WiFi?  

 

Dean

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, carnivaljunkie said:

I think that a big part of the problem is that HAL included internet in the Have it All package.  I have been on 50 plus cruises and never purchased internet.  Logging on in ports has always been enough.  My upcoming cruise includes Have it All and, therefore, WiFi.  It appears that many current cruisers have Have it All, and may be using WiFi for the first time.  I am not sure but does Navigator use ship WiFi?  

 

Dean

Yes, for sure that's likely the problem.  It's been discussed throughout this thread.  Navigator doesn't need wifi.

[IPB4IGO]

51 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Yes, for sure that's likely the problem.  It's been discussed throughout this thread.  Navigator doesn't need wifi.

To clarify, the Navigator app DOES require Wi-Fi (unless you are using the ship's computers in the Explorations Cafe). It doesn't require Internet service for many of its functions.

Edited October 31, 2022 by IPB4IGO
typo

[IPB4IGO]

19 hours ago, RuthC said:

I have to wonder if the wired full computers in the Internet Center had the same problem as those with their own devices. 

I tested that last week on the Koningsdam. Accessing the Internet was just as slow on the computers in the Explorations Cafe as it was on our wireless devies.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, IPB4IGO said:

To clarify, the Navigator app DOES require Wi-Fi (unless you are using the ship's computers in the Explorations Cafe). It doesn't require Internet service for many of its functions.

My point is you don’t need wifi to use it.  I’m not talking about behind the scenes but I know people love to correct others.

[RuthC]

5 hours ago, IPB4IGO said:

I tested that last week on the Koningsdam. Accessing the Internet was just as slow on the computers in the Explorations Cafe as it was on our wireless devies.

Interesting. Thanks for the information. 
Strange how Internet worked so well on the Nieuw Statendam in August, and has gone so downhill now. 

[WriterOnDeck]

On 10/31/2022 at 6:28 AM, Sherry H said:

We've had both "surf" and "premium" did not notice any difference between the two.

We are early risers and it seemed to move along nicely at that time.

The difference is in the sites you can visit, not the internet speed or quality.