Starlink Equipped Ships

[Rykys]

I’m currently on Serenade of the Seas and it appears to be using Starlink now. I’ve seen speeds from 3Mbps down to 200Mbps down. 30 down and 8 up seems to be average. 
 

[exm]

On Anthem now. Starlink works okay expect in the upper (sun) deck.

[twangster]

A friend on Odyssey at the moment shared some Starlink info.

 

Currently Odyssey is still using O3b and uses the 4 x 2 per user cap.

 

He shared pictures of the Starlink antennas from North Star.  I'm not going to post them because they are his pics, not mine.  Four Starlink antennas above the spa/gym forward, eight antennas above the iFly chamber aft.  

 

He also shared that the IT manager said that user migration is occurring tonight.  

 

The IT manager moved his service to Starlink on the spot and while it was subject to the 4 x 2 per user cap for this cruise it did have lower latency (118 ms).

 

The IT manager also said that per users caps are being removed for the next cruise on Sunday.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by twangster

[Merion_Mom]

I don't speak "tech", but I'm on the Enchantment right now and the internet is great, thanks to Starlink.  🙂 

[afurman]

Currently on Libert of the Seas right now which has Starlink and VPN is blocked.  When asking about it was told that VPN has been blocked by Royal Caribbean IT due to security issues and they won't discuss it.  So basically, is this just this ship or is it now fleet wide that has it blocked.  Didn't have this problem a few months ago on Oasis with Starlink.  Have tried multiple VPN clients all not working including WiFi Calling which creates an IPSEC vpn tunnel to work but that also hasn't really been working over O3B for the last year onboard.  

[tvo7]

Hello, I am looking to cruise out of Galveston using Voyager, Allure, or Wonder.  

Whether it is VOOM or Starlink.  Hss anyone been able to use ZOOM, Google Meet, or Chrome Remote Desktop?

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by tvo7

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, tvo7 said:

Whether it is VOOM or Starlink. 

Voom is a marketing term RCI uses for internet service - Starlink is the service provider. All apps, including Zoom or Google Meet, should work.

[John&LaLa]

On 1/19/2023 at 12:03 AM, twangster said:

In other Starlink news Carnival has announced that it will be adopting Starlink for all it's ships in all fleets including Princess.  Princess just converted the whole fleet to O3b before the shut down.  Now that all Carnival PLC brands are converting to Starlink it raises the possibility that cruise lines will have to be aware how other cruise lines are selling and marketing Starlink. 

 

Competition is a good thing and this may force Royal to keep it real.  

 

Didn't SpaceX just launch some new next gen O3B satellites

[John&LaLa]

On 1/19/2023 at 12:21 AM, Rykys said:

I’m currently on Serenade of the Seas and it appears to be using Starlink now. I’ve seen speeds from 3Mbps down to 200Mbps down. 30 down and 8 up seems to be average. 
 

 

How is it in your cabin? It was great in most public areas on Jewel 

 

But non existent in our cabins

[Rykys]

35 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

How is it in your cabin? It was great in most public areas on Jewel 

 

But non existent in our cabins

We have an aft balcony room on the 10th floor and the service is really good in the cabin. I’ve been able to use zoom, stream live TV, etc without any issues. The only place where the wifi is having issues is near the pool area. Keeps dropping and reconnecting. Works fine right next to that in the Solarium. They might just have an AP that is acting up near the pool. 

[PatMunits]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:22 PM, Merion_Mom said:

I don't speak "tech", but I'm on the Enchantment right now and the internet is great, thanks to Starlink.  🙂 

my experience hasn't been good.

I have a week old Pixel 7 phone. My connection is better than before Starlink, but still not awesome.

 

I was able to make a video call over WhatsApp from the middle of the Bermuda Triangle but otherwise hiccups are frequent and overall speed feels like a good 5Mbps connection and not like a 100Mbps

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by PatMunits

[baileymouse]

I was on Anthem 1/2-1/13, and couldn't get on in our cabin. My daughter and I were unable to accomplish anything inside. We could get on in the common areas, but when I had meetings, I would be constantly booted off. I think they oversold WiFi & couldn't handle the traffic. People were complaining at the Voom desk every day.

 

I had trouble with Zoom & Google Meet. It was beyond frustrating.

Edited January 22, 2023 by baileymouse
Added info

[Merion_Mom]

15 minutes ago, PatMunits said:

my experience hasn't been good.

I have a week old Pixel 7 phone. My connection is better than before Starlink, but still not awesome.

 

I was able to make a video call over WhatsApp from the middle of the Bermuda Triangle but otherwise hiccups are frequent and overall speed feels like a good 5Mbps connection and not like a 100Mbps

 

Are you on the Enchantment with me?

 

[Merion_Mom]

Ok, I have said that I don't "speak tech", but I have this app on my phone, and here is what I can share. (I have no idea what any of this means) (reminder:  Starlink.  Enchantment.  Deck 7 cabin.  Middle of the night.)

 

 

[PatMunits]

7 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

Ok, I have said that I don't "speak tech", but I have this app on my phone, and here is what I can share. (I have no idea what any of this means) (reminder:  Starlink.  Enchantment.  Deck 7 cabin.  Middle of the night.)

 

 

Unfortunately, these speeds would make Elon Musk cringe. RCL can do many things on their end to improve the experience for cruisers.

The good thing is that much better speeds are possible as evident by experience of others on on other ships. We're getting 1/30 of what's expected.

[Smokey Mountain Tim]

I just boarded Odyssey and am sitting in Playmakers. Using an iPad I am averaging a 3.5 MBps upload.

[twangster]

16 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Didn't SpaceX just launch some new next gen O3B satellites

 

A handful.  Unknown if they are in service yet.  From a falcon 9 it typically takes 6 - 9 months for satellites to reach their operational orbit.  

[Biker19]

15 hours ago, PatMunits said:

Unfortunately, these speeds would make Elon Musk cringe.

Those speeds have nothing to do with SpaceX - those are the normal RCI limited speeds on most ships which have completed the upgrade. Expecting more than that will likely lead to disappointment.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Biker19

[PatMunits]

7 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Those speeds have nothing to do with SpaceX - those are the normal RCI limited speeds

These slow speeds diminish the brand value of Starlink because upcoming high speeds and video streaming were prominently mentioned in the original public announcement by Royal in 2022.

 

If a rental company were to limit Tesla's speed to 50mph, and max range to 200 miles, then Tesla and not the rental company would bear the wrath of clients.

 

The current word on the street is: Royal got Starlink on their ships, prices are up, speeds are slightly better. Bottom line: Starlink internet sucks at sea.

 

Consumers prefer simplistic explanations.

Edited January 23, 2023 by PatMunits

[twangster]

3 hours ago, PatMunits said:

These slow speeds diminish the brand value of Starlink because upcoming high speeds and video streaming were prominently mentioned in the original public announcement by Royal in 2022.

 

If a rental company were to limit Tesla's speed to 50mph, and max range to 200 miles, then Tesla and not the rental company would bear the wrath of clients.

 

The current word on the street is: Royal got Starlink on their ships, prices are up, speeds are slightly better. Bottom line: Starlink internet sucks at sea.

 

Consumers prefer simplistic explanations.

 

Royal's Starlink woes has zero impact to Starlink's "brand value".

 

Starlink at sea was supposed to be further along right now.  The reason it isn't is because of delays getting Starship in production.  Had Starship been flying when SpaceX hoped it would then many more of 30,000 satellites that SpaceX intends to operate would be in the skies compared to the measly 3,500-ish up there now.  

 

Starlink sucks at sea because of Starlink, not because of Royal. 

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, PatMunits said:

These slow speeds diminish the brand value of Starlink because upcoming high speeds and video streaming were prominently mentioned in the original public announcement by Royal in 2022.

I don't believe RCI has ever published actual speeds, but rather marketing one liners like "Fastest internet at sea". The current 4 Mbps limit on most ships is plenty to stream most video - having 150Mbs as currently reported on Jewel doesn't improve that.

[mmcgann11]

Starlink also isn't going to fix some poor WiFi mesh implementation on RCI ships. Although I have no first-hand experience (yet) with SL equipped ships, much of my issue in the past is tied to poor WiFi performance and coverage (and a mesh that gets overwhelmed with too many users). This is forgivable on older ships, not designed with WiFi in mind, but actually seems to be more of an issue on Quantum and Oasis class ships, which should have had better on-ship wireless networks, especially when encouraging everyone to do everything through the app. Ironically, I've had the best WiFi on Vision class ships.

 

I can get decent connections early in the morning -- thankfully that is the time I typically deal with work stuff -- but that degrades as the day goes on. So, while Starlink is cool, RCI needs to invest in on-ship infrastructure -- a more robust WiFi network -- to make it a meaningful improvement.

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, mmcgann11 said:

So, while Starlink is cool, RCI needs to invest in on-ship infrastructure -- a more robust WiFi network -- to make it a meaningful improvement.

Don't hold your breath - the great majority of ships will continue to have wifi access points in the hallway so your reception very much depends on where you are in relation to those. A few of the newest ships have them in the cabin, but that is unlikely to be retrofitted for a long time, if ever, on older ships.

[RCCL Fan]

On 1/21/2023 at 5:52 PM, tvo7 said:

Hello, I am looking to cruise out of Galveston using Voyager, Allure, or Wonder.  

Whether it is VOOM or Starlink.  Hss anyone been able to use ZOOM, Google Meet, or Chrome Remote Desktop?

 

Unless I've missed something, I don't think Wonder sails out of Galveston.

[twangster]

Starlink v2 satellites photographed at Starbase in Texas.

 

https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/starbase-sats

 

" SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell previously said the Starship launch vehicle would be capable of deploying up to 400 Starlink first-generation satellites during a single launch. However, SpaceX’s second-generation (Gen2/V2) Starlink satellites are much heavier because they feature upgraded technology and new hardware to enhance the network’s capabilities. The company has not officially shared exactly how many of these Starlink V2 satellites would be transported on Starship simultaneously. In 2022, Musk mentioned that the Starlink V2 satellites weigh around 1.25 tons, by this metric approximately 90 could be deployed on a single Starship mission. Probably more Gen2 satellites could be propelled to orbit given the Super Heavy rocket's immense power upon liftoff, it will be capable of generating over 17 million pounds of thrust. "

 

Up to this point SpaceX has been using Falcon 9 rockets to launch Starlink v1 and v1.5 satellites.  A typical Falcon 9 launch has around 50 Starlink v1 satellites so being able to launch 400 Starlink v1 satellites at one time is a pretty significant step forward.  Starship should also place satellites higher and closer to final orbits compared to Falcon 9 so satellites will get into production faster.  

 

The satellites photographed in Texas are said to be the next generation v2 satellites that are needed to expand capacity and capability for expanded services including greater Starlink Maritime coverage.

 

SpaceX had planned to have Starship further along and these v2 satellites were planned to be in the skies by now but that didn't happen due to Starship delays.  With Q4 2022 in the rearview mirror the expansion of Starlink Maritime to work further away from land has been delayed and is waiting for these v2 satellites to be launched.  

 

Once Starship begins carrying payloads to space you can bet these Starlink v2 satellites piled up at Starbase will be some of the first items to go up.  

 

Once they do, only then will Starlink at sea begin to work better and more reliably.