Internet: Unlimited, but Unusable. Is this unique?

[MissP22]

23 hours ago, shellbeachjim said:

Currently on the Discovery and the speed makes the internet practically unusable. Here’s a recent speed test. 
 

That's similar to the Enchanted unless you get up at 3 AM and then it approaches 2 Mbs.

[Times Prince]

On 1/1/2023 at 2:53 PM, MissP22 said:

Ever since they began the unlimited internet plan the whole system has gone to pot. I would like to go back to the free minutes .

Totally agree with you about going back to free minutes for Platinum/Elite as an option to the packages.  I feel like my loyalty benefit was removed.

[VibeGuy]

Diamond had been showing the low latency associated with the MEO O3B constellation on the last two sailings when in Mexican waters.  It’s been consistently usable.    Tonight, with rough weather, we are clearly on the GEO satellites. 

 

[waltd]

just off the Sapphire and the internet was horrible.  They refunded us $100.

[MissP22]

9 minutes ago, waltd said:

just off the Sapphire and the internet was horrible.  They refunded us $100.

Did you purchase internet service separately or was it part of a plus package?

[waltd]

23 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Did you purchase internet service separately or was it part of a plus package?

No Package, internet only.. 33 day cruise

[VibeGuy]

No matter which present satellite system is in use, it’s going to be absolutely terrible on deep South American / Antarctic voyages.   There’s just not much commercial demand for coverage  where there’s a small land mass, low population density, limited shipping traffic and flightless birds who can’t buy satellite airtime with herring.
 

As LEO constellations get completed, things may improve somewhat - operators may pick some orbits to increase polar coverages, but it’s years out. 
 

[VibeGuy]

From the Credit Where Credit Is Due department, here’s today, with calmer seas and the MEO constellation as indicated by the unloaded latency under 250ms.  I’ve made a couple of voip calls and they’ve sounded good enough to be understandable if not flawless. 

[waltd]

On 1/5/2023 at 11:18 AM, VibeGuy said:

No matter which present satellite system is in use, it’s going to be absolutely terrible on deep South American / Antarctic voyages.   There’s just not much commercial demand for coverage  where there’s a small land mass, low population density, limited shipping traffic and flightless birds who can’t buy satellite airtime with herring.
 

As LEO constellations get completed, things may improve somewhat - operators may pick some orbits to increase polar coverages, but it’s years out. 
 

What bothers me is they charge you full price, or Elite pricing, knowing it's crap and only if you complain will they offer some sort of refund.  Can't tell you how many people were upset about the service.   Don't offer it to those locations or cut down the pricing with a disclaimer up front.   LOL

[sirclean]

Sailing Soon out of Galveston.  Anyone got any updates?  Will I be keeping up with work, or getting up EARLY to try to upload my email? 

 

Recent experiences?

[Ken the cruiser]

On 1/5/2023 at 3:41 PM, VibeGuy said:

From the Credit Where Credit Is Due department, here’s today, with calmer seas and the MEO constellation as indicated by the unloaded latency under 250ms.  I’ve made a couple of voip calls and they’ve sounded good enough to be understandable if not flawless. 

I’m confused. If the upload speed is 2.5 mbps, which is quite acceptable on a ship, why does it say your internet speed is 120 kbps, with no mention of the download speed? 

 

[KarmaCruisers]

Just took this on the Sky Princess 

Sea Day, sailing to Cozumel, at full capacity

[Guardsy]

If you get bad or non-existent service, why is there not a class-action suit against Princess and other lines?  If you pay for a service you cannot use, you should have a legal claim to at least a refund.  We used to have "free" internet as part of our inclusive package, but the few times we tried it, ZIP.  Now, I am also someone who can really go without internet or cell service when on a cruise.  Could care less.  Actually, could care less than less.  But, my point is still, why do folks not start a class-action suit?

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Guardsy said:

If you get bad or non-existent service, why is there not a class-action suit against Princess and other lines?  If you pay for a service you cannot use, you should have a legal claim to at least a refund.  We used to have "free" internet as part of our inclusive package, but the few times we tried it, ZIP.  Now, I am also someone who can really go without internet or cell service when on a cruise.  Could care less.  Actually, could care less than less.  But, my point is still, why do folks not start a class-action suit?

 

Guests have reported last year at various times asking for and getting either partial or full refund for MedallionNet.  It's not something Princess likely just hands out - although I have read they were giving out OBC rebates to guests when they were not ready to supply the new desserts to guests who had booked the new Plus/Premier Fare options.

[VibeGuy]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’m confused. If the upload speed is 2.5 mbps, which is quite acceptable on a ship, why does it say your internet speed is 120 kbps, with no mention of the download speed? 

 

That *was* the download speed.  Usage by cruisers is wickedly asymmetric and packets were getting off the ship just fine, but there wasn’t enough bandwidth to go around.  
 

When they’re on O3B MEO and there aren’t a bunch of other vessels in the spotbeam, the internet is usable.  When it’s in SES GEO, there are a lot of other vessels, or the birds are low to the horizon, the internet is grim. 

[MissP22]

5 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

Just took this on the Sky Princess 

Sea Day, sailing to Cozumel, at full capacity

That was exceptional for during the day. On the Enchanted speed like that, at best,  was only available at 4 AM.

Edited March 13, 2023 by MissP22

[sirclean]

boarding the Ruby tomorrow in Galveston.  Will update this thread IF I am able to get online!!

 

[KarmaCruisers]

On 3/13/2023 at 4:08 AM, MissP22 said:

That was exceptional for during the day. On the Enchanted speed like that, at best,  was only available at 4 AM.

Just wanted to repost..I think the reason that was like that; was everyone was off the ship..the rest of the cruise I was LUUCKY to get .5Mbps, mostly in the 256kbps range.

[MissP22]

13 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

Just wanted to repost..I think the reason that was like that; was everyone was off the ship..the rest of the cruise I was LUUCKY to get .5Mbps, mostly in the 256kbps range.

That was more like reality. 

[erienetuser]

Based on this  thread I'm ready  to cancel my internet package. We're doing Alaska, can I get service on my port days?  We have Verizon.

[Honolulu Blue]

32 minutes ago, erienetuser said:

We're doing Alaska, can I get service on my port days?  We have Verizon.

Here's Verizon's cell coverage map zoomed in on Alaska.  I found it at Verizon Coverage Map: Nationwide 5G and 4G LTE Network Cell Phone Coverage | Verizon :

 

 

My knowledge of Alaskan geography is limited, but there seem to be splotches of orange in the places you're likely to end up.  YMMV.

[GonzoWCS]

18 hours ago, sirclean said:

boarding the Ruby tomorrow in Galveston.  Will update this thread IF I am able to get online!!

 

Looking forward to your updates.  Thanks!

 

Cheers

[KKB]

Internet is far better than 10 years ago...

But It's a crapshoot on any ship.

I did find Alaska to be some of the worst I've encountered (also Discovery in Sept)--I suspect it is due to angle/distance from equator, which, if my understanding is correct, is where satellites tend to hover?

On a good note, it is nice to be able to access data in AK.

 

Was on MSC Bahamas cruise last month & internet was best I ever encountered. 

Booked a cruise on another line using internet & my phone--would have never thought I could do that.

Now, the next week as we ventured to MX, things were a bit sketchier, so who knows?

[sirclean]

Have not left the dock

Only 2;30, so we can not yet be full!

 

[MissP22]

6 minutes ago, sirclean said:

Have not left the dock

Only 2;30, so we can not yet be full!

 

😄 I sign of things to come. I guess it can't get much worse.