Getaway Streaming Internet - How is it?

[Duck Down]

We have a cruise booked on the Getaway out of NYC. My wife will be on vacation and I will be tagging along.

 

I have to work during the week and purchased the unlimited streaming plan with includes VPN. How are the speeds? I have a few of Teams meetings (no video) and am hoping I will be able to join. Worse comes to worse I can get out of them but still want to appear that I am working....

 

I plan on sneaking out for a quick beach break for a couple of the ports and at least I have the evening entertainment and can enjoy the meals.

[Laszlo]

I had bought the unlimited package on our 12 day January cruise. After we got on the trip I upgraded to the streaming package. It sucked....within 18 hours I was back at the internet desk getting a refund. The guy working the desk wasn't too happy but I was able to clearly show him the speed was only about 5% better than the unlimited. He agreed and I got a refund. Others had the same issues and some other had great speed

[fredflint]

The speed will vary so much depending on where you are cruising the number of passengers using the internet as well as possibly the weather.  I would not count on it being very good as few people have posted how great  the internet was or how fast their speeds were.  I have not cruised that much but both Celebrity and RCCL have had much better speed my  2 NCL trips have been bad and the Internet desk has always been swamped with people having issues.  My last cruise people with by the minute plan would log on the internet would go down and  they would be unable to log off and all their minutes used up  The next day they go down to the internet desk and get their minutes back!

[mking8288]

These were typical speed on the Getaway on unlimited basic WiFi but with better hardware, quite good most of the time ...

 

Above results on GA's satellite WiFi, initially very slow esp. on upload - typical & faster than usual for download - "my" device settings not optimally configured. 

 

 

If you can, lock onto 5 Ghz band (WiFi 5 or 6 if supported by your own "hardware")

 

 

Google Fi (T-Mobile) connection in Bermuda, but this was apparently relayed via ship's cellular tower/network ... no, this did not result in a huge data roaming charge b/c our plan has it covered, free.  

 

 

This was quite good on one of my "hardware" but not the rest ("older" devices)

 

 

Results varied widely and were all over for multiple days onboard the Getaway - YMMV "wildly" over the dynamically shared & cached satellite connections.

 

STARLINK is expected to bring "relief" soon - but, just about all the ships are still waiting for deployment, except as reported being on the Breakaway & in use. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by mking8288

[cruiseny4life]

In January we cruised on Getaway. Fully, fully, fully booked ship! Like whoa booked! 

 

Anyway, my husband had the streaming internet as he had work Zooms and just work to do, in general. He was able to complete all his Zooms successfully, off camera. When he shared his screen it was sometimes laggy, but not terrible. I've experienced worse in hotels. 

 

We cruised from NYC, down the coast to Orlando, then to Great Stirrup Cay, Nassau, and back to NYC. I suspect location of the ship probably impacts the internet since it's satellite-based. 

 

Our results did not seem typical, based on @Laszlo (and others) experience just a week after ours, though @mking8288 sailed two or three weeks after us and had decent speeds. 

 

Good luck!

[Duck Down]

Thanks everyone. I was on the Enchanted Princess in January and the phone setting played a factor. Speed increased when turning off the Private WiFi Address and Limit IP Tracking settings.

 

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Duck Down said:

We have a cruise booked on the Getaway out of NYC. My wife will be on vacation and I will be tagging along. I have to work during the week and purchased the unlimited streaming plan with includes VPN. How are the speeds? I have a few of Teams meetings (no video) and am hoping I will be able to join. Worse comes to worse I can get out of them but still want to appear that I am working.... I plan on sneaking out for a quick beach break for a couple of the ports and at least I have the evening entertainment and can enjoy the meals.

It is traditional satellite internet shared by 4200+ of your newest friends. People go on cruises and expect lightning speed and say "internet "sucks"", and that you won't get. When I am on cruises, I can [usually] run my zoom meetings with video. Streaming versus non-streaming wifi is about the same... they just open up more ports. The challenge is if your have outlook client and your "friends" on land start sending large files, it will bog you down. 

[Treacher1]

WE are in a corner aft cabin - do you think that will make internet connection better or worse in that location - I once read internet service better when closer to center of ship - I know NOTHING about that - just asking - thank you!

[mking8288]

12 minutes ago, Treacher1 said:

WE are in a corner aft cabin ... I know NOTHING about that - just asking - thank you!

 

As you walk down the hallway or the corridor down to your AFT corner, look up for one of these ... the nearest one, if it's no more than 25+ cabins away ... generally speaking, you should be in good shape, even behind close doors.  These are WiFi hotspots or routers that relayed the satellite signals to all cabins - speed of the "network" itself is always fast, the bottleneck "problems" are further upstream with the satellite (EMC, current provider for most ships, besides the Breakway already said to be on Starlink ...) using high/med orbit signals vs. superior & fast low-orbit signals (different technologies as deployed)

 

The hardware, your devices, themselves ... also a part of these equations - an older laptop isn't going to help, expect it to run but slower.  

 

If you have issues and things do not look right, take a walk down to the iCafe manager's desk during posted office hours and ask for help & advice ... sometimes, a simple setting change is all it'll need to fix things up.  

[cruiseny4life]

29 minutes ago, Treacher1 said:

WE are in a corner aft cabin - do you think that will make internet connection better or worse in that location - I once read internet service better when closer to center of ship - I know NOTHING about that - just asking - thank you!

We were in 13902 on Getaway. See my comment above about my positive experience in an Aft Haven Suite (corner).

[Treacher1]

Thank you so much for the information - boarding tomorrow - excited to be in Haven and hoping for decent connection - appreciate your help!