Carnival Corp completes the fleet!

[BlerkOne]

Starlink is on all the ships

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/carnival-corporation-rolls-out-spacexs-innovative-starlink

 

 

[mamiamjo]

Awesome! 😎

[john91498]

Was on the Panorama with starlink and it still seemed slow...

[weezal]

they're certainly not equally fast nor consistent, across ships.

i was just on the firenze, and while premium internet was good, not as great as on the jubilee.

[BlerkOne]

23 minutes ago, john91498 said:

Was on the Panorama with starlink and it still seemed slow...

I think it is possible. Installing Starlink doesn't upgrade the rest of the ship infrastructure - number of access points, etc. I have found speeds can vary greatly moving around a ship.

[john91498]

I did notice it was better when I was up on deck with open skies.

 

We weren't able to stream Netflix or any other service while in our cabin.

[Joebucks]

Great, a much higher price with negligible speed improvement. Just what I wanted.

[BlerkOne]

35 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Great, a much higher price with negligible speed improvement. Just what I wanted.

Ask and you shall receive. Starlink is raising rates!

 

https://www.tesla-mag.com/en/spacex-adjusts-starlink-pricing-implications-for-u-s-users-and-the-broadband-market/

 

but nobody is forced to buy. Entirely optional.

 

 

 

[MEUB1112]

Awesome 

[movtarget]

Cabin/Ship structures are metal, and are really bad at allowing radio frequency (RF - as in Wifi RF), to penetrate through walls, floors, and ceilings (all metal on a cruise ship). Even with better internet source speeds, your actual experience can vary greatly depending on where you are located. As in how close you are to a properly setup wifi access point. Even 30 feet down the hall from an access point, the signal gets really bad.

 

I surveyed wifi signal strength on cabin decks on the Legend and the Magic, and it went from -42 dBm (pretty good) to -92 dBm (really bad) and occasionally non-existent.

 

Sitting at home right now (on a 4 node mesh network) I get a range of -26 dBm to -68 dBm.

 

Geeks gotta geek. (I used “airport utility” app on ios mobile devices to measure the signal strength - it’s free, download it before your cruise)

 

• -30 dBm: The best possible signal strength, and your device is likely only a few feet from the AP 
• -50 dBm: Excellent signal strength 
• -60 dBm: Very good signal strength 
• -65 dBm: Good, reliable signal strength 
• -70 dBm: Okay signal strength, and the minimum signal strength required for a decent packet delivery 
• -80 dBm: Borderline useless, and packet delivery may be unreliable 
• -90 dBm: Signal is really weak, and (almost) impossible to connect to

 

[Joebucks]

On 5/16/2024 at 7:20 PM, BlerkOne said:

Ask and you shall receive. Starlink is raising rates!

 

https://www.tesla-mag.com/en/spacex-adjusts-starlink-pricing-implications-for-u-s-users-and-the-broadband-market/

 

but nobody is forced to buy. Entirely optional.

 

Eh, I'm not usually one to complain about fees or entitlements. However, the price I pay to get internet on a cruise ship in 2024 is borderline excessive. To spend hundreds a week or go without internet seems a bit off. 

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

 

Eh, I'm not usually one to complain about fees or entitlements. However, the price I pay to get internet on a cruise ship in 2024 is borderline excessive. To spend hundreds a week or go without internet seems a bit off. 

 

Cruise a line like Virgin whose business model was designed this decade - where wifi, a decent wage for the crew without being subsidized by gratuities, and decent food are included in your fare.

Edited May 31 by mz-s

[BlerkOne]

7 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Cruise a line like Virgin whose business model was designed this decade - where wifi, a decent wage for the crew without being subsidized by gratuities, and decent food are included in your fare.

And no drink packages!!

[Joebucks]

16 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Cruise a line like Virgin whose business model was designed this decade - where wifi, a decent wage for the crew without being subsidized by gratuities, and decent food are included in your fare.

 

Just because this decade likes to "feel" like paying more for free stuff is a better deal, I'd rather not limit my itinerary, ship, and duration choices, in honor of paying more to escape a "fee." 

[mz-s]

21 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Just because this decade likes to "feel" like paying more for free stuff is a better deal, I'd rather not limit my itinerary, ship, and duration choices, in honor of paying more to escape a "fee." 

 

Each to their own, choices are a good thing. Many people on here say that they consider gratuities a part of the fare and indeed tip extra and aren't bashful about telling everyone here about it. And many here always buy premium internet and eat specialty dining multiple times every cruise. So many are paying for it one way or another - either as a separate line item, or rolled into the fare. It's just a math problem. Every time I book a vacation, Carnival has to earn my business. I look at all the options.

[jimbo5544]

22 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Just because this decade likes to "feel" like paying more for free stuff is a better deal, I'd rather not limit my itinerary, ship, and duration choices, in honor of paying more to escape a "fee." 

which free stuff are you referring to?

[Joebucks]

12 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

which free stuff are you referring to?

 

Well, the point was to sail Virgin, so I don't have to pay for wifi. The absolute cheapest Virgin cruise this year is $1368 for an inside cabin to do a 4 day cruise to Key West and Bimini. These conversations always turn into "well the wifi and grats are included." Then when it's still more expensive, I have to learn about the value and the food.

 

I still don't think it's that much of a fringe opinion that my social media internet was $6-$7 not that long ago, and now it's excessively priced. 

[mz-s]

12 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

Well, the point was to sail Virgin, so I don't have to pay for wifi. The absolute cheapest Virgin cruise this year is $1368 for an inside cabin to do a 4 day cruise to Key West and Bimini. These conversations always turn into "well the wifi and grats are included." Then when it's still more expensive, I have to learn about the value and the food.

 

I still don't think it's that much of a fringe opinion that my social media internet was $6-$7 not that long ago, and now it's excessively priced. 

 

The entire Virgin experience is elevated, and yes they do charge for that. The evening shows aren't just dancers singing karaoke in front of a screensaver like on Carnival for example. As I said options and choices are a good thing.

[BlerkOne]

On its best day, Virgin is a niche cruise line. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Well, the point was to sail Virgin, so I don't have to pay for wifi. The absolute cheapest Virgin cruise this year is $1368 for an inside cabin to do a 4 day cruise to Key West and Bimini. These conversations always turn into "well the wifi and grats are included." Then when it's still more expensive, I have to learn about the value and the food.

 

I still don't think it's that much of a fringe opinion that my social media internet was $6-$7 not that long ago, and now it's excessively priced. 

Thanks

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

On its best day, Virgin is a niche cruise line. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Some will choose any opportunity to throw a barb at CCL.  

[mz-s]

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Well, the point was to sail Virgin, so I don't have to pay for wifi. The absolute cheapest Virgin cruise this year is $1368 for an inside cabin to do a 4 day cruise to Key West and Bimini. These conversations always turn into "well the wifi and grats are included." Then when it's still more expensive, I have to learn about the value and the food.

 

I still don't think it's that much of a fringe opinion that my social media internet was $6-$7 not that long ago, and now it's excessively priced. 

 

When the social plan was $5 a day, and you could buy it for 24 hours, I would often buy a day of it per cruise just to catch up. Nowadays, to buy wifi for my cruise would cost more than I pay for a month of gigabit internet at home. That is absolutely insane. My local Red Roof Inn and Denny's both provide free wifi.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Some will choose any opportunity to throw a barb at CCL.  

Word!

[Joebucks]

On 6/2/2024 at 10:22 AM, mz-s said:

 

The entire Virgin experience is elevated, and yes they do charge for that. The evening shows aren't just dancers singing karaoke in front of a screensaver like on Carnival for example. As I said options and choices are a good thing.

 

I don't care if Michael Jackson himself came back to life and sang on stage there. I'm not sailing Virgin to save on Wifi costs. 

[BlerkOne]

On 6/2/2024 at 9:22 AM, mz-s said:

 

The entire Virgin experience is elevated, and yes they do charge for that. The evening shows aren't just dancers singing karaoke in front of a screensaver like on Carnival for example. As I said options and choices are a good thing.

Was that your Virgin experience?