Internet on Riviera

[FLcruiser2011]

We are considering sailing on Riviera this November from Barcelona to Cape Town, and absolutely need a good internet connection to stay in touch with our business.  Does anyone have any recent experience with the internet on Riviera?  Is the Starlink service fully operative now? 

Thanks in advance.

[Psoque]

We were on Riviera in late November 2023.  Internet was functional most of the time, but it wasn't super fast and it did drop out frequently.  It really depends on what level of internet connectivity you require to tend to your business, but I am assuming that it is definitely not as good as what you have at home in terms of speed (and bandwidth), reliability, or general signal quality.

[SophieM]

I think the internet service is also dependent on the location of the ship relative to the satellite position. 

[mhdesno2]

We were on Riviera in February and it does have Starlink. Our cruise was in Asia, starting in Bangkok and ending in Hong Kong. I was able to stream Netflix without difficulty. However, when we were in Vietnam waters, Starlink had to be turned off as it does not have the right to operate in Vietnam yet. You can probably research the destinations in Africa to find out if Starlink is used in those countries.

 

[mhdesno2]

By the way, my husband was able to attend Teams meetings as well.

[FLcruiser2011]

7 hours ago, mhdesno2 said:

We were on Riviera in February and it does have Starlink. Our cruise was in Asia, starting in Bangkok and ending in Hong Kong. I was able to stream Netflix without difficulty. However, when we were in Vietnam waters, Starlink had to be turned off as it does not have the right to operate in Vietnam yet. You can probably research the destinations in Africa to find out if Starlink is used in those countries.

 

What happened when Starlink was turned off in Vietnam waters.  Was there a backup for internet?

[mhdesno2]

The internet on board was almost non existent and very slow. I think I read somewhere that it went back to the old system, not good. We were in port every day. We used our phones' broadband with T Mobile which worked. With T Mobile, you can buy 5G international passes. As soon as we left Vietnam waters and we were in International waters, the internet improved. I believe we had the same problem in Hong Kong but I am not sure.

[mhdesno2]

The Riviera is going up the West African coast as we speak. It would be great if we could hear from a passenger on board currently about the wifi while navigating West Africa.

[Mrs f.]

We will be on that cruise.  We have been on O cruises to Africa/Asia before.   Internet worked except for one day when everything got knocked out...nobody's Internet worked.  We were in the middle of 3 sea days.

Edited June 9 by Mrs f.

[mhdesno2]

This cruise is on my bucket list. It sounds fabulous! Starlink is new to the Riviera since December 2023. The first ship to have it was Vista and I seem to recall all the Oceania ships should have it before year's end. Starlink is a game changer for wifi.

[TonicTraveler]

Some countries do not allow Starlink. We were on Riviera Singapore to Dubai with several stops in India and the UAE. Neither country allowed Starlink. I had to do my internet business beginning at 1:00am when we were far enough out from the port. I had 2-3 hours before the connection was lost. It was a nightmare. 

[mhdesno2]

Yes, this is what happened to us in Vietnam. Since hubby always works on cruises, we've had to be creative with internet access for years. On the Starlink website, there is a world availability map. There are a few African countries that are included. Compounding the issue is what we experienced in Thailand. Starlink is not available in that country yet it was working on the Riviera (I was streaming away!). What OP needs is a first hand account of whether Starlink works on Riviera while cruising West Africa.

[SophieM]

17 hours ago, mhdesno2 said:

The Riviera is going up the West African coast as we speak. It would be great if we could hear from a passenger on board currently about the wifi while navigating West Africa.

The Riviera is sailing empty currently. 

[ORV]

6 hours ago, TonicTraveler said:

Some countries do not allow Starlink.

Do you know why?

[basor]

I believe because Starlink has not signed an agreement with the country - Chile has had SL for years but Argentina just signed contract with SL and so now is allowed, as an example.

Edited June 9 by basor

[mhdesno2]

3 hours ago, SophieM said:

The Riviera is sailing empty currently

If it is because they couldn't go through the Suez Canal, why couldn't they have sold a different itinerary? It seems like such a waste.

[Tranquility Base]

14 minutes ago, mhdesno2 said:

If it is because they couldn't go through the Suez Canal, why couldn't they have sold a different itinerary? It seems like such a waste.

Their first of several cruises bouncing around the Eastern Med starts next week.

They needed the time using an itinerary which only stops at essential ports in order to go from Dubai to Civitavecchia via Cape Town to make that date.

 

The reverse cruises in Nov & Dec from Barcelona - Cape Town - Singapore which have a normal number of stops has proved popular.

[mhdesno2]

Thank you for the explanation. I am sure the ship will be very clean when it arrives in the Eastern Med as the crew must not be hogging the pool chairs 😉.

 

 

[TonicTraveler]

On 6/8/2024 at 12:43 PM, FLcruiser2011 said:

We are considering sailing on Riviera this November from Barcelona to Cape Town, and absolutely need a good internet connection to stay in touch with our business.  Does anyone have any recent experience with the internet on Riviera?  Is the Starlink service fully operative now? 

Thanks in advance.

I am on this cruise.  I inquired with Oceania Special Services and was told that there is no Starlink in any of the African countries on the itinerary.  I reached back and asked if Oceania will be using an alternate service.  Stay tuned.

[Tranquility Base]

4 hours ago, TonicTraveler said:

I am on this cruise.  I inquired with Oceania Special Services and was told that there is no Starlink in any of the African countries on the itinerary.  I reached back and asked if Oceania will be using an alternate service.  Stay tuned.

Thanks.

If cruising between two countries of which neither has starlink, would it work whilst in international waters; assuming satellites within range ? 

[TonicTraveler]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks.

If cruising between two countries of which neither has starlink, would it work whilst in international waters; assuming satellites within range ? 

Theoretically, yes, you would have service in international waters. However, on my recent Oceania cruise that included countries without Starlink, I was at times only able to have a connection between 1:00 and 3:00AM. 

[Wilma2]

On 6/8/2024 at 12:43 PM, FLcruiser2011 said:

We are considering sailing on Riviera this November from Barcelona to Cape Town, and absolutely need a good internet connection to stay in touch with our business.  Does anyone have any recent experience with the internet on Riviera?  Is the Starlink service fully operative now? 

Thanks in advance.

You may want to look into GigSky Land+Sea package. https://www.gigsky.com/data-cruises I haven't used it, but from what I read it is cheaper than cruise WiFi. It is still expensive, but you don't need to worry about switching eSim's when you go ashore.

[Mrs f.]

On 6/13/2024 at 3:41 PM, TonicTraveler said:

I am on this cruise.  I inquired with Oceania Special Services and was told that there is no Starlink in any of the African countries on the itinerary.  I reached back and asked if Oceania will be using an alternate service.  Stay tuned.

We will be on that cruise.