Clicking on a favorite show, I only could watch for a few minutes before the connection inevitably froze. But the promised access to Netflix streaming wasn’t quite as smooth as I had hoped. On a sailing on one of the Carnival ships outfitted for faster internet, Carnival Sunrise, I did notice a significant improvement in cruise Wi-Fi speed. The cruise line uses a hybrid system that combines faster satellite connections at sea with a network of less-expensive land-based towers that take over as its vessels near coastal areas. But we’re a bit skeptical – not because the Wi-Fi is slower than stated, but because other cruise lines, like Carnival Cruise Line, are quickly catching up.Ĭarnival cruise Wi-Fi is also fast enough to support Netflix streaming on some ships, the company says. Royal Caribbean still claims Voom is the fastest and best Wi-Fi option on cruise ships today. (Photo courtesy of Danny Lehman/Norwegian Cruise Line) While still significantly slower than many home connections, that’s fast enough to enjoy Netflix and other streaming video services, though I did experience grainy video and buffering issues on occasion. I never found download speeds exceeding 4 Mbps, but I did see it drop as low as 1.5 Mbps. When I ran a speed test of Voom on Adventure of the Seas, I found the line’s fastest option, the Surf + Stream service, usually offered download speeds of just around 3 megabits per second. Called Voom, the system tapped into new Medium Earth Orbit satellites operated by O3b that can shoot their beams directly at ships as they move. A turning point came in 2014, when cruise giant Royal Caribbean partnered with satellite company O3b Networks to create a new onboard internet system that it claimed was six times faster than anything else at sea. New satellite systems, paired with multimillion-dollar investments in shipboard technology, really are making things better in a big way. On some cruise ships, the signal has become so much faster you now can stream Netflix from the comfort of your cabin - something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Onboard internet speed is getting much faster So while onboard cruise Wi-Fi speeds are getting better, they’ll never be as fast as at home, where a hard wire brings the signal straight to your router. During a sailing in the Russian Arctic on a Hapag-Lloyd Cruises ship, I was forced to live without internet for a good part of a week due to a lack of satellite coverage in the area (something, I must say, was kind of wonderful). Cruise ships traveling through the famed Norwegian fjords, for instance, can lose their satellite signal due to the height of surrounding mountains.Īnd there are certain parts of the world where satellite coverage is too thin or nonexistent to allow for internet access on cruise ships. For starters, a ship needs a clear “line of sight” to a satellite to exchange data, something that isn’t always the case. (Photo courtesy of Peter Baedita/Norwegian Cruise Line)īut, in the end, there are limits to just how well a satellite system can work. On cruise ships, every packet of data you are downloading onto your phone or computer, for the most part, is coming over a satellite, which is not a quick or inexpensive proposition. Why the slow speeds? To start, there is no Comcast cable wire running to your cruise ship. Related: 16 mistakes cruise ship passengers make on disembarkation day Maybe the cruise would end while you were still sitting there. You’d click on a website only to experience many seconds of frustration. Yes, all cruise ships today offer an internet connection, but it might not be the seamless experience you’ve come to expect on land.įor most of the many years I’ve been writing about cruising, the typical internet connection at sea hasn’t just been slow. Wi-Fi on cruise ships will never be as fast (or reliable) as home Here are five things to know about onboard internet before you set sail. I can guide you through the ins and outs of Wi-Fi on cruise ships. If you’re a first-time cruiser, you’re likely most concerned with the basics: Do cruise ships have Wi-Fi and how much does Wi-Fi cost on a cruise? Repeat cruisers who have paid the price for finicky service may be wondering the best way to access fast connection speeds across their devices while avoiding unnecessary charges. While checking emails and surfing the web on some vessels still requires the patience of Job, onboard technological improvements on many ships combined with new satellite and direct ship-to-shore systems is making cruise internet access much more like what you find on land (or even in the air).įor cruise news, reviews and tips, sign up for TPG’s cruise newsletter. I have good news for those of you who assume the only way to stay in touch with home from a cruise ship is via a message in a bottle: Cruise ships come equipped with internet, and cruise Wi-Fi connections have been getting faster at a rapid rate - and cheaper, too.
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