QM2 High Speed Internet?

Anyone know if part of the remastering project included the installation of high speed internet, similar to that on some of RCL and Celebrity ships?

Anyone know if part of the remastering project included the installation of high speed internet, similar to that on some of RCL and Celebrity ships?

My understanding is no. Same old slow internet.

I was on board June 21-July 5. Near DSL speed with the usual high demand times after breakfast and before dinner. Two days before reaching NY however it was dismal - worse than dial up. I ran out 47 minutes just trying to open two emails. I got better on the Halifax/Boston run but just about DSL speed.

The Internet is appalling. If it works, it's not broad band speed.

I thank all of you for your feedback. I guess we will have to wait until the 2021 drydock.:( We were recently on the Anthem of the Seas; yes, that one. Their Voom internet was almost as fast as from our cable service back home. :) On the Celebrity Constellation, they recently installed their version, called Xcellerate. However, the service was as worse than I remember dial-up to be, if there was service at all.

I thank all of you for your feedback. I guess we will have to wait until the 2021 drydock.:( We were recently on the Anthem of the Seas; yes, that one. Their Voom internet was almost as fast as from our cable service back home. :) On the Celebrity Constellation, they recently installed their version, called Xcellerate. However, the service was as worse than I remember dial-up to be, if there was service at all.

Royal Caribbean's Voom is the best internet on the high seas, and it was a major investment by Royal Caribbean to make it happen. Nothing else compares by a long shot.

Royal Caribbean's Voom is the best internet on the high seas, and it was a major investment by Royal Caribbean to make it happen. Nothing else compares by a long shot.

I am on board now and the internet is so so slow.

Regards Pat

I was on Navigator Of The Seas for 51 days ending June 26. It was terrible for the first 3 or 4 weeks, then it seemed to pick up some speed. High speed like at home? No not even close.

We boarded QM2 6 days ago and the internet is better than NOTS but not high speed like at home. They also do not have unlimited option, so the cost is way more then NOTS.

I was on with Blue Riband, at least for the transatlantic portion. The internet speed was poor, worse than on other cruise lines. And to add insult to injury, the service was turned off on the last night before we disembarked so that we could not use the WIFI on the final morning when we desperately needed it for our final travel arrangements. Stupid idea and resulted in very angry customers.

Again, thanks for your input. What a shame Cunard overlooked the possibility of high speed internet on the latest drydock. It is a new technology for ships. When it was working, it was phenomenal. You could even do Facetime and Skype.

I was on with Blue Riband, at least for the transatlantic portion. The internet speed was poor, worse than on other cruise lines. And to add insult to injury, the service was turned off on the last night before we disembarked so that we could not use the WIFI on the final morning when we desperately needed it for our final travel arrangements. Stupid idea and resulted in very angry customers.

Yes, now it's turned off at midnight and I agree it's completely stupid and totally unnecessary. In the past one could not buy additional time after 10PM but one could run out the clock on whatever remaining time they had already purchased until they disembarked the ship. It could explain why the service was so bad the last evening before arriving in NY: the crush to finalize landing plans before the plug was pulled saturated the bandwidth.

Yes, now it's turned off at midnight and I agree it's completely stupid and totally unnecessary. In the past one could not buy additional time after 10PM but one could run out the clock on whatever remaining time they had already purchased until they disembarked the ship. It could explain why the service was so bad the last evening before arriving in NY: the crush to finalize landing plans before the plug was pulled saturated the bandwidth.

We returned from the Christmas/New Year's voyage the night before scheduled, as there was a snow storm. I was quite panicky about the situation and kept in constant contact with my car service via email. Had the Internet been turned off too early, I surely would have been beside myself. I did have my phone, which would have worked during the overnight in Brooklyn, but just the same, it is disconcerting, especially when you have extra time on the counter, to lose your minutes at midnight. I hope the issue is revisited.

Jeanne

Jeanne

Yes, now it's turned off at midnight and I agree it's completely stupid and totally unnecessary. In the past one could not buy additional time after 10PM but one could run out the clock on whatever remaining time they had already purchased until they disembarked the ship. It could explain why the service was so bad the last evening before arriving in NY: the crush to finalize landing plans before the plug was pulled saturated the bandwidth.

Yes that is the other thing. I still had 113 minutes left when I signed off Saturday night but I couldn't use them Sunday morning as that were wiped out by Cunard at midnight.

Just found this in a PR article about the Remastering and lack of broadband speeds:

WI-Fi is available on ships, but the website warns that “you won’t get the superfast speeds you’re used to at home.”

Noyes said speedy Internet is a challenge, especially when a ship is crossing the Atlantic, but also thinks the clientele isn’t terribly bothered by that.

“We find it gives the right level of connection because a lot of the people who sail on Queen Mary, they want to have a break,” he said. “They want to be connected, but they’re not going to spend all their time online.”

https://skift.com/2016/07/24/cunard-is-trying-to-keep-old-world-cruise-glamour-relevant/

Just found this in a PR article about the Remastering and lack of broadband speeds:

 

WI-Fi is available on ships, but the website warns that “you won’t get the superfast speeds you’re used to at home.”

 

Noyes said speedy Internet is a challenge, especially when a ship is crossing the Atlantic, but also thinks the clientele isn’t terribly bothered by that.

 

“We find it gives the right level of connection because a lot of the people who sail on Queen Mary, they want to have a break,” he said. “They want to be connected, but they’re not going to spend all their time online.”

 

https://skift.com/2016/07/24/cunard-is-trying-to-keep-old-world-cruise-glamour-relevant/

Interesting article. Another point of view. A couple of years ago I switched from reading paper books to ebooks. However, as the QM2 has an 8,000 volume library, on our voyage two weeks from now, I will read from the library's collection.

Just found this in a PR article about the Remastering and lack of broadband speeds:

 

WI-Fi is available on ships, but the website warns that “you won’t get the superfast speeds you’re used to at home.”

 

Noyes said speedy Internet is a challenge, especially when a ship is crossing the Atlantic, but also thinks the clientele isn’t terribly bothered by that.

 

“We find it gives the right level of connection because a lot of the people who sail on Queen Mary, they want to have a break,” he said. “They want to be connected, but they’re not going to spend all their time online.”

 

https://skift.com/2016/07/24/cunard-is-trying-to-keep-old-world-cruise-glamour-relevant/

I would offer that Mr. Noyes needs to do a better job of connecting with his clientele and his POTENTIAL clientele. High-speed internet is increasingly a necessity for travelers for many reasons. For young people it's like oxygen. These young people are future customers. They may not need rock-climbing, but they need internet. I am not young (personal revelation), but I need good internet just to cope as a traveler. It's how I manage my travel, manage my life at home, keep in touch with friends. Without internet, I would not be able to travel in the manner that I do. I will continue to cross the Atlantic on the QM2 because I love the ship, but the mediocre internet connections remain one of the negatives of the experience.

Just back from a lovely Westbound TA on QM2.

Really enjoyed the trip. Fantastic company, smooth sailing, great service and much improved food and quality in the Kings Court.

Internet however was a massive disappointment & I feel Cunard are really missing the big picture re this.

People need & expect to be connected these days. The connection quality (or, all too frequently, the complete lack of), is really unacceptable and sits completely at odds with the 'remastering' of the ship, which is otherwise almost universally highly impressive.

Come on Cunard. Tradition is all very well, but you should at least aspire to getting into the 20th century, if not the 21st !

Just back from a lovely Westbound TA on QM2.

 

Really enjoyed the trip. Fantastic company, smooth sailing, great service and much improved food and quality in the Kings Court.

 

Internet however was a massive disappointment & I feel Cunard are really missing the big picture re this.

 

People need & expect to be connected these days. The connection quality (or, all too frequently, the complete lack of), is really unacceptable and sits completely at odds with the 'remastering' of the ship, which is otherwise almost universally highly impressive.

 

Come on Cunard. Tradition is all very well, but you should at least aspire to getting into the 20th century, if not the 21st !

I completely agree. Cunard can easily maintain its lovely traditions yet still attract the next generation by providing adequate connectivity (among a few other things). Otherwise they run the risk of slowly fading away as their older customers slowly fade away.

I thought I read somewhere on this board or on a link from here that Carnival Corp plans to roll out much improved, higher speed internet across its brands and fleet. Does anyone know if that's happening and if the Cunard is on the Carnival list for improvement?

I thought I read somewhere on this board or on a link from here that Carnival Corp plans to roll out much improved, higher speed internet across its brands and fleet. Does anyone know if that's happening and if the Cunard is on the Carnival list for improvement?

That has already been done. They share bandwidth among the fleet based on which ships have the highest demand at any given time. As an example the SENSATION may have high usage right now but NOORDAM doesn't, so some of NOORDAM's bandwidth can be allocated to SENSATION to help meet the demand. That is how it's supposed to work in theory anyway.

I would offer that Mr. Noyes needs to do a better job of connecting with his clientele and his POTENTIAL clientele. High-speed internet is increasingly a necessity for travelers for many reasons. For young people it's like oxygen. These young people are future customers. They may not need rock-climbing, but they need internet. I am not young (personal revelation), but I need good internet just to cope as a traveler. It's how I manage my travel, manage my life at home, keep in touch with friends. Without internet, I would not be able to travel in the manner that I do. I will continue to cross the Atlantic on the QM2 because I love the ship, but the mediocre internet connections remain one of the negatives of the experience.

Just back from a lovely Westbound TA on QM2.

 

Really enjoyed the trip. Fantastic company, smooth sailing, great service and much improved food and quality in the Kings Court.

 

Internet however was a massive disappointment & I feel Cunard are really missing the big picture re this.

 

People need & expect to be connected these days. The connection quality (or, all too frequently, the complete lack of), is really unacceptable and sits completely at odds with the 'remastering' of the ship, which is otherwise almost universally highly impressive.

 

Come on Cunard. Tradition is all very well, but you should at least aspire to getting into the 20th century, if not the 21st !

As one could click in a prime social media site: LIKE

The internet on our world voyage this year but pretty bad. So it is best to not count on it and get an international cell phone package so you can use it when you dock

If you're going to depend on using the Internet when you dock then free WiFi I can easily be found in most locations.

If you're going to buy a satellite package you surely want it to be available while at sea.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just off the QM2 yesterday, August 16. We found the Internet no better and no worse than any other ship we have been on, save for the Anthem of the Seas with amazingly fast connections and downloading. As we had two previous sailings with Cunard, we were now at the Gold Level. We each received $50 USD credit toward any plan we bought. Plus, you get bonus minutes if you purchase the plan on the day you board and the day following.

With internet on international airlines getting better and better, I am sure it's just a matter of time before Cunard realizes that they need to provide it too. Hopefully soon. They have shown a commitment to support technology with in cabin wifi and roaming cell phone service, so I think this too will come. I will look forward to it.