Voom Surf Voyage Package vs Voom Surf & Stream package

So "Voom" is new to me. Is the basic surf voyage package the same as what we have been used to? Last year on Liberty (before Voom), it was painfully slow. With this so called Voom basic package be faster than what we are used to on previous cruises? If not, we'll go with the Surf & Stream package.

Last question...it was suggested we buy the 30% off package for our 9 night cruise next year since we will save more than using our diamond discount on board. The price in my cruise planner is $11.99 a day (single device, surf and stream). Is that the 30% off price or will it be 30% off $11.99?

Thanks :)

So "Voom" is new to me. Is the basic surf voyage package the same as what we have been used to? Last year on Liberty (before Voom), it was painfully slow. With this so called Voom basic package be faster than what we are used to on previous cruises? If not, we'll go with the Surf & Stream package.

 

Last question...it was suggested we buy the 30% off package for our 9 night cruise next year since we will save more than using our diamond discount on board. The price in my cruise planner is $11.99 a day (single device, surf and stream). Is that the 30% off price or will it be 30% off $11.99?

In May, RCI simply renamed all internet to VOOM - nothing really changed. But, they did introduce the two tiers, so that you can perhaps get higher speeds than were probably available before. It is very unlikely the Surf package now is any different than what was available before. The Stream will not get you much, you will still have the poor latency (which causes the slowness) of before.

The current #11.99 price just dropped recently (it was $12.59) - the same thing on board is $17.99. For a 9 night sailing you are better off buying ahead. The on board D discount is $20 off a package or a 24 hr period of internet.

In September, we were on Liberty; in October, we were on Allure. Both had vastly improved internet from previous cruises--not lightning fast, but significantly better.

I bought the streaming packages for all three cruises, but Royal Caribbean rep. told me ahead of time there was no difference in speed between the basic package and the streaming package. He said the difference is that the streaming package is for unlimited use, while the basic package isn't. He also said that unless I wanted to spend all my time in the room streaming movies, I would have more than enough on the basic package.

I guess I didn't believe him, because I bought streaming packages. Given the connection we had, I think next time I'll try the basic package because I wouldn't even have approached the limits of the basic package--I didn't use even half of it each day, and I now believe he was correct in saying the speeds on both packages are the same.

I bought the streaming packages for all three cruises, but Royal Caribbean rep. told me ahead of time there was no difference in speed between the basic package and the streaming package. He said the difference is that the streaming package is for unlimited use, while the basic package isn't. He also said that unless I wanted to spend all my time in the room streaming movies, I would have more than enough on the basic package.

 

I guess I didn't believe him, because I bought streaming packages. Given the connection we had, I think next time I'll try the basic package because I wouldn't even have approached the limits of the basic package--I didn't use even half of it each day, and I now believe he was correct in saying the speeds on both packages are the same.

The rep was wrong on both counts - not surprising. Both tiers, are unlimited in terms of data, no caps. There's a marked difference in speed, Stream can be up to 10x faster than Surf. Now, the perceived performance diff may not be that obvious because of the high latency, but there is a difference.

Last October on Freedom, we had the basic and IT. WAS. AWFUL. to the point where DH complained on disembarkation day about the "internet". It was admitted to him that they sold more internet than they had the ability to provide.

On Oasis in April, we had basic VOOM and IT. WAS. GREAT.

We just booked our VOOM and SURF for our Harmony TA cruise.

It was admitted to him that they sold more internet than they had the ability to provide.

It's always puzzling why they don't just say sorry about the poor performance and make up crap. If RCI had their way they would sell internet to everyone on the ship - I'm sure they are doing quite well with the 30% off promos. They could care less about ability to provide.

Great thread, I was wondering what the diff was myself and the website no surprise really doesn't explain it.

Last October on Freedom, we had the basic and IT. WAS. AWFUL. to the point where DH complained on disembarkation day about the "internet". It was admitted to him that they sold more internet than they had the ability to provide.

 

On Oasis in April, we had basic VOOM and IT. WAS. GREAT.

 

 

 

We just booked our VOOM and SURF for our Harmony TA cruise.

So I'm assuming freedom didn't have VOOM yet? Liberty didn't and that was awful too. Took a minute or two to switch and load a page.

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So I'm assuming freedom didn't have VOOM yet? Liberty didn't and that was awful too. Took a minute or two to switch and load a page.

Freedom is one of a very few ships that was upgraded to the faster O3b internet. Majesty was also upgraded, but I'm not sure if Empress was upgraded. They may not have had enough money left for Empress after replacing all her kitchens.

So I'm assuming freedom didn't have VOOM yet?

As Bob mentioned it does (as of about April), but reports have indicated that maybe she's not up to the full speed as the Oasis/Quantum class ships are.

Don't waste your money on Liberty, we bought the stream and surf with hopes to stream an A&M football game on the Saturday, could not stream anything. We tried from the web and several apps and even checked streaming other stuff to see if it was just our game. Nope nothing would stream, we even switched devices to see if that would work. We tried a computer, two different i-Pads, and two different phones and still nothing. We were able to listen to it on a radio through a website for a while and even that locked up. Ended up watching a sports app with nothing but updates every couple of minutes with no video. We had no problems checking e-mail and i-messaging from either package. We used the surf only the first two days and had the surf & stream the last 5 days. Absolutely no difference in the packages. And definitely no streaming with the streaming package.

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Well I'm glad the quantum class ships are better. Since I'm on Anthem, I'll purchase the regular VOOM surf package since it should meet my needs. I am not streaming anything. I would have purchased the surf and stream if you said the regular surf package is as slow as what RC had in the past. Thanks and glad this thread has helped others too.

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I am not streaming anything.

But you could; the Surf speeds on Quantum class were reported in the 5MBs down range which is plenty for streaming. Don't let the marketing names from RCI fool you. Streaming doesn't work well on the older ships when you buy the streaming package yet on the newer ships you don't need the stream package to stream.;)

Nice! Thanks for your feedback :)

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Does anyone know about Independence?

Does anyone know about Independence?

It does not have the newer O3B internet.

Does anyone know if Empress has the newer improved streaming speeds?

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Does anyone know if Empress has the newer improved streaming speeds?

I don't believe so.

It does not have the newer O3B internet.

So streaming may be a possibility of the Indy? Don't quite understand the O3B thing, sorry. Will there be a difference between the surf vs surf and stream with the O3B on Independence....

33 days til sailing and contemplating purchasing a plan for the first time due to having a teenager with a phone this time around.:eek:

The rep was wrong on both counts - not surprising. Both tiers, are unlimited in terms of data, no caps. There's a marked difference in speed, Stream can be up to 10x faster than Surf. Now, the perceived performance diff may not be that obvious because of the high latency, but there is a difference.

The speed difference was my experience on the Allure - 0.5MBs download with surf, about 6MBs download with surf and stream.

I bought the surf only with the 30% off promo pre-cruise and was unhappy with that speed. Called to upgrade and they gave me the discounted price on the upgrade (happy camper).

I was able to stream videos and call on my phone with the upgrade.

So streaming may be a possibility of the Indy? Don't quite understand the O3B thing, sorry. Will there be a difference between the surf vs surf and stream with the O3B on Independence....

Depending on what you use WiFi, there may be negligible diff between Surf and Stream on a certain ship. However, there's a noticeable diff between a ship with O3B and one without. For strictly streaming, yes you will see a diff but even on Surf you can stream low res version of Youtube.

I'm so sorry, I'm technologically not smart! O3b will internet be awful? I had it on Explorer and it was soooo slow! Even phone calls were hard! I just need FB, texting and calls. My confusion is do I need an international plan on Verizon if I'm getting VOOM? If I'm on an island I'm assuming VOOM is no help. So if I want to post a pic of us on Cozumel I guess I cannot do that on VOOM since that is for the ship? So I'm not sure if it is worth getting it. Changing my plan on Verizon to whatever I've done in the past for the cruise should suffice, right? Or is there a difference? It's really confusing for those not tech savvy.

You are close - VOOM will get you connectivity on the ship while a plan from Verizon will get you connectivity off the ship. You have to so some research which one you want for what price. If you can wait to post that pic while on the ship you can just get a VOOM package (O3B is better internet). If you post what you want to accomplish, someone can advise you the best way forward.

You are close - VOOM will get you connectivity on the ship while a plan from Verizon will get you connectivity off the ship. You have to so some research which one you want for what price. If you can wait to post that pic while on the ship you can just get a VOOM package (O3B is better internet). If you post what you want to accomplish, someone can advise you the best way forward.

Thank you Biker!! I can wait to post on the ship! Even with this world of instant gratification I'll control myself lol. I'm not sure if Indy has O3B because reports are all over the place. On Explorer in 2013 the internet was super slow and talking on the phone was hit or miss with reception so I'm hoping it's better than that! The important things to me are:

1. Post on FB and post pics on FB (a lot of family and friends live vicariously through my vacations!)

2. Do a live review here

3. Be able to text my wandering fiancé on board and my family at home

4. Get and make calls home (my mom is sick)

5. My fiancé may want to stream football games on DirectTV or Netflix but that isn't most important.

What about Serenade? Trying to decide if I should get the package or just use our Diamond Plus free days. :confused: