Escape Internet Speeds- Has it been improved?

Sailing on the Escape on 9/10/16. I have not seen anything yet that the internet speeds have improved. Does anyone have any updates or have recent experience?

Was on the ship last week. Speed is still SLOW.

Was on the ship last week. Speed is still SLOW.

Did it boot you off a lot and you kept having to log in?

Unlike office/home WiFi system, these insecured WiFi/MiFi network systems are designed to "drop" or disconnect any & all "inactive" users after a pre-defined period of usage - to free up the limited bandwidth for other "active" users. It is normal by design to boot "inactive" users based on pings & other configured settings - even if you have an unlimited plan.

Just log back in and stay "active" - otherwise, you are hogging up the already narrow satellite bandwidth and making it difficult for other users to connect.

Do you happen to remember the WiFi prices?

I was on last week and got the unlimited for I think $179 on day 2 of the cruise vs $209 if you get it on the first day. It was very slow much of the cruise though so by the minute would not have been very cost effective.

Ugh I really hope it improves soon! I want to do a live review since I will be cruising solo on the July 31st sailing but I don't have a lot of patience!

Do you happen to remember the WiFi prices?

I am going on the 6 day itinerary July 31st:

Internet - 100 minutes | Save $3.95 USD Activation Fee when you book online

The time plan gives you 100 minutes of internet connectivity.

PRICE $75.00

Internet - 250 minutes | Save $3.95 USD Activation Fee when you book online

The time plan gives you 250 minutes of internet connectivity.

PRICE $125.00

Internet - Unlimited | Save $3.95 Activation Fee when you book online.

Pay one price and be connected throughout the cruise.

PRICE $179.94

Still can't decide if it will be worth it. It is hard to know since I am going to be SOLO if i will be wanting to use it because I am alone and sort of bored, or if I will be too busy having fun to be bothered. I've never used wifi on any of my last cruises.

Had anyone tried Skype on board? We'll be leaving our kids at home and want to check in a few times. Also, is it possible to share a WiFi package with our friends in the cabin next to us? Wasn't sure how that worked.

Had anyone tried Skype on board? We'll be leaving our kids at home and want to check in a few times. Also, is it possible to share a WiFi package with our friends in the cabin next to us? Wasn't sure how that worked.

You cannot share the wifi as far as I could tell. I believe that each cabin needs their own. As far as Skype, under the current speeds I do not think there is anyway to Skype or stream anything. I know they are supposed to be upgrading the Wifi this summer and it will be much faster (supposedly) which may allow for Skype to work.

Had anyone tried Skype on board? We'll be leaving our kids at home and want to check in a few times. Also, is it possible to share a WiFi package with our friends in the cabin next to us? Wasn't sure how that worked.

Skype has been around for years for business travelers and others. Voice calling requirements are minimal at 100 kbps, slightly faster than dial-up and should work on cruise ship's slower paid WiFi data plan. For standard resolution video calling, 300 kbps to 500 kbps speed is the recommended minimum. A mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet/iPad running the newest OS is better than a desktop or laptop/netbook connections - you will notice lags if the quality of the connection fluctuate, think of the distance it must travel in relaying the signal, literally out of this planet & then back.

Depending on the specific ship's satellite connection and loads, this might or might not work. On the Breakaway this May, it worked just fine for us to Skype - voice & video. Streaming as in Netflix or Youtube, however, require much more bandwidth and they are blocked/prohibited over ship's paid WiFi, even if it is possible.

As for sharing the WiFi connection, it is possible - as long as one device is logged in at any given time and other devices are logged off. By sharing, the "other" devices ("MAC" address) need to be registered and activated on "your" stateroom - userid/email address and password ... thus, you are accountable fully of any & all usage your friends next door or otherwise on the ship somewhere.

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA1417/how-much-bandwidth-does-skype-need

Speed for the Caribbean islands over cellular and WiFi signals are faster & better - if you can "wait" to connect, depending on your carrier/plan & options, etc.

via Nexus 5X, Google Fi / WiFi network on Tapatalk, VPN secured

Had anyone tried Skype on board? We'll be leaving our kids at home and want to check in a few times. Also, is it possible to share a WiFi package with our friends in the cabin next to us? Wasn't sure how that worked.

If it's the same (unbelievably slow) system as on the GA, only one device at a time can use the connection.

Maybe someone from the Escape departures of 7/23 and 7/30 plus August departures will have better news about internet speeds. Does not sound like upgrades will be done by the end of July as mentioned in press release.

I bought the unlimited plan. And thank goodness. Sometimes I was kicked off and couldn't get back onto the Internet for hours. When it was working, I was able to email, check Facebook and Instagram. Our last day in port in Nassau, it was working well enough that I was able to call my family using the Facebook messenger app.

Honestly, unless you get the unlimited plan, I would not even bother. You will stress about the minutes being wasted waiting for pages to load, getting booted off etc.

Maybe things will improve by the time you board!

Ugh I really hope it improves soon! I want to do a live review since I will be cruising solo on the July 31st sailing but I don't have a lot of patience!

You can always do a live from, just type up in a word program what you want to post and then when you get to a port use the wifi there and copy and paste what you've written in Word and it will post.

still can't believe the prices for internet on NCL

It's 60.00 on RCI for unlimited "Surf" package for 1 device.

still can't believe the prices for internet on NCL

 

 

 

It's 60.00 on RCI for unlimited "Surf" package for 1 device.

My third cruise on NCL is coming in October--I've finally decided to just suck it up and use port wifi if they don't improve the situation. And I' m a person who enjoys integrating technology with my cruise, but I'm not paying for something with such a terrible ROI. I can't believe how bad it was on the GA in June. (In fairness, the network admin did arrange a partial refund for me, but the system was completely offline many nights.)

Edit: Ah, I just had the lightbulb moment. They must be keeping the prices high as a "gating mechanism" to try to deter too many people from buying it-- they know how bad their bandwidth situation is, and if it was priced reasonably it would be even worse.

Maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but this would make business sense.

My third cruise on NCL is coming in October--I've finally decided to just suck it up and use port wifi if they don't improve the situation. And I' m a person who enjoys integrating technology with my cruise, but I'm not paying for something with such a terrible ROI. I can't believe how bad it was on the GA in June. (In fairness, the network admin did arrange a partial refund for me, but the system was completely offline many nights.)

 

Edit: Ah, I just had the lightbulb moment. They must be keeping the prices high as a "gating mechanism" to try to deter too many people from buying it-- they know how bad their bandwidth situation is, and if it was priced reasonably it would be even worse.

 

Maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but this would make business sense.

I guess, but make it expensive and unlimited. I had to use some internet for a flight situation unexpectedly last time, ended up getting 100.00 minutes and used half of them to figure out a simple situation because the internet was so slow. Also was 70.00! Outrageous!

I guess, but make it expensive and unlimited. I had to use some internet for a flight situation unexpectedly last time, ended up getting 100.00 minutes and used half of them to figure out a simple situation because the internet was so slow. Also was 70.00! Outrageous!

I've only been on the GA, but it IS expensive and unlimited, about $200 for the week. But "unlimited" = barely works (forget anything like Dropbox or iMessages) and is offline frequently.

So what happened with all the NCL hype about faster internet by the end of July?

Promises, promises, that's all. It's not guaranteed, FWIW, and they got 5 days left on the July calendar to deliver, like Christmas ... well, kind of. And it ain't free. [emoji85] [emoji87] [emoji86]

via Nexus 5X, Google Fi / WiFi on Tapatalk, VPN secured

Direct from ncl.com:

"Guests on all Norwegian, Oceania and Regent ships can expect to experience the new, lightning-fast WiFi powered by SpeedNet by July 2016."

Sound of crickets chirping........

Just got off Escape. Internet was like AOL dial-up 15 years ago. I asked the IT person about the supposed new high-speed internet that was supposed to be available in July. She just rolled her eyes. It was AWFUL!!!!

Just got off Escape. Internet was like AOL dial-up 15 years ago. I asked the IT person about the supposed new high-speed internet that was supposed to be available in July. She just rolled her eyes. It was AWFUL!!!!

gotta love the eye roll :rolleyes:

Just got off Escape. Internet was like AOL dial-up 15 years ago. I asked the IT person about the supposed new high-speed internet that was supposed to be available in July. She just rolled her eyes. It was AWFUL!!!!

Ok. Sounds like the GA in June, only it made me MISS dialup speeds.

I'm sailing the escape in October. This will be my first time not buying the unlimited package outright--it was too broken for the price (by far). Unless reports change, and it sounds like they won't.

I won't downplay the complexity of this kind of technical upgrade--although it may just be a matter of swapping out one company's equipment for another--but on the other hand they are very swift to implement new policies when it benefits THEM.