Free Wi Fi on River Cruises

[Abbott28]

Most river Cruise companies are promoting free Wi Fi on Europe Cruises. We are booked on back to back cruises with Avalon in August and September and have planned to take our I-Pad. Is the service good reliable and regular connections available? Our cruises are on the Rhone River and the Rhine River. Feedback on other cruisers experiences would much appreciated.

[caviargal]

Wifi is up and down on any of the rivers. When you are in a lock or not close to a town, it can be down completely. At other times it can be slow or good, deepening on many factors including weather.

 

I always take a laptop or my iPad and have been on Avalon several times. Generally I find a stronger signal in one of the public lounges than in my cabin.

 

I am pleased that it is now free on Avalon as I used to pay for access while on board and that made it more frustrating when it was not available.

 

You cannot count it being readily available but it generally is when docked or close to a larger city or town. I have done several Rhine cruises.

[keenmolly]

Hi all

We have only a week ago returned home after our trip to Europe and This included a fortnight on Avalon Panorama "Budapest to Amsterdam" .

While on board we used an IPhone 4 as well as an IPad 3 and a iPhone 3 we found that the satellite WifI varied in differrent places but overall it was great , we were able to Face time with our son in Australia this was early in the morning when most passengers were still in bed . We spoke to a couple of people that were experiencing problems with their WiFi on closer examination it was their old laptops that were the problem.

As more people started to use it the slower it became but lets not forget its a satellite service that is subject to the vagaries of the weather and landscape that you are Travelling thru we were able to communicate with whom we needed to when we needed to , we were on holiday after all so it was not always necessary to be in touch . if you need to stay in touch at all costs then perhaps you need to rethink your requirements and stay in a hotel that doesn't move.

[Abbott28]

Thanks caviargal and keen molly, these are most helpfull.

 

Rob.

[tstr]

I used my laptop quite a bit on our recent Danube cruise on Avalon and it worked great except in remote areas of the river as the others mentioned. Also bought a text messaging plan from AT&T that was inexpensive.

[YoungDubFan]

I was on Avalon's Felicity two weeks ago. As others have mentioned, the quality of the signal varied and my connection was a bit slow at times, depending on where we were on the river. It was definitely stronger when we were docked. The fist day in Basel it was very difficult to get on and slow, but the next night, I had no issues and speed was fine. I was using my Nook Tablet.

[Sekhmet]

Viking Legend last New Year also had a few laptops which could be borrowed if required - we used them to check emails a couple of times in the "library" at the stern of the ship.

[QueenofEverything]

We were on the Affinity in April on the Rhine. I have to say that the wifi was the only thing I was disappointed in for the entire cruise. It was spotty the first half of the week and non existant the last half of the week. I was very unhappy with this because they were really touting their change to free wifi. If something is advertised as an amenity then I think it should actually work. This was our plan as to how to stay in touch with the family, so I was distressed when it did not work. I would say, use it when it works, but don't count on it.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It worked great for us in April ...

[RvrCrzr]

WiFi is pretty spotty on most ships/itineraries no matter which cruise line you are on. It's the terrain mostly and the fact they put down the satelite when going under low bridges or through locks. One of the reasons most every cruise line suddenly 'included' wifi in the price was because is was bad enough to cause way too many complaints. Hard to complain about free. :)

 

I'm totally wifi dependent and I think its very frustrating. (especially if you are required to keep entering passwords and such every time you lose the signal) :eek:

 

Unfortunately...its a necessary evil in river cruising.

[Ozjohnno]

WiFi on river cruise vessels depends a lot on the server on-board. The new ships, like the M S Treasures which we sailed on last September, had a high capacity server and except for when you were at the bottom of a lock the WiFi worked exceptionally well. One couple regularly talked to their daughter back in the US using Skype. In this increasingly computer dependant age the WiFi on the boats is getting better all the time.

[bphman]

We were on the Amalyra on the Danube. We had an iPad and Macbook and found service to be poor while traveling on the river and just OK in port. We also had internet through the TV which was very slow to the point of being useless. We did most of out internet searching with our iPad while in port. Plenty of hotspots.

[Yggdrasil98]

I actually work on all my trips and so internet is important. I would say, over 3 cruise lines on all river routes and in the Baltic, the connections are ropey at best. Just when you think you are going to get a decent amount of work done, it drops out, slows down or you enter a lock!

 

I don't travel without my Macbook and ipad, but I always know that it can't be depended on for a specific time of day in a specific place.

[Condocat]

Connection last month on the Rhine was very spotty and very frustrating. I found getting a new password printed in front of me by the staff person was the solution to getting online as some of the passwords I believe were printed in advance by the staff members and had expired!

 

As others had mentioned, you will loose your connections as you go through locks, so save your messages, etc.

 

Sitting near a window may also be helpful. Sitting outside is the best!

 

Have a great trip!

[pingpong1]

We sailed on Avalon in March/April from Amsterdam, down the Rhine to Nurnberg, "hung a left" at Rudesheim into the Main/Main Canal, and then into the Danube and down to Vienna.

 

I was working off an Asus Tablet. I found internet connectivity through the boat's wireless router to be pretty good/fairly fast all along the Rhine. Once we got into the Main/Danube, things got a bit more dicey. The worst/slowest/non-existent connectivity was for a 36 hour period going through the Wachau Valley and on the Danube before we arrived in Vienna. This extended outage was throughout the ship and particularly troublesome as people were trying to reach friends/family prior to disembarking in Vienna.

 

The connection problems were casually dismissed by the crew as "reception problems" ostensibly because we were in a valley and had mountains nearby. The implication was that we (the passengers) had no real grounds for "complaint" since we were being provided Internet service "for free". I suspect however, that the "real problem" was caused by a router that needed to be reset, a lack or any real computer technical expertise among the crew, and a lack of timely coordination/connectivity between the ship and their ISP. The hotel manager referred us to the CD. The CD said he had "told the ship's Engineer", and that was pretty much the end of it. The ship's 2 computer terminals (provided for guests), along with the ship's own internal internet connectivity was "out", as well, for that nearly 2 day period towards the end of the cruise. The crew didn't really seem to be too concerned until they started having problems themselves running passengers' credit cards (for end of cruise payments for extra charges, gratuities, alcohol, etc.). The internet connection finally came back as the boat approached Vienna.

 

This will be something for the various river cruise ships to address as it becomes a more expected routine amenity among passengers (like hot showers and flush toilets), rather than being thought of as a "luxury". I have made the same comments in other venues regarding the general lack of complimentary and widespread internetservice in European - particularly hotels. When one is paying upwards of $200/night in a Europe hotel, "free internet" is not too much to ask. Free Internet has become commonplace in most $60/night hotels in the U.S. and even at your neighborhood McDonalds. But of course, most McDonalds in Europe STILL charge their customers for a package of ketchup, too! :)

[marco_polo11]

I cruised the Danube from Budapest to Prague on the Sound of Music (Gate 1) in April. I did not expect wifi but was pleasantly surprised that there was free wifi. The signal was strong for the most part, except when we were inside the many locks we had to pass. Still, it was such a bonus to be connected during this cruise and not have to search around for a hotspot at the ports.

[huntersyaya]

We were on the new Viking Odin from Budapest to Prague and we had good internet most of the time....lost it when we went through the locks but overall very good!