Harris Corp Internet

[CoronaCRZR]

AS Jeff is stating on his World Voyage blog, HAL has installed a new internet provider on the Amsterdam by Harris Corp.

Jeff has been ranting about the slow or non-existing internet since he boarded and is NOT a happy camper.

 

I understand that Carnival has signed a new deal with Harris to provide satellite service to some 100 ships.

I hope someone in charge is listening and fixing problems.

 

 

Ted

[whogo]

Jeff's blog has been so upbeat that you'd think Holland America would pay him. Not on his January 23rd post.

 

"It was a beautiful day aboard the ms Amsterdam….. Everything is great except the internet is a train wreck. It is adversely affecting the quality of my voyage and I am not one bit pleased by that. The problems are many and ever changing….. I have lost hope totally that they will ever get this internet up and working at a reasonable performance level…."

[Krazy Kruizers]

How awful!!

The internet definitely does not sound like it is new and improved.

[wander]

It is sad indeed. Not only do I miss Jeff's upbeat posts and beautiful photos, I am sad that such a loyal, frequent cruiser is so disappointed. The one bright spot in terms of following the World Cruise is that Bill and Maryanne" posts to CC are getting through, perhaps not as smoothly as they would like. Of course, they do not include photos and I do miss Jeff's photos. From a PR perspective it is really too bad that the World Cruise was so effected by the problems - not a good group of passengers to anger IMO.

[CoronaCRZR]

Jeff's ability to post pics and his blog from the ship appear to be a highlight of his time on the ship.

 

I hope these problems are only related to installation issues and will be fixed soon.

 

If not, HAL and possibly other ships under the Carnival brand will have serious problems.

 

We live in a time where taking away one's internet is no longer allowed.

[Hlitner]

..................

We live in a time where taking away one's internet is no longer allowed.

 

All too true but we sometimes wonder if having the internet on ships is a good thing. We still remembers the days before internet when communications on ships was limited to very expensive (as much as $12 a min) radio-telephone calls or cables. Those that wanted to keep in touch with home would rush ashore to the phone booths. On the other hand, we loved being out of touch with the world (not much we could when at sea anyway) and it made cruises a totally closed environment. We once took a friend, who ran a very large international corporation, on a Med cruise where he was pretty much forced to be out of touch with his job/family. His wife thought it was the only time, in many years, that she had seen him truly relax.

 

At one time Princess used to give many of its frequent cruisers free unlimited internet. This was before WiFi on ships, so the only way to connect was in the internet lounge. Princess quickly found that some cruisers would spend their entire day in the internet room and so finally decided to put some limitations on the number of free minutes. How sad to be on a beautiful cruise ship with so many options...and to spend all one's time on the internet. We now see people at very expensive restaurants that spend their entire meal on their smart phones both texting and talking....while totally ignoring their table mates. When this happens to us on a ship (and it is starting to occur) we will quickly demand a different table.

 

Hank

[RJ2002]

One can only hope that HAL and Harris learn from the problems they are experiencing on this initial installation, and get the problems fixed before they move on to the other ships.

[jtl513]

One can only hope that HAL and Harris learn from the problems they are experiencing on this initial installation, and get the problems fixed before they move on to the other ships.

It seems a little strange to me to choose the GWV as the test bed. Way to anger your biggest cash cows, HAL! :eek:

[whogo]

It seems a little strange to me to choose the GWV as the test bed. Way to anger your biggest cash cows, HAL! :eek:

I doubt that world cruisers are the biggest cash cows. The Amsterdam is not sailing full. Experienced cruisers are less likely to overspend in the casinos, photo shop, bars, shops, and casinos as first time cruisers do.

[luvteaching]

We have done a few cruises and only once did I buy the internet package (I won $500.00 the first night at the free bingo so decided to splurge). Other than that I connect in port (sometimes). I do put my cell phone on in port and text or call DS but other than that nothing is too pressing. I have to admit - I like being "disconnected" or "unplugged". I miss Cruise Critic and Sailaways but I gain time to read, walk that lovely promenade deck, and talk to a husband. In the long run I'm the winner!

 

Karen

 

PS: I, too, so enjoy Jeff's blog and all the other World Cruise ones.

[jtl513]

Experienced cruisers are less likely to overspend in the casinos, photo shop, bars, shops, and casinos as first time cruisers do.

That's true, but the fares are huge. An HH on next year's GWV for two people costs more than half of what we've spent on 15 cruises, and a BB for two exceeds our grand total to date. We've never had a suite, but never an inside either. Seven have been verandahs.

...

Edited January 24, 2014 by jtl513

[SilvertoGold]

Jeff's latest post has a ton of photos and an upbeat message of hope for the internet!