WiFi on Reflection

[minniann007]

Hi, can anyone tell me how good is the WiFi on Reflection ? My husband needs to stay in touch with his office while on vacation :rolleyes: and I like to chat with my chidren at least once a day ;)

[PaulMcn]

It is terrible !!! unfortunately! I was on RF sailing on June 23, R/T Rome, and have to say for the 11 nights it was a joke... I am Elite Plus, and could not even get online to make a log in to try and use my free mins even !! people were going crazy! I even saw a person cry in the I cafe as it was so impossible for them to connect and it was important for them! I run a business and must be connected, my only saving was my phone worked on pretty much the whole cruise, sailing by Greek islands we would have service! i also had sim cards from each country, and use them in an unlocked phone to tether data, so sat on balcony and was able to get a signal a lot of the time..... Celebrity really has to fix it... I was on RF from Miami last year and the service was pretty good, the internet manager told me that since the ship crossed over to Europe this year the internet has been bad terrible.. If you can get up early, 6am-7am there is a chance of getting on! or sometimes late at night, but sea days, forget it.... Definitely they need to do something......

[cruisead]

Not only is it slow, it's expensive. If you want to send emails to your kids, compose them off line and then logon to send them. If by "chatting" with your kids you mean Skype, don't count on being able to do that because there's not usually enough bandwidth.

[minniann007]

It is terrible !!! unfortunately! I was on RF sailing on June 23, R/T Rome, and have to say for the 11 nights it was a joke... I am Elite Plus, and could not even get online to make a log in to try and use my free mins even !! people were going crazy! I even saw a person cry in the I cafe as it was so impossible for them to connect and it was important for them! I run a business and must be connected, my only saving was my phone worked on pretty much the whole cruise, sailing by Greek islands we would have service! i also had sim cards from each country, and use them in an unlocked phone to tether data, so sat on balcony and was able to get a signal a lot of the time..... Celebrity really has to fix it... I was on RF from Miami last year and the service was pretty good, the internet manager told me that since the ship crossed over to Europe this year the internet has been bad terrible.. If you can get up early, 6am-7am there is a chance of getting on! or sometimes late at night, but sea days, forget it.... Definitely they need to do something......

Thank you for your response. That!s exactly what I was afraid of ... We usually cruise with Royal and it's basically the same :mad: We are looking at an Eastern caribbean cruise from Miami so maybe it will be a bit better than in Europe ...

[tfrcal]

They are still bouncing the signal off of a satellite, so Eastern Caribbean or Europe, does not matter. It will still be painfully slow. Best bet is to find wifi in one of the ports.

[Lsimon]

The slow inconsistent and unreliable internet service on ships has been pretty much the same on all of our cruises from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean in Europe.

 

On our last couple cruises I took our iPad and had an international roaming package from ATT for it's cellular data service. This would work just fine when the ship was in port so I got online before or after our excursions. It does not cover usage while the ship is at sea.

 

The problem with the ship's wifi service is twofold: First you're on a moving ship using a satellite connection. Second, that satellite connection is shared by all the passengers on board. Because of this the internet connection is slowest at times when other passengers tend to be using it as well. Wifi service on board is fastest very early in the morning or very late at night when few other passengers are online.

[MoyCoy]

I was wondering if anyone knew how WiFI was on the Solstice for the Hawaiian cruise this past April. Was it also very slow?

 

Should one buy a small package at first just to check connectivity and than buy a larger one later if connectivity is not too slow? I could indeed see spending tons of minutes due to slow internet.

[hcat]

Hope we'll be able to get our airline boarding passes printed out...

 

we only send/read a few e mails to check on pets...painfully slow on most ships

glad most ports have free wi fi....best bet!

[Lsimon]

I was wondering if anyone knew how WiFI was on the Solstice for the Hawaiian cruise this past April. Was it also very slow?

 

Should one buy a small package at first just to check connectivity and than buy a larger one later if connectivity is not too slow? I could indeed see spending tons of minutes due to slow internet.

 

Rather than buying a package to check it out why wouldn't you just pay by the minute for a short "check out" session first?

 

Hope we'll be able to get our airline boarding passes printed out...

 

we only send/read a few e mails to check on pets...painfully slow on most ships

glad most ports have free wi fi....best bet!

See my post above where I point out that the internet speed and service is at its worst when the highest number of passengers are trying to get online. This is because all passengers share the same satellite internet connection. Unfortunately, the last day when a good percentage of the passengers are trying to check in for their flights and print boarding passes is one of the worst days to get online. I'd avoid it if I could. Personally, we don't bother since we can reserve our seats in advance and just pick up a boarding pass at the airport when we get there.

[MoyCoy]

Rather than buying a package to check it out why wouldn't you just pay by the minute for a short "check out" session first?

 

 

See my post above where I point out that the internet speed and service is at its worst when the highest number of passengers are trying to get online. This is because all passengers share the same satellite internet connection. Unfortunately, the last day when a good percentage of the passengers are trying to check in for their flights and print boarding passes is one of the worst days to get online. I'd avoid it if I could. Personally, we don't bother since we can reserve our seats in advance and just pick up a boarding pass at the airport when we get there.

 

Good Point!

[lv2cruz80]

I have never had an internet package on Celebrity before. Wondering if you need to be in the internet café in order to use the wifi with an ipad. Will I be connected wirelessly in my stateroom?

[Lsimon]

The S class ships have internet throughout. Not sure about the M class as it's been years since I sailed them, but the last time I did (2011) the Connie did not have internet in staterooms unless they happened to be near a hot spot. Don't know if they've upgraded them. But even back then they had wifi in almost all public areas of the ship like lounges, elevator lobby, and the buffet so you didn't have to go the internet café to use it.

 

With all that said, even on the S class which does have wifi, you might find a stateroom here and there where reception is weak and will improve if you go to a more common area of the ship.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Lsimon

[lv2cruz80]

Thanks so much - we'll be on the Solstice on Friday!

[BILLP1]

I wait until the ship arrives home on the last morning and download my boarding passes to my smartphone. . Jet Blue and American the airlines that I use allow you to scan your phone at check in. Paper free boarding passes. No need to print on the ship.

[upwarduk]

Hope we'll be able to get our airline boarding passes printed out...

 

we only send/read a few e mails to check on pets...painfully slow on most ships

glad most ports have free wi fi....best bet!

 

Last time we sailed into Miami, I checked in, but choose the option to pick up our boarding pass at the airport. A.A had printing stations at the airport.

The previous time when we flew BA, we just picked our boarding pass up at the desk.

I was pleased, as I had almost run out of minutes and the connection was very slow (Eclipse)

Edited August 25, 2014 by upwarduk