BEWARE!!! Grand princess internet

[sergeant655]

Tne internet on grand princess is not working properly and there seems to be no rush to fix it. You can only access it from one of thier computers in the intermet cafe on deck 5.. Laptops ipads and other tablets will not work. Vetter to goin to town when at a port. In Hawaii. hilo hatties along with the normal outlets have wifi.. I am writing this from Nawiliwili where Papalani Gelatoin anchor cove has free wifi with a min 3 dollar purchase.and is the closest to the dock. the person there told me the every time the grand princess is in, passengers would tell her that the wifi was not working. They said that replacement parts would arrive in honolulu yesterday.

[Colo Cruiser]

Tne internet on grand princess is not working properly and there seems to be no rush to fix it. You can only access it from one of thier computers in the intermet cafe on deck 5.. Laptops ipads and other tablets will not work. Vetter to goin to town when at a port. In Hawaii. hilo hatties along with the normal outlets have wifi.. I am writing this from Nawiliwili where Papalani Gelatoin anchor cove has free wifi with a min 3 dollar purchase.and is the closest to the dock. the person there told me the every time the grand princess is in, passengers would tell her that the wifi was not working. They said that replacement parts would arrive in honolulu yesterday.

 

 

I never count on any Princess ships wifi. They are all pretty bad.

After all I am on vacation.

[cpcanuck]

I never count on any Princess ships wifi. They are all pretty bad.

After all I am on vacation.

 

Exactly! I have yet to hear of any kind of "good" wifi on any ship on any cruise line. When you are out in the middle of the ocean where exactly are you going to get fast and consistent internet? I'm intentionally leaving most of my technology at home - good practice to take a break from the internet. I can always check emails in port if I feel so inclined.

[FawnRiver]

The wifi worked (as well as could be expected) when we were onboard in January.

[elliair]

It's a good thing between me and DH that we had 500 free minutes on our Hawaiian cruise. Otherwise, IMHO it's a waste of money and time to sit in front of a computer on a cruise ship that is slower than molasses in winter. Save your money unless you're getting minutes for free and have the time to burn.

Edited March 30, 2015 by elliair

[Colo Cruiser]

It's a good thing between me and DH that we had 500 free minutes on our Hawaiian cruise. Otherwise, IMHO it's a waste of money and time to sit in front of a computer on a cruise ship that is slower than molasses in winter. Save your money unless you're getting minutes for free and have the time to burn.

 

The last 3 cruises I have given up after using 100 minutes to get nowhere.

Left the rest of the minutes unused. :(

[caribill]

Exactly! I have yet to hear of any kind of "good" wifi on any ship on any cruise line.

 

Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has the fastest cruise ship internet. They claim its available bandwidth is higher than the bandwidth for all other cruise ships in the world combined.

 

But it is not cheap. Passengers can pay up to $400 to connect two devices for seven days. (Unlike Princess, for QOTS you set up an account for a single device. Cannot use (at different times of course) two devices on a single account.

 

Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) is introducing their version of a faster Internet. Schedule for implementation across the brands is not published and each brand will set its own rates. Carnival Corp says "Our pilot program achieved a 40% lift in guest satisfaction as well as a 30% increase in revenue."

Edited March 30, 2015 by caribill

[ar1950]

Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has the fastest cruise ship internet. They claim its available bandwidth is higher than the bandwidth for all other cruise ships in the world combined.

 

But it is not cheap. Passengers can pay up to $400 to connect two devices for seven days. (Unlike Princess, for QOTS you set up an account for a single device. Cannot use (at different times of course) two devices on a single account.

 

Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) is introducing their version of a faster Internet. Schedule for implementation across the brands is not published and each brand will set its own rates. Carnival Corp says "Our pilot program achieved a 40% lift in guest satisfaction as well as a 30% increase in revenue."

 

My understanding is that the RCCL's fast Internet program is also implemented on the Oasis and the Allure. They use a satellite feed service. The Carnival solution is a flaky (to me anyway) system that uses cell towers along the coastline when the ships are near a land area. Intermittent at best it would seem. Not a lot of improvement for say a Transatlantic or a Hawaii trip.:cool:

[Cruisin' Chick]

We probably used the same Internet Cafe in Nawiliwili on one of our cruises.

[Pam in CA]

The Grand Princess Internet system is being upgraded shortly. Once upgraded, it should be fast and reliable.

[Colo Cruiser]

Key words "should be".

[ar1950]

Key words "should be".

 

You have that right. lol

The location of the ship and the time of day always seems to have a lot to do with the speed. We had overall a terrible connection on our last Hawaii cruise (Star) and on our last two Caribbean cruises (Ruby and Regal). The best connection was on our CA coastal (Golden) while in port in Ensenada. Fast enough and reliable enough to get through a whole gotowebinar software presentation that I needed for work. Used my VPN software and it was perfect. As the French would say: "Bon chance!" with the Princess Internet connection.:cool:

[Piperpals]

Tne internet on grand princess is not working properly and there seems to be no rush to fix it. You can only access it from one of thier computers in the intermet cafe on deck 5.. Laptops ipads and other tablets will not work. Vetter to goin to town when at a port. In Hawaii. hilo hatties along with the normal outlets have wifi.. I am writing this from Nawiliwili where Papalani Gelatoin anchor cove has free wifi with a min 3 dollar purchase.and is the closest to the dock. the person there told me the every time the grand princess is in, passengers would tell her that the wifi was not working. They said that replacement parts would arrive in honolulu yesterday.

 

Two things don't care about on Hawaiian cruise; internet and shopping.

[Interlochencruiselover]

Tne internet on grand princess is not working properly and there seems to be no rush to fix it. You can only access it from one of thier computers in the intermet cafe on deck 5.. Laptops ipads and other tablets will not work. Vetter to goin to town when at a port. In Hawaii. hilo hatties along with the normal outlets have wifi.. I am writing this from Nawiliwili where Papalani Gelatoin anchor cove has free wifi with a min 3 dollar purchase.and is the closest to the dock. the person there told me the every time the grand princess is in, passengers would tell her that the wifi was not working. They said that replacement parts would arrive in honolulu yesterday.

 

I had no problem connecting on the Grand with my iPad until the last day. I always connect late at night, say after 12, after dancing at the one5. The Internet cafe manager was working very hard to sort out and fix the problem. While disembarking in Los Angeles I noticed 3 large servers being loaded on board. I am a computer instructor and I'm sure you know how long it can take to fix a computer problem! But, I also agree that connection at sea can be iffy. Bon voyage, all!