Crown Internet/Wifi

[BigGuy25]

My guess is that this has been asked and answered ... but the "search" engine doesn't seem to be working this morning. We recently returned from a RCCL trip on the Splendor and I was surprised at the speed of the internet connection in the stateroom. Clearly not like at home, but much better that I've experienced on ships in the past. I could actually upload 2 or 3 pics to FB without being online an unreasonable amount of time. We're Platinum on Princess but haven't sailed on a Princess ship in about 4 years. We're sailing the Crown out of Seattle in September and I'm wondering if Princess has upgraded their internet speeds over the past several years.

[paul929207]

Not yet.

[Colo Cruiser]

No. :(

[Thrak]

When we sailed on Crown in February they were busy stringing cable in the ceilings along the passageways. It looked like network cable and I asked a crew member what was up. He said they were upgrading their Internet access. Perhaps they are running wired connections to WiFi access points. One can hope that things will be better than I have heard they have been in the past.

 

So far, we've never even tried to use the Internet access on a cruise. This September we will be on our first cruise as Platinum cruisers and will each have 250 minutes free. We still won't use the Internet much (we are on VACATION!) but will hope that, when we do use it, the speed won't make me pull the rest of my hair out.

[Pam in CA]

Perhaps someone who has recently been on the Crown could correct me but I thought the Crown had been upgraded with Princess@Sea and Messenger.

[arizonaperson]

Perhaps someone who has recently been on the Crown could correct me but I thought the Crown had been upgraded with Princess@Sea and Messenger.

 

I was on The Crown early December 2014 and The Crown had in The Patter all about Princess@Sea. It says learn all about Crown Princess,view events and activities, and check out the latest charges on your stateroom account. Access crown.princess.com on your laptop,iPad, or any mobile device while onboard.(free of charge)

I used my laptop in the stateroom to access e-mail and yes still very slow, I also used the computer in the internet cafe and it was slow,but not as slow as in the cabin.

I did not try the Princess@Sea.

Julie

Edited April 8, 2015 by arizonaperson

[Thrak]

Perhaps someone who has recently been on the Crown could correct me but I thought the Crown had been upgraded with Princess@Sea and Messenger.

 

Yes. I had access to the Patter, my folio, etc. in February. However, I don't know if the actual speed of Internet access was improved as we didn't use the Internet.

[KruzPrincess]

I'm on the Crown now. App is available, but I didn't look into using it. Internet is the same as other ships in my experience.

[RetiredNTraveling]

We're sailing the Crown out of Seattle in September and I'm wondering if Princess has upgraded their internet speeds over the past several years.

 

 

When we sailed on Crown in February they were busy stringing cable in the ceilings along the passageways. It looked like network cable and I asked a crew member what was up. He said they were upgrading their Internet access. Perhaps they are running wired connections to WiFi access points. One can hope that things will be better than I have heard they have been in the past.

 

Maybe the answer to both of these posts is: "The Crown Princess goes in for a "12 Day Tuneup & Refreshening" on May 3, 2015 thru May 15, 2015! ;)

We can hope! :eek: :D

[BigGuy25]

Thanks everyone, for all of your responses! Since we'll be in Alaska, hopefully while we're in port my Verizon connection for the iPad will work well!

[Cruise Raider]

I had quite a different experience with Princess. We had sailed on the Celebrity Solstice up in Alaska in Sept and the internet connections were painful. We took the Island Princess from Vancouver to SF to get back home. The internet connection was speedy....I was impressed...worlds better than on Celebrity (and that being one of my favorite lines).

 

I thought it may have been an oddity on the Island and sailed on the Crown in December down to Mexico and equally pleased. No problems whatsoever!

 

I do just answer e-mails and don't download a bunch of pictures.... but not been disappointed with Princess recently.

[wrongwaywatson]

I was on the Crown 3/28-4/4 (wish I was back on her!) and the internet was pretty slow at primetime (evenings, sea days in the afternoon). However, I am an early riser and it was perfectly fine at 4:30 am - 6:00 am.;)

 

I have a business that I run online and I needed to attend to some business while away, and i went to the IC every morning (sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 am) when I would naturally wake up - no alarm I was on vacation! I was able to check in, send messages I needed to send, and check in with my elderly father via Facebook. It was fine. We had 150 minutes and I was able to get all of my business done in that amount of time. I signed on, downloaded email messages and then signed off. I then typed responses offline, signed back on and sent the messages.

 

We had Princess@Sea, but no Messenger.

[caribill]

I was on the Crown 3/28-4/4 (wish I was back on her!) and the internet was pretty slow at primetime (evenings, sea days in the afternoon). However, I am an early riser and it was perfectly fine at 4:30 am - 6:00 am.;)

 

 

That's basically my experience on other Princess ships.

 

Very slow in early evening.

 

As fast as at home at 2:30 AM.

 

It used to be before WIFI that those wanting Internet access were limited to the fewer than 20 computers in the Internet Cafe plus what the crew had in their Internet area.

 

Now with WIFI, it is possible for every passenger and crew member to have at least one WIFI device and many will try to use it at the same time.

[Matcodixon]

The biggest problem is not with the on board equipment on the ship, it is with the available satellites for internet service. We forget that there is excellent service throughout almost all of the US due to Cable and 4g service via cell towers. There are no cell towers in the ocean and no cable long enough to connect to a ship at sea. Now Royal Caribbean has invested in a new satellite over the Caribbean to provide better and quicker internet service for their ships when they are in that area. Up until then, most of the available satellite capacity over the oceans was set up for essential ship communication and was never designed to handle thousands of users at one time.. Over the next years this may change but it will be a slow change as buying and launching new satellites is quite expensive.

[pablo222]

Now Royal Caribbean has invested in a new satellite over the Caribbean to provide better and quicker internet service for their ships when they are in that area.

 

Royal Caribbean's super-fast service is on a ship in china.

[Matcodixon]

Royal Caribbean's super-fast service is on a ship in china.

 

Thanks for the update. I figured that ship had sailed by now as they were all excited about doing this back in 2012.

[pablo222]

Thanks for the update. I figured that ship had sailed by now as they were all excited about doing this back in 2012.

 

They also have super-high-end retail for the chinese guests.

 

I think royal carribbean is really expecting to extract a lot of

money from these folks, once they are onboard.