If you absolutely need internet on the ships

[Hammergirl]

We have a cruise booked with NCL for May and I keep reading about internet on cruise ships being bad and/or really slow. It is imperative that we have internet, and good internet, on our cruise. If there really is no such thing, then I think I will have to cancel.

 

I know that a lot of people will tell me to unplug and that I am on vacation....but unfortunately some people don't have that luxury.

 

So am I out of luck here?

[Essiesmom]

You should be asking this on the NCL board as it can vary by cruise line, ship, and itinerary. A little reading on the NCL board might answer your questions. EM

[EatonDoolittle]

You would be fine on HAL Princess, Celebrity or RCCL.

I, too, used to have to stay plugged in when I was working and cruising.

 

Never sailed NCL, tho, so you might be better served to post your question over on the NCL main board for a more brand specific question like this one.

[Hammergirl]

Will do - thanks. The reason I posted here was maybe there is another cruise line we would be OK on, like PP stated. I might switch to another line of there is good reliable service on it.

 

But I did go post this on the NCL board as well.

 

Thanks again!

[cruzeluver]

Service will be reliable, just not especially fast (think dial-up). Nature of the beast.

Edited September 8, 2015 by cruzeluver
spelling

[Keith1010]

It won't be as fast as it is at home.

 

As long as you don't have major downloads you should be fine though.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wish we knew your itinerary.

There are certain areas of the world where all cruise lines will have bad or no internet at all.

[Hammergirl]

Eastern Caribbean for the cruise.

[LHT28]

It is not like at home & it will cost you $$ unless they have an deal

 

As others have said think dial up & no Skype usually

 

You could always find free internet ashore that may be faster

[spookwife]

We have a cruise booked with NCL for May and I keep reading about internet on cruise ships being bad and/or really slow. It is imperative that we have internet, and good internet, on our cruise. If there really is no such thing, then I think I will have to cancel.

 

I know that a lot of people will tell me to unplug and that I am on vacation....but unfortunately some people don't have that luxury.

 

So am I out of luck here?

 

 

if you need reliable, hi speed consistent internet available to you at all times, then no cruising is NOT a viable option.

 

if you only need to get online once or twice a day to download email, then you might be okay as long as you are flexible as to when this happens.

 

if you need video streaming, stay home.

[Hlitner]

If it is "imperative" that you have good reliable internet then we suggest cancelling your cruise. One cruise line, RCI, has been experimenting with high speed internet on ships, but not sure how well it works. So the reality is that internet will be very slow (we are talking snails pace where it could take a minute to just get a page to load) or it might work well which means you are at about the pace of old 9600 baud dial ups. And, as others have said, it really varies depending on your location in the world when compared to the satellite that is used for service.

 

Hank

[sail7seas]

We have a cruise booked with NCL for May and I keep reading about internet on cruise ships being bad and/or really slow. It is imperative that we have internet, and good internet, on our cruise. If there really is no such thing, then I think I will have to cancel.

 

I know that a lot of people will tell me to unplug and that I am on vacation....but unfortunately some people don't have that luxury.

 

So am I out of luck here?

 

My DH had to remain in contact with his office when we traveled and for years, I was responsible for the care of a senior and thus had to be able to communicate to home.

 

We always bought internet packages and sometimes it was slow but that often depended upon time of day/night we connected. If I connected late at night before going to sleep, I usually got faster WiFi. This was always HAL as we sailed them a huge amount.

 

Last month, I sailed NCL for the first time. I found their WiFi faster than I had on HAL BUT I was using a new device. I had used an Acer netbook which had become aged and recently got a Surface Pro. The device itself may have made the difference but while the connection was not like my speed at home it was satisfactory for my use.

 

ALSO HAL has recently been updating their WiFi and I have read it has improved noticeably on ships with the conversation.

 

Long answer short, you will sometimes not be able to connect at all at the moment you wish as ships sometimes lose the satellite connection. If you connect at 'busy times' , it can be slow.

 

[sail7seas]

Until recently, we could not Skype or do face time on ships but that might be changing on some cruise lines.

 

Keep in mind, every port you go to will have places you can get free or low cost WiFi. Ask crew. They always know the best places and they are always near where the ship docks. Your dining steward, cabin steward, bartenders etc will be happy to tell you where to find it. You also may find WiFi in cruise terminals depending on your ports.

 

This is a curiosity question and if you don't care to answer, I'll certainly understand.

I see you've been a 'member' here at CC since 2003. Have you cruised before? Have you no experience with cruise ship Internet?

Edited September 8, 2015 by sail7seas

[calliopecruiser]

You should not have problems connecting, but it might be slow and expensive. But, if you need it, you need it - it IS possible.

[reallyitsmema]

Will do - thanks. The reason I posted here was maybe there is another cruise line we would be OK on, like PP stated. I might switch to another line of there is good reliable service on it.

 

But I did go post this on the NCL board as well.

 

Thanks again!

 

RCI Quantum Class ships and Oasis class ships have Voom/O3B Satellite internet that is currently $15 per day though I saw one post saying it us up to $20 per day. Some have found cheaper deals on board ship. Speed has been reported to be very fast.

[Hammergirl]

Until recently, we could not Skype or do face time on ships but that might be changing on some cruise lines.

 

Keep in mind, every port you go to will have places you can get free or low cost WiFi. Ask crew. They always know the best places and they are always near where the ship docks. Your dining steward, cabin steward, bartenders etc will be happy to tell you where to find it. You also may find WiFi in cruise terminals depending on your ports.

 

This is a curiosity question and if you don't care to answer, I'll certainly understand.

I see you've been a 'member' here at CC since 2003. Have you cruised before? Have you no experience with cruise ship Internet?

 

I have cruised, once. It was back in 2003 and a lot has changed since then. :) I believe we used the internet once or twice but there was a room that had computers and that is how you had to access it. And that was before kids too so I did not have anyone to check up on at home then either.

 

Our jobs and lives have now changed and unfortunately internet us a must for us.

[SuiteTraveler]

If you are going to be on the Getaway, the internet is overall pretty good. There may be times, however, when it is down or when it is slow. It may be up in the internet cafe, or it may be completely out. If you are sending large files, put it on a memory stick and take it to the internet cafe and access your email there before you send it as the WIFI is not good enough to handle large files - I'm talking about huge documents with lots of graphics here.

 

If you are going on a Jewel class ship, the internet is slower. Again, getting on a computer in the internet cafe will usually help you send files, but overall, it's not so good and you really can't rely on it. However, most ports do have internet service, so if you can wait log enough to get into port, then internet will work there and usually very well. There are also various places in various ports that have internet service such as Starbucks and the lobbies of hotels and other internet cafes. The only caveat, is I would not send any private information such as credit card numbers, access bank accounts or any "classified" corporate information in these places as there are plenty of criminals around in the Caribbean who will read and record your data electronically if possible.

 

If 24x7 internet access is absolutely imperative, I think you would be far better off taking a land based vacation because the ship's internet is only good right now, not ideal and that's on any ship on any line in the world. I've been on Princess, HAL, RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, Uniworld and Carnival. Of these lines, the internet on the newest ships (from the last 5 years or so) is best, but there really isn't one line that is better than the others.

[sail7seas]

I have cruised, once. It was back in 2003 and a lot has changed since then. :) I believe we used the internet once or twice but there was a room that had computers and that is how you had to access it. And that was before kids too so I did not have anyone to check up on at home then either.

 

Our jobs and lives have now changed and unfortunately internet us a must for us.

 

Thanks for answering. I wondered about the 12 years you 'might' have been cruising. :) Happy you have the chance to cruise once again. Hope it works out well for you.

 

[Viv0828]

I find internet on most ships to be quite s l o w. It is slower at peak times and faster at slack times. Speed was fastest at 4am when I got up to use the bathroom -Lol!

 

You can supplement the slow internet on the ship with wifi at your port stops.

[nolatravelgirl]

I just got of the NCL Spirit and found the wifi to be okay, but not awesome. Better than dialup but definitely some lag time. You say you need wifi, but what will you really be trying to do? The hardest times to get "fast" internet is when everyone is back in their room just before docking and in the early evening when everyone is coming back from port and getting ready for dinner

 

I had the unlimited access package and did fine downloading email, researching ports on the web, checking Facebook and keeping up to date on current events. Trying to watch things such as Youtube or short videos was never very good. I didn't try VPN or Citrix which likely would have been pretty bad.

[Kartgv]

As someone else mentioned, connectivity also depends on where you're cruising. We did a 29 day LA>Hawaii>So.Pacific>LA loop last year and availability was usually slow and sporadic, but OK for basic email checking. Close to the islands, it was OK, but in the middle of the Pacific on our return voyage to LA, we had 4 whole days with no access at all.

[kelmac]

If it is "imperative" that you have good reliable internet then we suggest cancelling your cruise. One cruise line, RCI, has been experimenting with high speed internet on ships, but not sure how well it works. So the reality is that internet will be very slow (we are talking snails pace where it could take a minute to just get a page to load) or it might work well which means you are at about the pace of old 9600 baud dial ups. And, as others have said, it really varies depending on your location in the world when compared to the satellite that is used for service.

 

Hank

 

RCI Quantum Class ships and Oasis class ships have Voom/O3B Satellite internet that is currently $15 per day though I saw one post saying it us up to $20 per day. Some have found cheaper deals on board ship. Speed has been reported to be very fast.

 

My wife and I cruised on the Anthem of the Seas this past June. The internet was 100 times faster than any other cruise ship. We paid $175 for unlimited access for all 14 days. The service was so good, we were able to watch "NetFlex" movies at sea. Think high-speed service as good as our cable company gives us. Truly amazing.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[calliopecruiser]

As someone else mentioned, connectivity also depends on where you're cruising. We did a 29 day LA>Hawaii>So.Pacific>LA loop last year and availability was usually slow and sporadic, but OK for basic email checking. Close to the islands, it was OK, but in the middle of the Pacific on our return voyage to LA, we had 4 whole days with no access at all.

 

It obviously also depends on the ship, because on my transpacific last year (LA to NZ), I had good internet access every day. I don't know if there were intermittent down spots, but when I went to check and send my emails daily, I always had service.

[SadieN]

If you are going to be on the Getaway, the internet is overall pretty good. There may be times, however, when it is down or when it is slow. It may be up in the internet cafe, or it may be completely out. If you are sending large files, put it on a memory stick and take it to the internet cafe and access your email there before you send it as the WIFI is not good enough to handle large files - I'm talking about huge documents with lots of graphics here.

 

...........

 

 

........

 

 

Confirm that the ship's computers have USB and other media ports. Many public computers do not allow access.

[slidergirl]

I'm putting this out to see if anyone has tried this.

 

If someone has the cellular service that is available for purchase through some providers, has anyone tried using the cellphone as a hotspot for your laptop/tablet?

 

Just curious to see if this would be a feasible option for someone who needs faster accessibility than the slower Internet.