floridababa Posted January 3, 2016 #1 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Just got off 12 days on Equinox. The internet was nightmare. Is this common for the Equinox or were they just having a problem during this sailing? We are thinking on going again next holiday season but not if the internet is a mess. We have been on 54 cruises and these days most ships have good internet. Please let me know:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECCruise Posted January 3, 2016 #2 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Sell or give away unlimited internet in a device-mad world, and this is what you get with an old satellite based system. And yes, all Celebrity ships are the same and will be until a decent service (AKA RCCL Voom) is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare chemmo Posted January 3, 2016 #3 Share Posted January 3, 2016 We had the best internet ever on the Equinox a few months ago in the Caribbean. Was the Internet poor all over the ship, did you try a variety of locations? Could it be that your cabin was in a bad area? We were mid ship high deck and had no problems at all. Slower service on Summit and Solstice but still usable with patience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwb Posted January 3, 2016 #4 Share Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) Chemmo was probably on the cruise where the new O3B system (called Vroom on RCL) was tested. On the Equinox in October if I recall correctly. According to press releases, it will be rolled out to RCL and Celebrity ships as the current provider contracts expire, said to be early to Spring 2016. The current 1mb style service will be replaced via O3B's satellite system to give fiber style speeds with lower-orbit satellites (thus lower latency) and hugely wider bandwidths. We also got off the Equinox today and the "old" system was significantly worse than usual due, I think, to the the unlimited internet promotion which shared the minuscule bandwidth among a couple thousand people. . Edited January 3, 2016 by rwb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colliercruiser Posted January 3, 2016 #5 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Chemmo was probably on the cruise where the new O3B system (called Vroom on RCL) was tested. On the Equinox in October if I recall correctly. According to press releases, it will be rolled out to RCL and Celebrity ships as the current provider contracts expire, said to be early to Spring 2016. The current 1mb style service will be replaced via O3B's satellite system to give fiber style speeds with lower-orbit satellites (thus lower latency) and hugely wider bandwidths. We also got off the Equinox today and the "old" system was significantly worse than usual due, I think, to the the unlimited internet promotion which shared the minuscule bandwidth among a couple thousand people. . We experienced the trial of the new system on Equinox's Oct 15 Med cruise, which was the last cruise in the trial period. The Internet speed was excellent. The staff mentioned that this new system was scheduled to be back on Equinox in early 2016, but don't know if that will be in time for our March 14 Equinox cruise. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallie5446 Posted January 3, 2016 #6 Share Posted January 3, 2016 We were on the Equinox over Thanksgiving and sat on the balcony using an iPad with no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy Posted January 3, 2016 #7 Share Posted January 3, 2016 We experienced the trial of the new system on Equinox's Oct 15 Med cruise, which was the last cruise in the trial period. The Internet speed was excellent. The staff mentioned that this new system was scheduled to be back on Equinox in early 2016, but don't know if that will be in time for our March 14 Equinox cruise. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk I hope the new system is up and running. I'm retired from full-time work, but I teach an on-line graduate course. It would be nice to not get two weeks behind because of the internet speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
az_tchr Posted January 3, 2016 #8 Share Posted January 3, 2016 So to state this clearly - Last year the Equinox had a trail of the new system that gave fast internet service. It was set up to provide only partial full coverage. Celebrity announced after that trial they would be rolling out a permanently installed version later. This year we are back to the old (and very slow system) made even slow by bandwidth chopped up with many on free internet. If Celebrity sees this - I also emailed them directly - a press release on the roll out daies for the newer system would be helpful to all. Are we looking at something that can be done during a couple of turnaround days in the US or will it require a drydock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gimletgal Posted January 3, 2016 #9 Share Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) We were on the Equinox over Thanksgiving and sat on the balcony using an iPad with no issues. Wow, EW! All I can say is you were lucky!! I left over 100 minutes of free internet "on the table" as I finally just gave up on it. It was godawful and I didn't need the frustration. :D Edited January 3, 2016 by gimletgal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
north29 Posted January 3, 2016 #10 Share Posted January 3, 2016 That cruise as well and internet was sloooooooow. But if you got on early in the mooring Gmail only took a minute or two to load and FB for get about it LOL. Having joked a little, it did what I needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1437 Posted January 3, 2016 #11 Share Posted January 3, 2016 I was on the equinox on 12/11. If I used the internet café it was brutally slow, but I was shocked how fast it was in my cabin (aft) using my kindle. Myrna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelmac Posted January 4, 2016 #12 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Just got off 12 days on Equinox. The internet was nightmare.Is this common for the Equinox or were they just having a problem during this sailing? We are thinking on going again next holiday season but not if the internet is a mess. We have been on 54 cruises and these days most ships have good internet. Please let me know:confused: I too was on this cruise and I agree it was the slowest we've experienced (56 cruises). Our cruise before this one was on the Anthem of the Seas and it was very close to our home cable service. So good, in fact, we could view a Netflix movie with no problems.(iPad) Other than that, it was an excellent cruise!!!! Kel:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallie5446 Posted January 4, 2016 #13 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Wow, EW! All I can say is you were lucky!! I left over 100 minutes of free internet "on the table" as I finally just gave up on it. It was godawful and I didn't need the frustration. :D Happy New Year Beth! Watching the last Cowgirl game of the year made me miss sitting in the GastroBar with you and the others even more today!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabGuy64 Posted January 4, 2016 #14 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Equinox is really taking hits recently....several threads about problems on board Just got off 12 days on Equinox. The internet was nightmare.Is this common for the Equinox or were they just having a problem during this sailing? We are thinking on going again next holiday season but not if the internet is a mess. We have been on 54 cruises and these days most ships have good internet. Please let me know:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallie5446 Posted January 4, 2016 #15 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Equinox is really taking hits recently....several threads about problems on board We were on Equinox over Thanksgiving and the wifester still is telling everyone it was our best cruise in 25 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jan-n-john Posted January 4, 2016 #16 Share Posted January 4, 2016 We were also on the Dec 22 cruise -- the internet was pretty bad, as reported, although we were able to make voice calls through WhatsApp much of the time, which came in handy when one of our dogs had a health situation develop and we needed to consult extensively with the vet (he's mostly OK now). The new internet will be a vast improvement. Can't come too soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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