Voom Surf? or Surf+Stream?

[lovesthebeach2]

I think it has the speed to handle it, but they block the Ports the apps need to do VOIP. It is simple to do on a technical standpoint and thus more people will upgrade to the stream package. The ports will be open. My home router has it where I can click a button and block all VOIP ports to make sure my internet isn't being hogged by my sister.

Then will I be able to place wifi calls with my iPhone or do I need stream for that?

[SetSailPDX]

My wife and I are on the second day of our Anthem voyage. We purchased the Surf plan last week after realizing they changed their pricing model. Original reviews placed the internet speed at around 5Mbps which seemed like enough for us. I assumed the difference between surf + stream was that they blocked the ports for those services.

 

Turns out, the surf plan is throttled to be significantly slower than the surf + stream. Here is a speed test that I ran from my laptop in my stateroom.

 

 

I ran it in various places on the ship to make sure it wasn't just the router I was near. I consistently received below half a megabit download speed, barely enough for text based websites. Any attempts to send pictures or view any less basic websites takes minutes and often fails.

 

I just got back from talking with the Voom employee on board and he confirmed with me that the surf plan is throttled to less than .5Mbps. I told him I was having issues doing other things on the plan and he said that + stream implies that you can do more than just surf and that I could upgrade for $140.

 

Overall, I am frustrated by this new two tiered internet system. I hesitate to pay the extra $140 just for usable internet but also do not want to be paying for an internet package that does not work right.

 

I realize in the big scheme of things this is a minor annoyance and that I should just go enjoy my cruise. :-p

 

Hope this is helpful to someone!

[Clarea]

My wife and I are on the second day of our Anthem voyage. We purchased the Surf plan last week after realizing they changed their pricing model. Original reviews placed the internet speed at around 5Mbps which seemed like enough for us. I assumed the difference between surf + stream was that they blocked the ports for those services.

 

Turns out, the surf plan is throttled to be significantly slower than the surf + stream. Here is a speed test that I ran from my laptop in my stateroom.

 

 

I ran it in various places on the ship to make sure it wasn't just the router I was near. I consistently received below half a megabit download speed, barely enough for text based websites. Any attempts to send pictures or view any less basic websites takes minutes and often fails.

 

I just got back from talking with the Voom employee on board and he confirmed with me that the surf plan is throttled to less than .5Mbps. I told him I was having issues doing other things on the plan and he said that + stream implies that you can do more than just surf and that I could upgrade for $140.

 

Overall, I am frustrated by this new two tiered internet system. I hesitate to pay the extra $140 just for usable internet but also do not want to be paying for an internet package that does not work right.

 

I realize in the big scheme of things this is a minor annoyance and that I should just go enjoy my cruise. :-p

 

Hope this is helpful to someone!

Thanks for reporting back. I agree, this seems awfully slow and no better than the old non-O3b internet.

[KiwiGal117]

I'm in my Cruise Planner for my Harmony Cruise and I'm seeing three different options: 1) Unlimited High-Speed Internet (buy one, get one free; as well as options for family plans) 2) Voom Surf; and 3) Voom Surf and Stream???

 

I thought the latter two packages were replacing the first one, but right now all are on offer. Is this just a glitch? Pricing is C$253 for 1) and $141 for #3. Is the "old" Unlimited high speed going to be a lower speed than the new surf and stream? I realize I'm asking all of you to look into a crystal ball - sorry - just genuinely confused.

[Trixie21]

I'm in my Cruise Planner for my Harmony Cruise and I'm seeing three different options: 1) Unlimited High-Speed Internet (buy one, get one free; as well as options for family plans) 2) Voom Surf; and 3) Voom Surf and Stream???

 

 

 

I thought the latter two packages were replacing the first one, but right now all are on offer. Is this just a glitch? Pricing is C$253 for 1) and $141 for #3. Is the "old" Unlimited high speed going to be a lower speed than the new surf and stream? I realize I'm asking all of you to look into a crystal ball - sorry - just genuinely confused.

 

 

Seeing the same thing in my cruise planner for harmony and similarly confused. Judging by the report above on the surf only package I definitely won't be going with it.

 

 

 

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[Biker19]

I'm in my Cruise Planner for my Harmony Cruise and I'm seeing three different options: 1) Unlimited High-Speed Internet (buy one, get one free; as well as options for family plans) 2) Voom Surf; and 3) Voom Surf and Stream???

 

I thought the latter two packages were replacing the first one, but right now all are on offer. Is this just a glitch? Pricing is C$253 for 1) and $141 for #3. Is the "old" Unlimited high speed going to be a lower speed than the new surf and stream? I realize I'm asking all of you to look into a crystal ball - sorry - just genuinely confused.

The sucky RCI IT system strikes again. Just ignore option 1 - remnants of the old pricing scheme that the IT guys have yet to pull as an option. For most uses SURF should suffice (option 2) with one device which you can share if you don't need to be on more than one device at a time.

[random_australian]

I think it has the speed to handle it, but they block the Ports the apps need to do VOIP. It is simple to do on a technical standpoint and thus more people will upgrade to the stream package. The ports will be open. My home router has it where I can click a button and block all VOIP ports to make sure my internet isn't being hogged by my sister.

 

Does anyone know which ports are blocked? Do they selectively block VOIP ports or do they block most things other than HTTPS?

 

I'm going on the Voyager of the Seas at the end of the year and want to plan net access. I run servers on the Internet for fun and for money so it's fairly important to me to have good net access. I don't need much speed (the speeds that someone was complaining about for Voom Surf are more than adequate for me) and I'm used to 400ms ping times. I just need to have most ports working.

 

I can setup various proxies and VPNs ;) but it helps to have advance notice on what I might have to work around.

 

I'd prefer not to pay for the Surf+Stream package as I don't plan to do VOIP or watch video at sea.

 

Thanks in advance for any information you can offer.

[Biker19]

I don't remember seeing specific port blocking numbers. Ping times are more in the 700 ms range. Of course things could change by the end of the year.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Does anyone know which ports are blocked? Do they selectively block VOIP ports or do they block most things other than HTTPS?

 

I'm going on the Voyager of the Seas at the end of the year and want to plan net access. I run servers on the Internet for fun and for money so it's fairly important to me to have good net access. I don't need much speed (the speeds that someone was complaining about for Voom Surf are more than adequate for me) and I'm used to 400ms ping times. I just need to have most ports working.

 

I can setup various proxies and VPNs ;) but it helps to have advance notice on what I might have to work around.

 

I'd prefer not to pay for the Surf+Stream package as I don't plan to do VOIP or watch video at sea.

 

Thanks in advance for any information you can offer.

I've not had any luck with PPTP VPNs, even on Oasis, so I would assume they block those ports and protocols.

 

I would set up VPNs that work with 80 or 443 as you can depend on those being open.

[JMHDisney]

We just got off the Explorer and had the "surf" package. We only wanted to email and surf the web so we thought that would be sufficient. It was an absolute waste of money. I couldn't even receive/send email most of the time and web surfing was out of the question. We will get stream if we cruise again with RCL.

[Biker19]

We will get stream if we cruise again with RCL.

 

 

We need someone to report back who has SURF and then upgrades on the same sailing to STREAM to see how much, if any, the performance improved. With ping rates in the 700 ms range I'm not sure how much better the experience would be with STREAM.

 

 

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[JMHDisney]

We need someone to report back who has SURF and then upgrades on the same sailing to STREAM to see how much, if any, the performance improved. With ping rates in the 700 ms range I'm not sure how much better the experience would be with STREAM.

 

 

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There was someone on my sailing who posted on another thread that they had stream. They seemed to have a better experience, although still had issues with the connection. They reported 1.5 mbps down, 4 Mbps up, with a ping from 550-1500ms. They said even with technical issues, it worked for email and light browsing, which the "surf" option definitely did not. Of course, like I said, there is variability in different parts of the ship so it's not a true comparison, but definitely sounds like they had better luck than I did.

[sweetlove13]

Would I have to buy the internet package for my whole cruise or if I decide half way through that I want it could I just pay for the remaining days?

[Biker19]

The package is usually available at any time for the remainder of the cruise at the same on board price as day one - $13/day for SURF and $18/day for STREAM. We bought SURF for the last 3+ days for $19 ($39-$20 D discount).

 

 

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[tshort]

We are looking to purchase the VOOM Surf package for 2 devices under the 30% off sale for our June 5 cruise. The prices that we are getting online, however, are confusing. Here is what I am seeing - can anyone help?

 

Surf package for 1 device = $9.99/day. Times 7 days = $69.93. Total price showing up in my cart is $63.63. (Cool! A bit less than expected!)

 

Surf package for 2 devices = $16.99/day. Times 7 days = $118.93. Total price showing up in my cart is $152.53. Why is it basically charging me for two extra days??

 

Do I just need to call? Thanks.

 

Definitely seeing strange prices for my 7 day cruise, "30% off onboard prices":

 

1 Device "From* $9.99 USD Adult per day" -> $77 (+10% ??)

2 Devices "From* $16.99 USD Adult per day" -> $142.24 (+19.5% ??)

3 Devices "From* $23.99 USD Adult per day" -> $195.51 (+16.4% ??)

4 Devices + STREAM "From* $39.99 USD Adult per day" -> $331.80 (+18.5% ??)

 

Totally inconsistent online...

[normr]

I posted pics of all the prices in another thread

Edited May 22, 2016 by normr

[Candleonwater]

On Indy over new years, we had the internet package that was offered (don't remember seeing 2 tiers), and it was fine. Just off the Grandeur, and we had the Surf + Stream and it sucked! Definitely couldn't stream. It was so choppy! Definitely not even worth the additional $5 a day.

[Clarea]

On Indy over new years, we had the internet package that was offered (don't remember seeing 2 tiers), and it was fine. Just off the Grandeur, and we had the Surf + Stream and it sucked! Definitely couldn't stream. It was so choppy! Definitely not even worth the additional $5 a day.

That's the problem now, no one knows what they are getting when they pay for the stream option.

[normr]

I posted prices under the topic Royal Caribbean internet prices

 

 

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[coysha]

I'll be on the Adventure in September, and I may have to do some homework, would the Voom surf and stream package work best? If I didn't have to do homework, I wouldn't be purchasing an internet package at all.

[Clarea]

I'll be on the Adventure in September, and I may have to do some homework, would the Voom surf and stream package work best? If I didn't have to do homework, I wouldn't be purchasing an internet package at all.

The Surf & Stream package should work best, but it's not clear that there is much difference right now between that and the Surf only package. Maybe it will be improved before your cruise.

[Falz425]

Sorry if this has been already asked, but my mom is cruising with us and her mom (my nana) is sick. She needs to be in contact with her nursing home. If she pays for the Internet for one device can she turn off her phone and use it on her iPad later that day? Or are you only allowed to sign in on one device in total....OR is it just one at a time. Thanks for your help.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Sorry if this has been already asked, but my mom is cruising with us and her mom (my nana) is sick. She needs to be in contact with her nursing home. If she pays for the Internet for one device can she turn off her phone and use it on her iPad later that day? Or are you only allowed to sign in on one device in total....OR is it just one at a time. Thanks for your help.

Any number of difference devices, but only one logged in at a time.

[random_australian]

Any number of difference devices, but only one logged in at a time.

 

How easy is the login/logout process? For my use I plan to just login/logout with phone, tablet, and laptop on a single account. For someone's Nana I wonder if just buying her an extra account might be a better option if it saves doing IT support on holidays.

[Clarea]

How easy is the login/logout process? For my use I plan to just login/logout with phone, tablet, and laptop on a single account. For someone's Nana I wonder if just buying her an extra account might be a better option if it saves doing IT support on holidays.

Very simple, just click the logout button. If that's not available, just go to logoff.com on your web browser.