Epic - wifi? Can I facetime my kids?

[amy86]

I've been reading posts about how the wifi on Epic is not great. Can someone give me more details as to what "not great" really means? Can I check my e-mail on my iphone periodically? Can I use my ipad to facetime with my kids from my cabin?

 

We have the internet package with 250 minutes. We are in an aft haven suite.

 

Thanks in advance!

[kcwingwalker]

I've been reading posts about how the wifi on Epic is not great. Can someone give me more details as to what "not great" really means? Can I check my e-mail on my iphone periodically? Can I use my ipad to facetime with my kids from my cabin?

 

We have the internet package with 250 minutes. We are in an aft haven suite.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Wifi is slow on ships and much depends on how strong the satellite signal is. There might be times when there is no signal, but mostly you'll be able to do what you need to. You will be able to check your email and do facetime from your cabin.

 

When we were on the Jewel my daughter was skyping with her husband in South Korea and no problems. She also spent time daily with some online courses she was taking and took one exam. All went smoothly, but she needed more than 250 minutes. Very much the same when we were on the Pearl. It's likely things will be much the same on the Epic.

 

Wifi is expensive onboard, but for many worth the price when you need to keep in touch. Some suites provide a laptop and I cannot recommend it. The laptop we had was old and cranky! The onboard internet cafes are good and there is usually someone to help if you have problems.

 

And, when you go ashore you will likely find places that offer free or cheaper wifi.

[Ontime Departure]

You should have no problem face timing, I did it on the Breakaway 2 years ago so we wouldn't miss talking to my grand daughter on her birthday

Edited April 26, 2016 by Ontime Departure

[cmdchiefthom]

My wife and I had our son and daughter in law aboard Epic in the Haven, and they had no trouble with the "Facetime" connection to her parents who were watching our grandson. Yes it was slow, and jerky, but it did work.;)

[mking8288]

Facetime *audio" work just fine (niece on the Getaway now & they also posted kid's pix via FB) but "video" required more bandwidth and with satellite connectivity's given high latency - over a common shared path (# of concurrent users actively logged in) - can translate into poor functionality and/or inability to maintain the "call" - or, getting dropped while ship is moving at sea (not to mention, weather & line of sights to high orbits above the earth where the satellites are ...)

 

Furthermore, your hardware (iPhone & iPad) and iOS version running & how it was configured are often additional factors in how well things worked, for example, disable or turn off all those background updates & refresh/update checks and iCloud storage are known to make a difference in not slowing down the basic functions or while browsing. Some are setup to work ONLY over WiFi while others use cellular data, if enabled - and, if the call is important enough, costs is secondary especially when it's urgent or in dealing with health/family/medical emergencies or "crisis" with the caregivers, etc.

 

Almost all of the ships in NCL's fleet, with the exception of the Breakaway, are still running basically on the "previous" generation of satellite/broadband technologies & hardware - despite the widespread use of wireless routers all over the mega-ships with 2,000 staterooms + public area - on just 11 channels, most of them overlapping & subject to interference (typical office & home networks are set to default to Ch. 1, 6 and 11 for best results - now, imagine a fraction of the passengers trying to squeeze into 3 radio "corridors" - or, even all 11 pathways.

 

BA has the newer hardware but it is still "slow" compared to those upgraded speed on RCI's newest class of ships & deployed - and, offered to pax usage at a lower cost. NCL will probably do that at some point, for our convenience, and incorporate the costs into the fees for its investment. :D

 

Skype is a proven VoIP for business travelers in use for many years & work well with minimal bandwidth available even in firewalled third-world countries, as a backup for FT audio and/or video calling & available free on iOS hardware (and, works across different platforms: PC & Androids, etc.) - or, wait till you can connect/roam in ports with land towers.

 

Time to get familiar with how your iOS devices work - cellular providers do provide free online tutorials and interactive guides, and, "live" seminars to introduce users at all levels on how to take advantage of the changing technologies.

 

We use Google Voice/Hangouts and Project Fi (Network) to seamlessly integrated our telecom needs in 140+ countries at amazing rates - only available on select Nexus devices by Google on Android platform, recently with tablets being added, including newer iPads & Mini's.

 

Cruise Tech sub-forum here on CC has a # of good threads of these subjects & you should also check with those sailing recently on Epic's roll calls to inquire about their latest experience.

[fatherlu]

My wife and I had our son and daughter in law aboard Epic in the Haven, and they had no trouble with the "Facetime" connection to her parents who were watching our grandson. Yes it was slow, and jerky, but it did work.;)

 

Sorry if this is slightly off topic but it is still on the Epic at least.

 

cmdchiefthom...could you recall around what time they allowed passengers off the ship at the ports? Say, we dock at Rome at 6 A.M.--do passengers typically get off at around 7 A.M. or perhaps even earlier? Also, do Haven passengers get any priority disembarkation at those ports or it really doesn't matter?

[BirdTravels]

It will really depend on wifi usage on the ship. I was on an NCL cruise last week and had problems with Facetime Audio. Sometimes it worked o.k. Most times we would get drop outs every 5-10 minutes.

 

We were on the Epic in October after her dry dock, and the wifi was o.k.