How "fast"is the Internet on Ruby (Mexican Riviera)"

[Yorkies Rule]

I will be on the Ruby (first time, can't wait) Dec. 3 for the Mexican Riviera cruise. Going solo, so would like to have internet access in case I need something to do ;) I have had Voom on RCI and it is as fast as at home. Does anyone have any advice re the Ruby? Thanks in advance.

[cherylandtk]

It's not as fast as at home. Rather frustrating if it gets bogged down and drags. But if you are just using it for social media, it works OK. Depends a LOT on what your fellow cruisers are doing and how many are using it. The good news: it's better than it used to be.

[pairodocs]

Hey Yorkies Rule

 

There are quite a few of us that are on the Dec. 3rd Ruby Cruise with you. Please come over to our Roll Call and join in the conversation. We have an informal get together planned on the ship and you are welcome to join us even if you don't participate in the Roll Call.

 

Hope you come on over

 

Have a great day

 

Chuck & Sue Ann

"pairodocs"

[Colo Cruiser]

There is no way to tell how the internet will be on your cruise.

So many factors that affect it.

[shredie]

Slow and not cheap.

[land lover]

On our Ruby, Oct. 15 cruise while at sea on our last day DH tried to sign in to his email 2 or 3 times for his free minutes could never get connected even had help from staff. I actually didn't believe him:rolleyes::( tried it myself, no luck.

 

Never had problems on Crown or Sapphire on MR sea days in recent years, they were slow but could access email.

 

AS Colo cruiser stated...so many factors...

[Coveguy4]

I was on the Ruby early October and it was fine. On the mid morning of sea day was a little slow, but other times no problem at all.

[Elitein85days]

It'll usually work at a snails pace.

[Skai]

This query would be better phrased: "How slow is the internet on the Ruby?"

 

If really wanted/needed...I would suggest (during peak ship-usage times) going to the Internet Café to connect to the web vs. the wifi in one's cabin.

[Yorkies Rule]

Thank you for all your replies. I intended to use it a LOT of the time, e.g. playing games, Facebook, etc. Doesn't sound too good though. Will have to think it over real well!

[caribill]

Thank you for all your replies. I intended to use it a LOT of the time, e.g. playing games, Facebook, etc. Doesn't sound too good though. Will have to think it over real well!

 

There is no unlimited Internet package on Princess.

 

You will pay by the minute. You can purchase packages of minutes, but if you want to use the Internet "a LOT of the time," you will be spending "a LOT of money."

 

You can see Internet package pricing below (from the Princess web site)

 

120 minutes

Item #6038 – $69.00

(Includes 20 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

240 minutes

Item #6039 – $99.00

(Includes 40 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

460 minutes

Item #6302 – $159.00

(Includes 60 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

680 minutes

Item #6301 – $199.00

(Includes 80 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

All prices include account activation fee.

[Thrak]

Internet access on Princess is sloooooooooooooow. Onboard it "feels" to me like around 36 Kbps. I get 180 Mbps down at home. A HUGE difference - around 5,400 times as fast at home as onboard.

 

Note: This is not an exaggeration. I haven't wasted my minutes on a download speed test but, As far as the history of my Internet connectivity at home, I first accessed the Internet at 300 bps (not Kbps) and then went through 1200 bps, 2400 bps, etc. until dial-up maxed out at 56k - which, due to line limitations, etc, actually had a top speed of 53,333 Kbps down. I started out seeing the "welcome" screens load as W...e...l...come...to... etc. It was very sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. (180 Mbps is about 600,000 times as fast as my first Internet connection!!!)

 

Even though the access is slow (and pretty much horrid) I welcome the free minutes and what I can get done with them. Internet access is not the important thing for me when cruising. We never paid for access but will gladly take what we get as Platinum. If we got zero access it wouldn't really be that much of a big deal - at least not to me - and I'm the family geek. Facebook access is nice for my wife and allows her to keep up with family and to post stuff from our cruises but I could happily live without access if needed and I don't even have a facebook account. :D (I retired from state of California service as an Information Systems Analyst. One might think I love social media but, in reality, I have nothing to do with it at all.)

[pablo222]

I will be on the Ruby (first time, can't wait) Dec. 3 for the Mexican Riviera cruise. Going solo, so would like to have internet access in case I need something to do ;) I have had Voom on RCI and it is as fast as at home. Does anyone have any advice re the Ruby? Thanks in advance.

 

If voom is an indy car, internet on princess is a shopping cart

with a broken wheel.

 

It is also charged for per minute, so it's unlikely that you

would want to access it just as something to do.

 

Either switch back to royal caribbean, or bring videos, etc.

that you can access locally.

 

I think this is quite a product differentiator for Royal Carribbean.

[flamomo]

Think sail's pace as compared to what you have at home!!

[skynight]

Thank you for all your replies. I intended to use it a LOT of the time, e.g. playing games, Facebook, etc. Doesn't sound too good though. Will have to think it over real well!

You will pay lots of $$$ if you are playing games, facebook, If you are connected four hours/day that's 240 mins a day. The largest min. package will last only 3 days. If you stay connected you are charged for every min you are connected, so remember to sign out. Sometimes the satellite connection is very slow and can take mins just to respond and you are charged for that time. The internet is meant for communications, it was not set up for game playing and constant on line social sites.

 

For information, cell service at sea is very expensive. Keep you cell device in airplane mode.

[tv24]

There is no unlimited Internet package on Princess.

 

You will pay by the minute. You can purchase packages of minutes, but if you want to use the Internet "a LOT of the time," you will be spending "a LOT of money."

 

You can see Internet package pricing below (from the Princess web site)

 

120 minutes

Item #6038 – $69.00

(Includes 20 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

240 minutes

Item #6039 – $99.00

(Includes 40 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

460 minutes

Item #6302 – $159.00

(Includes 60 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

680 minutes

Item #6301 – $199.00

(Includes 80 bonus minutes for prepurchasing an Internet time package.)

All prices include account activation fee.

 

Useful information. Thanks!

[GRAYTech]

If voom is an indy car, internet on princess is a shopping cart

with a broken wheel....

 

I think this is quite a product differentiator for Royal Carribbean.

 

 

First I'm hearing of VOOM on RCCL. I'm self employed and have chosen land based vacations numerous times due to Internet availability. Even though I'm on vacation there are times I must be reachable via at least the internet (Email) to keep my business alive.

 

I believe your statement is correct, this truly will be a differentiator for some especially those like me. Even though we are almost elite status I would cruise RCCL when I have-to-have internet over picking a land based vacation to be reachable.

 

Does Princess have any plans to upgrade their internet offering ?

 

Does VOOM allow for VPN access? If yes, that's probably it for us. This may be our last Princess cruise until they upgrade.

[GRAYTech]

A short trip with Google and the answer is yes, VPN access is supported.

 

The only question left is when will Princess have it.

 

 

More about VOOM -

 

https://www.o3bnetworks.com/solutions/o3bmaritime/

[JF - retired RRT]

If you're close to the "repeater" you'll get better speed/response.

Also, early in the AM or later in the PM are the best times to use the internet. As Thrak stated, the free minutes are a great benefit. We also never paid for internet...waited patiently until we hit Platinum status.

Edited November 20, 2016 by JF - retired RRT

[oskidunker]

Forget about it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Sillyjilly]

I've done that cruise many times on the Ruby. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's impossible. You just never know.

[riclop]

I will be on the Ruby (first time, can't wait) Dec. 3 for the Mexican Riviera cruise. Going solo, so would like to have internet access in case I need something to do ;) I have had Voom on RCI and it is as fast as at home. Does anyone have any advice re the Ruby? Thanks in advance.

 

Not very fast.

[pablo222]

Does VOOM allow for VPN access? If yes, that's probably it for us. This may be our last Princess cruise until they upgrade.

 

When royal caribbean installed voom on the first ship,

the ceo was touting it as faster than all other cruise

ships combined.

[jeromep]

When royal caribbean installed voom on the first ship,

the ceo was touting it as faster than all other cruise

ships combined.

He's probably right.

 

I'm not sure why Princess doesn't upgrade their satellite Internet service, but it doesn't appear to be a priority for them right now. Maybe they are holding onto the concept that if you are cruising you don't want to be reached by the outside world. Either way, the forces of competition will compel them to do something to address the lack of quality Internet service. Like it or not, people are online, even when on vacation.

 

As for my experience on the Ruby; many years ago I found the Internet service to be acceptable. The biggest issue with satellite Internet isn't the bandwidth, but they latency. The bandwidth is probably not so great compared to what we can get in our homes now, but the latency is what causes people to be so frustrated with Internet on board ship.

[Auntiejo]

Just off the Ruby yesterday. Internet speed was much better than I expected as long as I wasn't in my cabin. Certainly not fast, but not that bad. I guess it's always going to be different.