VOOM stream needed if not streaming?

[the_dylaness]

Hello,

I would like to purchase internet for one device on our upcoming transatlantic cruise.

We do not have any interest in streaming or video chat, but I do need reasonably good speed to connect to work and use a fairly "intensive" program for same.

Should the regular surf package suffice for this?

 

Also would I get a better deal onboard being Diamond? (I don't know because this is reciprocity with celebrity and my only RCCL cruise was 17 years ago!)  I understand I get 24 hours free as Diamond. I don't necessarily need it for the first few days so in theory could use one 24 hour period on the 2nd or third day and then not sign up for a package until day 5 or so (14 night cruise.)

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

Should the regular surf package suffice for this?

 

Also would I get a better deal onboard being Diamond? 

Likely, yes, though it may depend on ship (if it has O3B).

 

With the method you outlined, maybe, depends on which day you buy the package vs. current online discount.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Biker19

[the_dylaness]

Allure

[the_dylaness]

What is 03B?

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, the_dylaness said:

What is 03B?

Lower latency (faster) internet - Allure has it.

[rhuntington3]

1 minute ago, the_dylaness said:

What is 03B?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O3b_Networks

 

O3b Networks Ltd. is a network communications service provider building and operating a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation primarily intended to provide voice and data communications to mobile operators and Internet service providers, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of SES S.A.

 

In November 2014, MS Quantum of the Seas became the first cruise ship to provide fast internet to guests through O3b Networks. The service is branded "Voom" by its cruise line, Royal Caribbean International and it was subsequently^[when?] rolled out to every ship in their fleet. [6] [7] [8]

[the_dylaness]

Ah, I didn't google because I thought it was some Cruise Critic short hand. Thanks!

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, the_dylaness said:

 ... use a fairly "intensive" program for same. ...

 

If this is some sort of VPN back to work, you may find it blocked.   I've tried several, and so far, the only one I have gotten to work is based entirely on SSL.

[the_dylaness]

It is an electronic medical record... I asked and they said not vpn. I’m glad you brought it up!

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

It is an electronic medical record... I asked and they said not vpn. I’m glad you brought it up!

 

Should work fine as long as the application is tolerant of 200-800 ms latency.

[brillohead]

If your program requires a lot of "oomph" to run, I'd go ahead with the Stream version.  

If you were going on a one-week cruise, I think your idea of no internet for the first couple days, then a day of freebie access, then buy a package the last few days would work out.  But since it's a 14-day cruise, you'll probably pay more for eight days on board than you would for a full 14 days in advance.  Perhaps ask on a current roll call what the on-board price is for internet so you can do the math to figure which way will be better for you.

Question -- is this an actual 14-day cruise, or is it a back-to-back of two 7-day cruises?  Because if it's a B2B, as far as Royal is concerned, they are two different cruises, so you'd get a free 24-hour period of internet on each.  
 

[the_dylaness]

I will ask about latency, thanks,

 

It is a true 14 night- repo transatlantic Barcelona to Miami.

 

[crystalspin]

On Rhapsody (BCN-TPA) last December, we got the Premium VOOM (two licenses) for my husband's EMR -- he needed two "lines" to get the confirmation number for secure logon, computer and phone together. Then I would take the 'phone' line and do my email and browsing, while he did his charts.

 

It worked tolerably well, with intermittent outages at places farthest from land.

 

I may have erred for caution to get the streaming, bc they say it's not actually faster, just fewer sites blocked. What I actually booked was two Beverage Packages combined with VOOM at the Cyber Monday rate. 

[GUEST71919]

While the basic service was fine on the Allure, it was horrible recently on our Grandeur sailing. We were getting no text messages at all. When DH went to the Internet desk to inquire, the woman staffing it actually said to him that you can’t get texts with the basic package but had to get the streaming version. hmmmm what?! Since when? I can only assume that on some ships you have little choice but to get the streaming version to use it to any degree. Supposedly Grandeur had been upgraded to the level of the Oasis class ships, but if so it was by the same team working on the coding of beverage package prices for 2020. 😂🤣🤪 So I think the answer about whether you need streaming is yes and no, depending on the ship.

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, 2Beeze said:

 ... Supposedly Grandeur had been upgraded to the level of the Oasis class ships ... 😂🤣🤪

 

That may have been someone's plan a few years ago, but it never happened.

[GUEST71919]

4 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

That may have been someone's plan a few years ago, but it never happened.

Ha! Wow. Someone should tell them on info channel as they repeatedly tout that it had already occurred. 🙄

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, 2Beeze said:

Ha! Wow. Someone should tell them on info channel as they repeatedly tout that it had already occurred. 🙄

 

Well, it sort of did happen, by Royal's definition.  At one point, VOOM meant the faster (O3b) service they have on the newest ships.  They actually did retrofit Freedom and Majesty and maybe another.  Then the price to Royal tripled, and so Royal gave up the retrofit and just redefined VOOM to be whatever all the ships had at that point in time.

[GUEST71919]

32 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Well, it sort of did happen, by Royal's definition.  At one point, VOOM meant the faster (O3b) service they have on the newest ships.  They actually did retrofit Freedom and Majesty and maybe another.  Then the price to Royal tripled, and so Royal gave up the retrofit and just redefined VOOM to be whatever all the ships had at that point in time.

 

I believe the one on the Grandeur is Tin Can, 2.0.

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, 2Beeze said:

 

I believe the one on the Grandeur is Tin Can, 2.0.

 

That was before my time!

[SRF]

On 7/3/2019 at 4:50 PM, rhuntington3 said:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O3b_Networks

 

O3b Networks Ltd. is a network communications service provider building and operating a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation primarily intended to provide voice and data communications to mobile operators and Internet service providers, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of SES S.A.

 

In November 2014, MS Quantum of the Seas became the first cruise ship to provide fast internet to guests through O3b Networks. The service is branded "Voom" by its cruise line, Royal Caribbean International and it was subsequently^[when?] rolled out to every ship in their fleet. [6] [7] [8]

 

Wiki strikes again.

 

NO, it is not rolled out to every ship in the fleet.

[SRF]

On 7/6/2019 at 7:31 PM, 2Beeze said:

 

I believe the one on the Grandeur is Tin Can, 2.0.

 

I have actually seen Stream speed test at right at 5.0 mbps on Grandeur.

 

What kills it is the ping.  

[twangster]

Surf is like dial up internet, Surf and Steam more like early DSL.   Even if you don't plan to stream faster internet yields a better experience.

 

I'm seeing Surf offered more in the cruise planner now and it's often just a $2 difference compared to Surf & Stream.  

 

[Tatka]

On 7/6/2019 at 7:31 PM, 2Beeze said:

 

I believe the one on the Grandeur is Tin Can, 2.0.

 

I am not very familiar with terms, but in Grandeur streaming quality was enough to watch TV , however I was not able to use Microsoft SQL server Management Studio via VPN . It was slow... Worked perfectly on Anthem.

[SRF]

18 hours ago, twangster said:

Surf is like dial up internet, Surf and Steam more like early DSL.   Even if you don't plan to stream faster internet yields a better experience.

 

I'm seeing Surf offered more in the cruise planner now and it's often just a $2 difference compared to Surf & Stream.  

 

 

When was dial up ever 0.5 mbps?????????

 

Dial up peaked a 56 Kbps or 0.056 mbps.  Dual channel ISDN was 128 kbps (0.128 mbps).  

Edited July 9, 2019 by SRF