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Ship List--REAL Voom Internet (your help appreciated)

joshuamg

By joshuamg,
in Royal Caribbean International

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joshuamg

joshuamg

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Hey Frequent floaters!

 

My name is Joshua and I work remotely for a software company. Since I can work from anywhere with good internet, I've been working aboard Royal Caribbean ships for a change of scenery (6 Cruises last year, 12 this year).

 

I've found Royal Caribbeans internet to be the best in the industry, however, there IS a difference from ship-to-ship within their fleet.

 

Not all "Voom" internet is the same.

 

They use different satellites based on geographic location AND based on the technology on the ship. And it's all marketed and priced as if it's the same. It's not. 🙂

 

Here's where you come in--I'm trying to compile a Ship List that will expose which ships have REAL Voom Internet (fast speed, low latency/delay, O3B Network-BEST) and which have NOT-REAL Voom Internet (moderate speeds, high latency/delay, SpeedCast Network-Just Ok). A speedtest from the wifi-connected device will reveal this on the ship. The NOT-REAL Voom internet operates much slower as the delay from ship to satellite is 650+ms whereas the REAL Voom internet operates around 200ms.  This is most notable when doing video calls like Facetime or Zoom or playing videos on Facebook/Youtube. For me, the internet is my life on the ship.

 

Here is my list so far.

 

SHIP

Adventure--NOT REAL Voom (as of Jan 2019 Thanks @John&LaLa)

Allure--REAL Voom (as of Nov 2017)

Anthem--Coming Soon (Sailing Aug 2019)

Brilliance--NOT REAL Voom (as of Jan 2019)

Empress--NOT REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Enchantment--

Explorer--

Freedom--REAL Voom (as of Dec 2018)

Grandeur--

Harmony--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Independence--REAL Voom (as of April 2019)

Jewel--

Liberty--

Majesty--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Mariner--NOT Real Voom (as of July 2019)

Navigator--

Ovation--REAL Voom (except when in Alaska, then terrible internet)

Oasis--Coming Soon (Sailing Dec 2019)

Quantum--

Radiance--

Rhapsody--

Serenade--NOT Real Voom (Thanks @John&LaLa)

Spectrum--

Symphony--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Vision--

Voyager--

 

 

LOCATION/ITINERARIES

Alaska--Real Voom NOT available regardless of Ship Technology (O3B network isn't available above aprx Vancouver Lattitude)

Caribbean--REAL Voom Available depending on Ship Technology

Bermuda--
Canada/New England--Sailing August 29 on Anthem

Panama Canal--

Mexico Pacific--

Meditteranean--

TransAtlantic--

MiddleEast--

 

For what it's worth, I've asked Royal Caribbean for clarification on which ships have the O3B Network Technology ("Real Voom") and they declined to answer.

 

If you've been on a recent cruise, or are on one now and did a speed test or asked the IT manager, would you help me update this list? Here are two examples of speedtests through Ookla's Speedtest App, showing the difference between REAL Voom and NOT REAL Voom.

 

Would you help me out?

 

 

IMG_4761.jpg

IMG_4760.jpg

Edited by joshuamg
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joshuamg

joshuamg

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Updated, thanks @hostclarea and @Ourusualbeach

 

SHIP

Adventure--NOT REAL Voom (as of Jan 2019 Thanks @John&LaLa)

Allure--REAL Voom (as of Nov 2017)

Anthem--Coming Soon (Sailing Aug 2019)

Brilliance--NOT REAL Voom (as of Jan 2019)

Empress--NOT REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Enchantment--REAL Voom (Thanks @twangster and @serialcruiser48)

Explorer--

Freedom--REAL Voom (as of Dec 2018)

Grandeur--

Harmony--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Independence--REAL Voom (as of April 2019)

Jewel--

Liberty--REAL Voom (Thanks @Biker19)

Majesty--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Mariner--NOT Real Voom (as of July 2019)

Navigator--

Ovation--REAL Voom (except when in Alaska, then terrible internet)

Oasis--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach)

Quantum--

Radiance--

Rhapsody--

Serenade--NOT Real Voom (Thanks @John&LaLa)

Spectrum--

Symphony--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Vision--

Voyager--

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ocav

ocav

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Question regarding this:

I’ve always purchased internet, on Quantum, Anthem, and Harmony sailings. I’ve never had a bad experience (all these are REAL Voom).

i am on explorer in October and have purchase the Surf+Stream, is it going to be unusable (as it’s not going to be real Voom)?

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Clarea

Clarea

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1 hour ago, ocav said:

Question regarding this:

I’ve always purchased internet, on Quantum, Anthem, and Harmony sailings. I’ve never had a bad experience (all these are REAL Voom).

i am on explorer in October and have purchase the Surf+Stream, is it going to be unusable (as it’s not going to be real Voom)?

 

Won't be unusable, but it likely won't be as fast as O3b equipped ships.  It cannot handle the load that the "real" VOOM equipped ships can handle.  Plus the latency will be around 600ms instead of around 200ms, so it won't be as responsive.

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serialcruiser48

serialcruiser48

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The Enchantment has 03b, but bandwidth is limited to 60 mb’s for the ship. Compare that to Oasis Class which has 500 mb’s per ship. Freedom class and above has 03b, Voyager class and below do not have 03b except for the Enchantment and possibly Empress.  The voyager class ships are undergoing re-amplification but unfortunately 03B Wi-Fi is not included  which is a shame since the adventure is coming to Galveston  and we’re losing the enchantment . 

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Clarea

Clarea

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Just now, serialcruiser48 said:

The Enchantment has 03b, but bandwidth is limited to 60 mb’s for the ship. Compare that to Oasis Class which has 500 mb’s per ship. Freedom class and above has 03b, Voyager class and below do not have 03b except for the Enchantment and possibly Empress.  The voyager class ships are undergoing re-amplification but unfortunately 03B Wi-Fi is not included  which is a shame since the adventure is coming to Galveston  and we’re losing the enchantment . 

 

I've not heard of Enchantment having O3b, the ping times would show it.

 

Majesty also has O3b.

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serialcruiser48

serialcruiser48

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2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I've not heard of Enchantment having O3b, the ping times would show it.

 

Majesty also has O3b.

 

I meant to say Majesty, not Empress.  I just sailed on the enchantment in July and the  Enchantment does have 03b with ~=250 ms ping.  But, as I said the enchantment only has 60 MB for the whole ship so if everybody’s using the Wi-Fi, it’s going to be slow .

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cruiseguy1016

cruiseguy1016

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2 hours ago, ocav said:

Question regarding this:

I’ve always purchased internet, on Quantum, Anthem, and Harmony sailings. I’ve never had a bad experience (all these are REAL Voom).

i am on explorer in October and have purchase the Surf+Stream, is it going to be unusable (as it’s not going to be real Voom)?

 

It depends on what you want to use it for. I need to stay connected to work when I travel so I always purchase an internet package when I'm on the ship. I review my emails and do some internet browsing. I have never been on a ship with O3b internet yet I have never had a problem doing what I needed to do. Sometimes it was a little slow. In Alaska it was VERY slow but I was still able to do what I needed to do. If you plan on streaming videos, you may not be happy with the performance.

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ocav

ocav

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9 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

It depends on what you want to use it for. I need to stay connected to work when I travel so I always purchase an internet package when I'm on the ship. I review my emails and do some internet browsing. I have never been on a ship with O3b internet yet I have never had a problem doing what I needed to do. Sometimes it was a little slow. In Alaska it was VERY slow but I was still able to do what I needed to do. If you plan on streaming videos, you may not be happy with the performance.

 

Well... I’m purchasing something called Surf+Stream so if I can’t stream videos on it, I’m not just going to be unhappy with the performance, I’ll be pursuing money back.

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Clarea

Clarea

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6 minutes ago, ocav said:

 

Well... I’m purchasing something called Surf+Stream so if I can’t stream videos on it, I’m not just going to be unhappy with the performance, I’ll be pursuing money back.

 

Guest Services will give you a refund if you request it.

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joshuamg

joshuamg

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Updated

 

SHIP

Adventure--NOT REAL Voom (as of Jan 2019 Thanks @John&LaLa)

Allure--REAL Voom (as of Nov 2017)

Anthem--Coming Soon (Sailing Aug 2019)

Brilliance--NOT REAL Voom (as of Jan 2019)

Empress--NOT REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach and @John&LaLa!)

Enchantment--REAL Voom but potentially slower--ship pipe/bandwidth more limited (Thanks @twangster and @serialcruiser48)

Explorer--

Freedom--REAL Voom (as of Dec 2018)

Grandeur--NOT REAL Voom (as of April 2019 thanks @h20skibum)

Harmony--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Independence--REAL Voom (as of April 2019)

Jewel--

Liberty--REAL Voom (Thanks @Biker19)

Majesty--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Mariner--NOT Real Voom (as of July 2019)

Navigator--

Ovation--REAL Voom (except when in Alaska, then terrible internet)

Oasis--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach)

Quantum--

Radiance--

Rhapsody--

Serenade--NOT Real Voom (Thanks @John&LaLa)

Spectrum--

Symphony--REAL Voom (Thanks @Ourusualbeach!)

Vision--NOT REAL Voom (Thanks @Ashland)

Voyager--

 

@serialcruiser48 I'm considering a B2B2B in Jan on the Enchantment. Any first-hand experience on how low the Enchantment internet would dip in terms of bandwidth with the limited pipe?

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Biker19

Biker19

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4 minutes ago, joshuamg said:

Any first-hand experience on how low the Enchantment internet would dip in terms of bandwidth with the limited pipe?

It could dip to nothing, way too variable to say what will happen on your sailing. BTW, as mentioned earlier, all ships Freedom class and bigger along with Majesty and Enchantment have O3B, the rest don't.

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