Connectivity on Regent

[seaknots]

so important to complain to regent

no complaint no action

[Wendy The Wanderer]

3 hours ago, seaknots said:

so important to complain to regent

no complaint no action

 

I so agree.  If people don't keep complaining about this, Regent will not know the extent of the problem.  They need to know what's important to their valued guests.

[DeepFreeze63]

19 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I so agree.  If people don't keep complaining about this, Regent will not know the extent of the problem.  They need to know what's important to their valued guests.

Does anyone really think that Regent doesn't know about the "extent of the problem"!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

4 minutes ago, DeepFreeze63 said:

Does anyone really think that Regent doesn't know about the "extent of the problem"!

 

What I mean is passengers' reaction to the problem.  Like being prepared to walk away because connectivity is so degraded.

[FlyerTalker]

33 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

What I mean is passengers' reaction to the problem.  Like being prepared to walk away because connectivity is so degraded.

 

I wonder what the reaction at HQ would be if past Regent guests start sending in booking confirmations on Silversea, Seabourn and Crystal, with a notation about the lack of reliable connectivity.

 

Complaints are one thing.  If they start seeing money flowing to competitors....??

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I wonder what the reaction at HQ would be if past Regent guests start sending in booking confirmations on Silversea, Seabourn and Crystal, with a notation about the lack of reliable connectivity.

 

Complaints are one thing.  If they start seeing money flowing to competitors....??

 

Well exactly!  They would have to know that people were leaving because of connectivity issues, which is where the complaints are valuable.

[gnomie1]

On 11/20/2019 at 3:28 AM, judi666 said:

I am also on your cruise. Internet connectivity has gone from bad to terrible.  It is like something from the 90’s.  Where is the “luxury”

in not being able to connect with family and friends about urgent matters or posts. Perhaps they could have spent some of the millions on the atrocious art ( which looks to be bought by the sq ft in some warehouse) on having a modern communication system.  

I could not agree more - on our cruise last year, there was absolutely no signal in our suite, even though the repeater was literally outside of our door. However, when I sat on the stairs, I could get a decent signal, so much so that after a few days, many of my fellow passengers were joining me. Two of the passengers were new to Regent and refused to book another cruise because in this day and age, even when on vacation, most businesses require that their senior executives keep and stay in touch.  Nothing is more annoying that responding to an important email and before hitting send, the internet kicks off.

[gnomie1]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I wonder what the reaction at HQ would be if past Regent guests start sending in booking confirmations on Silversea, Seabourn and Crystal, with a notation about the lack of reliable connectivity.

 

Complaints are one thing.  If they start seeing money flowing to competitors....??

Excellent suggestion! I have heard from travel agents that they are aware of the internet problems on Regent and actually announce this in their presentation that one does not cruise on Regent if it is absolutely necessary to have decent internet connection, wonder if they pass it on to corporate

Edited November 24, 2019 by gnomie1

[Wendy The Wanderer]

28 minutes ago, gnomie1 said:

Excellent suggestion! I have heard from travel agents that they are aware of the internet problems on Regent and actually announce this in their presentation that one does not cruise on Regent if it is absolutely necessary to have decent internet connection, wonder if they pass it on to corporate

 

Yeah well, it's ridiculous.  Even if they think their pax are all retired dodderers, how the heck are we supposed to interact with the world on a long cruise, like a world cruise?  If nothing else, we need to pay our bills, and keep in touch with our loved ones, even if we can't surf the web like crazy all day.

[bizinsider]

Connections in the suites is always a push - even if the router/repeater is right outside your door. The metal tends to cut the signal - or at least that's what the guy in the computer room said. Sometimes I found opening the door was the difference between mail sending and not sending. (And for those on Macs who use Gmail, I found that the actual Gmail app/site worked better than Gmail via Apple Mail. I have no idea why, and my Macbook is very new, as is my iPhone. At times, the phone worked best for dealing with mail; other times, worse. No rhyme/reason. And for what it's worth: Wifi calls, at times, were surprisingly good!)

 

To be fair, we have struggled with these issues on Crystal and Seabourn, as well. On the Seabourn Encore a year ago we found the observation lounge worked best; on the Quest, in Antarctica, a stairwell was sometimes best on the worst days. On the Voyager earlier this month, we found the couches on Deck 6 to be the best, but only when the Internet was working. Once the problems began, it was roulette. We thoroughly enjoyed our last cruise but the Internet really would be a deal breaker - the longer the cruise, and the more the sea days, the more so.

[FlyerTalker]

Always remember....connectivity off the ship has two main components.  First the wifi connection to the ship's servers and secondly, the satellite connection from the ship's server to the land based server.

 

Most of these "location" and "open door" issues fall into the first category.  Unless and until a wifi access point is put into every cabin and throughout every public space, signal attenuation due to metallic interference will continue to occur.  Unfortunately Regent (and other cruiselines) can't repeal the laws of physics.

[bizinsider]

4 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Always remember....connectivity off the ship has two main components.  First the wifi connection to the ship's servers and secondly, the satellite connection from the ship's server to the land based server.

 

Most of these "location" and "open door" issues fall into the first category.  Unless and until a wifi access point is put into every cabin and throughout every public space, signal attenuation due to metallic interference will continue to occur.  Unfortunately Regent (and other cruiselines) can't repeal the laws of physics.

 

Which must be why that one passenger on our cruise who had been on RCL's newest ship a few months earlier - on the same route - said his Internet was so speedy...and good! Maybe they have every cabin wired?

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

On our transatlantic cruise on Explorer in March, the internet was terrible and could not get onto FaceTime. When I complained at the time, I was assured this would be corrected. Sounds like nothing has changed. 

[ClefsDor]

I know on Crystal since their dry docks the internet has been vastly improved and there's been barely a glitch in service or speed on the cruises I've been on (except for some fjords in Norway) and that includes when we are in our stateroom. I maintain a live blog and post pictures daily and am able to do so quickly. My husband works and needs to be in contact with his office even when he's away and it's never been an issue. 

[fizzy]

When we are on vacation we never plug in to anything so  that takes 2 people out of the mix.  I'm sure there must be a few others. What if everyone wanted to use this included benefit as advertised (and prepaid for)? By choice, we also don't use the included excursions and I know we are not alone on that front. What if everyone wanted to make use of all these inclusions that they are entitled to? That  becomes disturbing.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, fizzy said:

When we are on vacation we never plug in to anything so  that takes 2 people out of the mix.  I'm sure there must be a few others. What if everyone wanted to use this included benefit as advertised (and prepaid for)? By choice, we also don't use the included excursions and I know we are not alone on that front. What if everyone wanted to make use of all these inclusions that they are entitled to? That  becomes disturbing.

 

I doubt it.  I think most people do use both of these inclusions, to some extent.

[judi666]

We had a vacation house in a resort area, that we rented seasonally.  We had to upgrade the internet several times, or it simply would not be booked and rented.  It is a very high priority for most people.   
It is a little shocking that on such a new ship, it doesn’t seem to have thought of as a priority. 
It has seemed to Improve in the past few days. 
Who knows why.  It was a really low bar.  

 

[Stickman1990]

13 hours ago, ClefsDor said:

...there's been barely a glitch in service or speed on the cruises I've been on (except for some fjords in Norway) and that includes when we are in our stateroom. I maintain a live blog and post pictures daily and am able to do so quickly. My husband works and needs to be in contact with his office even when he's away and it's never been an issue. 

 

I cant imagine having to leave my room or leave doors open to access the wireless network! If the "old" Crystal ships can do it surely the "most expensive ship ever built" can do it

 

Sure there's going to be times when satellite signals for Internet are an issue - but not for extended period - and when available the speed should be adequate (but clearly not the match of land based broadband)

 

Like you I post photos and other files onto social media and CC - I've not encountered an issue doing that on Crystal - and we are also allowed 2 devices each connected to the internet - so 4 per couple. I understand we will only be allowed 2 devices on Regent - I'm beginning to understand why that is...

Edited November 25, 2019 by Stickman1990

[Stickman1990]

On 11/11/2019 at 9:08 PM, flossie009 said:

For those techies out there here are screenshots of speed tests from yesterday and today:

 

 

 

If that was monitoring a patients heart rate they'd be pronounced dead!

[happycruisingUK]

I was told by the internet manager yesterday that the internet was being upgraded today on Explorer. I’m yet to see any difference but hope it will happen. 

[happycruisingUK]

Just been on a bridge tour and was told there was no upgrade. So probably will be no different. 

[JMARINER]

7 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

 

If that was monitoring a patients heart rate they'd be pronounced dead!

With Ping and Jitter numbers that bad, definitely on life support and near death.

 

Have you gone and spoken directly with the General Manager about this?

 

J

[Marylebone37]

19 minutes ago, JMARINER said:

With Ping and Jitter numbers that bad, definitely on life support and near death.

 

Have you gone and spoken directly with the General Manager about this?

 

J

I spoke with the GM on Voyager two weeks ago.  He was sitting behind his desk in the office and I walked in and asked him what was going on with the HORRENDOUS internet speeds (so many passengers were openly complaining about it around the ship).  He looked at me with a straight face and said: “What issue, is there an issue?”.  I am not making that up, I swear!  I explained that due to responsibilities at home, I will not be able to sail on Regent again until the performance issues are addressed.  He apologized for my frustrations and that was the end of a polite conversation. 

[bizinsider]

5 minutes ago, stines said:

I spoke with the GM on Voyager two weeks ago.  He was sitting behind his desk in the office and I walked in and asked him what was going on with the HORRENDOUS internet speeds (so many passengers were openly complaining about it around the ship).  He looked at me with a straight face and said: “What issue, is there an issue?”

Ha - he is not one to give up the ghost on anything, so that is no surprise. Very nice guy, but also little outward empathy. Glad to see there is so much chatter on this. I can't believe Regent doesn't monitor these pages and would hope that there is some official response - because they do so much well and responding would be the RIGHT thing to do. 

[orvil]

I would guess they will shut the thread down in a bit.

 

I can deal with it, but there are many that need to be in contact on a pretty regular basis with home base.  The technology exists, they just need to find it and install it.