WIFI on Oosterdam questions

[Tall Valley Cruiser]

Have not cruised on the Oosterdam for many years. Have been very pleased with new wifi on Princess on our recent cruises. After booking Mexican Riviera cruise for next month I noticed statement in our booking information about "do not expect wifi reception in every stateroom". Not a fanatic about wifi, but curious if anyone can give us an idea of what to expect. Speed of access on Princess was exceptional. However, I prefer not to invest in wifi with a "no refunds" and discover that it is non-existent or virtually useless from our stateroom Upper Verandah Deck 6 aft (verandah stateroom). Really appreciate any input you can supply. Thanks

[kazu]

It can depend on how close your room is to the “receptors” (I forget the correct name the things in the ceiling).

 

I think HAL is trying to say is that wifi is not guaranteed.  It’s satellite and cannot be guaranteed.

It’s not as fast as high speed at home but when it works, it works quite well.  

And, if it doesn’t work well in your stateroom (although I haven’t found that for a few years), leaving your door open can help.

Or, simply go to a spot where there is good reception.  (Ie. Crow’s Nest).  

If something blocks the satellite reception or it isn’t positioned well then internet becomes intermittent for that time period.

[canadianbear]

We were on the Mexico cruise for 14 days on the Oosterdam in December.  Only a couple of times it was slow when I tried to upload photos on here.  Otherwise, I thought it was very good.  (Premium package). 

[Copper10-8]

I can echo Canadian Bear's statement/experience. We were on Oostie for her Mexican Riviera New Year's cruise two and a half weeks ago. It was definitely slower Wi-Fi on Day 1 (heading south out of San Diego) and on Day 6 (heading north to San Diego) On the remaining days the speed and reception were fine (premium package also). We've had a similar experience before on the same itinerary 

 

As a somewhat related side note, rumor had it the big golf ball-shaped domes on the upper deck of Oosterdam, so basically the protective shells that encase freely moving satellite antennae such as those belonging to the Inmarsat company, were temporarily blocked on the two slower days by the high plateaus of the Sierra Madre mountains, "mother mountains" in the English language btw, where a troop of banditos led by a dude who calls himself "Gold Hat", claimed they were Federales, aka the monted police, and refused to show their stinkin' badges when asked to produce same by two American drifters on a gold prospecting quest into the Mexican interior  😉 That rumor, upon closer investigation, proved foundationless, unsubstantiated as well as unfounded 

[Tall Valley Cruiser]

Thanks for the information everyone. What is the difference with the Premium package? Is it just number of minutes or is the WiFi faster..or both. Princess has adopted a unlimited minutes category.

[kazu]

9 minutes ago, Tall Valley Cruiser said:

Thanks for the information everyone. What is the difference with the Premium package? Is it just number of minutes or is the WiFi faster..or both. Princess has adopted a unlimited minutes category.

 

All the internet packages are unlimited.

 

The Premium package permits streaming whereas the other 2 do not.

 

It also allows for MB usage than the other 2 packages.

[GlennaRoseGoes]

I just returned yesterday from the Oosterdam. I had pre-purchased the premium plan, and was quite pleased with it. I have never purchased internet access on a cruise before because I worried it would be useless and a waste of money. I had no issue anywhere on board, even in my interior cabin (7100). Sometimes photos would take a while to text/iMessage to others, but eventually went through. I did try to watch a YouTube video that never loaded, but I wasn’t really surprised by that. 

[TAD2005]

If you are concerned about internet access in your cabin, before you purchase the plan onboard, you must connect to the Navigator, which will allow you to browse menus, shore excursions, your cabin account, dinner reservations, etc.  The Navigator is where you must purchase the internet packages, unless you buy the Premium package online before the cruise.   If your device has a connection to the nearest Access Point (that's the name of the ceiling mounted "receptor")  then you will be able to see your signal strength and you can judge if that is sufficient.  There are some free sites you can browse, like HAL's site, and (I think) the New York Times.   

We have never had a cabin, even in the far aft section of the ship, where the signal strength was insufficient.

[catl331]

We had an Access Point in our O'dam cabin (8098) so performance was always very good.

 

[Tall Valley Cruiser]

Thanks again everyone. This is why I really like cc and the folks on it!!