What are the differences on Internet packages on Ocean?

[Stickman1990]

Can someone clarify what the difference is in practical terms between the two types of internet access ie Premium and Standard offered on the ocean ships? Is one more reliable or faster than the other?

• Unlimited Premium Internet access for guests in Medallion, Silver, Royal, Grand, and Owner's Suites.
• Unlimited Standard Internet access for guests in Vista and Veranda Suites.

 

[Silver Spectre]

11 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Can someone clarify what the difference is in practical terms between the two types of internet access ie Premium and Standard offered on the ocean ships? Is one more reliable or faster than the other?

• Unlimited Premium Internet access for guests in Medallion, Silver, Royal, Grand, and Owner's Suites.
• Unlimited Standard Internet access for guests in Vista and Veranda Suites.

 

On the Whisper a year ago, Standard provide between 0.4 and 0.8 Mbps and streaming video was impossible, Premium got up to about 2.75 Mbps and it was possible stream with buffering. Posting text etc is ok with Standard, photos will post if you don’t get timed out. Downloading newspapers works most of the time.

[jollyjones]

1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

On the Whisper a year ago, Standard provide between 0.4 and 0.8 Mbps and streaming video was impossible, Premium got up to about 2.75 Mbps and it was possible stream with buffering. Posting text etc is ok with Standard, photos will post if you don’t get timed out. Downloading newspapers works most of the time.

 

This is my experience too but I will add that on Standard, it's not only that it's too slow for streaming, I believe that some sites needing bandwidth such as YouTube were actually blocked - it's not that they wouldn't stream, but I couldn't load them at all.

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, jollyjones said:

 

This is my experience too but I will add that on Standard, it's not only that it's too slow for streaming, I believe that some sites needing bandwidth such as YouTube were actually blocked - it's not that they wouldn't stream, but I couldn't load them at all.

I think you are correct, but they all definitely work on Premium. As an aside, the best time to use Standard was after midnight or when almost all the guests were off the ship.

[A Tucson Guy]

7 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

I think you are correct, but they all definitely work on Premium. As an aside, the best time to use Standard was after midnight or when almost all the guests were off the ship.

How much is premium as the website didn't seem to say?

[jollyjones]

If you buy the full cruise package at embarkation, it’s close to $20 per day. If you buy it a day at a time, it’s  about $30 per day. 

[A Tucson Guy]

I am wondering how Wi-Fi calling works on either plan? Any thoughts or comments.

Edited April 12, 2021 by A Tucson Guy
typo

[A Tucson Guy]

I did a search and could not find anything in SS forum.