MedallionNet How it works - Not

[billco]

MedallionNet - How it works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X78mWmZABew

Why is MedallionNet so poor on Transatlantic Cruises? We sailed on the Regal Princess November 2021 - almost no internet from Azores to Fort Lauderdale. Sky Princess and Regal Princes s TAs March 2022 reported extremely poor internet. Sailing Enchanted Princess April 2022 - just informed "As you may be aware, as a ship moves across the Atlantic its antennas routinely shift connection between satellites covering specific regions of the globe, which can result in low to no connectivity. Internet service will still be available during your journey, but because there may be times when you may be unable to connect during your cruise we will refund the cost of pre-purchased MedallionNet Wi-Fi packages as onboard credit." My previous experience actually was extremely slow or no internet the entire time between Fort Lauderdale and Azores. Passengers on Sky Princess reported very poor internet for most of their cruise. People take Princess at its word that MedallionNet will be "like working from home" and then get informed just before their cruise that it won't be. Shame on Princess Cruises.
 

Edited April 3, 2022 by billco

[Rick&Jeannie]

@billco I believe we were on the same TA (Regal last fall).  I cannot find any hard and fast evidence as to what has happened, but I believe one of several possibilities took place:

 

1) SES Networks (the firm that as of 2020 was to supply the "miraculous" blazing internet at sea for the whole fleet) oversold on the promises and have yet to fully deploy *their* satellite constellation...focusing on the "more heavily" travelled cruise routes (i.e. NOT the transatlantic/transpacific routes).  There's always the possibility that more satellites will be deployed and the situation will improve.

 

2) SES completely oversold the system (or completely underestimated the demand in bandwidth).

 

3) Given the possibility of #2 above, Princess has dumped SES and is scrambling to come up with a viable solution.  They don't want to say anything publicly because of the "embarrassment" factor and/or just wanting to save face after all of the hoopla that was presented regarding "the best internet at sea".

 

4) Some people have speculated that there was equipment failure on the Sky and that is why even the Medallion app did not work for the entire cruise on the intranet.  That may very well have happened but it does not explain the issues on other ships.

 

Very surprisingly, there is almost NO information in the way of press releases after that initial spate of 2020 news touting the new contract with SES.  You would think that had #3 occurred that there would be *some* kind of news.  So...there's really nothing you can hang your hat on as far as information that would help explain what has happened.  That Regal TA last fall was our first TA so we really didn't know quite what to expect.  On all of our previous cruises (even on the old Pacific Princess/Panama Canal transit in Jan 2020) we had what I felt was very reasonable internet bandwidth.  Sure, it wasn't like being on land with 4G or 5G but it was always fine for just basic email and surfing.

 

So...what has happened?  I don't know for sure but I strongly suspect a combination of #1 and #3.  Time will tell!

[PescadoAmarillo]

I was just on the same ship (Ruby Princess) on the same route (California to Hawaii) as I was on in September 2019. On that earlier cruise, the internet was amazing, solid and fairly fast (I did speed tests and saved them). On this cruise, it kept going out, then came back, but always pretty slow. Websites and emails wouldn’t even load.  I was trying to research and purchase a flight home and it was a time consuming and scary exercise, especially when it would go out in the middle of completing the transaction. Something has changed for the worse. 

[Mike45LC]

I think there has also been a huge increase in bandwidth demand.  Ten years ago, passengers would check their email a few times a day.  Now, people stream their social media and movies, people upload minute-by-minutes videos,  VIO, Zoom, other high volume uses.  I doubt that Princess realized how huge the demand would be once they started “unlimited.”  

[caribill]

1 hour ago, Mike45LC said:

I think there has also been a huge increase in bandwidth demand.  Ten years ago, passengers would check their email a few times a day.  Now, people stream their social media and movies, people upload minute-by-minutes videos,  VIO, Zoom, other high volume uses.  I doubt that Princess realized how huge the demand would be once they started “unlimited.”  

 

I think they did have a good did idea of what demand would be. But testing under ideal conditions in South Florida is not the same as doing the same testing in the middle of an ocean.

 

Yes, people do all the activities you mention, but certainly not all at the same time. Certainly 500 or more Internet connections on a ship are not trying to stream a movie, ZOOM or watch cat videos at the same time.

 

No one has been posting that things did not work late afternoon or in the evening, but were working well after mid-night or when they tried at 7 AM. It is not excessive demand that is the main problem.

[billco]

3 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

@billco So...what has happened?  I don't know for sure but I strongly suspect a combination of #1 and #3.  Time will tell!

Yes, we were on the same cruise last November and I can't remember any time after Ponta Delgada where internet was available. My issue is Princess has been promoting internet as good as what people get at home and people have booked these transatlantic cruises believing that. Princess continues to promote MedallionNet. Princess reposted both the above video from 2 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQbdvvRVynA&t=144s

along with another "as good as home" video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrzeILh_oW8

on March 9 knowing that is not the case with transatlantic cruises since at least last November.

I think Princess should have told people when they booked their transatlantic cruise or at least before final payment that there would be problems with internet. Not just a few days before the cruise.

 

[GulfShoresCruiser]

Was on the Sky TA....Folks were complaining about the internet before we even left Port Everglades and then when we were in Spain, Gibraltar, Lisbon and hugging the coast of France it still did not work....So not understanding why it's related to being in the middle of the ocean.

 

Also, that medallion thing they promote was good at being my key card but that's about all.  Seems as though that did not work well either.

 

(Princess has problems.  We are "one and done" with them for now)

[cruiser419419]

2 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I think there has also been a huge increase in bandwidth demand.  Ten years ago, passengers would check their email a few times a day.  Now, people stream their social media and movies, people upload minute-by-minutes videos,  VIO, Zoom, other high volume uses.  I doubt that Princess realized how huge the demand would be once they started “unlimited.”  

 

I assure you that nobody on the Sky was streaming videos... just trying to get texts off to loved ones to explain our disappearance

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 minutes ago, GulfShoresCruiser said:

So not understanding why it's related to being in the middle of the ocean.

 

People making reference to the issues while "being in the middle of the ocean" I feel is just a figure of speech.  I firmly believe that SES Networks does not have a fully deployed satellite constellation in place yet to fulfill their promises!  After all...it's sales hype!

[billco]

16 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

People making reference to the issues while "being in the middle of the ocean" I feel is just a figure of speech.  I firmly believe that SES Networks does not have a fully deployed satellite constellation in place yet to fulfill their promises!  After all...it's sales hype!

I have a feeling the issue is more related to money than coverage.

https://www.ses.com/our-coverage#/explore

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, billco said:

I have a feeling the issue is more related to money than coverage.

https://www.ses.com/our-coverage#/explore

Looking at the diagram of Earth via the link, it appears as though they only have satellites above Equator and I am surprised none in Northern or Southern Hemisphere.

[Rick&Jeannie]

23 minutes ago, billco said:

I have a feeling the issue is more related to money than coverage.

https://www.ses.com/our-coverage#/explore

Hah!  That interactive map is rather interesting!  It certainly shows a definite bias towards the southern hemisphere.  While I was poking around a chat agent rep popped up and asked if she "could help with anything"!  I figured..."What the heck...let's see what SES has to say!"

 

Hannah     Sun, 04/03/22 03:24:51 pm  
Hi there, do you need help with anything today? 
 
You     03:24:51 pm     
Is SES still providing the satellite service to Princess ships? 
    
Hannah     03:25:47 pm     
Hello, I'd be happy to assist. My name is Hannah - may I ask who I have the pleasure of chatting with today 
    
You     03:26:01 pm     

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Hannah     03:26:16 pm     
Hi, XXXXXXXXXXXXX. Are you from the Princess Ship or are you a passenger? 
    
You     03:26:34 pm     
former passenger 

Hannah     03:28:03 pm     
Wonderful, thank you for confirming. Unfortunately, I do not have a list of SES customers as I am a Live Chat Agent. If Princess Ships are experiencing any issues with connectivity, and if they are an active SES customer, I would need to speak with a representative from The Priciness Ship. I do apologize for that inconvenience, XXXXXXXX. 
    
You     03:30:15 pm     
OK...I was just trying to find out (if possible) why the service was so terrible (as ii practically non-existent) on the Sky Princess. Transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton, England that departed March 12. I guess you cannot comment on that. I'm retired IT and was just curious. 
    
Hannah     03:30:42 pm     
I do apologize for that! I would reach out to the Princess Ship and ask them to address this with their satellite capacity provider. If SES is their provider, our technical support team would be able to advise on this with Princess Ships directly. I do sincerely apologize for your experience. 
While I have you here on chat today, is there anything else I can help you with?
 

Not much real information there...she could not (would not) even confirm that Princess is a current customer.  That somewhat surprised me...but I guess it shouldn't have, what with today's overabundance of caution in regards to "privacy".  Oh well...it was interesting!

Edited April 3, 2022 by Rick&Jeannie

[Steelers36]

33 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

People making reference to the issues while "being in the middle of the ocean" I feel is just a figure of speech.  I firmly believe that SES Networks does not have a fully deployed satellite constellation in place yet to fulfill their promises!  After all...it's sales hype!

I am wondering some things as it seems Princess is failing to deliver on several sales promises of late.  Except for wonderful on-board crew.

 

I am not sure that it is deliberate as it seems to run counter to their past culture.  I wonder if it is fatigue from under-stsffing and failing systems that let down staff as well as guests.  I wonder if there is an overwhelming need to brush certain things aside and just keep smiling and selling through it all to put bodies in cabins and hope for the best. 

 

If internet via satellite issues are out of their control, I feel bad as they just don't need more issues these days.  But ignoring things that matter to guests is never a good idea.  Hope this is temporary.  IDK how changing to another satellite provider helps as I presume only so many satellites in use up there and perhaps another provider is just using the same ones??  The lack of viable internet connection also affects the entire crew who expect to have use of it.  Will begin to affect morale.  I have no idea what happening with other lines and too much time required to research.  

 

It is both heart-breaking and disturbing to see so many failings of an organization that I could hardly find fault with two years ago.

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

IDK how changing to another satellite provider helps as I presume only so many satellites in use up there and perhaps another provider is just using the same ones?? 

You made some VERY good points!  As far as the satellite situation goes...I get the strong impression from the SES website that they are "in control" of their own satellites.  At least, it somewhat *reads* that way...but then it's ALL sales hype, isn't it!

[nho9504]

17 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Looking at the diagram of Earth via the link, it appears as though they only have satellites above Equator and I am surprised none in Northern or Southern Hemisphere.

 

And Princess signed up with them, then touted it now has the best internet at sea?! 

 

We were on a Royal's TATL on Oasis a few years ago.  Even back then their internet was very fast, much faster than a Regal or Royal in Caribbean water.

 

The bottom line to me is Princess is being cheap and dishonest.  It is sad to see the line has fallen into this manner, after we have so many cruises with them over the years.

[billco]

40 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Hah!  That interactive map is rather interesting!  It certainly shows a definite bias towards the southern hemisphere.  While I was poking around a chat agent rep popped up and asked if she "could help with anything"!  I figured..."What the heck...let's see what SES has to say!"

 

Hannah     Sun, 04/03/22 03:24:51 pm  
Hi there, do you need help with anything today? 
 
You     03:24:51 pm     
Is SES still providing the satellite service to Princess ships? 
    
Hannah     03:25:47 pm     
Hello, I'd be happy to assist. My name is Hannah - may I ask who I have the pleasure of chatting with today 
    
You     03:26:01 pm     

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Hannah     03:26:16 pm     
Hi, XXXXXXXXXXXXX. Are you from the Princess Ship or are you a passenger? 
    
You     03:26:34 pm     
former passenger 

Hannah     03:28:03 pm     
Wonderful, thank you for confirming. Unfortunately, I do not have a list of SES customers as I am a Live Chat Agent. If Princess Ships are experiencing any issues with connectivity, and if they are an active SES customer, I would need to speak with a representative from The Priciness Ship. I do apologize for that inconvenience, XXXXXXXX. 
    
You     03:30:15 pm     
OK...I was just trying to find out (if possible) why the service was so terrible (as ii practically non-existent) on the Sky Princess. Transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton, England that departed March 12. I guess you cannot comment on that. I'm retired IT and was just curious. 
    
Hannah     03:30:42 pm     
I do apologize for that! I would reach out to the Princess Ship and ask them to address this with their satellite capacity provider. If SES is their provider, our technical support team would be able to advise on this with Princess Ships directly. I do sincerely apologize for your experience. 
While I have you here on chat today, is there anything else I can help you with?
 

Not much real information there...she could not (would not) even confirm that Princess is a current customer.  That somewhat surprised me...but I guess it shouldn't have, what with today's overabundance of caution in regards to "privacy".  Oh well...it was interesting!

You got a more detailed response than I did earlier.

Chat transcript                   Hannah Sun, 04/03/22 11:06:55 am America/Los_Angeles       Hello. How may I help you?             You 11:06:55 am       Can you shed any light on why my upcoming Princess cruise from Fort Lauderdale will have limited satellite coverage ? As you may be aware, as a ship moves across the Atlantic its antennas routinely shift connection between satellites covering specific regions of the globe, which can result in low to no connectivity."             Hannah 11:07:25 am       Hello, I'd be happy to assist. My name is Hannah - may I please ask who I have the pleasure of speaking with today?              You 11:07:37 am       Bill             Hannah 11:08:00 am       Hi, Bill. Just to confirm, are you a current SES customer with SES satellite capacity?              You 11:08:25 am       No. Just a passenger on a cruise ship             Hannah 11:09:02 am       I see, unfortunately I would be unable to assist with this, as each cruise does operate on different satellite capacities and different satellite capacities. I do sincerely apologize for this inconvenience, Bill.             You 11:09:57 am       Thanks. Perhaps Princess Cruises should be contacting you             Hannah 11:10:26 am       Yes, in that case if they are a customer, we would be better able to assist. Again, I do apologize for the limited information I am able to provide.              You 11:11:04 am       I understand. Thanks for taking the time to chat             Hannah 11:11:24 am       While I have you here on chat today, is there anything else I can help you with?             You 11:11:37 am       No               You archived the chat 11:11:48 am             Duration: 4m 53s     Chat started on: https://www.ses.com/...arch?type=satellite&q=constellation-1           E-mail from LiveChat

[billco]

52 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

It is both heart-breaking and disturbing to see so many failings of an organization that I could hardly find fault with two years ago.

Same here. Two years ago Princess seemed to cater to their demographic. Now  Princess seems determined to put a different vision into place. MedallionNet, MedallionClass, Dine my way, Rock Opera and 5Skies, etc. Who really asked for it and who mandated it. 

[MileHighAko]

15 minutes ago, billco said:

Same here. Two years ago Princess seemed to cater to their demographic. Now  Princess seems determined to put a different vision into place. MedallionNet, MedallionClass, Dine my way, Rock Opera and 5Skies, etc. Who really asked for it and who mandated it. 

I'm guessing this is all part of John Padgett's vision for Princess. He spent years at Disney, then was hired to modernize Carnival Corp's experience.  Princess, being known as the real innovator of the seas, must have made sense for his focus. With the medallion being his big signature move, now that he is President I can only assume all of these changes are part of his vision.  I'm hoping that the challenges we've been noting are just growing pains magnified by the pandemic-market problems. I feel like giving them (specifically John) a chance to fine tune and produce a truly magnificent product.

[jovisoul]

5 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I was just on the same ship (Ruby Princess) on the same route (California to Hawaii) as I was on in September 2019. On that earlier cruise, the internet was amazing, solid and fairly fast (I did speed tests and saved them). On this cruise, it kept going out, then came back, but always pretty slow. Websites and emails wouldn’t even load.  I was trying to research and purchase a flight home and it was a time consuming and scary exercise, especially when it would go out in the middle of completing the transaction. Something has changed for the worse. 

I was on the Ruby 2/25 to 3/12 and the internet was awful.

[Rick&Jeannie]

I thought it rather interesting (funny?) that Hannah could not/would not even confirm that Princess was *still* a customer!  They put out a crazy amount of hype via press releases when Princess first signed on...but now mums the word!  *IF* Princess is no longer a customer...then just MAYBE that explains the sad internet.  They may be scrambling to find a supplier that can deliver.

[azbirdmom]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:40 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

I thought it rather interesting (funny?) that Hannah could not/would not even confirm that Princess was *still* a customer!  They put out a crazy amount of hype via press releases when Princess first signed on...but now mums the word!  *IF* Princess is no longer a customer...then just MAYBE that explains the sad internet.  They may be scrambling to find a supplier that can deliver.

 

I was on the Discovery last week and was chatting with the Internet Manager about poor service that was even worse than we had ever experienced in the past, even in Alaska.  The Cruise Critic issues persist, and I was unable to retrieve personal email at all as my email service thought I was a bot.  He was able to replicate the last issue on his device and was going to report it as he hadn't seen that particular behavior for my email carrier (although he had seen other issues).  And he said that Princess isn't doing anything to block any sites like CC.  Among other things he told me that they have been with SES for at least 7 years so the provider has not changed.  I also asked about Starlink and he indicated that they don't yet have enough satellites to provide service to Princess.  He was aware of what's happening with Royal.

[Bobbiegentry]

3 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

I was on the Discovery last week and was chatting with the Internet Manager about poor service that was even worse than we had ever experienced in the past, even in Alaska.  The Cruise Critic issues persist, and I was unable to retrieve personal email at all as my email service thought I was a bot.  He was able to replicate the last issue on his device and was going to report it as he hadn't seen that particular behavior for my email carrier (although he had seen other issues).  And he said that Princess isn't doing anything to block any sites like CC.  Among other things he told me that they have been with SES for at least 7 years so the provider has not changed.  I also asked about Starlink and he indicated that they don't yet have enough satellites to provide service to Princess.  He was aware of what's happening with Royal.

Great sleuthing.  Thanks!!!

[Guest ldtr]

On 4/3/2022 at 8:36 AM, PescadoAmarillo said:

I was just on the same ship (Ruby Princess) on the same route (California to Hawaii) as I was on in September 2019. On that earlier cruise, the internet was amazing, solid and fairly fast (I did speed tests and saved them). On this cruise, it kept going out, then came back, but always pretty slow. Websites and emails wouldn’t even load.  I was trying to research and purchase a flight home and it was a time consuming and scary exercise, especially when it would go out in the middle of completing the transaction. Something has changed for the worse. 

Was just on the Ruby to Alaska.  Even when just off shore northern California the internet speed that I was getting was all of 30kbs, at 2am it got as high as 70kbs.  That speed might have been competitive in the days of dial up modems, but not for 20 years or so.

 

Certainly does not live up to

 

Luxembourg/Santa Clarita, 3 February 2020 -- Princess Cruises, a leading brand of the Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), has announced a new dimension in its connectivity partnership with SES (PAR/LuxSE: SESG) and will become the first global cruise ship fleet with early access to SES’s ground-breaking O3b mPOWER network augmenting the Princess MedallionClass™ experience as it scales across the fleet.

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

I was on the Discovery last week and was chatting with the Internet Manager about poor service that was even worse than we had ever experienced in the past, even in Alaska.  The Cruise Critic issues persist, and I was unable to retrieve personal email at all as my email service thought I was a bot.  He was able to replicate the last issue on his device and was going to report it as he hadn't seen that particular behavior for my email carrier (although he had seen other issues).  And he said that Princess isn't doing anything to block any sites like CC.  Among other things he told me that they have been with SES for at least 7 years so the provider has not changed.  I also asked about Starlink and he indicated that they don't yet have enough satellites to provide service to Princess.  He was aware of what's happening with Royal.

When I was on the Ruby talking with the Internet Manager while off the coast of CA about the very poor performance, all he could say was:

 

1. That was as good as it was going to get

2. If my other Princess cruises was better it was probably because of fewer passengers (one of  them actually had more passenger than Ruby)

3. It would be worse when we got to Alaska.

 

This was with  network test speed results of 30kbs.  With satellite one expects long latency, but not that limited of bandwidth.

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

I was on the Discovery last week and was chatting with the Internet Manager about poor service that was even worse than we had ever experienced in the past, even in Alaska.  The Cruise Critic issues persist, and I was unable to retrieve personal email at all as my email service thought I was a bot.  He was able to replicate the last issue on his device and was going to report it as he hadn't seen that particular behavior for my email carrier (although he had seen other issues).  And he said that Princess isn't doing anything to block any sites like CC.  Among other things he told me that they have been with SES for at least 7 years so the provider has not changed.  I also asked about Starlink and he indicated that they don't yet have enough satellites to provide service to Princess.  He was aware of what's happening with Royal.

Thanks for passing along the info.  However, it appears that that Internet Manager had no answer as to why the internet is so slow now compared to the past.