Transatlantic WIFI Service?

[N 2 Sun]

I am considering our first Transatlantic cruise next spring. My husband, however, will only agree to it if the WIFI service is good and reliable. 
 

The two ships we are considering are the Nieuw Statendam and the Oosterdam. 
 

Does anyone have experience with WIFI on either of these ships?  If so, any tips?
 

Because we usually take port intensive cruises, we have never needed or purchased an Internet package. Is there a package that is most recommended for transatlantic sailings?

 

Thank you,

Marilyn

[CruiserBruce]

While things have definitely improved over the years, reliability have never been a strong point. There is always the possibility of dead spots or other loss of service. If good and reliable is your key criteria,  you probably won't be cruising soon. It's just not fully guaranteed. 

 

[boze9999]

We have sailed many HAL cruises and many TA's. Internet is important to me for business reasons. If internet is important to you, I would advise upgrading to the Premium package. Secondly, a lot depends on your room location as it relates to the routers. We are always fortunate to be near good routers. Many of the public areas of the ship are also very close to excellent routers. Bear in mind that stormy conditions can sometimes interrupt reception. Finally, sea days during the day tend to be slower as everyone hops on their wifi. If you have heavy internet things to do, best to do them later in the day/night or early morning. 

[Mary229]

I had the premium package on a recent TA.  if he wants it for business or streaming he will not be satisfied with the 6 day crossing when at sea. Once in Europe it will be as good as any shared connection.  Shared connections will never be what you get at home.  I agree, if it is important, I get up early in the morning to nab a better signal.

[JennysUncle]

We were on the Nieuw Statendam transatlantic this past April.  The Surf Package internet was fine for email and the occasional Google search and website browsing.  I would not count on it for streaming, even on the Premium package - the satellite links simply don't have enough bandwidth.

[Hlitner]

"Good and Reliable" Internet service does not exist on any TA or TP cruise.  On Evnearly all of our TAs (and we have been on dozens with multiple cruise lines) the Internet is hit or miss and will often vary day by day.  Even the best systems (which apparently does not exist on HAL) Internet is dependent on Satellite location and atmospheric conditions.   It is interesting that at least on other cruise line is in negotiations to utilize "Starlink" which is an entirely different service (with its own satellites) owned by Elon Musk.  Apparently, his system is much more reliable although there are regulatory issues that must be overcome.   We have been cruising for over 45 years and watched as onboard communications have gradually improved to a point where we no longer need to rely on phone booths that used to be located on nearly all cruise piers.  But "reliable" is still not a word in the vocabulary of onboard Internet junkies.

 

Hank

[drowelf]

On 6/23/2022 at 9:24 AM, JennysUncle said:

I would not count on it for streaming, even on the Premium package - the satellite links simply don't have enough bandwidth.

And its really even more restrictive for the passengers. The total bandwidth available has to be split at least 3 ways. Shipboard needs, crew needs, passenger needs. The passengers get the smallest percentage of the total available bandwidth. 

[firsttimer1971]

1 hour ago, drowelf said:

 The passengers get the smallest percentage of the total available bandwidth. 

Really? I have read a number of articles in the past of crew complaining about the WiFi they get, slow connections and only available for free late at night till early morning. So I would think it is the crew who gets the smallest percentage of total available bandwidth.

[N 2 Sun]

I’m a bit late in responding to everyone’s helpful and wonderful information…..I got distracted from cruise planning for a bit. But please know I deeply appreciate your input. 
 

My husband is still worried about being bored on that many sea days but knowing there should be WiFi at least some times of the day and in some places on the ship is most helpful to him. The idea of three great meals per day being cooked for us by others is also tipping him in favor of the Atlantic crossing!

 

Thank you all for the great input. 
 

Marilyn

[vicd1969]

Not sure if it will matter for your husband, but I believe there is a firewall for VPNs and so he wouldn't be able to use one to log in to his work network. WiFi is good enough to send photos and read most websites. I don't think Netflix would however work well most of the time, maybe late in the evening. Ironically, the ship internet is usually down when docked, which shouldn't be much of an issue on a Transatlantic.

[happyglobetrotter]

Generally speaking, the WIFI connection is much better crossing the Atlantic than crossing the Pacific ocean. Last March, on our way to Hawaii, we lost service for almost 3 full days, both ways.  

 

 

[boze9999]

5 hours ago, vicd1969 said:

Not sure if it will matter for your husband, but I believe there is a firewall for VPNs and so he wouldn't be able to use one to log in to his work network. WiFi is good enough to send photos and read most websites. I don't think Netflix would however work well most of the time, maybe late in the evening. Ironically, the ship internet is usually down when docked, which shouldn't be much of an issue on a Transatlantic.

I am a heavy internet user both on the water and in port and we have sailed more than a lot on HAL. Other than some places like Alaska where you have towering granite walls interfering with the internet signals, I have not struggled with wifi when in port. In fact, it frequently is better because most of the guests are off the ship and not using wifi! Just my experience for what it's worth. 

[ddavid1073]

Thanks all!  I just booked a repositioning cruise on the Oosterdam in April 23 from Ft Lauderdale to Rome.  We took a Western Caribbean cruise on the Rotterdam in 2019 and found the WIFI available was very good for a cruise ship (3 - 5 meg downloads most of the time).  I was concerned about a transatlantic crossing.  It doesn't have to be perfect but I'm hopeful it will be of the same quality as we had on the Rotterdam. 

[SamSherman]

On 7/16/2022 at 6:10 PM, ddavid1073 said:

Thanks all!  I just booked a repositioning cruise on the Oosterdam in April 23 from Ft Lauderdale to Rome.  We took a Western Caribbean cruise on the Rotterdam in 2019 and found the WIFI available was very good for a cruise ship (3 - 5 meg downloads most of the time).  I was concerned about a transatlantic crossing.  It doesn't have to be perfect but I'm hopeful it will be of the same quality as we had on the Rotterdam. 

David, how did you find the Internet across the Atlantic on the Oosterdam?  I was looking at doing a TA, but will have to have Internet access, so would like to know your experience?

[FlaMariner]

FWIW, we were on the Sky Princess TA in March 2022.

 

The internet was non-existent....from what other pax kept saying.  No first hand experience.  It was quite traumatic for many.

 

Princess refunded everyone's internet charges.  

 

My advice would be to prepare for the worst (no internet) and if it works, all the better.

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

FWIW, we were on the Sky Princess TA in March 2022.

 

The internet was non-existent....from what other pax kept saying.  No first hand experience.  It was quite traumatic for many.

 

Princess refunded everyone's internet charges.  

 

My advice would be to prepare for the worst (no internet) and if it works, all the better.

 

 

 

Don't count on internet being good 24/7. I've had good luck on crossings on QM2. I'm not online a lot, but I check email and occasionally go online to look something up. Ironically, when we were close to land last fall on a Canada/New England, QM2's internet was so bad that they were refunding when people complained. 

[bigbeergut]

I just got off an extended cruise on the Rotterdam in the Caribbean.  I was surprised how well the WIFI worked in that region.  However the one limitation for me was that I was never able to get my Verizon WIFI calling to work. Facetime worked fine, but I was not able to make a WIFI call.  Perhaps it was me, but i suspect the Verizon WIFI calling was blocked.  This would be a major limitation for me if I was trying to conduct business.

[VMax1700]

2 hours ago, bigbeergut said:

I just got off an extended cruise on the Rotterdam in the Caribbean.  I was surprised how well the WIFI worked in that region.  However the one limitation for me was that I was never able to get my Verizon WIFI calling to work. Facetime worked fine, but I was not able to make a WIFI call.  Perhaps it was me, but i suspect the Verizon WIFI calling was blocked.  This would be a major limitation for me if I was trying to conduct business.

Did you have the Premium level?  I have found that wifi calling only works with the premium level internet package.

[*Miss G*]

Verizon has an agreement with the HAL cruise line who have an agreement with Cellular at Sea.  Things which may affect availability are the type of service plan you have and your device.  Roaming needs to be enabled.

 

Editing to add that my experience with connectivity on a HAL TA was fine, but I am not one to be tied to the internet so others may have had a different experience.  I expect it to improve with the rollout of the new service.

Edited March 1, 2023 by *Miss G*

[fsufancc]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:23 AM, FlaMariner said:

FWIW, we were on the Sky Princess TA in March 2022.

 

The internet was non-existent....from what other pax kept saying.  No first hand experience.  It was quite traumatic for many.

No internet would be a huge mess for me.  I have some VRBO/Airbnb rentals that I need to monitor daily.  I think that StarLink is going to be fitted on most of the CCL ships soon.  See the article below.

 

What Is Starlink and Which Cruise Ships Use Starlink Internet | Cruise Critic

[bigbeergut]

4 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Did you have the Premium level?  I have found that wifi calling only works with the premium level internet package.

 

I had the Premium package.

[bigbeergut]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Verizon has an agreement with the HAL cruise line who have an agreement with Cellular at Sea.  Things which may affect availability are the type of service plan you have and your device.  Roaming needs to be enabled.

 

Editing to add that my experience with connectivity on a HAL TA was fine, but I am not one to be tied to the internet so others may have had a different experience.  I expect it to improve with the rollout of the new service.

 

idk about any agreements.  FWIW. I did have roaming enabled and still no luck.  I didn't have any problems on Royal or Celebrity.