Internet on Trans Atlantic Voyage

[Pat King]

We'd like to do a TA in October on Silver Moon. Does anyone have experience with the dependability of the internet?

Sorry if this has been asked before.

Pat King

 

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, Pat King said:

Sorry if this has been asked before.

If you spent a great deal of time searching this forum for the answer you seek, but couldn’t find it, there is nothing to be sorry for.  You gave your best effort, through an investment of time, and someone here will be happy to help, I am sure of it.

[david63]

I have never donea TA with SS but have with other cruise lines and there has never been a problem with Internet connection whilst crossing the Atlantic.

 

Bearing in mind that all ships use satellite communication there is no better place to be than in a wide open space with nothing to block the signal.

[Pat King]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

I have never donea TA with SS but have with other cruise lines and there has never been a problem with Internet connection whilst crossing the Atlantic

I asked because our last TA on Sky Princess had little, or no, internet.

[jollyjones]

 

I have done a number of crossings on SS, most recently in March on the Spirit, and I don't recall there being any difference in the internet reliability, availability or speed in mid ocean versus nearer land.

 

It's of course, all slow. On SS the basic (included for all suites) internet is about 0.6 - 1 mbps and that's for one device, and some heavy bandwidth sites are blocked (like youtube, I think).

The upgraded internet is about 2.5 - 2.8 mbps on a good day, that's for up to four devices, at about $20 per day if you take the whole voyage package, more like $30 per 24 hours if you buy it by the day. It's an included benefit with a silver suite.

 

[smilin jack]

Pat King....have you booked the TA on the Moon?  We are on that cruise.

[mw8811]

I've never had problems on a TA other than the normal slow speed which you get used to after a few days and on one occasion that was on a northerly course via Iceland and Greenland.

I've actually had more problems while being in a port at various locations in the world.

[unfathomable]

Mostly reliable on a TA. If there’s an equipment problem, you might have no access until the ship reaches tech help. But the high/low latitudes are more usually where you can expect problems routinely. 

[Dolcevita Diva]

This won't be in place in time for your cruise in October, but Royal Caribbean has just announced that they will be deploying SpaceX's Starlink internet on RCL, Celebrity and Silversea ships. Installation is expected to be complete by the end of Q1 2023.

[cruiseej]

55 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

This won't be in place in time for your cruise in October, but Royal Caribbean has just announced that they will be deploying SpaceX's Starlink internet on RCL, Celebrity and Silversea ships. Installation is expected to be complete by the end of Q1 2023.

 

This sounds like great news; I guess we'll all need to wait to see how we'll it works in practice. Connected to the low-earth orbiting Starlink satellites should provide much faster Internet traffic, but I suppose it depends how much bandwidth — how big a pipe — they will purchase. 

 

(News story link here.)

 

I hope Silversea will put out a press release announcing when the various ships are getting this technology.

Edited August 30, 2022 by cruiseej
Added link to news story

[A Tucson Guy]

This should be a very welcome treat!! Bring it on.