Internet on Riviera

[tubmon]

Does the basic included wi-fi have enough bandwidth to participate in a Zoom call? Also, are the staterooms equipped with USB charging ports? Thanks!

[pinotlover]

You don’t understand wifi on Oceania. One can easily go two to three days without any wifi, period.

 

If you must do a Zoom meeting, schedule it when at port during the day. During high volume usage times, it is highly unlikely you’ll be able to maintain a connection.

[davencl]

The bandwidth is not high enough for a zoom call.  It's very slow and spotty.   I.E. can be slower than dialup if enough people are online at the same time.

Our room on Riviera did have USB charging ports.

Edited September 28, 2022 by davencl

[pete_coach]

Isn't there different levels of internet onboard??  The free internet is spotty but you can upgrade I think.

https://fr.oceaniacruises.com/value/internet/

[Aloha 1]

Same pipeline, same results. Don't waste your money. The world has changed and high speed internet is now not just a luxury but a necessity. O needs to talk to Musk and get on board with Starlink.

[1985rz1]

On 9/28/2022 at 7:59 AM, pete_coach said:

Isn't there different levels of internet onboard??  The free internet is spotty but you can upgrade I think.

https://fr.oceaniacruises.com/value/internet/

Upgrade has the same bandwidth as the free connection.  The only difference is they open the streaming ports for access.

[pete_coach]

10 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

Upgrade has the same bandwidth as the free connection.  The only difference is they open the streaming ports for access.

Isn't opening streaming mean getting a greater bandwidth and faster speed?

[PhD-iva]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

Isn't opening streaming mean getting a greater bandwidth and faster speed?

No, and that means it still s🤔cks.

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

Isn't opening streaming mean getting a greater bandwidth and faster speed?

You would think so, but that's not what O does.  O simply unblocks access to streaming ports,but does not increase bandwidth or speed.  

[Vienna_57]

Brace yourself:

1) Regular level ("free") WiFi: Very spotty, pages load forever or you get just stuck.

2) Prime account ($10ish/day): Without VPN, marginally faster, some advertising videos now load in grainy resolution. 

3) Prime account with VPN: A little faster, less outright stoppages. 

In this configuration I was able to upload a (gasp) 2MB picture onto my blog in less than 2 minutes after 22:00. 

 

Number of devices allowed on Wifi at the same time: Even with the  $10/day plan, its 1. In other words, you can't just message your partner about your whereabouts on the large ship if you need to. 

 

Curious if there is a trick to get reliable texting between partners sharing one state room without extra costs. Anyone? 

 

Switching between phone and computer: Very clunky manual process. Shows you error messages instead of just stating press here to release the other device. 

 

Overall experience: If this is your first Oceania cruise, understand that the graphical user interface is not intuitive. Please go up near the library, and find the internet liaison person.  He or she is very helpful setting you up for the first time. 

 

Here a word to the Oceania moderator: Why is the overall experience so bandwidth limited? There are 12 (twelve!) Starlink antennas pointing to the sky near the library. The best 5TB mobile priority plan is less than $5k/month for one system.

Are you on that plan for all 12 Starling systems you have?

The overall cruise ship experience is wonderful. Your staff provides impeccable service in all classes.

Your clients expect the same for the internet experience that we all are accustomed to (and can be had IMHO). Tell me if I am wrong. 

 

Thank you for your time reading this post and your consideration. 

 

Best 

 

(On my third, and hopefully not last, Oceania cruise) 

 

[EJL2023]

Not sure I understand the only one device allowed on WIFI at the same time. We were on Sirena last month (no Starlink) but we had two devices on WiFi at the same time quite often. 

[durberville]

Yes I don’t understand the 1 connection per stateroom. I think that issue is resolved with Simply More. 

[EJL2023]

1 minute ago, durberville said:

Yes I don’t understand the 1 connection per stateroom. I think that issue is resolved with Simply More. 

I believe it actually changed on 10/1/23 regardless if you were booked under SM or not.  

[AMHuntFerry]

3 hours ago, Vienna_57 said:

Here a word to the Oceania moderator: Why is the overall experience so bandwidth limited? There are 12 (twelve!) Starlink antennas pointing to the sky near the library. The best 5TB mobile priority plan is less than $5k/month for one system.

Are you on that plan for all 12 Starling systems you have?

The overall cruise ship experience is wonderful. Your staff provides impeccable service in all classes.

Your clients expect the same for the internet experience that we all are accustomed to (and can be had IMHO). Tell me if I am wrong. 

 

Thank you for your time reading this post and your consideration.

 

It is doubtful that this message will be seen by anyone at O. Your best bet is the mid-cruise or end-of-cruise survey. You can also write to the powers that be in Miami.

 

P.S. Go back to the internet guru. You have two logins per stateroom, but each login can only be on one device at a time so you should be able to text if you are on a text-capable device.

Edited March 29 by AMHuntFerry

[PhD-iva]

Also, with phone in airplane mode and wifi-calling enabled, you “should” be able to text each other…….?

[davencl]

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

Also, with phone in airplane mode and wifi-calling enabled, you “should” be able to text each other…….?

That might work if you phone has wifi-calling as a feature and it's enabled.   Texting is generally cell based(at least with my Verizon plan).

Edited March 29 by davencl

[Snaefell3]

3 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Also, with phone in airplane mode and wifi-calling enabled, you “should” be able to text each other…….?

"Should", but didn't work that way for us March 16-27.  Might depend upon which cellphone provider you have.  Spam calls rang through just fine. 🙄  And were timed based upon our home timezone, not where we were. 😒

[Fam_Cruise]

On Vista right now in the middle of Atlantic and WiFi calling and texting works great. Talked with my boss for about 10 minutes yesterday and SIL for the same yesterday evening, and various calls the previous days. Airplane mode ON with WiFi and Bluetooth ON and WiFi calling ENABLED. Internet is excellent compared to previous cruises pre-Starlink, and all day long on all 3 sea days, so far. FWIW, provider is T-Mobile, but that shouldn't matter. Although I have neighbors who have Verizon and their WiFi calling doesn't seem to work that well from their home as they tend to break up quite a bit when I call them from next door.

 

I'm surprised Riviera Starlink WiFi isn't the same; perhaps new installation/growing pains.

[AMHuntFerry]

7 hours ago, Fam_Cruise said:

 FWIW, provider is T-Mobile, but that shouldn't matter. Although I have neighbors who have Verizon and their WiFi calling doesn't seem to work that well from their home as they tend to break up quite a bit when I call them from next door.

 

We had no problems with Wifi calling/texting using a pay-as-you-go phone that uses the Verizon network via Regatta's Wifi last September (and before).