Ret MP Posted May 20, 2023 #276 Share Posted May 20, 2023 (edited) Someone may have posted this in this thread or another, I think I saw it somewhere before. So, excuse me of it has been posted before but I'm not going through 12+ pages and a crappy search feature. Is there a spreadsheet or something somewhere that shows the ships that have completed the Starlink upgrade/process? Edited May 20, 2023 by Ret MP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted May 20, 2023 #277 Share Posted May 20, 2023 1 hour ago, The sea calls my name said: I have a question for you related to your recent PC cruise ( which I finished reading the fabulous review yesterday). My DH and I are doing this Oct west to east sailing from San Diego to Tampa. I only use the internet for surging , texting and Facebook calling my children. after reading the issues you reported ( and having ZERO technical abilities) I am wondering if it is worth the cost for us to puchase it. We can you our 4 complimentary days. Thanks for your thoughts and for all those fabulous pictures. It has really spiked my excitment for this cruise. By October Radiance is supposed to have the WiFi infrastructure replaced or so the Voom team onboard told me. My poor internet experience on Radiance I suspect was mostly due to the poorly configured WiFi onboard and less about the satellite provider. It should be better for you if they have replaced onboard equipment by then. If you carefully manage the 4 free D+ days and if your cellular company includes cellular in Mexico you might find you don't need to buy Voom. Your itinerary looks like this: Sat 07Oct2023 San Diego, California - 4:00 PM Boarding Sun 08Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Mon 09Oct2023 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 11:00 AM - Tendered Tue 10Oct2023 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - 2:00 PM Tendered Wed 11Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Thu 12Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Fri 13Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Sat 14Oct2023 Puntarenas, Costa Rica 11:59 AM 10:00 PM Docked Sun 15Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Mon 16Oct2023 Fuerte Amador, Panama 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Tue 17Oct2023 Panama Canal, Panama 6:00 AM 6:00 PM Cruising Wed 18Oct2023 Cartagena, Colombia 10:30 AM 6:00 PM Docked Thu 19Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Fri 20Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Sat 21Oct2023 Cozumel, Mexico 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Sun 22Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Mon 23Oct2023 Tampa, Florida 6:00 AM - Departure Assuming your phone works in Cabo using cellular (if your cellular provider includes Mexico) you will be connected on days 3 and 4. If you can wait until noon on day 5 to use the first free D+ 24 hour pass you will have internet for that afternoon and the morning of day 6 until noon. Then use the 2nd free D+ 24 hour pass at noon on day 7 which will keep you connected until the ship arrives in Puntarenas at noon on day 8. Use your next D+ 24 hour plan on day 10 at noon or once back on the ship after he day in Fuerte Amador which will keep connected for half the day or more while going through the Panama Canal. Use your last free D+ 24 hour pass on day 13 at noon so you'll be connected until noon on day 14. Day 15 is Mexico so if your cellular provider includes Mexico you can use cellular. All that's left is the final sea day until your are in Tampa. I would talk with your cellular provider to inquire about coverage in Mexico and also to see if they offer international day passes that could be used on days 8, 10 & 12. Those day passes combined may be a lot less than buying Voom for 16 days. However if the cost of a full voyage Voom plan is acceptable to you I suspect it will work better for you then it did for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted May 20, 2023 #278 Share Posted May 20, 2023 1 hour ago, Ret MP said: Someone may have posted this in this thread or another, I think I saw it somewhere before. So, excuse me of it has been posted before but I'm not going through 12+ pages and a crappy search feature. Is there a spreadsheet or something somewhere that shows the ships that have completed the Starlink upgrade/process? See post #2. Spoiler alert - all Royal ships should have Starlink now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The sea calls my name Posted May 20, 2023 #279 Share Posted May 20, 2023 32 minutes ago, twangster said: By October Radiance is supposed to have the WiFi infrastructure replaced or so the Voom team onboard told me. My poor internet experience on Radiance I suspect was mostly due to the poorly configured WiFi onboard and less about the satellite provider. It should be better for you if they have replaced onboard equipment by then. If you carefully manage the 4 free D+ days and if your cellular company includes cellular in Mexico you might find you don't need to buy Voom. Your itinerary looks like this: Sat 07Oct2023 San Diego, California - 4:00 PM Boarding Sun 08Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Mon 09Oct2023 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 11:00 AM - Tendered Tue 10Oct2023 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - 2:00 PM Tendered Wed 11Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Thu 12Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Fri 13Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Sat 14Oct2023 Puntarenas, Costa Rica 11:59 AM 10:00 PM Docked Sun 15Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Mon 16Oct2023 Fuerte Amador, Panama 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Tue 17Oct2023 Panama Canal, Panama 6:00 AM 6:00 PM Cruising Wed 18Oct2023 Cartagena, Colombia 10:30 AM 6:00 PM Docked Thu 19Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Fri 20Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Sat 21Oct2023 Cozumel, Mexico 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Sun 22Oct2023 Cruising - - Cruising Mon 23Oct2023 Tampa, Florida 6:00 AM - Departure Assuming your phone works in Cabo using cellular (if your cellular provider includes Mexico) you will be connected on days 3 and 4. If you can wait until noon on day 5 to use the first free D+ 24 hour pass you will have internet for that afternoon and the morning of day 6 until noon. Then use the 2nd free D+ 24 hour pass at noon on day 7 which will keep you connected until the ship arrives in Puntarenas at noon on day 8. Use your next D+ 24 hour plan on day 10 at noon or once back on the ship after he day in Fuerte Amador which will keep connected for half the day or more while going through the Panama Canal. Use your last free D+ 24 hour pass on day 13 at noon so you'll be connected until noon on day 14. Day 15 is Mexico so if your cellular provider includes Mexico you can use cellular. All that's left is the final sea day until your are in Tampa. I would talk with your cellular provider to inquire about coverage in Mexico and also to see if they offer international day passes that could be used on days 8, 10 & 12. Those day passes combined may be a lot less than buying Voom for 16 days. However if the cost of a full voyage Voom plan is acceptable to you I suspect it will work better for you then it did for me. Thanks for the info something to give careful consideration to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ret MP Posted May 20, 2023 #280 Share Posted May 20, 2023 (edited) 41 minutes ago, twangster said: See post #2. Spoiler alert - all Royal ships should have Starlink now. Kewl, I haven't been keeping up with this thread or subject. Edited May 20, 2023 by Ret MP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ret MP Posted May 20, 2023 #281 Share Posted May 20, 2023 47 minutes ago, twangster said: See post #2. Spoiler alert - all Royal ships should have Starlink now. Last question: What the hell is X-Ray Vision? Are they issuing Dick Tracy X-Ray Vision glasses upon embarkation on certain ships, now? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted May 21, 2023 #282 Share Posted May 21, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Ret MP said: What the hell is X-Ray Vision? That used to work on a few ships pre-COVID but I think it has been disabled fleet wide. In the app if you go to a particular location on the ship, you can "see" through the walls near the bridge and can view the bridge (inside) webcam. Edited May 21, 2023 by Biker19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted May 21, 2023 #283 Share Posted May 21, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Ret MP said: Last question: What the hell is X-Ray Vision? Are they issuing Dick Tracy X-Ray Vision glasses upon embarkation on certain ships, now? LOL Only newer ships in my experience and it was flaky. One moment it worked, a minute later... nope. Edited May 21, 2023 by twangster 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ret MP Posted May 21, 2023 #284 Share Posted May 21, 2023 18 minutes ago, Biker19 said: That used to work on a few ships pre-COVID but I think it has been disabled fleet wide. In the app if you go to a particular location on the ship, you can "see" through the walls near the bridge and can view the bridge (inside) webcam. Oh ya, I remember that. I forgot that it was called X-Ray Vision. Duh! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted September 13, 2023 #285 Share Posted September 13, 2023 Looks like SES, the former provider for Royal before Starlink, is planning to blend Starlink and their own MEO satellite service into a combined offering targeting cruise ships. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/13/spacex-starlink-partners-with-ses-for-combined-cruise-market-service.html 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Kordy Posted Monday at 03:08 PM #286 Share Posted Monday at 03:08 PM Does this mean, that a ship will get a bonded connection with twice the bandwidth - combining the power of SES and Starlink into one large connection? This could break all Starlink records as it's 2 providers in 1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted Monday at 08:01 PM #287 Share Posted Monday at 08:01 PM 4 hours ago, Kordy said: Does this mean, that a ship will get a bonded connection with twice the bandwidth - combining the power of SES and Starlink into one large connection? Very unlikely. The cost of adding SES to the mix is likely not something RCI would want to pay for. There's enough BW via Starlink only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted Monday at 08:09 PM #288 Share Posted Monday at 08:09 PM 4 hours ago, Kordy said: Does this mean, that a ship will get a bonded connection with twice the bandwidth - combining the power of SES and Starlink into one large connection? This could break all Starlink records as it's 2 providers in 1... Starlink has demonstrated some pretty outstanding speeds on their commercial platform exceeding what O3b/SES could deliver on their own platform. Currently on Royal ships they operate a number of Starlink terminals and distribute guests across all of them. Radiance class tends to have eight terminals, Voyager class twelve and Oasis class eighteen terminals if I recall correctly. By distributing users across all of the independent terminals they aggregate up to some pretty impressive speeds. Unfortunately Royal chooses to apply per user speed restrictions on most ships now so a guest will never realize the full potential of Starlink, or SES/O3b for that matter. Most guests on most ships are now throttled to around 10 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up well short of what Starlink is capable of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted Monday at 08:15 PM #289 Share Posted Monday at 08:15 PM Currently on Allure. Pretty much identical to Utopia, Icon, Grandeur, Freedom, etc. all from Florida recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Kordy Posted Monday at 08:22 PM #290 Share Posted Monday at 08:22 PM 20 minutes ago, Biker19 said: Very unlikely. The cost of adding SES to the mix is likely not something RCI would want to pay for. There's enough BW via Starlink only. Looks like other cruise lines are signing up for it... see below: https://www.ses.com/press-release/virgin-voyages-powers-fastest-internet-sea-industry-first-integrated-meo-leo-service Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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