Wifi moving to Starlink

[Bobbiegentry]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

If people would stop downloading movies and insane stuff like that perhaps the Internet connection wouldn't seem so incredibly slow. Why do so many people "need" to download movies, television shows, and crap like that? (If they really think they "need" this stuff why don't they download it at home before the cruise?) Why do so many people seem to "need" to do video calls? If people legitimately need to work that is one thing. I they just want to bog everything down with unnecessary jive why don't they just stay at home? It's a cruise. Get away from all of that jive and enjoy the cruise.

You told them!!!

[CapnCrews]

9 hours ago, Thrak said:

If people would stop downloading movies and insane stuff like that perhaps the Internet connection wouldn't seem so incredibly slow. Why do so many people "need" to download movies, television shows, and crap like that? (If they really think they "need" this stuff why don't they download it at home before the cruise?) Why do so many people seem to "need" to do video calls? If people legitimately need to work that is one thing. I they just want to bog everything down with unnecessary jive why don't they just stay at home? It's a cruise. Get away from all of that jive and enjoy the cruise.

This reminds me of that TV commercial with the couple complaining because the pack of old ladies are outside using up all the bandwidth downloading music and dancing on the sidewalk.

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

54 minutes ago, CapnCrews said:

This reminds me of that TV commercial with the couple complaining because the pack of old ladies are outside using up all the bandwidth downloading music and dancing on the sidewalk.

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, CapnCrews said:

This reminds me of that TV commercial with the couple complaining because the pack of old ladies are outside using up all the bandwidth downloading music and dancing on the sidewalk.

 

What part of the country did that air ?

[RedIguana]

17 hours ago, jeromep said:

It has only been within the past 3 to 6 months that Starlink has opened up to mobile users, basically RVers.

 

17 hours ago, jeromep said:

I can't help but wonder if an on-board Starlink system can handle the Internet needs of 3000+ users all at once?

 

11 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

 My casual guess is that Carnival and Starlink will target delivering 1-2gbps per ship with four terminals as a starting point. 

Starlink has been active on at least some RCL ships since last fall. There have been some pretty impressive latency's and bandwidth at time. I haven't checked to see if they have finished the rollout, but it should be close. I believe most ships have between 8 and 12 antennae/terminals. Feel free to correct me on this next point, as my google foo has not been real strong comparing current O3B to starlink, but it appears a single starlink terminal (200-400 mBPS?) has as much or more bandwidth as the current O3B bandwidth being delivered (200 Mbps). I suspect the real challenge to upgrading to starlink is the internal switching and wifi ponts. 

 

On that note, does anyone know if Princess has hardwired ethernet ports that function useing your onboard internet plan in the cabins?

[Roberto256]

13 hours ago, Thrak said:

If people would stop downloading movies and insane stuff like that perhaps the Internet connection wouldn't seem so incredibly slow. Why do so many people "need" to download movies, television shows, and crap like that? (If they really think they "need" this stuff why don't they download it at home before the cruise?) Why do so many people seem to "need" to do video calls?

 

The nice part of people downloading (and presumably) viewing videos is that ... they are not in a public space taking up seats in the show lounge, vines, crooners, etc.

 

Good for everyone else!

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

What part of the country did that air ?

I *think* it's from a Progressive Insurance commercial...not sure.

[VibeGuy]

The wired Ethernet is not customer accessible. 
 

O3B is technically capable of delivering well in excess of 200mbps at the ship , but they are oversubscribed by a substantial amount and are both rate limiting and dropping packets.   They have the same capability as Starlink to aim multiple spot beams at the same

geography or share beams between low-demand areas but they just don’t have enough total bandwidth for what they’ve sold.  Their larger, power hungrier terminal hardware also has higher capacity than starling. My vague recollection is that mpower is targeting around a gigabit per terminal in maritime applications and ships can use multiple terminals.  
 

The current-gen Starlink maritime product is getting less than 200mbps per antenna, but my hunch is that they’re going to use the guts of the aviation product for future installs, which gets them to gbps+ without using quite so many terminals.  The terminals aren’t exactly cheap but the cost of installing anything with a cable on a ship is breathtaking, so it behooves the line to plan for such. 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 hours ago, RedIguana said:

On that note, does anyone know if Princess has hardwired ethernet ports that function useing your onboard internet plan in the cabins?

Cannot say for sure...but the best chance of this happening would be in the Internet Cafe.  They may not allow direct connection, however.

[Thrak]

10 hours ago, billco said:

I kind of like the idea of the cruise line providing the resources to the best of its ability so that each person can enjoy their cruise in their own way without negatively impacting others. In other words, if people want to download movies or other uses of the internet I support increasing capacity vice telling them how to enjoy their cruise.

 

I agree that they "should" make adequate bandwidth available for anything but, as long as it isn't available, I still think movies and such should be downloaded on land rather than over the ships crummy Internet connection.

[MustangGT]

On 2/10/2023 at 12:42 AM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

More reasons NOT to cruise Princess' MEGA ships.  Princess should think about designing smaller ships.  I know, I know, I know...in my dreams.  Hey, let's call the next class of ship:  Dream Ships.  Less than 2000 passengers, Window Suites on Fiesta Deck, no class distinctions, Alfredo's, an International Cafe, walk around Promenade Deck, and a no smoking casino.

 

My apologies.  I just connected the thoughts:  holding Princess accountable for "Best Wifi at Sea".  Now back to regular programming.

I would book it in a heartbeat!!!
Our favorite ship was Pacific Princess. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, MustangGT said:

Our favorite ship was Pacific Princess. 

Same here!  We were on the first leg of her last voyage (Panama Canal) before pandemic and she got recalled from the World Cruise.  Then...they sold her to Azamara.  It's still available to cruise (Azamara Onward) but it's at least twice the price now!  

[Willwils]

Hoping Princess gets the WiFi and hopefully Starlink, etc fixed in time for my Jan'24 Emerald cruise through Panama  Canal. On our Majestic in Alaska last summer the Medalion & WiFi was very spotty, intermittent and slow. I mainly want for email, wifi calling, checking weather and travel sites on internet. Absolutely  no need for streaming movies. 

[snoozecrooze]

8 minutes ago, Willwils said:

Hoping Princess gets the WiFi and hopefully Starlink, etc fixed

This thread is pretty dormant now. Follow the attached thread for updated Starlink data: 

[Willwils]

1 minute ago, snoozecrooze said:

This thread is pretty dormant now. Follow the attached thread for updated Starlink data: 

Thanks for the updates