How does Princess get away with boasting "Best WiFi at Sea"?

[Mini BMG]

I've been on two Princess transatlantic cruises, about to go on my third. "Best WiFi at Sea" simply isn't true. Ok, maybe the internet is great close to land, but it sure isn't on transatlantic crossing. And before someone says "when crossing the Atlantic, you shouldn't expect internet b/c of satellite issues", I assure you I've taken transatlantic cruises on other cruise lines and had screaming internet, even 10-12 years ago.

Over promising and under performing is not good policy for businesses. 

I bring this up because I will be working while cruising, and due to the anticipation of lousy internet, I have to let colleagues know I won't be able to Zoom or reply to emails in a timely manner. It's OK, I'll deal with it, but I don't like Princess boasting "best wifi at Sea" when it's not true.

And I'm not happy paying $40 for bad internet. I have 2-step verification for most of the websites I visit, so have to buy the 4 device internet.

Below is what Princess has on the website:

 

MedallionNet®
The Best Wi-Fi at Sea

Fast. Reliable. Unlimited. Affordable. Now on all ships.

Wi-Fi Wherever You Are

Access the internet everywhere on board so you can text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease. Read on to learn just how revolutionary MedallionNet Wi-Fi is and how popular it is with our guests.

Fast and Reliable Internet

MedallionNet Wi-Fi sets the industry standard for internet at sea. FaceTime your pooch in the morning. Stream your favorite shows by the pool in the afternoon. Post your Chocolate Journeys dessert from your dinner table. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, you can now stay connected with Wi-Fi coverage as you sail.

By clicking select links below, you will leave the Princess Cruises website and navigate to a 3rd party website that is not owned, operated, or controlled by Princess Cruises or any of its affiliates.

What Our Guests Are Saying About MedallionNet Wi-Fi

"I was so incredibly impressed with how well the internet worked and how fast it was too! It was so convenient to use and ended up being really cost effective too." – Lauren V. from Vandifair

"With the rollout of MedallionNet, Princess Cruises is completely changing the game for internet at sea – with blazing fast speeds – and it is now much more affordable." – Courtney O. from Sweet C's

"Knowing we could access and successfully respond to any pressing work stuff was probably the greatest benefit of all…we wouldn’t be leaving colleagues in the lurch or incurring the wrath of overworked bosses." – from the Kerrie B. blog

"I barely noticed a difference from my home internet…and knowing that I was going to have the internet at sea is probably what made me feel so comfortable leaving [my daughter] for the first time when she was just 6 months old." – Rebecca H. from Sugar & Soul

 

Am I the only one who feels this way?

[Steelers36]

Of course those old marketing quotes are from when the MedallionNet was first rolled out.  I am sure reviewers gushed over the first Model T when it hit the streets.  I suppose you could try filing a false advertising claim report.

[beg3yrs]

36 minutes ago, Mini BMG said:

....

Am I the only one who feels this way?

Nope, you have lots of company feeling this way, including yours truly!

Coming off the last cruise this was my main complaint in the post-cruise survey.

I really don't know why some attorney hasn't started a class action lawsuit. Of course it's big bucks for the attorney and the class members don't get much. But, maybe it would force Princess to stop lying or at least fix their Internet.

[billco]

Since the time Princess started using that fastest internet at sea marketing slogan we have taken transatlantic cruises to and from Southampton/Fort Lauderdale, Northern Europe, and Iceland/Norway where we received compensation for slow internet based on the argument of northern latitude. Also, accepted that argument on a recent Alaska cruise. But, now we are sailing on the new Discovery Princess on Mexican Riviera and West Coast cruises with equally slow internet. We also have recently sailed on an Alaska cruise and a Panama Canal cruise on NCL with slightly faster internet than what we have experienced on Princess. So, how Princess can keep making that claim is beyond me.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Mini BMG said:

I've been on two Princess transatlantic cruises, about to go on my third. "Best WiFi at Sea" simply isn't true. Ok, maybe the internet is great close to land, but it sure isn't on transatlantic crossing. And before someone says "when crossing the Atlantic, you shouldn't expect internet b/c of satellite issues", I assure you I've taken transatlantic cruises on other cruise lines and had screaming internet, even 10-12 years ago.

Over promising and under performing is not good policy for businesses. 

I bring this up because I will be working while cruising, and due to the anticipation of lousy internet, I have to let colleagues know I won't be able to Zoom or reply to emails in a timely manner. It's OK, I'll deal with it, but I don't like Princess boasting "best wifi at Sea" when it's not true.

And I'm not happy paying $40 for bad internet. I have 2-step verification for most of the websites I visit, so have to buy the 4 device internet.

Below is what Princess has on the website:

 

MedallionNet®
The Best Wi-Fi at Sea

Fast. Reliable. Unlimited. Affordable. Now on all ships.

Wi-Fi Wherever You Are

Access the internet everywhere on board so you can text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease. Read on to learn just how revolutionary MedallionNet Wi-Fi is and how popular it is with our guests.

Fast and Reliable Internet

MedallionNet Wi-Fi sets the industry standard for internet at sea. FaceTime your pooch in the morning. Stream your favorite shows by the pool in the afternoon. Post your Chocolate Journeys dessert from your dinner table. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, you can now stay connected with Wi-Fi coverage as you sail.

By clicking select links below, you will leave the Princess Cruises website and navigate to a 3rd party website that is not owned, operated, or controlled by Princess Cruises or any of its affiliates.

What Our Guests Are Saying About MedallionNet Wi-Fi

"I was so incredibly impressed with how well the internet worked and how fast it was too! It was so convenient to use and ended up being really cost effective too." – Lauren V. from Vandifair

"With the rollout of MedallionNet, Princess Cruises is completely changing the game for internet at sea – with blazing fast speeds – and it is now much more affordable." – Courtney O. from Sweet C's

"Knowing we could access and successfully respond to any pressing work stuff was probably the greatest benefit of all…we wouldn’t be leaving colleagues in the lurch or incurring the wrath of overworked bosses." – from the Kerrie B. blog

"I barely noticed a difference from my home internet…and knowing that I was going to have the internet at sea is probably what made me feel so comfortable leaving [my daughter] for the first time when she was just 6 months old." – Rebecca H. from Sugar & Soul

 

Am I the only one who feels this way?

How old is this article? They no longer say this.

[TN-Mountains]

1 hour ago, Mini BMG said:

I've been on two Princess transatlantic cruises, about to go on my third. "Best WiFi at Sea" simply isn't true. Ok, maybe the internet is great close to land, but it sure isn't on transatlantic crossing. And before someone says "when crossing the Atlantic, you shouldn't expect internet b/c of satellite issues", I assure you I've taken transatlantic cruises on other cruise lines and had screaming internet, even 10-12 years ago.

Over promising and under performing is not good policy for businesses. 

I bring this up because I will be working while cruising, and due to the anticipation of lousy internet, I have to let colleagues know I won't be able to Zoom or reply to emails in a timely manner. It's OK, I'll deal with it, but I don't like Princess boasting "best wifi at Sea" when it's not true.

And I'm not happy paying $40 for bad internet. I have 2-step verification for most of the websites I visit, so have to buy the 4 device internet.

Below is what Princess has on the website:

 

MedallionNet®
The Best Wi-Fi at Sea

Fast. Reliable. Unlimited. Affordable. Now on all ships.

Wi-Fi Wherever You Are

Access the internet everywhere on board so you can text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease. Read on to learn just how revolutionary MedallionNet Wi-Fi is and how popular it is with our guests.

Fast and Reliable Internet

MedallionNet Wi-Fi sets the industry standard for internet at sea. FaceTime your pooch in the morning. Stream your favorite shows by the pool in the afternoon. Post your Chocolate Journeys dessert from your dinner table. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, you can now stay connected with Wi-Fi coverage as you sail.

By clicking select links below, you will leave the Princess Cruises website and navigate to a 3rd party website that is not owned, operated, or controlled by Princess Cruises or any of its affiliates.

What Our Guests Are Saying About MedallionNet Wi-Fi

"I was so incredibly impressed with how well the internet worked and how fast it was too! It was so convenient to use and ended up being really cost effective too." – Lauren V. from Vandifair

"With the rollout of MedallionNet, Princess Cruises is completely changing the game for internet at sea – with blazing fast speeds – and it is now much more affordable." – Courtney O. from Sweet C's

"Knowing we could access and successfully respond to any pressing work stuff was probably the greatest benefit of all…we wouldn’t be leaving colleagues in the lurch or incurring the wrath of overworked bosses." – from the Kerrie B. blog

"I barely noticed a difference from my home internet…and knowing that I was going to have the internet at sea is probably what made me feel so comfortable leaving [my daughter] for the first time when she was just 6 months old." – Rebecca H. from Sugar & Soul

 

Am I the only one who feels this way?

I haven't cruised in almost 15 years, so I can't comment on how fast things are now, but they were crazy slow back in the day.  I've been debating purchasing the wifi on an upcoming cruise in June.  The thought of paying a premium for bad internet does not sit well with me.  I have only been looking at single-device packages (preferably a single day if they have it onboard).  I had not thought about the 2-step verification on some websites, that is something else I need to consider.  Thank you for pointing this out.

[CapnCrews]

Unless you are comparing the quality of other cruiselines, and making the case that Medallionnet is poorer in quality than another, then your complaint is rhetorical.

 

Are there cruiseliness that are better than Princess?  I haven't seen any evidence of that.  I've cruised Princess, Royal and NCL.

Are there points on the globe where NO cruiseline can provide uninterrupted broadband capability?  Yes.

So just taking a few cruises and complaining that you ocassionally lost connection or had a slow connect is not the way to make the argument that Princess is somehow falsely inflating their net quality.

[Mini BMG]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

How old is this article? They no longer say this.

I pulled the words off the Princess website this morning, February 23, 2023. So, how old? Those boasts are current and available for anyone to see today.

 

[Mini BMG]

39 minutes ago, CapnCrews said:

Unless you are comparing the quality of other cruiselines, and making the case that Medallionnet is poorer in quality than another, then your complaint is rhetorical.

 

Are there cruiseliness that are better than Princess?  I haven't seen any evidence of that.  I've cruised Princess, Royal and NCL.

Are there points on the globe where NO cruiseline can provide uninterrupted broadband capability?  Yes.

So just taking a few cruises and complaining that you ocassionally lost connection or had a slow connect is not the way to make the argument that Princess is somehow falsely inflating their net quality.

 

Yes, cruising in Antarctica, cruising near Easter Island, you're not going to pull a signal. We're not talking about that.

 

No other Cruise line boasts "Wi-Fi Wherever You Are" "Best Wifi at Sea" - for a good reason. 

 

Yeah, a trip to the front desk will result in a full internet refund, but that's not the point. The point is Princess shouldn't fib about their wifi capabilities.

[Mike45LC]

“Best” is not a measurable quantity and is considered mere puffery, not legally actionable.  So Princess can falsely claim to be “best”.

[Hlitner]

We have done many TAs (measured in the dozens) and best Internet we had was on the QM2.  Princess has been hit/miss.  I think Internet connections have suffered, in recent years, as more folks now use devices.  Shipboard Internet speeds are based on many factors including atmospheric conditions, the amount of bandwidth purchased by the ship, how much of that bandwidth is allocated to the passengers, how many folks are using the Internet at the same time, location of the vessel, etc.

 

Many are now wondering if the new Starlink system (developed by Elon Musk) will ultimately give us all better Internet at sea.  That remains to be seen.

 

Hank

[govanguy]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We have done many TAs (measured in the dozens) and best Internet we had was on the QM2.  Princess has been hit/miss.  I think Internet connections have suffered, in recent years, as more folks now use devices.  Shipboard Internet speeds are based on many factors including atmospheric conditions, the amount of bandwidth purchased by the ship, how much of that bandwidth is allocated to the passengers, how many folks are using the Internet at the same time, location of the vessel, etc.

 

Many are now wondering if the new Starlink system (developed by Elon Musk) will ultimately give us all better Internet at sea.  That remains to be seen.

 

Hank

Here's a recent speedtest on Celebrity Silhouette taken 3 weeks ago. 

Very disappointing Starlink

[MissP22]

You can fool some of the people some of time. 

The only problem is they're building a bad reputation that will follow them for years, even after they convert to Starlink.

[ericosmith]

Let's be a little careful here.  They may in fact have the best wifi.  It was reliable and fast.  That doesn't mean they have the best internet.  They seem to mention both interchangeably when in fact they are two separate things.  Wifi connects your device to the system.  Order drinks, look at menus, locate shipmates, etc.  That always seems to work just fine.  It's their internet that sucks.  They may in fact have the best wifi and the worst internet.  

[cr8tiv1]

10 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

“Best” is not a measurable quantity and is considered mere puffery, not legally actionable.  So Princess can falsely claim to be “best”.

 

If I am not mistaken, there was a "Be Best" campaign not to long ago.  

[caribill]

12 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

“Best” is not a measurable quantity and is considered mere puffery, not legally actionable.  So Princess can falsely claim to be “best”.

 

True, but promising you can stream what you want when you want is not puffery....and not possible in many cases on Princess.

 

MedallionNet®

The Best Wi-Fi at Sea

Fast. Reliable. Unlimited. Affordable. Now on all ships.

Access the internet everywhere on board so you can text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease.

 

Fast and Reliable Internet

MedallionNet Wi-Fi sets the industry standard for internet at sea. FaceTime your pooch in the morning. Stream your favorite shows by the pool in the afternoon. Post your Chocolate Journeys dessert from your dinner table. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, you can now stay connected with Wi-Fi coverage as you sail.

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

I was able to FaceTime.  I could view ring camera.  Never tried to download/stream a movie.  I could play continuously my online games. My cabin mate had some difficulties downloading daily cat photos from her cat sitter.  
 

On the same ship.  In the same cabin.  Different devices?  

[Sentebale]

Anyone who is unhappy with paying for poor or nonexistent internet need only to go to guest services, voice their complaints, bring their device(s) with them to show the staff real time examples of the internet quality, and guest services will remove the internet charges. We have done this on three of the last four cruises we've taken since Covid. Our last cruise was last month, the internet was fine, so no trip to the front desk was necessary. Two of the bad internet experiences were transatlantic cruises.

 

 

[thunderbaycruiser]

Even best wifi is a joke, and internet was terrible. There were simple, non-bandwidth intensive tasks that I could not do for days. This was Majestic Princess to Fiji on February 11th.

 

Latest iPhones also routinely lost wifi connections completely for no reason (meaning not even the Princess app worked). A few times it was a considerable amount of time before we could even reconnect. These Wi-Fi failures would happen in the middle of usage.

 

Best Wi-Fi at sea? What a joke!

 

[spyro1952]

On 2/24/2023 at 8:46 AM, Mini BMG said:

I've been on two Princess transatlantic cruises, about to go on my third. "Best WiFi at Sea" simply isn't true. Ok, maybe the internet is great close to land, but it sure isn't on transatlantic crossing. And before someone says "when crossing the Atlantic, you shouldn't expect internet b/c of satellite issues", I assure you I've taken transatlantic cruises on other cruise lines and had screaming internet, even 10-12 years ago.

Over promising and under performing is not good policy for businesses. 

I bring this up because I will be working while cruising, and due to the anticipation of lousy internet, I have to let colleagues know I won't be able to Zoom or reply to emails in a timely manner. It's OK, I'll deal with it, but I don't like Princess boasting "best wifi at Sea" when it's not true.

And I'm not happy paying $40 for bad internet. I have 2-step verification for most of the websites I visit, so have to buy the 4 device internet.

Below is what Princess has on the website:

 

MedallionNet®
The Best Wi-Fi at Sea

Fast. Reliable. Unlimited. Affordable. Now on all ships.

Wi-Fi Wherever You Are

Access the internet everywhere on board so you can text, post photos, video chat and stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports with ease. Read on to learn just how revolutionary MedallionNet Wi-Fi is and how popular it is with our guests.

Fast and Reliable Internet

MedallionNet Wi-Fi sets the industry standard for internet at sea. FaceTime your pooch in the morning. Stream your favorite shows by the pool in the afternoon. Post your Chocolate Journeys dessert from your dinner table. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, you can now stay connected with Wi-Fi coverage as you sail.

By clicking select links below, you will leave the Princess Cruises website and navigate to a 3rd party website that is not owned, operated, or controlled by Princess Cruises or any of its affiliates.

What Our Guests Are Saying About MedallionNet Wi-Fi

"I was so incredibly impressed with how well the internet worked and how fast it was too! It was so convenient to use and ended up being really cost effective too." – Lauren V. from Vandifair

"With the rollout of MedallionNet, Princess Cruises is completely changing the game for internet at sea – with blazing fast speeds – and it is now much more affordable." – Courtney O. from Sweet C's

"Knowing we could access and successfully respond to any pressing work stuff was probably the greatest benefit of all…we wouldn’t be leaving colleagues in the lurch or incurring the wrath of overworked bosses." – from the Kerrie B. blog

"I barely noticed a difference from my home internet…and knowing that I was going to have the internet at sea is probably what made me feel so comfortable leaving [my daughter] for the first time when she was just 6 months old." – Rebecca H. from Sugar & Soul

 

Am I the only one who feels this way?

No you’re absolutely correct and I’ve been complaining about it since 2019.  I’m going on the Regal TA in April so I’m sure it will be terrible internet.  But I thought I read somewhere where they are also getting Starlink as RC and Celebrity are getting.

[JimmyVWine]

Princess has the second worst internet at sea. All other cruise lines are tied for first. Their claim may be true, but that is sort of like being the fasted turtle in the race. 

[spunks]

This issue is not restricted to TA's It is so bad it is almost impossible to use anywhere in the Caribbean.

We did a TA earlier in the year and the internet was so bad all across the Atlantic on the Island Princess that we were refunded our money. RCCL uses Starlink and the internet is almost as fast as we have at home.

 

As far as Medallion Net goes...worst operating system on the high seas.

Doug

[CapnCrews]

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Princess has the second worst internet at sea. All other cruise lines are tied for first. Their claim may be true, but that is sort of like being the fasted turtle in the race. 

I’ve been on both Princess and NCL.  NCL’s wifi was virtually non existant in the Canary Islands until we were in port in Gibralter or Lisbon.   Anybody who thinks “all others are tied for first” either hasn’t actually been on “all” or just has a bone to pick.  
 

The only times I’ve had any problems with the Wifi on a Princess ship has been off the northern coast of Scotland, (which Princess literature explains is a problem for all ships who get too far north of the range for satellites), and smack in the middle of the Mediterranean between Malta and Alexandria.   I’ve had excellent service the rest of the time on Grand Princess, and Royal Princess.  

[spunks]

back in the day we used to get pretty good Wi-Fi from Princess. It was somewhat slow, but that was to be expected. Starting last year the internet just got slower and slower. Now it is so slow, most of my sites will not load at all. I think they did improve their internet, but it is simply over whelmed by the number of users. I am not a Princess critic as we have over 600 nights invested in Princess, but I have to call it like it is and say the internet is way inferior to RCCL.

 

Doug

[GonzoWCS]

3 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Princess has the second worst internet at sea. All other cruise lines are tied for first. Their claim may be true, but that is sort of like being the fasted turtle in the race. 

Our experience is that Princess is worst at sea FULL STOP.  I would hate to experience someone worse.

 

Cheers