reporting on internet on Enchanted

[Fa-Li]

Just home from 10 days on the Enchanted.  I asked so many anxious questions about wifi and connectivity before our cruise, that I wanted to come back and report our experience in case it could help someone else.  I realize that the ship has now set out on her TA, so that will be a different situation, but perhaps this will reassure those who are booking for next season in the Caribbean.

 

This was a southern Caribbean itinerary, with early stops at Princess Cays and St Thomas before heading south and west.  We had 4 sea days (one unexpected due to high winds.)  The ship was full.  My group of four had two suites on the aft corners of Riviera Deck. (I have no idea if location or class had anything to do with our experience)

 

All four of us had no issues whatsoever connecting to the internet, at all times of day, anywhere on the ship.  We were able to do everything on our phones or tablets that we can do at home.  On his work computer, my husband was able to participate in video calls in the cabin.  Downloading his large volume of emails and attached files did take awhile, but he was able to leave that process running while we went to breakfast, for example, and the connection stayed active and working without constant supervision or need to reconnect.  I was able to stream my apple fitness workouts with no lag or buffering time.  Calls over wifi were also possible.  

 

The only time we lost wifi connection was on our balconies under the metal overhang.  If we moved back closer to the glass doors, we were able to reconnect.  (These are huge balconies, and that's a lot of metal to ask a signal to pass through) Connection was good up on the open deck above the Retreat pool, where we spent a lot of time in the afternoons.  

 

I never ran a speed test, as for me the main test is "Do I give up on my google search out of frustration?"  I never got frustrated with the internet, so for me it was fast enough.  Having said that, the internet was not the best at sea I've ever experienced.  That was on Harmony of the Seas last April.  But this was certainly not the dreadful internet I'd come to expect from recent discussion.  I hope others have the same good experience going forward.  

[SCX22]

Good to her that the Internet is less frustrating on Princess' newer ships in some parts of the world.

[MissP22]

The best time of day was early morning before everyone was up and about and port days when most are off the ship.

If you're downloading large files it can take hours.

[cr8tiv1]

31 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

Good to her that the Internet is less frustrating on Princess' newer ships in some parts of the world.

 

The Discovery Princess is one of Princess' newest ships and she is reporting horrible connections on her Mexican cruises.  

 

I didn't have any trouble on the Grand Princess (one of her oldest ships) while out and about on the Pacific Ocean.

[Fa-Li]

34 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

The best time of day was early morning before everyone was up and about and port days when most are off the ship.

If you're downloading large files it can take hours.

This just wasn’t our experience. All times of day, and sea days, were just as easy. It made it hard to get the hubs to take a break sometimes lol. 

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

The Discovery Princess is one of Princess' newest ships and she is reporting horrible connections on her Mexican cruises.  

 

I didn't have any trouble on the Grand Princess (one of her oldest ships) while out and about on the Pacific Ocean.

 

We just did 11 days on Discovery and all was well.  😎

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by CalLuvsCrusingToo

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, Fa-Li said:

This just wasn’t our experience. All times of day, and sea days, were just as easy. It made it hard to get the hubs to take a break sometimes lol. 

Every morning it started out at 2 Mbps and dropped off to 350 Kbp by 7 AM.

As people left the ship, it would rise back to around 1.4 or so.

Not great. 

[FritzG]

We were on  Enchanted from Feb. 7 to March 9. From Feb. 17 to March 9 we were in an aft Baja corner suite. For most of the cruises I had good internet connections except for the last few days when the high winds caused the missed port and changed port. The last full day of the cruise, a sea day, it was especially bad, but I figured that a lot of passengers were checking in for their flights. 

[Fa-Li]

This is interesting, how different all our experiences were on the same cruise. I guess it’s a subjective thing, based on what you are trying to do online? Or I’m just not computer savvy enough to know that it’s bad? All I know is that there was no cussing at the internet, which made for a pleasant cruise. 

[flannbarr]

On the current TA. The Wi-Fi was nonexistent the entire 7-8 days crossing the Atlantic. Very disappointing when I heard that passengers on other TA's on Princess and other cruise lines had great Wi-Fi during their TA. It was also virtually nonexistent when at ports in Portugal and Spain. There is an obvious problem with their router equipment.

 

We spoke with the front desk and they gave us a credit for $60 per person for 6 days at $10 each which they considered the cost included in the Princess Plus package. They only have the credit if you asked. As days passed and we approached land and the Wi-Fi did not improve, we spoke with management again and they provided another $100 credit per person for a total of $160 person for 16 days at $10 per day....IF YOU ASKED.

 

I would have preferred to have had reliable internet and not the money back but we made it work.

[fpsphil]

Hopefully it will be better in June on our Mediterranean cruise

[caribill]

1 hour ago, flannbarr said:

We spoke with the front desk and they gave us a credit for $60 per person for 6 days at $10 each which they considered the cost included in the Princess Plus package. They only have the credit if you asked. As days passed and we approached land and the Wi-Fi did not improve, we spoke with management again and they provided another $100 credit per person for a total of $160 person for 16 days at $10 per day....IF YOU ASKED.

.

 

Was it refundable or non-refundable credit?

[flannbarr]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Was it refundable or non-refundable credit?

I don’t know. They credited our account and we have plenty other costs to cover it. You can also take out cash at the casino for no fee and they will change your onboard account. Could probably play very limited if at all and cash in your chips for cash!

Edited March 23, 2023 by flannbarr