Free at Sea/Wifi

[Slyfox16]

Is Starlink included in the Free at Sea Wifi package or is it an upgrade option?

[jules181]

If enabled on the ship, all internet packages use starlink. 

[cruiser2015]

1 hour ago, Slyfox16 said:

Is Starlink included in the Free at Sea Wifi package or is it an upgrade option?

Ships have one internet service connection.

They are all being converted to Starlink.

Sadly, my cruise next week is on the Bliss - not yet changed over.

I've seen some very mixed (a lot bad) reviews.

[jules181]

It can't be any worse than the legacy system. 

 

There is literally no where to go but up. 

[cruiser2015]

6 hours ago, jules181 said:

It can't be any worse than the legacy system. 

 

There is literally no where to go but up. 

Go Elon...😎

[alexgtp]

just off Bliss for NYE and the free at sea included WiFi, probably one of the worst we have ever experienced at sea. Constant connectivity issues , and when you finally did connect good luck accessing any social media. For email worked just fine.

[jules181]

Does the Bliss have starlink or the legacy system? 

 

 

[UKstages]

no, as explained above... not yet converted.

 

no NCL ships have starlink as a "legacy" system.

[jules181]

Has anyone seen updates on which ships have been deployed and timelines for those that remain?

[smarterman64]

On 1/8/2024 at 9:39 AM, jules181 said:

Has anyone seen updates on which ships have been deployed and timelines for those that remain?

Breakaway and Epic have starlink. 

[UKstages]

getaway reportedly has starlink, as well.

 

reportedly, so do the prima and viva.

 

you can tell if a ship has starlink by navigating to the ship's wi-fi page on the NCL website. if it has it, it will state that it does as well as claiming that it is the "fastest internet at sea." also included will be an extraordinarily misleading photo with a phone showing a speed check indicating you can get service at 100 Mbps, which is truly a fantasy speed.

 

 

[mking8288]

Onboard the Prima last November for 12 days ... with Starlink ... it is slower on WiFi "5" despite lower latency and "better" ping time.  The Cisco/Lenovo hardware-servers used onboard are fine, excellent - the bottleneck, shall I say, the problem is NCL - they "throttled" and limited the bandwidth, thus speed for both asymmetrical download and upload connectivity.  Thus, with more than a few hundred "nodes" or users trying, some on the "premium" streaming $$$ plans - end results easily predicted and seen.  

 

EMC, legacy ISP used by NCL and other maritime vessels - get as much as 5 to 7 Mbps d/l whereas Starlink get no better than 3 to 4 Mbps d/l during off-peak usage time while at sea ... these low orbit satellites can do much, much, much better than analog DSL or digitally at sea, other cruise lines delivered a better product with their offerings, at lower tiered prices.  

 

It is what it is ... sadly, there is no other options for end users at sea (in the ocean)

[UKstages]

so, would you agree... having a picture on the NCL website suggesting a speed of 100 Mbps is aspirational at best, intentionally misleading at worst?

[JamesIowa]

2 hours ago, UKstages said:

so, would you agree... having a picture on the NCL website suggesting a speed of 100 Mbps is aspirational at best, intentionally misleading at worst?

On the breakaway last year I connected at 113mbps in the theater on a sea day, not misleading at all. 
 

[zqvol]

5 minutes ago, JamesIowa said:

On the breakaway last year I connected at 113mbps in the theater on a sea day, not misleading at all. 
 

UK stages is never wrong, you must be mistaken

[luv2kroooz]

37 minutes ago, JamesIowa said:

On the breakaway last year I connected at 113mbps in the theater on a sea day, not misleading at all. 
 

Impressive. A saved screenshot from a cruise last year.....

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, UKstages said:

so, would you agree... having a picture on the NCL website suggesting a speed of 100 Mbps is aspirational at best, intentionally misleading at worst?

You may get it if no one else is using the system including any other ships in the area. 
 

Viva Actuals on a sea day 

 

[cruiseny4life]

I always appreciate @mking8288's posts, though ones like his above are incomprehensible to this non-tech person. I was on the same sailing as him, so I think I know he's saying everything worked well. But...I'm not him or @PistolPete13 or some of our other resident techies. I feel soooooooo ignorant right now haha...but hey I live in bumf#8k New York, 🤠 so it's to be expected.

 

For those like me who don't know what he said: We did purchase the unlimited (but not premium) package. We had no issues at all. I don't even remember buffering happening. Cruise Critic, social (YouTube, Insta, Facebook, Snap, etc.) worked totally fine for us.