internet

[kelly8762]

I am considering a voyage on the Prinsendam. However, I need a reliable high speed internet access. Does this ship provide it? Also are the rates charged similar to piracy on the high seas?

Thank you for any information in this regard.:confused:

[Navy_Chief]

Link to internet: http://www.mtnsat.com/digitalseas/hal.htm

[Grumpy1]

I am considering a voyage on the Prinsendam. However, I need a reliable high speed internet access. Does this ship provide it? Also are the rates charged similar to piracy on the high seas?

Thank you for any information in this regard.:confused:

Yes, their rates are high, as you will see on the link that Navy_Chief provided. It is not a reliable, high speed connection. I don't think any of the ships are. Prinsendam is like all of the HAL ships.. it's better than dialup, but not as fast as DSL or cable. Reliability will depend on how clear a "look" the antenna pod has at the satellite. Sometimes the funnel can get in the way, sometimes buildings in ports will block the view. I've used the service extensively on Prinsendam and Rotterdam. On Rotterdam, the daily program listed the expected outages during the Baltic cruise. Most were short term, but it was down for the entire time we were docked in St. Petersburg. ships docked in different positions weren't affected.

[Copper10-8]

It was down at least for two full days on Rotterdam in the Baltic last year. The Internet Mngr. stated that parts of the Baltic are infamous for bad reception!

[RuthC]

It's not just the Baltic, either. Anytime you're in the northern climes---especially the area near the Arctic Circle---you can lose access. Above the Arctic Circle it's gone.

[Copper10-8]

It's not just the Baltic, either. Anytime you're in the northern climes---especially the area near the Arctic Circle---you can lose access. Above the Arctic Circle it's gone.

 

Must be the effect of the Aurora Borealis

[RuthC]

 

Must be the effect of the Aurora Borealis

Could be. Or could be that the satellite doesn't cover there. I thought it was strange up that way that we couldn't get service on the ship while there was service in port. I was told that on the land they use a different satellite, and the ship didn't change over to that one.

I won't claim to understand it, but after spending so much time up there the last three years I not only got used to it---I came to expect it! Last year I even told the ship's Internet Manager that it would happen and to be prepared to answer a lot of questions from disgruntled passengers.

[jcrandle]

Other than the Iridium system that Motorola built, then sold, all other commercial communications satellites are in geosynchronous orbits, meaning that they stay put in relation to their ground stations, and are therefore directly above the equator. The further north or south you go, the closer to the horizon the satellite appears, resulting in the total occlusion of the signal. Add the effects of ground clutter, like trees, buildings, etc, and you degrade the signal more. Even on the ocean, as mentioned, the satellite antenna may be blocked by a part of the ship.

 

Also a communications provider will likely NOT have a contract that allows them to use all possible satellites, but only a subset of those. Since the majority of the geosynchronous satellites are located to provide optimal coverage of their paying customers (read that as major population centers), so their coverage of mid-pacific and mid-atlantic will be less than optimal, if even available.

 

The only alternative in far north, or mid ocean, is to use a provider like Iridium that uses lots of non-geosynchronous satellites and a relatively complicated control system to switch your call to the one or two satellites that happen to be above you at the current moment, and then switch again when that bird has flown away. Much more expensive, but universal access.

[kelly8762]

thank you all for your responses--We are doing a cruise in the southern carribbean, so I think the satellite will work fine

 

John, when were you in the corps??

[I Luv Crusin]

thank you all for your responses--We are doing a cruise in the southern carribbean, so I think the satellite will work fine

 

 

I was on the Veendam in the Western Caribbean. Service was awful! We had much better service in the Med on Carnival Liberty this past May. Same provider.