Tim in Hollywood

On 10/1/2022 at 5:04 PM, Biker19 said:

Dynamic throttling is probably not that easy to implement. 4Mbps is enough for an HD video stream.

I agree with the sentiment that dynamic throttling is not simple to implement.  Even a midnight to 6:00am increase would be great.  That shouldn't be extremely difficult to implement.

4Mbps as the download speed would be fine, but didn't happen at all on my Oasis cruise earlier in 2022.

My Oasis (Surf+Stream) average was throttled to approximately 2.7 Mbps down, 0.92 up, no matter the time or day.

42 minutes ago, sealeggs said:

Come on folks. You are on a ship. What do you think the internet speed is going to be? Slow!

No your normal speed you are getting from home or your work place.

Relax have a cocktail and unwind. You are on vacation.

"You are on a vacation" sounds cute...until you remember that some are unable to be away for so long without the promised connectivity.  When that expected connectivity doesn't materialize, it is a major problem.

Thank you for the replies.  As long as we can get 4-5Mpbs, we should be OK.

It's so frustrating that RCCL throttles so much, while charging such high prices.

I'm not convinced that RCCL will adjust the throttling very much when Starlink is installed.  If their throttling were about maintaining an acceptable level of service for all subscribers, they wouldn't keep the same low limits during low-priority times (1am to 6am, for example).

I won't be surprised to see a third tier introduced that has a 20Mbps offering for substantially more $$$.

Looking at a 2023 cruise on Navigator of the Seas out of Los Angeles in 2023.

What can we expect for internet speeds for surf+stream?

Hi all,

        I was unable to find an answer to our question and couldn't find anyone at RCCL to help.

        Family (grandparents, parents, kids) are currently booked in a Junior Suite and directly across the hall from two interior staterooms (3 total staterooms, 2 people in each).

        The JS reservation received the RoyalUP e-mail.  We are willing to pay the max bid for the multi-bedroom suite...if everyone can stay in that same stateroom.  Problem is...the RoyalUP system is made only for moving all people in a single stateroom to another stateroom, so calling the generic RCCL 800-number is a fruitless effort.

        Is there someone high up on the food chain at RCCL that we can contact to make this happen (or at least find out what our options are)?  The generic customer service number is clearly not going to work.

        Any advice is appreciated...particularly if there is someone at RCCL to contact about this situation.

Thanks,

       Tim

Of course, I went all the way through to the end.  Otherwise, the rates in the big font are largely useless.  Apples to apples comparison.

Moments ago, I tried to re-price our cruise (more than a year away, only deposit has been paid).  If I go online to book the same class of room on the same ship/date, the overall rate is $75 less, PLUS $125/room OBC.

The RCCL rep told me that to get the $125 OBC promo, our rate would actually *increase* by $100.  Huh?

Could this be accurate?  Did I simply fail at phone rep roulette?

Posting for people that review this thread in the future...

You can get the approximate Uber pricing on the Uber app. Also, uber.com, and uberestimate.com

Without a data connection on your phone, your best bet is to hang out at the ARRIVALS area. Keep an eye out for cars with the Uber logo that are dropping off someone. You can probably jump in their car. Keep in mind that you'll need to pay cash $$$ (at a personally negotiated rate)...since you won't be able to book it via the Uber app.

That said, have you checked whether the airport as free public WiFi? If so, that should allow you to connect to Uber and make my earlier advice moot.

My experience was not consistent with this. As I mentioned in my comment, I would be streaming just fine, and would then realize that a show had just let out, or that a lot of people had gone back to their cabins. I never had any issues after midnight or 1am. It was usually that 10pm - midnight time frame when it seemed like a lot of people must have jumped on.

I'm not making any comment about inability to connect in a place where large numbers of people are attempting to connect at the same time. That could legitimately be a problem with not enough capability for a large number of connections on the same area of the ship...which would never occur at midnight or 1:00am, when people are mostly dispersed throughout the ship (mostly in their staterooms).

I'm commenting on the speed / throttling, not connectivity. Occasional lack of connectivity is to be expected at those few times when large numbers of people are attempting to connect from the same location on the ship.

Because if they didn't (throttle) they would crash their system. At one time some ships reported speeds up to 25 Mbps down, but perhaps that was not sustainable.

Surf = .5 Mbps

Stream = 5 Mbps

Frankly, if Stream were actually 5 Mbps, I would not be posting anything about this.

Stream = 3 Mbps, based on my personal tests and several people that I have asked (on various cruises over the past year). This speed occurs at any time of day on any cruise with the current technology, so it's definitely throttled, not a bandwidth to ship issue.

For me, 3 Mbps is a little too slow for what I need to do. 5 Mpbs would be fine (though faster would be better). ;)

In my personal situation, I simply don't cruise as often as I otherwise would. The alternative is to stay at a land-based resort that has suitable communication capabilities. I'll likely have to cancel a cruise in early 2018 - entirely because of this unnecessary throttling.

A network geek, but you can't see that the bandwidth to the ship isn't the issue, when user speeds are exactly the same, no matter the time of day or level of utilization?

If bandwidth to the ship were a factor, I could certainly understand throttling (at least based on utilization by users). There's no apparent reason to throttle in the middle of the night, when utilization is unquestionably low.

I may have missed it, but I cannot recall where RC says that HD video streaming is part of their service?

Not sure why this comment is warranted. The point is that RCCL is unnecessarily throttling customers that are paying a small fortune for this service. It's demonstrable that this is not a bandwidth issue on the ship. Why has RCCL decided to hobble their superior technology, for no obvious reason?

Hard to predict, as the level of service is dependent on the number of users and the type of load those users are imposing on the service.

After looking around more, it appears that everyone is reporting nearly the exact same upload and download speeds, no matter the time of day/night.

That demonstrates rather clearly that it isn't a problem of over-saturated usage, rather significant throttling to minimize overall bandwidth usage. If not throttling, the speeds a 2:00am would be significantly (or at least somewhat) faster than those at 2:00pm. As it is, the speed reports are consistent, no matter the time of day/night.

Typical high quality video streaming (high resolution, fast-motion content and other non-entertainment uses) demands 5 Mbps. RCCL is throttling so that isn't possible. Why? :(

It's been reported to be much faster now, as the O3b service is being used.

Anyone know if it's severely throttled like my Stream package was on my Harmony cruise in February 2017?

All week, all over the ship, mid day or 2:00am was around 3.5 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 200 to 240 ping. For the amount that they charge, throttling so severely seems completely unnecessary.

On Liberty in February 2018, I'll likely use my cell phone to connect on all port days, then buy a couple single days while at sea to compensate. If it weren't throttled, I would likely just purchase a full week and not bother with the cellular connection.

Yes, initial reports from Oasis after O3B was installed during her dry-dock had folks report up to 25 Mbps on Stream - indeed fast in the middle of the ocean.

That was very similar to my experience a couple years ago. Super-fast speeds (20+ Mbps). On my Harmony of the Seas cruise in February 2017, I consistently got 3.6 Mbps down / 1.8 Mpbs up / 200-240 ping throughout the week. Speeds were the same in the afternoon as they were in the middle of the night.

It's obvious that they are artificially throttling even the Stream package. Even 10 down / 5 up would work well and would avoid virtually all problems. I found that video streaming only occasionally worked, given the low speed connection. With the exorbitant rates they are charging, reducing the throttling would be greatly appreciated.

Just got this from RCCL...

We are reaching out to let you know that, regrettably, we have to cancel our January 21, 2018 sailing onboard Allure of the Seas to allow for necessary service. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes since we will need to re-accommodate your reservation as a result of this cancellation.