radiojw

(Wonder of the Seas) We’re docked in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Speeds now seem to be capped at 10Mbps/5Mbps. Routing is still going through Atlanta.

On Wonder of the Seas at the moment. This ship now has Starlink (document on here says O3B)

Currently getting lasered back to Atlanta starlink gateway while at sea. 
 

speeds are capped at 4Mbps down / 4Mbps up on the surf + stream plan.

17 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

When did they stop accepting DL for closed loop cruises? I thought that was still okay on Royal. 

 

Remember that amazing thread from a while back of a guy who was able to board using a picture of an expired driver's license? 

When states started allowing non-documented people the ability to obtain a DL.

Government has introduced "Enhanced Drivers Licenses" which requires proof of residency/citizenship -- these EDLs are OK for entry on a closed loop US cruise. You'll also need an EDL or WHTI document/card to fly commercially whenever they finally meet their own set deadline.

On 12/23/2022 at 1:03 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

And a foreign tech worker living and working in the US who travels frequently internationally could also have a Global Entry card.  We still would not accept the Global Entry Card from that person as a stand alone form of identity/proof of citizenship. The foreign passenger would need a valid passport.  A US born citizen could use a birth certificate, an Enhanced Driver's License (not Real ID, which is different), or passport for a closed loop cruise.   If we get into the weeds for other accepted forms of travel ID, there are NEXUS cards, SENTRI cards and Tribal Cards - all generally acceptable for closed loop cruises.

As someone who checks-in passengers, we are trained on all this.  If there are questions, it goes to a supervisor, maybe two levels up.  Sometimes its the ship documentation office who is usually behind the counter with us, who makes the final decision.

 

 

FYI, as this is a closed loop cruise, the Global Entry card would've been fine. Only US Citizens, Green Card holders, and Mexican citizens can get a physical Global Entry card. 

Everybody else gets global entry perks but no card (meaning entry via GE by airside only).

Source: my wife is Indian on a visa and enrolled in GE.

To the original poster, I'm glad that you got to your cruise -- but it was a waste of time making you find other documentation, and unfortunately, the person at the "special desk" needs better training. Next time, try to check in with your Global Entry cards as citizenship proof by selecting "SENTRI" upon check-in 🙂

OH -- and for the avid cruisers, be sure to request a 'passport card' on next passport renewal. This will give you a nice card to carry in your wallet that allows for land/sea border crossings.

On 12/22/2022 at 9:56 AM, klfrodo said:

Wait. Isn't a Global Entry card WHTI compliant?

They absolutely are. The lady could've picked SENTRI as identification and it would've worked (SENTRI logo on back of GE card)

It's getting really bad there -- so much that the government has imposed a couple of curfews.

I feel bad for the people there and everywhere else -- perhaps a wakeup call to rely on other industries versus tourism.

I'll be there next week. Will report on speeds.

Old thread -- sorry, but Christmas is coming up so people should know.

Most of Willemstad is shut down in the morning on Christmas Day. Most shops stay closed, but some do open up towards afternoon.

I was in St. Lucia last year, and I remember seeing a ton of soot when coming into port/leaving port.

I would think that St. Lucia needs to dredge a bit. Smaller ships are probably OK going into port.

On St. Thomas, there are a few bars next to the port. Fat Turtle, Da Lime and Da Coconut (my favorite), and then there's "The Delly Deck", which if you go there -- you have to try their "Bushwhacker".

I plan on having a few of those this next cruise. Hopefully i'll be able to get up.

As for food, can't answer that. I do know that there are a couple places in port.

Yes. I think all drinks up to $12. Wine bottles get a discount, I believe.

1) Carnival Glory, 7 day Thanksgiving

2) 2 months

3) 2

4) 8A Balcony, Deck 5 or 6 (cant remember)

5)Upsell to 8F, Deck 10.

Cost: $40 for the stateroom

Received an email to upgrade. Was able to do everything online.

I feel that this is a great upgrade, due to how high we are, proximity to the spa, and lido decks.

Nice review, and very nice photos!

I enjoyed reading this thread.

I advise everybody going on a caribbean cruise to bring ponchos (easily found on Amazon).

On every cruise i've been on, I have had rain. Last year St. Lucia got nailed by a "100 year rain". The night before we were off the coast of Barbados and it was just dumping rain, lots of lighting, etc... Was an absolute blast! The best part was, nobody was outside at the pool area. I had free reign!

But, rain at this time of year is common. One moment it will be sunny, then will rain for 120 seconds, then sunny again.

I think I will be on the same cruise as you, so here is to hoping for an ultra sunny cruise!

warning...global data on verizon does not work often while at sea

It does... Verizon includes cruising with the package. Or, do you mean that the network just will not work because of technical issues?

I have used VZ Global data in the past (T-Mobile now, yay free international text/data while on-shore)...

I've only gone over the 100MB threshold once, and during that time I was heavily uploading pictures. Emails/iMessage/occasional web browsing uses pretty much nothing.

The only thing I would watch out for is phone calls...

If you get a call while on the ship, once it forwards to voicemail -- you will get charged 1 minute because of that forward (which is like $5 -- some insane amount on the ship cell)

Otherwise, I would just relax and turn off the phones. If someone really needs to get ahold of ya'll, they can call you from the shore:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=267&faqSubjectId=337

Anyone know about Verizon? I am leaving on cruise this Saturday and will be stopping in St. Thomas. St. Maarten and Nassau..curious if I will be charged international roaming on those islands.

 

thanks for any info!!

Verizon does not have native coverage, but you should be able to roam on Sprint for no extra cost.

Your data will probably be sluggish, though.

This is good stuff.

Subscribed.

Actually, both AT&T and Google (at least) are offering residential 1Gbps service for about $100 per month, with an aggressive rollout schedule for additional cities.

This is for RESIDENTIAL services. They are able to offer it at $100 because they do not expect customers to use it at 100% 24/7.

I'm talking carrier grade ethernet/fiber optics for "business".

I'm curious about this too.

Any other suggestions for limo service? I don't think Uber is in Puerto Rico yet... they have a nice towncar/black car service.

The new fleet of RCCL ships are connecting to a new constellation of Satellites.

O3B networks (backed by Google, and others) are providing high speed data services, which are on par with land based services (most of these new Satellites can handle 10Gbps+ of switching capacity)

In O3B's case, they can support 80Gbps.

In the past, the older Satellite networks are Geosynchronous, which means latency of 600ms+. O3B can do 150ms, due to their "medium" earth orbit.

Now, while O3B are able to drop the prices of connectivity, there still is a significant cost with Satellite connectivity. Those Satellites are very expensive to deploy, and only last ~10-15 years before they need to be replaced.

With that said, WiFi will never be free on cruise lines.

In comparison, a 100Mbps line in a metropolitan area runs about $1,000-$1,500. 100Mbps with O3B runs about $15-20k per month (estimate).

Happy to see this post. I'll be on the Jewel in less than 30 days. Cannot wait!

Look for a ham radio that also uses GMRS freq. You get to use 5 watts and will get much better reception :)

And you also need to legally have a license to do anything over ½ watt.

I think we're going to give them a try.....being our first cruise we need a way to keep in touch....and being amateurs it will be tough for us to come up with a plan before we board

 

I promise we we will do everything we can to not disturb others...

You so do not need them to "keep in touch" while on board.

While ships might seem huge, they really aren't that huge. There are shipboard phones everywhere. Not to mention, walkie talkies are not very reliable due to the metal/steel walls of the ship.

Now, walkie talkies WILL come in handy while in port -- especially if your team plans on splitting up.

I was there during Christmas a couple years ago.

Very few stores were open downtown, but there were still some.

For the most part, it will be a ghost town.

Still a great place to see. I loved Willemsted.

I usually do a red-eye the night before (Leave after 10pm)

Usually arrive to my connecting point early morning, and have most of the morning to make the last flight, in case the original flight gets delayed.

This year, we fly out of LAX late the night before, arrive in San Juan at around noon.