Xcellerate....the fastest internet at sea?

I just added a cruise we purchased on our Reflection cruise last week to my profile. I was pretty shocked when I went into the cruise planner and it said *Introducing Xcellerate, the fastest internet at sea. A modern luxury shouldn't wait to be shared*

I bought the internet package last week....I hope that's not it, because I could have crawled to the website faster. Does anyone know anything about this?

To my knowledge the new internet systems are not in place. They are coming to all ships as the demand for internet steadily increases. X made it worse including free internet which even with a great system would have been slow. Divide a system up 3000 ways and everyone gets a VERY VERY tiny piece of bandwidth.

Which ship is showing the new system? As of what date?

No ship is showing it yet to my knowledge....it was just showing as a banner when I went into my booking.

It looks like they do have the faster connection now. I received the below email on Dec 22nd about my Jan 30th cruise on the Reflection.

Sure hope so. Last year they should have paid us to use the internet for our inconvenience.

If anyone has actually experienced this let us know. OK?

Just off the Anthem of the Seas. It had VOOM, which RCCL claims is the fastest Internet at sea. The WiFi was almost as good as cable WiFi at my home and office. Speed Test showed me getting at least 10 mbs on download and at least 5 mbs on upload. Often faster. I imagine Xcelerate is Celebrity's version of the same.

The VOOM system also included what RCCL called Royal IQ, which is essentially a cruise planner app you download to your phone. I wonder if Celebrity will have something similar. While somewhat useful, it drained my iPhone battery significantly, even when not using it. I could get along without Royal IQ next time. But it did keep track of restaurant and show reservations.

So is the only internet connection packages being offered are the unlimited daily or for the entire cruise packages? No more "minutes" packages? $278 (CAD) is pretty expensive.

There are minute packages but these are not cheap either - 90 minutes for $59USD - is certainly not a bargain on a system that is slower than a turtle. None is really worth it. Better simply using phone service in ports or WiFi to make calls and do emails unitl X upgrades.

Again I ask has anyone experienced this on CELEBRITY! Understand RCCL has it on a couple new ships.

I was on the Equinox for the October 15, 2015 12 day cruise to Italy, Greece, Turkey and Malta and experienced the new internet system. I was told that the upgrade had been in place for about 2 weeks and that Equinox was the first ship in the fleet to get it.

Pricing was $199 for unlimited access during the 12 night cruise. However they were offering discounts of 30% to Elite members (making the cost $139.30) and 20% ($159.20) to Select members. (I don't know what discounts were offered to other tiers.) They also still offered the 90 minute free allowance on the Elite coupon sheet if you didn't want the unlimited package.

The speed was the best I've ever experienced at sea (13.87 Mbps up/8.98 Mbps down per the Speed test screenshot below.)

I used my T-Mobile wifi calling feature and was able to make HD calls back to the US with no problems (and at no extra cost). I was also able to stream Amazon and Netflix videos with no buffering. Since the satellite ground station was in Ft. Lauderdale, there were no international blockage issues for either video service. I did not experience any service outages during the entire cruise.

Wouldn't you think Celebrity would advertise this upgrade to their internet service? :confused:

:rolleyes:

We're on the Eclipse in 2 weeks and it would be a nice surprise.

Great speeds for at sea but still quite expensive

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We will believe fast internet at sea when we see it :).

Hank

Just off Reflection today. I heard the Internet was very fast. Unfortunately it didn't work with my old iPhone 4S or iPad 2. Richard in the I lounge happily refunded my package to my account. Said they have problems with old iPhones. Their advertisement onboard said you could skype and watch Netflix.

does the Eclipse have the new internet?

I was on the Equinox for the October 15, 2015 12 day cruise to Italy, Greece, Turkey and Malta and experienced the new internet system. I was told that the upgrade had been in place for about 2 weeks and that Equinox was the first ship in the fleet to get it.

 

Pricing was $199 for unlimited access during the 12 night cruise. However they were offering discounts of 30% to Elite members (making the cost $139.30) and 20% ($159.20) to Select members. (I don't know what discounts were offered to other tiers.) They also still offered the 90 minute free allowance on the Elite coupon sheet if you didn't want the unlimited package.

The speed was the best I've ever experienced at sea.

We were on the same cruise and had the same experience as Sailor Scott. Very zippy service with VOOM. Then, we were B2B on the TA from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale without VOOM, so it was back to sloooow service.

 

Suggest not pre-paying for internet until you board as there will probably be tiered discounts for Captain's Club members on board that are not offered on line.

 

Betsy

does the Eclipse have the new internet?

Not as of January 10. Quite slow

Just off Equinox (Jan 2-11, 2016), and the internet couldn't have been SLOWER. I was in an AFT S1 on Deck 8, and was unable to access the internet in my cabin.

The folks in the iLounge were unapologetic; they could have cared less if it took over 5 minutes to login and open gmail.

Many folks with the unlimited packages simply let people without unlimited internet use their login. TYVM....

It is shameful how slow the internet is, even at 3am.

Just got off a B2B on the Reflection and we had Xcellerate. I thought the internet was faster than I have at home. Of course I have Comcast at home.

I did a dummy internet shopping cart for my May Med cruise on the Reflection. The banner says the 'fastest internet at sea' but I did not notice the Xcelerate branding. The promo photo is the same as the OP.

For our 10 day cruise, unlimited internet is $299. 240 minutes is $109. 90 minutes is $59 as is also unlimited for one day.

Wouldn't you think Celebrity would advertise this upgrade to their internet service? :confused:

:rolleyes:

We're on the Eclipse in 2 weeks and it would be a nice surprise.

Hi Chamima,

Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing. We've heard rumors of faster Internet for a while now. I'm thrilled that it's happening, but you must ask... how on Earth wouldn't Celebrity be striking up the band on this ? At the very least, informing their Captains Club members via email, along with a timetable for each ship ?

I think this is pretty significant news. You would think Celebrity would too.

Sure hope so. Last year they should have paid us to use the internet for our inconvenience.

 

If anyone has actually experienced this let us know. OK?

That is surprising. On our last cruise you typed up email and then a carrier pigeon popped out of the computer and flew message to recipient.

Hi Chamima,

 

Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing. We've heard rumors of faster Internet for a while now. I'm thrilled that it's happening, but you must ask... how on Earth wouldn't Celebrity be striking up the band on this ? At the very least, informing their Captains Club members via email, along with a timetable for each ship ?

 

I think this is pretty significant news. You would think Celebrity would too.

I suspect this is a 'soft' introduction as I have seen references to 'testing' the new system. Indeed, first hand evidence from onboard by senorjim indicates that it didn't work with older iPhones and iPads. I know on my home wireless internet when we got a new router, they had to tweak the settings to allow iPhone access, saying Apple products had a particular set of protocols. I have also read that the speed is affected by the location of the ship and is best with an equatorial route.

So until they have evidence In the field that all the systems are tweaked for effectiveness as advertised, it is probably prudent to not toot their horn yet or otherwise incur the sharp responses from the CC forum!!! [emoji43]

Does anyone know if the Silhouette has the new system? We will be boarding in a week and it would be great as DH unfortunately has work to do.

This from a UK Online Travel Agent:

Celebrity Cruises Testing New Internet Initiative on Celebrity Reflection and More Cruise News

"Following sister brands Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises is testing a new high-speed Internet initiative in a pilot program onboard Celebrity Reflection. Details are few at this time, but according to a thread on the Cruise Critic boards, the program is tentatively titled Xcellerate.

Royal Caribbean announced the arrival of Voom, its high-speed Internet last year. Azamara Club Cruises is also getting faster Wi-Fi on its ships as they go into dry dock this year. All three cruise lines are part of the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brand."

They have taken their information from this thread!

It looks like they do have the faster connection now. I received the below email on Dec 22nd about my Jan 30th cruise on the Reflection.

 

Your graphic is so cute.