Internet on Oceania! HELP!

[orchestrapal]

On a recent 36 night cruise we bought the largest package they offer twice.That comes out to $35/day. This is more than 5 star hotels in Europe charge.....This was the ONLY negative of our cruise. Since so many CC readers seem to think they can influence Oceania, how about some thoughts on the unconchanable internet service and prices.

 

Most other lines offer free internet to large suite passengers as well as frequent cruisers.

 

Let's let Oceania know how we all feel. I don't believe our comment cards carry any weight.Maybe this forum does.:mad:

[LHT28]

Was it that slow or did you just use it a lot ?

 

I have done the 200 min package on a 32 cruise & it was fine for me

[caribbeansun]

I would agree that the internet is decidedly a negative - signal strength was terrible/non-existent and connection speeds are beyond poor for both wired (as in the computer room which of course is ultimately still wireless) and wireless.

 

This issue has been well documented on these boards so I'm not so sure about the whole CC influencing O's business decisions concept is concerned.

[orchestrapal]

Yes, we do have to use it a lot and the speed was non-existent to very slow.

This discussion was re-posted in the hops the FDR might be reading as he has recently responded to some posts.:)

[hondorner]

There are technical issues involved, and possibly contracts. and the expense and time of removing and installing proprietary equipment (possibly including those huge satellite globes on the upper decks).

 

I'm not in the satellite industry and I have no first-hand knowledge, but I do know that Oceania and Regent use different at-sea satellite service providers. I know that Regent's is faster, but also has some limitations not found on Oceania (my Sprint Aircard worked on Oceania, but did not on Regent).

 

The reason for the difference is most likely simple timing -- the Regent systems were installed before they were sold to Apollo and place under Prestige Cruise management. I assume that management had a darn good reason for choosing the system for Oceania, and I wonder which way they will tilt when the respective contracts are up. I suspect that the Oceania system favors the company in some manner or it would not have been chosen, and since it is Oceania management now in charge of Regent, I suspect that if any changes are made, they will replace the Regent system.

 

This is all purely guesswork on my part, and doesn't even come under the heading of "educated" guess -- more of a WAG (Wild A-- Guess). But, I get a kick out of predicting stuff and seeing how close I come.

[LHT28]

I do not know the satellite stuff but I would think in order to get high speed internet that people get at home they would have to have their own dedicated satellite.

Even the users of satellite tv, radio etc have a problem with signals at times.

Maybe we should go back to the days when there was no internet or cell phones on the cruise ships :D

More about the vacation that way

 

Lyn

[Paulchili]

I suspect that the Oceania system favors the company in some manner or it would not have been chosen,

 

Don,

With all due respect, that is stating the obvious.

Of course they are entitled to make money on the internet service (as opposed to losing money) but they could make it a better experience, much like other cruise lines have done (even "lowly" Princess does a much better job in this regard).

The complaints seem to be directed at the speed of the service and not so much at the cost - in other words, people are willing to spend the money but they expect a decent service in return. I don't find this an unreasonable expectation and I have expressed my dissatisfaction with service this in the past.

[rallydave]

I do not know the satellite stuff but I would think in order to get high speed internet that people get at home they would have to have their own dedicated satellite.

 

Lyn

 

Worked in the space industry many years and not even close on having their own satellite. Communications satellites all orbit at the same altitude and the same basic orbit (around earth at the equator). This allows them to remain relatively stationary in their particular orbit and over a particular part of the equator. There are only a limited number of places available over the equator for these satellites. Kind of like a sold out cruise.

 

Because of this and the cost to build, launch, and maintain each satellite each one has many transponders sending signals back to earth for many customers. Each transponders has enough band width to service many customers. Only customers such as Direct TV or Dish Network with millions of customers each can afford their own satellite. Also because they need to send down hundreds of channels at the same time, they can afford their own satellite. The cost to build, launch, and maintain a single satellite is probably over $500M and they only last about 10 years so even with Apollo behind Oceania don't think they gross the $50M/year necssary to own their own satellite.

 

Oceania/Prestige simply needs to buy more band width or find and pay for a provider who will provide faster service.

[Benita]

One of the only things slower than the internet of Oceania is watching grass grow. I kind of enjoy it, though - it reminds me of the old days before cell phones, when a cruise was an escape from the outside world. Of course, as soon as we reach ports, out comes the iphone and the wifi search.

[digby]

The best way to get the message criss to Oceania would be if no passengers used their internet connection. One could use internet cafes which are in every port or just do what we did before the internet.

[LHT28]

The cost to build, launch, and maintain a single satellite is probably over $500M and they only last about 10 years so even with Apollo behind Oceania don't think they gross the $50M/year necssary to own their own satellite.

 

Exactly so they have to use the satellites that are in use for other ships as well

 

So if they have to pay for more bandwith then they can raise the prices more or they could just do away with the internet on the ships.

 

I think people will still sail with them I know I will

I do not go on vacation to use the internet ..I do use it for checking on bills & things at home but not daily. We are usually gone for a month so need some contact but if not I would work around it.

 

What was life like before internet....does anyone remember :D

 

Lyn

[caribbeansun]

Depends on your perspective I guess - if you view the ship as the destination then you certainly have a valid point.

 

If you view the ports as the destination then I would submit that you wouldn't want to be wasting precious time in port searching out internet cafes with the resultant loss of time on outings. In some ways I view time on board as "dead time" and as such I can use the time while DW gets ready for breakfast/dinner to bang off several emails to work and/or family/friends, etc. I try to minimize my usage while away but unfortunately this isn't always possible when you are self-employed.

 

IF you can load your email client AND keep the connection a text only email should be using minimal resources/band width. I don't expect the speed to be the same as at home but you can only sit there so long watching the hourglass and a blank white page.

 

As much as possible I rely instead on my Blackberry and picking up a signal while cruising close to shore or in port. I compose messages and leave them sit - when we come into range it sends/receives automatically.

 

It only became a real problem when we were cruising in open water between Miami and the first stop (Virgin Gorda) which of course was when I was in the middle of finalizing a contract negotiation - as they say "stuff" happens...and yes, I survived.

 

I understand those that say "you're on vacation" and at times the connectivity can be a real drag but I wouldn't have it any other way - our family has been very fortunate to be able to connect via long distances in times of need in real time.

 

 

The best way to get the message criss to Oceania would be if no passengers used their internet connection. One could use internet cafes which are in every port or just do what we did before the internet.

[Mura]

I'm curious about the statement that "most other cruiselines" offer free internet service.

 

I'd like to know which ones you are talking about since I haven't been on ANY that offered free internet! We usually sail on Oceania, but we've also been on NCL and Cunard in recent years and it definitely was not free of charge on either one. In fact, Cunard (I'm speaking of the QE2) didn't even offer packages. It was $.99/minute or NOTHING.

[Benita]

Some cruise lines give away internet time as part of their frequent cruising program - After five cruises on Princess, you get a 250 minute package ($100 value) and once a Platinum member on Royal Caribbean, you get 20 minutes ranging up to 45 minutes for a Diamond Plus member. Princess used to give unlimited minutes after 5 cruises, but some people never left the computer, leaving no time for others to use it and they even caught people selling swipes of their cabin cards to others, so they limited the perk. While a nice perk, I don't care so much if internet is free or not, I just use it for a couple of minutes on sea days to check my emails for news of any family emergency. What I do want is for it to be a fast connection and for enough connectivity so I can use my small laptop in my cabin. On RCL, Princess, and Holland America, there has not been a problem. Hopefully, Oceania will catch on.

Rather than waste time in internet cafes in ports, when I leave the ship, I turn on my iphone and put it in airplane mode and turn on wifi. As we pass hotels, stores, restaurants, etc, I look at the phone and if there is unsecured wifi signals, can get right on and check emails - and even make a call via Skype or Truphone - only 20 cents a minute to call the US from Europe.

[Oceans&Rivers]

Some cruise lines give away internet time as part of their frequent cruising program - After five cruises on Princess, you get a 250 minute package ($100 value)

 

It's been quite awhile since we cruised on Princess, but way back then we got unlimited internet. It was slow, but we could have sat there 24/7 and not incurred a charge.

[Mura]

I have to say that I'm not going to take 5 cruises on any cruiseline in order to get some free internet usage! Sure, I'd like it if Oceania adopted the practice since I would already qualify.

 

But investing 5 years of my time on Princess ... when I didn't really like the one cruise we took on Princess (admittedly, many years ago and things may well have changed) ... well, I'm just not going to do it!

 

Let me phrase it another way: the internet practices on a cruiseline, whether free or exorbitantly expensive, whether free or expensive, are the least consideration I have for which line I prefer.

 

Just as people who don't drink don't really care how much the drinks cost!

 

When I'm at home, I'm online all the time ... when I'm traveling, I'm not.

[Oceans&Rivers]

I have to say that I'm not going to take 5 cruises on any cruiseline in order to get some free internet usage! Sure, I'd like it if Oceania adopted the practice since I would already qualify.

 

But investing 5 years of my time on Princess ... when I didn't really like the one cruise we took on Princess (admittedly, many years ago and things may well have changed) ... well, I'm just not going to do it!

 

Let me phrase it another way: the internet practices on a cruiseline, whether free or exorbitantly expensive, whether free or expensive, are the least consideration I have for which line I prefer.

 

Just as people who don't drink don't really care how much the drinks cost!

 

When I'm at home, I'm online all the time ... when I'm traveling, I'm not.

 

 

We cruised on a wonderful cruise line that was taken over by Princess more than we cruised Princess and got credits for those cruises. Plus, we cruised on Princess a couple of times a long time ago when the line was actually very good. And then we took a short cruise on Princess where there was a lot of nickel-and-diming and smoke everywhere and said "no more," although their original way of doing "Anytime Dining" (whatever the name was) worked out very well for us, even though we didn't like the rest of that cruise.

 

We have not taken a Princess cruise in many years, and have no plans to do so in the future. :)

[ClaudiaF]

The internet on Oceania has been slow since the days of R.

Many times by the time you got online you 4got what you were getting online to do..

just kiddin'

I like the posts regarding..

what did we do before internet..hey what did we do before faxes?

I agree with the posts:

remember what you came on the cruise to do..enjoy your time..and while many of us can not leave business completely at home.. hopefully there is cell phone use on ship, even at sea.. get a great phone, Apple iphone works great ( and has internet builtin..) and you won't have to worry so much.

[ClaudiaF]

The best way to get the message criss to Oceania would be if no passengers used their internet connection. One could use internet cafes which are in every port or just do what we did before the internet.

 

took a cruise..

[ClaudiaF]

I'm curious about the statement that "most other cruiselines" offer free internet service.

 

I'd like to know which ones you are talking about since I haven't been on ANY that offered free internet!"

 

Hey Mura..

Many offer free internet to us for being frequent "flyers" at sea of course..

infact most ships internet is just as slow as O.. so I usually do not even use it.

Best to do as I suggested and get a great cell phone that has GPs and get internet access with it ( make it work in any country you are visiting and then forget about sitting in that computer room.

[PaulMCO]

 

Hey Mura..

Many offer free internet to us for being frequent "flyers" at sea of course..

infact most ships internet is just as slow as O.. so I usually do not even use it.

Best to do as I suggested and get a great cell phone that has GPs and get internet access with it ( make it work in any country you are visiting and then forget about sitting in that computer room.

 

Agree 100% .. My Blackberry worked fine and because I have a legacy data plan the emails were free. Even then a 20 MB data plan from any provider will be adequate for most users and certainly Cheaper than any internet "minute" plan on the ship from any cruise line.

 

And yes it is 100% bandwidth dependent and depends on the number of people using phones, Blackberry, internet and especially Oceania's needs for data communications for billing etc..

[yellow vw]

Well, I for one love Princess. We are Elite, get enough free internet to satisfy us, get free laundry, get to go to the "40" most traveled luncheon etc. However, we are now going to take a cruise on Oceania because we like the itinery of that trip. I just hope the cruise will be worth the extra price.

Yellow VW

[stubbs1]

We brought our small laptop on the Istanbul to Athens cruise. While in Istanbul we were able to use the hotel's free service. We Skyped our grandchild and showed him the skyline of Istanbul from our hotel balcony. This was not possible on the ship. All of our minutes were used trying to connect. We sent a few e-mails. We will never purchase minutes again. Go to an internet cafe, order a drink and relax. Then you can use Skype to make your loved ones envious or happy for you. Only complaint on an otherwise great cruise. PS. Book your own tours, not the ship's.

[emgcruiser]

We were on Regatta June 2-16 and didn't even have wifi because something wasn't working - for 14 days!!!! You could use the computer room computers for free - but there were always waiting lines!!!