Static events Posted May 5, 2013 #1 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Hi all, I think we should start a campaign for RCCL to set a cruise industry first by offering free wifi on all RCCL ships. Wifi is quickly becoming apart of everyday life for so many people, for so many different reasons that it seems old fashioned to charge for wifi. It really would be WOW if RCCL offered free wifi. It's just an idea.... :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingsgirl Posted May 5, 2013 #2 Share Posted May 5, 2013 It'll never happen. Some of those internet packages are sooo expensive and lots of people buy them because they can't bear to go a few days without being plugged in. It's too much of a money-maker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticktoneer Posted May 5, 2013 #3 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I don't think it would happen, but I live in hope ! Despite thinking it wouldn't happen that wouldn't stop me joining in a campaign. Let me know what you're going to do and sign me up ! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static events Posted May 5, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted May 5, 2013 It'll never happen. Some of those internet packages are sooo expensive and lots of people buy them because they can't bear to go a few days without being plugged in. It's too much of a money-maker. It's just a shame that you have to pay so much for wifi when so many places now offer wifi for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfaeric Posted May 5, 2013 #5 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I say no. I personally don't want to have a link to the real world, first of all. Second, I know that they have no choice but to have satellite coverage only, so it's never going to be cheap or fast. Putting one and two together, I don't want to pay for other people's coverage. I'd rather my fees be lower and make the people who want the coverage pay for it. Much like the specialty restaurants. Oh, and FWIW, wi-fi isn't free in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfaeric Posted May 5, 2013 #6 Share Posted May 5, 2013 It's just a shame that you have to pay so much for wifi when so many places now offer wifi for free. It's not free- it's just buried in the cost to the customers. And land based internet is a LOT cheaper than satellite. (let alone bandwidth ability) Ever seen the price of satellite phone coverage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcvt Posted May 5, 2013 #7 Share Posted May 5, 2013 If it were free for everyone to use, I'm guessing it would be amazingly slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticktoneer Posted May 5, 2013 #8 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Despite what people are saying static events, I say go for it !! :) ;) :) ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static events Posted May 5, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted May 5, 2013 It's not free- it's just buried in the cost to the customers. And land based internet is a LOT cheaper than satellite. (let alone bandwidth ability) Ever seen the price of satellite phone coverage? Think about the amount of apps they could sell whist your on the ship....? They could sell you a music package...? Or a movie package streaming films...? Or even audio tours of each port your going to visit? RCCL must have a large bandwidth for their sat comms data alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairymelon Posted May 5, 2013 #10 Share Posted May 5, 2013 The thing is that if (and it is a big if) they did bring in free wi-fi they would just increase the cost of cruises across the board to cover it and for those who don't use wi-fi they would be penalised. I would love to see free wi-fi on the ships HOWEVER I spend a lot of time on the internet and to be honest if I buried myself into my laptop on board my husband would wonder why he bothered to pay for the cruise as I might as well be perched on the sofa as usual :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamloops50 Posted May 5, 2013 #11 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Hi all, I think we should start a campaign for RCCL to set a cruise industry first by offering free wifi on all RCCL ships. Wifi is quickly becoming apart of everyday life for so many people, for so many different reasons that it seems old fashioned to charge for wifi. It really would be WOW if RCCL offered free wifi. It's just an idea.... :confused: If they do that , they will increase the fares by the amount of what they charge for internet . Most people don't have free Wifi at home , why then on a cruise line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted May 5, 2013 #12 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Where would you suggest that RCI make up the lost revenue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_G Posted May 5, 2013 #13 Share Posted May 5, 2013 (edited) If it were free for everyone to use, I'm guessing it would be amazingly slow. ...and it's already amazingly slow. Give me back my luggage tag mailers before 'free' wifi. :D Edited May 5, 2013 by SPDBigG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachin2 Posted May 5, 2013 #14 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Seems to me that if you want to be on the net all day it would be cheaper to just stay home. Do gadgets really run your life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static events Posted May 5, 2013 Author #15 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Where would you suggest that RCI make up the lost revenue? Think about the amount of apps they could sell whist your on the ship....? They could sell you a music package (I am sure someone like spotify would be interested) ...? Or a movie package streaming films...? Or even audio tours of each port your going to visit? The possibilities are endless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
north29 Posted May 5, 2013 #16 Share Posted May 5, 2013 But until satalite Internet has some serious up grades I doubt that much will change. I have listened couple of captains discuss wifi access in the meet the captains and they said it was under discussion, for, as mentioned above, the Internet is now a must have for work, pleasure, and travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuizer2 Posted May 5, 2013 #17 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Hi all, I think we should start a campaign for RCCL to set a cruise industry first by offering free wifi on all RCCL ships. Wifi is quickly becoming apart of everyday life for so many people, for so many different reasons that it seems old fashioned to charge for wifi. It really would be WOW if RCCL offered free wifi. It's just an idea.... :confused: There is a big difference between the cost of providing Internet access from a static land based hotel with access to many different Internet providers and providing Internet access from a moving ship that must tract a satellite (or drag a very long cord behind it). In addition, a land based hotel can have more than a single access point while the ship will only have one. This means that 2000 people in a hotel might be sharing four or five different access points to the Internet while 2000 people on the ship have only one access point. While leads to bandwidth. There is no way that a wireless signal traveling from a ship to a satellite and back to earth is going to contain the bandwidth that a land based hotel has access to. The result, the ship will have a very slow connection. By charging for the access the ship limits the amount of use and thus provides faster access for those that use it. Finally, if it is that important to you, buy your own satellite access. Then multiply your cost by 2000 and see what it would cost the ship. Finally, do you really believe the hotel is providing free access, or is the hotel providing access that is include in the price of the hotel room? Perhaps sometime in the future this will be realistic, but not in our lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deborahjo Posted May 5, 2013 #18 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I do not see any cruise line ever doing this. It is FREE money to them. It would be a hugh loss of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted May 5, 2013 #19 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Think about the amount of apps they could sell whist your on the ship....? They could sell you a music package (I am sure someone like spotify would be interested) ...? Or a movie package streaming films...? Or even audio tours of each port your going to visit? The possibilities are endless. I'm sure you meant that they could sell it to someone because they are not going to sell me any such thing!;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trekker954 Posted May 5, 2013 #20 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Hi all, I think we should start a campaign for RCCL to set a cruise industry first by offering free wifi on all RCCL ships. Wifi is quickly becoming apart of everyday life for so many people, for so many different reasons that it seems old fashioned to charge for wifi. It really would be WOW if RCCL offered free wifi. It's just an idea.... :confused: Hotels don't and will never do this, so why do you think RCI should do this. Cruise vacations are so cheap anyway. Internet is a big moneymaker. Remember they are in business to make money. Sorry, IMHO, dumb idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticktoneer Posted May 5, 2013 #21 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Hotels don't and will never do this, so why do you think RCI should do this. Cruise vacations are so cheap anyway. Internet is a big moneymaker. Remember they are in business to make money. Sorry, IMHO, dumb idea. Many hotels do give you free wi-fi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static events Posted May 5, 2013 Author #22 Share Posted May 5, 2013 There is a big difference between the cost of providing Internet access from a static land based hotel with access to many different Internet providers and providing Internet access from a moving ship that must tract a satellite (or drag a very long cord behind it). In addition, a land based hotel can have more than a single access point while the ship will only have one. This means that 2000 people in a hotel might be sharing four or five different access points to the Internet while 2000 people on the ship have only one access point. While leads to bandwidth. There is no way that a wireless signal traveling from a ship to a satellite and back to earth is going to contain the bandwidth that a land based hotel has access to. The result, the ship will have a very slow connection. By charging for the access the ship limits the amount of use and thus provides faster access for those that use it. Finally, if it is that important to you, buy your own satellite access. Then multiply your cost by 2000 and see what it would cost the ship. Finally, do you really believe the hotel is providing free access, or is the hotel providing access that is include in the price of the hotel room? Perhaps sometime in the future this will be realistic, but not in our lifetime. Assuming that the ship has 4.8GHz of bandwidth which can be supplied by a leading satcoms company and also assuming that 5000 passengers and crew are using the Internet at the same time, it would mean they would be receiving just under 1mb of Internet speed. It's highly unlikely that 5000 people will be using the Internet at the same time. That said it is more likely that at any given time about 20% of the aforementioned 5000 passengers and crew will be online at once, this will give a broadband speed of 5mbs per person which is more than adequate!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alohaaloha Posted May 5, 2013 #23 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I say no. I personally don't want to have a link to the real world, first of all. Second, I know that they have no choice but to have satellite coverage only, so it's never going to be cheap or fast. Putting one and two together, I don't want to pay for other people's coverage. I'd rather my fees be lower and make the people who want the coverage pay for it. Much like the specialty restaurants. Oh, and FWIW, wi-fi isn't free in Europe. I've just returned from trips to the European countries Belgium, France and Germany, and live in England and have never paid for wi-fi. Everywhere we went it was free-Nor have we ever paid on any of our previous trips either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setsail Posted May 5, 2013 #24 Share Posted May 5, 2013 RCI uses a cell tower to sat for its connection, the same that cell phone companies use. What cell phone company gives free service, NONE that I know of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static events Posted May 5, 2013 Author #25 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I've just returned from trips to the European countries Belgium, France and Germany, and live in England and have never paid for wi-fi. Everywhere we went it was free-Nor have we ever paid on any of our previous trips either. Exactly and I just want to see RCCL lead the way at sea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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