Faster WiFi Is On The Way

[Hal&Rob]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/carnival-corporation-unveils-cruise-industrys-first-hybrid-wireless-network-at-sea-2014-11-03

[maxout]

Thanks interesting read. :) Hope they don't kill us with the charges :eek: :D

It will in the end promote their business as people will share more in real time and others will want that experience as well.

[LindaSSF]

Since they have been "testing it over the last year", has anyone used this system?

 

Prices?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hawkeye3d]

I’m already starting to feel a pain in my wallet.

[taxmantoo]

The article mentions one HAL ship already has this system on board. Any idea which ship?

[frankc98376]

It says it is on one HAL ship. Judging on the pricing "tests" over the past year I'm guessing it is Zuiderdam. When we boarded for our Coastal/Alaska B2B in May the first leg was standard per minute packages. the Alaska leg was "all you can eat" for I believe $149 or $199.

 

Internet on the Coastal leg was horrible- poor service and minutes disappearing into the air. Alaska leg was better but never anything to write home about (consistently slow). We were in 5190 (aft wrap) both legs and had a Cisco access point in our stateroom so distance was not a factor (unless ours was malfunctioning). Perhaps the system was still going through growing pains.

Edited November 3, 2014 by frankc98376

[sail7seas]

The article mentions one HAL ship already has this system on board. Any idea which ship?

 

I also think it is Zuiderdam. :)

 

[Scrapnana]

Seems strange only nine of the ten lines are getting the new system. What did Ibero do wrong to be left out?:eek:

[take us away]

Seems strange only nine of the ten lines are getting the new system. What did Ibero do wrong to be left out?:eek:

 

Had never heard of Ibero so looked it up. Wonder if it is not included as what I found has it listed as a joint venture between CCL and Orizonia Corp. and under executive control of Costa - maybe too many chiefs....

[sppunk]

So it took less than 2 years to drop that idiotic Harris contract?

[cunardaddict]

A few years ago we tested it on the QM2 in the area of the Antilles. A yacht with a powerful repeater was accompanying us at a useful distance to supply a testing line acting as a bridge (Some regulars may have noticed). Technically it worked out quite well but a lot of administral issues with the not always very democratic governments along the routes are holding it up.

[travelinjones]

This is great news as Carnival brands seemed to be behind on the issue compared to RCL.

 

The all-you-can-use wi-fi plan on Royal Caribbean's Allure and Oasis this summer was $189.95 for 1 device or $229 for two devices. Past cruisers got discounts of 10% or more based on their loyalty level.

 

The beauty of this was you didn't have to worry about logging off (unless you wanted to change devices) so you could keep your iPhone on in airplane mode with wi-fi on and stay in touch via email and social media.

 

For those us who must stay in touch (even when cruising), having decent wi-fi is essential.

 

If you can get reasonably fast internet at 35,000 feet on Southwest Airlines for a reasonable price, you should be able to get it at sea.

[senorjim]

I'm looking forward to trying out the new system on the Zuiderdam on Nov 7. I'll report back. In September on Zaandam what I think was the Harris system was slow as ever and out of service for over 24 hours. Mind you that was out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean so it may have been satellite issues.

Jim

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[klfrodo]

This is great news as Carnival brands seemed to be behind on the issue compared to RCL.

 

The all-you-can-use wi-fi plan on Royal Caribbean's Allure and Oasis this summer was $189.95 for 1 device or $229 for two devices. Past cruisers got discounts of 10% or more based on their loyalty level.

 

The beauty of this was you didn't have to worry about logging off (unless you wanted to change devices) so you could keep your iPhone on in airplane mode with wi-fi on and stay in touch via email and social media.

 

For those us who must stay in touch (even when cruising), having decent wi-fi is essential.

 

If you can get reasonably fast internet at 35,000 feet on Southwest Airlines for a reasonable price, you should be able to get it at sea.

 

Doesn't matter if RCCL is free, by the minute, or unlimited at one fixed price.

If the speed is so slow and the bandwidth is limited to where the service is not usable,,,, then everything else is just lipstick.

It may be a pretty pig, but still a pig.

In August on the FOS my internet speeds were constantly in the 250 KBPS range

[travelinjones]

Doesn't matter if RCCL is free, by the minute, or unlimited at one fixed price.

If the speed is so slow and the bandwidth is limited to where the service is not usable,,,, then everything else is just lipstick.

It may be a pretty pig, but still a pig.

In August on the FOS my internet speeds were constantly in the 250 KBPS range

 

Thanks for the feedback. We didn't experience slowness on the Allure or Oasis --but I'm sure it differs from ship-to-ship, and on the number of users, and where the ship is sailing.

[Typhoon1]

This has been in the works for years.

 

Only time will tell if it's any better than it was.

[ScriptOhio]

Carnival Corp. launching faster Wi-Fi

 

Carnival Corp. on Monday announced it has developed a new wireless network that will deliver faster Wi-Fi to passengers and crew.

 

The world’s largest cruise company said its entire 101-ship fleet, spread across nine global brands, will eventually use the technology. Doral-based Carnival expects its total investment to be about $10 million for the hybrid network that combines satellite and land-based technologies.

 

Ramon Millan, global chief information officer for Carnival Corp., said in an interview that the hybrid model allows the company to add new technologies as they become available.

 

“When we realized that the demand for more bandwidth was just going up and up and up, we started saying, ‘What is our plan for the next coming years?’” he said. “We need to have a model, a strategy to allow us to evolve as needed.”

 

Wi-Fi from port connections and land-based antennas along voyage routes. An algorithm will evaluate the quality of bandwidth available, capacity and strength of signal and automatically connect passengers’ devices to the best option. The company is using more than one satellite vendor, but would not disclose who those partners are.

 

Carnival said it expects the new model to result in Wi-Fi that is about 10 times faster than the current speed on most of its ships.

 

A pilot program started about a year and a half ago. Now, about 10 ships are using the model. The company said it is launching the technology in the Caribbean this year and then rolling it out to Alaska in the summer, followed by the Mediterranean, Baltic, Western Europe and Asia in 2015 and 2016.

 

Carnival’s brands include Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises.

 

Pricing has not been set, but the company said the cost will be determined by brand and is expected to be comparable to current prices.

 

Carnival isn’t the only company working to improve its Internet service at sea. In recent years, competitor Royal Caribbean International has invested in increasing bandwidth on some ships with plans to eventually roll out the faster service fleet wide.

 

In a press release, Carnival said the new network is expected to drum up more interest in cruise vacations, “especially among the tech-savvy millennial generation.” But Millan said he believes the prospect of faster Internet service will appeal to a wide range of potential cruise goers.

 

“We need to understand the different generations’ expectations and make sure we have the service and products on board to be aligned with that they’re expecting,” he said. “I don’t believe that access to the Internet is limited to that generation.”

 

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article3526774.html#storylink=cpy

 

I don't believe everything that I read; however, anything has to be an improvement over the current WiFi offered on cruises.

 

:p

[nana51]

That would be great. That way you won't use up all your minutes just trying to get on.

[PathfinderEss]

I'm not going to hold my breath that it will be better or faster.

[POA1]

It should be much aster as long as you're reasonably close to land. It's a hybrid system that uses the traditional satellite and terrabeamed connections from land-based stations.

[CaveDiving]

It's good to see that HAL has heard our comments and is at least searching for a method to improve the internet service.

 

It sure beats our complaining and HAL doing nothing.

 

Scott & Karen

[kjw869]

The article mentions one HAL ship already has this system on board. Any idea which ship?

 

I'm not sure which ship it is (or was), but LaffNVegas posted on March 31, 2013 (link provided below) that MTN had built seven terrestrial cellular stations in Alaska and 32 other locations in the Caribbean and Europe and that the new equipment had been added to the Zuiderdam.

 

She was correct, as we boarded the Zuiderdam in San Diego in May for the 4-day Pacific Coastal and stayed onboard for the first Alaskan cruise of the season for the vessel. In San Diego, there were four MTN engineers who boarded and were working on the new equipment according to the Internet Manager.

 

After we left Vancouver four days later, I noticed a much faster system and when were near Prince Rupert, BC, I measured the speed of 2.3 Mbps, or about 10-20 times faster than the normal dismal :eek: speed of HAL's Internet connection. Lisa was also on the cruise and did a Live report.

 

The much quicker speed was present in all the Alaskan ports and I was able to upload many changes and additions to the websites I maintain.

 

However, we again were on the Zuiderdam in May of this year, and that Internet Manager said that the equipment had been changed since last year. After talking to a few who were on the ship before we embarked, I decided not to purchase any Internet plan. One couple that did, had problems signing on for two days.

 

There was an article on the MTN website in January 2014 stating that Carnival Corporation had signed an agreement for 50 of their ships to employ the MTN Nexus service. They were for Princess, Cunard and P&O (UK) cruise lines. I wonder if this program will be expanded to HAL. I certainly hope so, because the service was amazing.:)

 

If anyone is interested, the link are provided below for LaffNVegas's post, and the articles on USA Today and the MTN website.

 

LaffNVegas post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=37793538&postcount=23

 

USA Today Article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2012/11/19/fast-internet-cruise-ships/1713927/

 

MTN Article: http://www.mtnsat.com/mtn-news/carnival-corporation-and-sign-agreement-internet-services-and-extend-broadcast-services-agr

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

That is good news , :):)

[Cruzaholic41]

I'm not going to hold my breath that it will be better or faster.

 

I wouldn't either. Other ships of other lines have already done this and the improvement was not as good as everyone had hoped.

[newcruise55]

We are going on the Zuiderdam in December and I hope it is that ship. When we were on our Alaska Cruise in June the internet was horrible. My husband must get in touch with his company on a daily basis and he could hardly ever get anything done it was so slow. He used up all his time just connecting to the internet.