Internet / Voom Service - Transatlantic

[jtsongas]

There is likely limited data yet but I am hoping someone has experience with this that can answer.

 

Has anyone had experience with a transatlantic cruise and the quality of the Voom service throughout the cruise? I have been on Anthem and found it to be amazing but that was in Europe only. I know a few ships have made the journey across that were equipped with Voom and would love to hear peoples experience. If nothing else, I guess I could wait for the western bound cruises in November to ask the question again.

 

I am trying to plan the transatlantic on Brilliance in April 2017 but work would require me to be able to connect at times during that cruise. I know, I know, work and vacation should be very distant and disconnected from each other but this is a case where some work while on the cruise would make the trip possible for me.

[Clarea]

We had continuous internet on transatlantic cruises on Voyager, Legend, and Vision. However, the speed was slow, nothing like on ships with O3b internet, such as Quantum and Oasis class ships plus Freedom.

[jtsongas]

We had continuous internet on transatlantic cruises on Voyager, Legend, and Vision. However, the speed was slow, nothing like on ships with O3b internet, such as Quantum and Oasis class ships plus Freedom.

 

Voom (O3b) is fleet wide now, correct?

[Clarea]

Voom (O3b) is fleet wide now, correct?

Voom is fleetwide, O3b is not. This past May, RC redefined Voom to be whatever the ship had at that point.

[jtsongas]

Voom is fleetwide, O3b is not. This past May, RC redefined Voom to be whatever the ship had at that point.

 

WOW, that is very deceptive. So, that is what is meant by the WOW.

[critterchick]

I'm on the Serenade TA right now, somewhere off the coast of Greenland.:D

 

The Internet is far better than I expected, even mid afternoon, which should be a peak time. We did not have service in two of the ports in Iceland because the fjords are surrounded by nearly vertical hills and the satellite connection failed. But I've been able to surf the Internet, download emails with attachments and Skype with only an occasional hiccup.

 

Although it's not the VOOM we loved on Oasis, it is definitely upgraded from last year, when it was truly awful. If Brilliance has the same setup, you should be fine.:)

[gagirl7143]

On Jewel TA last spring after the refurb and Voom was very good. Rarely got kicked off and not lighting but much faster than anytime before Voom!

 

 

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[Biker19]

WOW, that is very deceptive. So, that is what is meant by the WOW.

 

Even on ships with O3B there seems to be some tinkering with speeds. You should see up to .5MB download speeds with the SURF package on all ships. The difference comes with the STREAM package and the ping rates between rest of the fleet and O3B equipped ships.

[critterchick]

Update: not 30 minutes after I posted the satellite connection broke - I guess I jinxed it! I just came back a little while ago. So I guess you could say that it comes and goes. But so far it's been consistent enough to do the work we need to. As long as you don't have to be connected at a particular time, I still think you'll be fine. But I'll let you know what happens over the next few days until we reach Halifax.

[fredflint]

I was on the Allure with 0B3 VOOM (last November on TA) and it was over 15MB all time and up to 40 MB, streaming was no issue. VOIP calls that sounded great using Ooma app on my cell phone.

 

But there were times when switching satellites from the Western to Eastern and they do a really poor job communicating the actual time things will be down. I am on vacation and don't need internet every single minute, but myself and a lot of other people were pissed off too.

 

If they would just come clean and say for the changeover day there will be on and off issues throughout but they don't!

 

Check and see if you have 0B3 if yes, you can work stream whatever you want to do and it will work 85% of the time.

[travelberlin]

On Serenade Transatlantic right now, the internet service is fine. We had yesterday no internet for several hours but today is working well. To my opinion the Voom package is fine.

Edited September 8, 2016 by travelberlin

[Biker19]

 

If they would just come clean and say for the changeover day there will be on and off issues throughout but they don't!

 

While not specific for a day or service, every TA I have been on recently has had both in the daily Compass and sometimes on one of the TV channels that satellite service would be out. I doubt that service outage is a known predictable thing - the crew is probably just as surprised as you are when service is lost.

[Clarea]

While not specific for a day or service, every TA I have been on recently has had both in the daily Compass and sometimes on one of the TV channels that satellite service would be out. I doubt that service outage is a known predictable thing - the crew is probably just as surprised as you are when service is lost.

Our experience on our last 3 TAs from Spain to Florida has been that the TV stations go out for a few days mid-Atlantic, but the internet stays up (with very few short interruptions) the entire trip.