Internet Service on Serenade - Good, Bad or Ugly?

[julesbeara]

Looking for recent internet usage feedback on Serenade. I understand they haven't installed VOOM service. Wondering how bad or good the service is? Doing the Boston to Caribbean repo soon and we'll be at sea for 6 days during the cruise.

[Biker19]

You will likely experience the same level as the rest of the fleet which doesn't have O3B internet, slow but useable. All ships have VOOM - just a generic name for internet on RCI ships.

[negc]

We were just on Serenade for 24 nights (Norwegian Fjords and Transatlantic) and with the exception of a few relatively brief periods of time we had good internet service. We will be on her again in a few weeks and hope to have equally good service.:)

[MaryAnn&Don]

Just got off Serenade and the Streaming service was charged to my account but I was only able to stream my security camera once in 10 days. email and web surfing worked fine. Login was a bit complicated compared to other ships but it works.

 

If you get login unavailable, just beep trying and in a few minutes you will get through. Not as good as Anthem or Celebrity Summit, but it worked.

[goofy810]

We were just on Serenade for 24 nights (Norwegian Fjords and Transatlantic) and with the exception of a few relatively brief periods of time we had good internet service. We will be on her again in a few weeks and hope to have equally good service.:)

How was the Voom when in the Fjords part ??

[cohusker]

Great Thread! My basic question: Is the speed difference that great between Surf vs. Surf + Stream when the Serenade is in Northern Europe?

[Clarea]

Great Thread! My basic question: Is the speed difference that great between Surf vs. Surf + Stream when the Serenade is in Northern Europe?

All depends on the load. If you are the only one using the internet, Stream should get at least double (maybe quadruple) the speed of Surf Only. If the normal passenger load is present, you may see no difference at all.

[Biker19]

Surf is up to ,5Mbps, Stream up to about 4 Mbps - the key word there is "up to". Location of ship doesn't matter much, as Bob mentioned, load is much more important. Also, without O3B, even with Stream, performance will be sluggish.

[goofy810]

My questions is more will I have access to get iMessage? I have given up on Facetime and got a cell at sea plan from AT&T and now just want to know if I can plan to have service most of the time so my Daughter can send me messages?

[Clarea]

My questions is more will I have access to get iMessage? I have given up on Facetime and got a cell at sea plan from AT&T and now just want to know if I can plan to have service most of the time so my Daughter can send me messages?

VOOM service should give you iMessage capability.

[Biker19]

I have given up on Facetime and got a cell at sea plan from AT&T and now just want to know if I can plan to have service most of the time so my Daughter can send me messages?

Regardless of the plan, you are still at the mercy of a sat connection. No need for a cell data plan (which is likely to be expensive) if you already have VOOM. Text/voice messages are much more likely to work reliably vs. video Facetime. We have plenty of reports of Facetime working reliably - anything can happen on a particular sailing.

[Rogueperson]

Can't tell you about the Serenade, but I was on the Anthem in October and the Grandeur in February with the stream package.

 

It was noticeable between the two. I should have gotten a screenshot of my speedtest, but didn't. I will when i board in July again if i have the net capability.

 

On both Anthem and Grandeur I could stream video services for TV shows and movies from Netflix and Hulu. Xfinity did not work well on the Grandeur and stuttered badly, I suspect that was more Xfinity then the net, but the net had something to do with it. (I've had it stutter at home with a much more reliable access at home).

 

The difference really is that there was a much longer lag to buffer on Grandeur. IE, the video took longer to start, but once it started, it was generally okay. On both ships, I notice hiccups in the service on both, but moreso on the Granduer than the Anthem.

 

Bottom line, how much do you need to connect. I would not pay the price just to upkeep your normal life to stay connected, but if you need to stay in touch with kids, or keep tabs on land on important matters, like work, than it can be done, but if you just want access to facebook and other social media, I would say its not worth it.

[Biker19]

The difference really is that there was a much longer lag to buffer on Grandeur.

Due to the latency diff between the two (ping of 600+ ms for Grandeur, about 1/3 of that on Anthem).

[Cascade1911]

Is RCI upgrading the satellite systems on older ships (as in, might the Serenade be getting new equipment during the upcoming dry-dock)?

[Clarea]

Is RCI upgrading the satellite systems on older ships (as in, might the Serenade be getting new equipment during the upcoming dry-dock)?

They have not upgraded a ship in a long time. They upgraded Oasis, Allure, Freedom, and Majesty, and then stopped. Harmony and Quantum class did not need to be upgraded because they had O3b from the start.