When will cruise ships offer free wi-if in cabins?

[casofilia]

We have asked crew members many times where to get good wifi in port, in fact many show us the way!

 

 

If you are on a cruise that is in a port for the first time do the reverse, tell the crew where you found free Internet, works wonders!!!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I pay plenty for cruise plenty for Princess excursions drinks extras . Yes ar1950 I expect and want free internet in this day and age or at the very minimum at a small price not the outrageous prices of today. And if royal and celebrity have it, why not princess?

I have a 7 day cruise coming up with celebrity. Yes, I can pay for unlimited Internet at the tune of $229 for one week! You don't think that is outrageous???

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Free internet: 100% crazy talk! :evilsmile:

 

Princess is a business and they are not interested in you sitting in your stateroom for an entire cruise surfing the web. They want and need you to be surfing the shops, excursions, bars and any other profit centers on and off the ship. The current fare structure will never allow for free internet for all passengers. Now, free unlimited for suites and for those with 100+ cruises, maybe.

 

Every Las Vegas casino has free Internet access and they still manage to suck the money right out of my purse.

[caribill]

Internet speeds (and WiFi connectivity) are being improved on Medallion class ships. Of course so many people seem to fear Big Brother and swear they will never sail on those ships. Whatever. For now, connectivity is poor and I am happy that not everybody can be online all the time playing their games, using Facebook, etc. If everybody had free Internet access the stupid Facebook access alone would kill the entire system as it stands.

 

Intranet speeds on the ships will be vastly improved. I have not seen any announcements that the Internet bandwidth for the ships is being increased which is needed for improved Internet speeds.

 

So lickedy-split you will be able to locate your spouse on the ship or order that shore excursion or book a specialty restaurant or check your on-board account. But I am not expecting that surfing the Internet will be any faster.

[caribill]

Have you been on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean lately? They both offer unlimited high speed internet. You can even get it as a free perk on some sailings. My next cruise is on Royal Caribbean and I can purchase a week of unlimited for $105.

 

That same week currently costs $249 on Celebrity (or $224 if purchased in advanced). Of course if two people in a cabin want that unlimited access at the same time, then the cost is twice as much.

 

And although it is advertised as being high speed, the Celebrity Cruise Critic board has many posters complaining that the speed is barely up to dial-up standards.

 

$105 for a week ($15/day is reasonable). $249 for a week ($35.57/day) is not.

 

The corporate parent of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity reports that profits from the sale of on-board Internet add significantly to the bottom line.

 

(Also adding profits to the bottom line are the sales of beverage packages.)

 

And it is rare that Celebrity offers it as a free perk. As a perk, yes, but not free. With a masterful bit of marketing Celebrity offers what they call Go Big (one perk), Go Better (two perks) and Go Best (four perks). And the price for Go Big, Go Better and Go Best is significantly higher than booking with no perks. There are numerous posts on the Celebrity Cruise Critic board saying how happy they are to be getting getting one of these packages, but not pointing out that they have paid up to $720/person extra to get the four perks.

Edited September 5, 2017 by caribill

[Charles4515]

I have a 7 day cruise coming up with celebrity. Yes, I can pay for unlimited Internet at the tune of $229 for one week! You don't think that is outrageous???

 

 

 

The price in Celebrity is outrageous yet people buy it. There are large discounts if you have some status in their loyalty program. What we do is share it to split the cost.

[Charles4515]

That same week currently costs $249 on Celebrity (or $224 if purchased in advanced). Of course if two people in a cabin want that unlimited access at the same time, then the cost is twice as much.

 

And although it is advertised as being high speed, the Celebrity Cruise Critic board has many posters complaining that the speed is barely up to dial-up standards.

 

$105 for a week ($15/day is reasonable). $249 for a week ($35.57/day) is not.

 

The corporate parent of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity reports that profits from the sale of on-board Internet add significantly to the bottom line.

 

(Also adding profits to the bottom line are the sales of beverage packages.)

 

And it is rare that Celebrity offers it as a free perk. As a perk, yes, but not free. With a masterful bit of marketing Celebrity offers what they call Go Big (one perk), Go Better (two perks) and Go Best (four perks). And the price for Go Big, Go Better and Go Best is significantly higher than booking with no perks. There are numerous posts on the Celebrity Cruise Critic board saying how happy they are to be getting getting one of these packages, but not pointing out that they have paid up to $720/person extra to get the four perks.

 

 

 

Those perk packages are a marketing con that Celebrity has working well for itself. As you say people are really happy with them and think they are free when actually they are paying for them.

 

The price difference between Royal Caribbean and Celebrity is amazing yet seems to work for them. Still I never paid $249, after discounts and sharing it the most I ever paid is $80. Celebrity's high price encourages work arounds. I think they are shooting themselves in the foot. On Royal we could share but don't because their price is reasonable. Celebrity does have two device plans so if two want to be on the same time they would not pay double but two being on the same time is not something most need. I can share because I don't need unlimited, I am not using the internet every minute.

 

My experience with the quality on Celebrity has been that it provides pretty good speeds. Those who have had slower speeds have been on cruises outside the O3b networks foot print. Their coverage is worse at the more northern latitudes. And there is no getting around the Norwegian Fjords are going to be problematic for satellite service. In general though the Celebrity internet is good and way better than Princess. I was able to Stream Game of Thrones on Celebrity. On Princess last week could barely get email. I believe that Celebrity's service not as good as Royal's while using the same satellites, at least compared to Oasis class which is ironic since they charge twice as much as Royal. On Allure and Oasis of the Seas the internet is really fast. I suspect that the difference is the access points installed throughout the ships. Celebrity had likely installed lower quality access points. Real high speed satellite internet is proved possible as I found in those Oasis class ships, so all the cruise lines can have it if they pay to put it in. Customers are going to pay for whatever the cruise lines install either as an add on or by paying a higher fare. It is not going to be free as it costs money to put up satellites. As seen with the difference in price between Celebrity and Royal the cruise lines will charge whatever they can get us to pay.

 

What they will do is offer free or cheap access to ship stuff like access to your account, dining reservations, excursions, stuff they want to sell you. Access to the outside world will not be free.

[peety3]

I don't expect the internet to be free. But Princess should offer internet that works for a reasonable price. As I mentioned other cruise lines offer unlimited internet that works, at reasonable prices.

A significant portion of the "slowness" we all experience on ship-board internet is the latency to send the signal up to the satellite, back down to the ground (on land), [then there's a relatively fast portion to send the signal across the ground to the website and back to the ground station], back up to the satellite, and back down to the ship. Current technology means that signal has to go ~22,300 miles up, ~22,300 miles back down, then the return signal has to go ~22,300 miles up, and ~22,300 miles back down. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second in a vacuum, but only 2/3 of that speed in air.

 

 

In other words, there's nothing that SCIENTISTS can do to make that aspect any faster. Not Princess, not some techy company, SCIENTISTS can't even fix it.

 

The only company that could offer something better is Iridium, and they were too early for their time; their satellite constellation can only support data transfers as small as text messages, nothing bigger. There's talk of a new low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation to offer (much) lower latency (by flying dozens of satellites at ~400 miles up), but it's not flying yet.

 

Higher level, because satellites cost hundreds of millions of dollars, have limited bandwidth (due to power constraints), and limited life spans (cannot send a technician out to fix them, etc.), it'll be decades before there's no cost (at least behind the scenes) to provide the service (regardless of whether the cruise line chooses to charge).

[paul929207]

Not true. Before April 2007 unlimited internet was a Platinum and Elite benefit - had to use the internet cafe though since it didn't include wireless access.

 

Old benefits circa 2006:

 

 

Complimentary Cruise Atlas

Every year you will automatically receive a copy of our Princess Cruise Atlas. With details on all itineraries and sailings for the year, you will be able to plan ahead easily!

 

Free upgrade to TravelCare Gold

As a Platinum member, when you purchase our Standard Travel Care travel protection plan, we will automatically give you a free upgrade to the Gold package,- that’s double the cover - on us!

 

Preferred Check-In

When you arrive at the port, don’t wait in line. If you are a Platinum member, you and your family or guests will be invited to use the Preferred Check-In desk to help expedite your embarkation.

 

Platinum Members Lounge

In recognition of your loyalty, and to make your last morning with us more enjoyable, we invite Platinum members to use the Platinum Members Lounge, offering light refreshments and peace while you await disembarkation.

 

Free Internet Access

We know you like to keep in touch with home, so we are also pleased to reward your repeat business with free internet access while you are onboard. Times and availability are dependent upon the ship. Does not include wireless internet access.

Thanks. I was sure it was free not a credit, but was too lazy to search for truth.

[Charles4515]

A significant portion of the "slowness" we all experience on ship-board internet is the latency to send the signal up to the satellite, back down to the ground (on land), [then there's a relatively fast portion to send the signal across the ground to the website and back to the ground station], back up to the satellite, and back down to the ship. Current technology means that signal has to go ~22,300 miles up, ~22,300 miles back down, then the return signal has to go ~22,300 miles up, and ~22,300 miles back down. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second in a vacuum, but only 2/3 of that speed in air.

 

 

 

 

 

In other words, there's nothing that SCIENTISTS can do to make that aspect any faster. Not Princess, not some techy company, SCIENTISTS can't even fix it.

 

 

 

The only company that could offer something better is Iridium, and they were too early for their time; their satellite constellation can only support data transfers as small as text messages, nothing bigger. There's talk of a new low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation to offer (much) lower latency (by flying dozens of satellites at ~400 miles up), but it's not flying yet.

 

 

 

Higher level, because satellites cost hundreds of millions of dollars, have limited bandwidth (due to power constraints), and limited life spans (cannot send a technician out to fix them, etc.), it'll be decades before there's no cost (at least behind the scenes) to provide the service (regardless of whether the cruise line chooses to charge).

 

 

 

Your info is dated. The technology does exist now. The O3b satellite constellation that Royal Caribbean is using is flying now, has 12 satellites in orbit at 5000 miles, with 20 total planned. That is the reason why the Voom internet on Royal Caribbean has a lot lower latency and faster speeds than the 23,000 miles up satellites used by Princess. For whatever reason a competitor to Princess has booked the better satellites.

[ellie1145]

It was only unlimited for Full Suite passengers.

There has only ever been the minutes package benefit for Platinum and Elite.

 

This is not true. When travelling on Grand Princess in 2002, as platinum members we had unlimited internet. We've never had a suite, full or otherwise! In those days we only ever had an outside cabin. We did several cruises with unlimited internet until they changed it to an allocation of minutes. We did have to use the Internet cafe but that wasn't a problem. We weren't so dependent on it anyway in those days.

 

We think Princess are VERY generous with their internet allowances. We had 250 minutes each on our last 10 night cruise on Royal and the Internet was superb. We had signal everywhere including our cabin and it was good enough to FaceTime our baby grandson. Even so, wE didn't use all our minutes, and can't imagine wanting to be on the internet all the time whilst on holiday.

 

Compared to RCI or NCL, Princess are exceedingly good. On RCI we are Diamond and only get 24 hours of internet which has to be taken in one go. Pathetic! Would much prefer a couple of hours a day just to stay in touch with our grandson.

 

However, its nice to get away from phones and tablets so we really don't miss the Internet being available 24/7. Anyway, if it was 'free' I'm sure we would actually be paying for it somewhere along the line, so I would prefer it to remain as it is and not pay an increased price for the cruise.

Edited September 5, 2017 by ellie1145

[Iamcruzin]

avid cruiser , love princess but isn't it time for princess and all lines to offer free wi-if in cabins. Any thoughts ? Will it ever happen , it seems it has to

Eventually they will be forced to offer free WiFi if they want to capture the business of millennials. Celebrity already has this as a choice when you book a cruise. Before they offer free or what appears to be free WiFi I think they need to install proper charging station so passengers don't have to pack adaptors, power strips and extension cords.

[Iamcruzin]

I pay plenty for cruise plenty for Princess excursions drinks extras . Yes ar1950 I expect and want free internet in this day and age or at the very minimum at a small price not the outrageous prices of today. And if royal and celebrity have it, why not princess?

 

Right now the Princess demographic does not require inexpensive or what appears to be free Wifi. The minutes passengers receive after becoming platinum or elite are enough for them to get by with. If you follow the threads Princess passengers are not very acceptive to technology with many of them locking up their flip phones in the safe as soon as they board. NCL, Royal Caribbean attract a younger demographic. It is imperative for them to keep current if they want to fill their 6000 passenger ships.

[Iamcruzin]

That is the price if you wait tobuy until you are onboard. If you buy in advance it is $14.39 a day. And for two devices it is $25.58 a day. We don't do the two devices plan though. The way it works it is easy for two people to share the one device plan. Each person with the password can logout out the other person when they want to be on. Sharing the one device plan is quite simple.

I think this is a reasonable price to Pay. People spend more on coffee and cocktails than that in a day. I am very capable of drinking coffee or a cocktail while using social media or texting someone at home so they won't be losing money on me.

[TriumphGuy]

On our Hawaii cruise in April on Grand, we just paid by the minute to check email once or twice on a daily basis. Worked fine, and was still cheaper than buying a package. To write emails, we would compose them offline and then connect and send them.

We're on a cruise to relax and enjoy a break from the world at large. This includes, for us, relief from non-stop facebook posts and blather from the news media.

In Hawaii we had full cell signal and we were able to catch up. Worked fine for us! Personally, I don't care if they never offer free wifi.

[Loonbeam]

Just because its offered as a perk doesn't mean it's free. Just means they are rolling into higher prices. As an example, since NCL started offering their various perk packages, cabin costs have generally gone up about as much as the same benefit would have cost...

 

It may be included, but you are going to pay for it...

 

(For purposes of this discussion I am defining 'free' wi-fi as provided by the cruise line with no increase in cost to cruisers via any channel.)

 

Eventually they will be forced to offer free WiFi if they want to capture the business of millennials. Celebrity already has this as a choice when you book a cruise. Before they offer free or what appears to be free WiFi I think they need to install proper charging station so passengers don't have to pack adaptors, power strips and extension cords.

[Iamcruzin]

Just because its offered as a perk doesn't mean it's free. Just means they are rolling into higher prices. As an example, since NCL started offering their various perk packages, cabin costs have generally gone up about as much as the same benefit would have cost...

 

It may be included, but you are going to pay for it...

 

(For purposes of this discussion I am defining 'free' wi-fi as provided by the cruise line with no increase in cost to cruisers via any channel.)

 

You missed the phrase "What appears to be free". Yes it is rolled into the cost but not at the rate that they are charging a la carte. Also all you have to do is make people believe that it is free. That's what all of these promos and sales are about. It's like Department stores advertising 50% off MSRP. The MSRP is so inflated that even at 50% off you are paying more than you probably should be. Some see this as a value that they can live with. The same holds true for cruises.

[Thrak]

]Intranet speeds on the ships will be vastly improved. I have not seen any announcements that the Internet bandwidth for the ships is being increased which is needed for improved Internet speeds.[/color]

 

So lickedy-split you will be able to locate your spouse on the ship or order that shore excursion or book a specialty restaurant or check your on-board account. But I am not expecting that surfing the Internet will be any faster.

 

I'm looking for the article (and not finding it!) that I saw recently where they showed the big "golf ball" looking receivers and said they were installing more of them on some ships. That directly relates to Internet access. Hopefully I can find the dang article.

 

I'm not saying they can improve the built-in latency of satellite Internet connections but they can address the reliability of the system.

[satxdiver]

Anytime any corporation offers "free" anything to its clients, you are paying for it. They are not going to impact their bottom line (profit) by giving away the store. Internet access on the ship costs Princess money for the equipment and satellite time. We the pax pay for it along with the usual markup. The other consideration is that charging for internet holds down the traffic. If it were "free" pax with their many internet devices (tablets, smart phones etc) would use it all the time causing internet speeds to be even slower than they are now. The bigger the ship the worse it would be. So until they can get greater bandwidth at cheaper prices, Princess is not likely to offer unlimited internet services.

[SharkieRools]

I'm looking for the article (and not finding it!) that I saw recently where they showed the big "golf ball" looking receivers and said they were installing more of them on some ships. That directly relates to Internet access. Hopefully I can find the dang article.

 

I'm not saying they can improve the built-in latency of satellite Internet connections but they can address the reliability of the system.

This one?

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7777

(In regards to the Regal Princess: )

"In addition, three brand-new satellite antennas -- those shiny white objects that resemble giant golf balls on the highest point of the ship -- have been installed, taking the ship's total number of antennas to seven."

[Thrak]

This one?

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7777

(In regards to the Regal Princess: )

"In addition, three brand-new satellite antennas -- those shiny white objects that resemble giant golf balls on the highest point of the ship -- have been installed, taking the ship's total number of antennas to seven."

 

Yes, that one. :D

 

Many thanks. I knew I had seen it recently but was having one of those (frequent) senior moments.

[beg3yrs]

...

I'm not saying they can improve the built-in latency of satellite Internet connections but they can address the reliability of the system.

 

Actually they can reduce the latency. Princess is currently using geostationary satellites at 22,600 miles up in orbit. All the round trips your packets have to make at that distance is a major source of latency.

 

If they go to a moving constellation of mid-earth-orbit (MEO) or low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, the latency will be significantly reduced. There are some systems already like this. Iridium is MEO IIRC but wasn't designed for Internet bandwidths. I think there was a mention of a LEO system already in use for Internet a few posts back. Newer systems should come online in the near future.

[peety3]

Actually they can reduce the latency. Princess is currently using geostationary satellites at 22,600 miles up in orbit. All the round trips your packets have to make at that distance is a major source of latency.

 

If they go to a moving constellation of mid-earth-orbit (MEO) or low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, the latency will be significantly reduced. There are some systems already like this. Iridium is MEO IIRC but wasn't designed for Internet bandwidths. I think there was a mention of a LEO system already in use for Internet a few posts back. Newer systems should come online in the near future.

Iridium's next-generation constellation will support up to 1.5Mbps. SpaceX is planning its own constellation of 4,425 satellites may begin launching by 2019. Although the latencies will be much lower with LEO/MEO orbits, they will become inconsistent ("jitter") due to the convoluted path the signals will have to follow.

[RocketMan275]

Complimentary WiFi would be one of the last things on my list of enticements for a cruise.

[TheCruisingAccountant]

Perfectly happy without any Internet at sea, and while I know that is a fantasy, the less ability to connect on ship, the better as far as I am concerned. I would not shed a tear if I was never able to access the Internet at sea.

 

Laptop stays home. Tablet stays home. Phone is offline and used in ports for convenience - maps, GPS, etc.

 

I appreciate people vacation in different ways and relax in different ways, but I wont say that seeing multiple passengers spend what appears to be a great deal of their vacation looking for a good WiFi signal on board, or spending time at Passenger Services upset about one Internet issue or the other does not amuse me to a certain degree.

 

I just find it hard to accept that cruise ship passengers, as a whole, are such important people to the functioning of the world that we cant collectively drop off the grid for a week or two and not expect the world to be there, as it was, when we return.

 

Humanity, relatively speaking, was doing OK before the machines started to take over. I am sure we will all be fine if we have to live without them for a few days here and there.