California to Hawaii cruise, wifi available?

[Mary'sCruise]

I am interested in taking a 15 day round trip cruise from San Diego to Hawaii on the Miracle and wanted to check to see if wifi is available for the four days that cross the ocean in each direction. I did a search and only saw one person say that it was not available, and did not see any references that it was. I am back in college and I can miss a day without internet, but I can't go 4 days in a row without internet for the way there and again on the way back. I did call my travel rep and she told me to call the fun shops. They didn't really know the answer, other than sometimes it can go out. I know they have plenty of satellites in the Caribbean, but they don't have that many cruises going to Hawaii. Has anyone recently gone to Hawaii from California and had wifi working OK or did you have issues? Thanks.

[crzndeb]

I know that some said it was non existent on the Splendor, crossing the Pacific, but I know their system has not been upgraded. Not sure about the Miracle.

Edited July 23, 2019 by crzndeb

[comiso13]

I had the social plan on Splendor to Hawaii and it worked well for Facebook and Messenger, was able to send pictures and get almost immediate responses from family in California.  But I have heard horror stories about access too.  My experience was in December last year.

[coevan]

On 7/23/2019 at 5:08 PM, Mary'sCruise said:

other than sometimes it can go out. I know they have plenty of satellites in the Caribbean,

 

 

The satellites are 20,000 miles high, non are "in the Caribbean" You can avail internet anywhere in the world as long as you have access. Usually relies on paying someone for the right equipment. 

[Banditswife]

We sailed to Hawaii on the Miracle from Long Beach a couple of years ago.  We did not try to use the WIFI, but I saw others using it, not sure how reliable it was.

[N7786W Flyer]

I was on the Miracle back in 2015 to Hawaii and don't recall having any significant internet connection issues other than the data speed being abysmally slow. 

 

However, I do recall having to come to the main lobby (atrium) to get a decent wireless signal for my laptop.  Couldn't connect in my stateroom at all.

 

Garnett

[dan4182]

We were on the Splendor (April 27 to May 11) of this year. About two days out from Long Beach the internet service got very spotty and the satellite television was non-existent. The sports fans in the sports bar were NOT happy.

 

Once we got to the Hawaiian Islands everything was back to normal.

 

On the return leg, the same thing happened. There is no satellite TV coverage out in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean and only spotty internet coverage.

 

Hope this answers your questions, new ships like the Miracle might get better reception.

[Jamman54]

6 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

The satellites are 20,000 miles high, non are "in the Caribbean" You can avail internet anywhere in the world as long as you have access. Usually relies on paying someone for the right equipment. 

 

Not true. It depends on where the satellite is pointing at that determines the area of coverage. I was on the same Hawaii cruise as the previous poster and we had no satellite television for three days going out and going back. Internet was spotty as well.😎

[coevan]

Actually it is true, it's where your dish is pointing, the satellite is in orbit. I guarantee the Captain has internet and GPS every inch of the cruise. How they make it available to the passengers is another story. Do you think pilots are not wired their entire trip. No, it has nothing to do with flying at 35,000'. Unless you are trying to compare XM, which has "areas of coverage" it's their choice. Flying to Hawaii as a passenger, never cruised there, we had wi-fi the entire flight. 

[modes]

You will not have it the whole time you will even lose the TV signal.

[dan4182]

16 hours ago, coevan said:

Actually it is true, it's where your dish is pointing, the satellite is in orbit. I guarantee the Captain has internet and GPS every inch of the cruise. How they make it available to the passengers is another story. Do you think pilots are not wired their entire trip. No, it has nothing to do with flying at 35,000'. Unless you are trying to compare XM, which has "areas of coverage" it's their choice. Flying to Hawaii as a passenger, never cruised there, we had wi-fi the entire flight. 

 

 

My understanding of how the commercial satellites work is that they are in stationary orbits app. 22k to 25k miles up. The satellites have transponders that broadcast different channel/programming to specific locations down below.

 

Areas that have little/no populations, i.e. the middle of the Pacific Ocean have no transponders aimed in that direction.

 

The satellites for navigation, military, commercial aviation, etc are different.

 

 

[N7786W Flyer]

I think the coverage may vary by cruise.  Again, during our 15 day trip to Hawaii, I don't recall losing the internet...and this was prior to my retirement and my job required that I stay engaged, even on vacation.  If I had been without the internet for even a full day, I'm positive I would remember it.

 

Again, the only issues I recall were the internet speed being very slow and having to go to the atrium to get a decent wi-fi signal.

 

Also, for the record, I don't recall us ever losing TV reception either.

 

Of course, my experience was back in 2015, so things may have changed since then.

 

Garnett

[Jamman54]

Nearly six days of this in the sports bar and cabin tv on our Hawaii cruise. 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by Jamman54

[Mary'sCruise]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I have gone ahead and booked the cruise, I am willing to go down to the atrium if needed and I won't be sending any pictures and can deal with slow as long as it will upload a few word docs. I also plan to have as much of my assignments (that I can) done in advance to reduce stress and online needs.

 

I noticed that the Miracle goes into a 2 week drydock on Feb 14, 2020 and our cruise is not until October 2020. Does anyone know what will be in this upgrade or if this refurbishment includes any WiFi or network upgrades?

Thanks.