Quality of internet reception on Rotterdam PC cruise FLL to San Diego

[seattleslew]

We're booked on our first HAL cruise in November after cruising exclusively Princess for over 40 cruises!  We look forward to comparing both lines, but can you tell us about the quality of the internet on the Panama Canal cruise from FLL to San Diego?  DH will need to send emails for business most of the 16 days.  How is the reception and speed during that voyage?  I'm not sure we understand what kind of packages are offered ... he's gotten a couple different answers from HAL customer service.  Is it cheaper to buy a package in advance?  Thanks in advance.  

[kazu]

Internet is by satellite so as long as nothing is in the way of the satellite, it works ok.

 

When I say ok, it will not have the high speed you have at home.  I’ve certainly used it on board and on that cruise.  

 

If your DH is sending emails, he will need the Surf package at least (the medium one).  That lets you do internet and emails but there is a supposed mb limit to it.

 

The Premier package (the most expensive) allows for more MB’s, certain videos, etc. 

 

I haven’t seen the mb limit imposed but I have noticed that the service slows when I exceed it.  The Premier package is available to purchase pre-cruise and is discounted so it may be well worth you while to pre-purchase it.  I can’t speak to your package but in my case, it’s only $10 more than the surf package if I pre-purchase it.

 

It will slow when everyone is trying to use it.  

 

Tips:  check the TV for a network show (it uses satellite too) and, if the picture is good, it’s working well.  If your DH uses it early in the morning or later at night when most people are not, it’s much faster (usually) as well.

 

hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

[dfish]

I purchased the Premier package before the cruise for my 20 day Iceland/Greenland adventure.  Even at that high latitude and in the fjords I had decent service.  I was able to participate in two video conferences for work with no problem.  

 

What was slow was uploading pictures to the cloud.  I learned to start that right before I went to bed at night and let it work overnight.  If I was uploading pictures and trying to do something else involving the internet, things got very slow.  

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[catl331]

Our only PC cruise was 11 years ago, and I'm sure equipment has been upgraded since then, but IIRC we had some dead spots going up the Pacific coast. Can he do the emailing from ports if necessary, or is that too insecure for him?

Edited October 14, 2019 by catl331

[CruiserBruce]

If email is all he needs to do, the internet will be more than sufficient most of the time. Could there be an occasional issue? Yes. But most likely it will be more than enough coverage to meet his needs.

 

There are many threads about the internet packages and what they cover. As mentioned,  only the premium package can be booked in advance with a discount. You don't need the premium package for email use.

[seattleslew]

Thanks for these great responses.  Boring topic, I know, but important for us on this cruise.

[Snits]

Awesome info. My brother is thinking about joining our mom and myself on our upcoming cruise and would like to work the first two sea days. This answers pretty much everything he asked about. Now I will have to find out the cost. For a 10 day cruise.

[kazu]

This is the cost on board:

 

So, the Surf package for your 10 day should be $129.99

 

The Premium package is available at a discount if you pre-order it.

[seattleslew]

Such a great help ---- thanks Kazu.

 

 

[Snits]

7 hours ago, kazu said:

This is the cost on board:

 

So, the Surf package for your 10 day should be $129.99

 

The Premium package is available at a discount if you pre-order it.

Thank you for posting the rates.

 

 

[GeezerCouple]

Thanks - a very timely question...

 

We'll be on the Noordam in Nov/Dec for a NZ/Australia itinerary, but we'll be near shore, and docking frequently.

So we don't yet have experience with HAL's internet, but we will in several weeks.

 

But we are thinking very seriously of a San Diego/Hawaii/San Diego cruise in a year or so.  That means... the middle of the ocean, with no port calls for several days each direction.

This would be the Konigsdam, in case that matters.

 

Does anyone have recent and personal experience with that ship's internet when far from land, and better yet, in the Pacific?

 

DH would be wanting mostly emails, with occasional downloading of doc/pdf attachments, and probably some surfing to locate other relevant written materials.

Video conferencing is unlikely, but not impossible (I think he's only done that one time in several years of various vacations).

 

It would be a problem if there were no access at all for several days.  Intermittent disruptions... that happens at home, too...! ☹️

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

[kazu]

25 minutes ago, Snits said:

Thank you for posting the rates.

 

 

You are very welcome.

 

The credit goes to richwmn who originally posted it.

 

I apologize to him as I forgot to give him credit.

 

I saved it for inquiries.

[CruiserBruce]

@GeezerCouple, the satellite the ship uses are orbiting the Earth at about 20 or so degrees north latitude. So you are, relatively speaking,  about as close as you can get to the satellite, and no mountains or fjords to get in the way like far north cruises. It doesn't matter you are far from land.

[sandiego1]

2 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Thanks - a very timely question...

 

We'll be on the Noordam in Nov/Dec for a NZ/Australia itinerary, but we'll be near shore, and docking frequently.

So we don't yet have experience with HAL's internet, but we will in several weeks.

 

But we are thinking very seriously of a San Diego/Hawaii/San Diego cruise in a year or so.  That means... the middle of the ocean, with no port calls for several days each direction.

This would be the Konigsdam, in case that matters.

 

Does anyone have recent and personal experience with that ship's internet when far from land, and better yet, in the Pacific?

 

DH would be wanting mostly emails, with occasional downloading of doc/pdf attachments, and probably some surfing to locate other relevant written materials.

Video conferencing is unlikely, but not impossible (I think he's only done that one time in several years of various vacations).

 

It would be a problem if there were no access at all for several days.  Intermittent disruptions... that happens at home, too...! ☹️

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

We were on the 2019 World Cruise. We had many times when we were in the middle of the various ocean/seas and didn't have ANY internet connectivity. Satellites don't cover every square inch of the Earth. 

[jakkojakko]

Being in the middle of an ocean does not matter as the internet is via a satelite. Wat matters is the position relative to a satelite. Being far north or south on the globe, near polar regions, reception can be intermittent. Also sailing in deep fjords cuts of line of sight with the satelite and reception is lost. That said, we sailed Rotterdam far north in august and september and had good internet, albeit not as fast as back home, for the whole cruise except when crossing prins cristian sund in greenland.

 

So for cruises near the equator you should have no problems.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, jakkojakko said:

So for cruises near the equator you should have no problems.

 

When we did the Hawaii, Tahiti, Marquesas cruise we had NO internet at Hawaii and around Hawaii.  

 

Internet on that cruise was very intermittent.  I do suspect that the 'internet' manager did not have the right knowledge for positioning, but that's JMO.  

[GeezerCouple]

36 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

When we did the Hawaii, Tahiti, Marquesas cruise we had NO internet at Hawaii and around Hawaii.  

 

Internet on that cruise was very intermittent.  I do suspect that the 'internet' manager did not have the right knowledge for positioning, but that's JMO.  

 

Hmmm... it was sounding good until you posted 😞

How long ago was this, and what cruise line/ship?

 

Thanks (I think! 😉 )

 

GC

[kazu]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Hmmm... it was sounding good until you posted 😞

How long ago was this, and what cruise line/ship?

 

Thanks (I think! 😉 )

 

GC

 

2017 IIRC - Westerdam (Holland America).  I was doing a LIVE thread at the time so there were plenty of reports on it 😉 

it wasn’t the norm that I have seen.

[dchip]

On 10/14/2019 at 4:42 AM, dfish said:

What was slow was uploading pictures to the cloud.  I learned to start that right before I went to bed at night and let it work overnight.  If I was uploading pictures and trying to do something else involving the internet, things got very slow.  

Thanks! I have been looking for info that I could update photos to the cloud overnight! I purchased the Premium Package for our 51 day South Pacific cruise. I wasn’t  sure you could stay signed on overnight.  With Princess Medallion Net I could. 
 

Thanks again!,

Denise

[seattleslew]

I’m buying the premium internet package.  Does that package have unlimited minutes?

[kazu]

11 minutes ago, seattleslew said:

I’m buying the premium internet package.  Does that package have unlimited minutes?

 

Yes, it does.  

[seattleslew]

I figured.  Thanks

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, seattleslew said:

I’m buying the premium internet package.  Does that package have unlimited minutes?

All the packages have unlimited minutes. What differentiates them from each other is what you can do with those minutes. The least expensive package gets 'social' sites only. The surf package adds in other websites, including email sites. The premium package allows streaming. 
The increasing prices also (supposedly) get you more MBs, too. No one has reported being cut off for reaching their MB limit, but there have been reports of the speed slowing. 

[Canadaclyde]

We are booked on the 77 day Grand South America cruise in January 2020. Does anyone have any idea what the price might be for the surf and  premium package? I noticed that the above chart does not include prices for longer cruises. Does HAL charge by segment then, even though we booked the whole 77 days as one cruise? Thanks for any insight you can provide.

[dchip]

11 hours ago, Canadaclyde said:

We are booked on the 77 day Grand South America cruise in January 2020. Does anyone have any idea what the price might be for the surf and  premium package? I noticed that the above chart does not include prices for longer cruises. Does HAL charge by segment then, even though we booked the whole 77 days as one cruise? Thanks for any insight you can provide.

The Premium package price for 51 days bought before boarding is $503.98. 
 

Cheers, Denise