Internet service discontinued!

[DaveinCharlotte]

ACL sent us the following e-mail shortly before we left for our Great Rivers of Florida cruise last week.  We arrived to find that the e-mail was correct; no internet service.  Since we have no cellular devices with data plans, this was a major pain. Worse, our Hotel Manager said he believed that internet service was being discontinued on ALL ACL cruises.  Can anyone who has cruised recently confirm this? 

 

"Dear Guest,

We look forward to you joining us aboard American Star.

We have seen a steady increase of guests bringing phones, iPads, and other devices with them on their cruise. In almost all cases, these devices have better direct connections to the internet than the shared connection of the ship.

As guests increasingly utilized their own data, the shared internet became under-used and unnecessary. Knowing this, we have phased out cell-based internet service onboard. We expect this to have no impact on your cruise experience, but if you do not have a data plan already, you may wish to contact your cellular carrier to upgrade."

[BaumD]

Going on the Star in a few weeks. Girlfriend happened to ask me last night (before this thread) if there was WiFi on the ship as she has very limited data on her phone and no data on her ipad (only wifi). I told her yes. Looks like adding 25GB of data for the month will cost about $40.00.

[CarolynFH]

Oh my, I'll be watching this carefully as well.  We embark on the Northwest Pioneers cruise on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in April, and my understanding is the cellular connectivity is very poor along there.  I hope they haven't discontinued wifi on that route!  We do have data on our iPads as well as our phones, but we'd rather use wifi if available.

[BaumD]

Their WiFi system is (was) based upon cellular. So....no cell signal....no WiFi. Did Columbia river a few years ago and yes, cell signal is very poor in many areas.

[BaumD]

All references to internet service or WiFi has been deleted from their website. Looks like it's gone.

[Izena]

I traveled the snake  river in 2019.  Wifi was basically non existent at that time.  From prior conversations I wifi service was poor at best with ACL - 

They either neeeded to update their systems or discontinue all together. 

[DaveinCharlotte]

1 hour ago, Izena said:

I traveled the snake  river in 2019.  Wifi was basically non existent at that time.  From prior conversations I wifi service was poor at best with ACL - 

They either neeeded to update their systems or discontinue all together. 

 

Have been on about a dozen cruises so far; on about a third of them, WiFi service was indeed lousy, as on your Snake River cruise.  On about a third of them service was so-so; e.g., could get good connection in the lounges where the routers were and maybe in our room if we opened the door and stood near the hallway, but not elsewhere.  And on about a third the service was good (this tended to be on the new ships).

 

I think they needed to update their systems on some of the ships, not discontinue service on all of them.

[twototravel]

We leave on 16 April on the Constellation. Have not received anything about stopping wifi yet. Although as others have mentioned, the ship-supplied wifi was usually awful anyway. Hopefully all the ports the ships will be anchored at will have cell towers nearby. Those with Verizon should have little problems. We have ATT and there's big holes of no coverage going west.

[DaveinCharlotte]

On 3/23/2022 at 6:43 AM, twototravel said:

We leave on 16 April on the Constellation.

We have ATT and there's big holes of no coverage going west [from Seattle].

We'll be on the Constitution also, but later, for the Inland Passage Cruise.  We also have AT&T.  Have been scrutinizing their coverage map, and as far as I can tell, both of us should be within range at all the ports.  Between ports, though, I see those holes you mention -- little to no coverage. 

[CarolynFH]

We each received emails from ACL yesterday, officially announcing discontinuation of internet service on board.  Here's the relevant text from the email:

 

We have seen a steady increase of guests bringing phones, iPads, and other devices with them on their cruise. In almost all cases, these devices have better direct connections to the internet than the shared connection of the ship.
 
As guests increasingly utilized their own data, the shared internet became under-used and unnecessary. Knowing this, we have phased out cell-based internet service on board. As cell service is available in all ports and throughout the vast majority of our cruising region, you will have access to the internet most of the time. Additionally, your phone can act as the gateway to the internet for your other electronic devices by creating its own hotspot. Click here for instructions.
 
To maximize your connection and coverage time, if you do not have a data plan already, you may wish to contact your cellular carrier to upgrade.

We have AT&T, and I've looked at their maps of the Columbia/Snake River route.  We should be fine - have unlimited data on our account, and our iPads have cellular connectivity as well.  For my dad we can set up one of our phones as a hotspot when he needs internet access.  So I think we'll be okay.  Our family knows where we'll be, and we're all retired, so we don't have to worry about "emergencies" at work!

[BaumD]

i have AT&T. leaving in 3 days for American Star. My Iphone plan has unlimited data, but does not allow it to be a hotspot. I can upgrade my plan and get a hotspot, but limited GB's and of course, more money. My Ipad has only 1Gb of data per month. May need to upgrade that. Have not heard a word from ACL about WiFi and leaving on Saturday.

[DaveinCharlotte]

On 3/29/2022 at 11:38 AM, BaumD said:

Have not heard a word from ACL about WiFi and leaving on Saturday.

We arrived at the Star and discovered that our e-mail was correct, no W-Fi internet.

[DaveinCharlotte]

On 3/29/2022 at 11:22 AM, CarolynFH said:

We each received emails from ACL yesterday, officially announcing discontinuation of internet service on board.  Here's the relevant text from the email:

Identical to what I posted above when I opened this thread (March 21).  So as BaumD has noted, looks like this new policy applies across all the ACL fleet.

[BillHana]

This internet access decision is a show stopper for me. ACL boasts about everything included and no extra charges. Removing the internet is a way for ACL to reduce their costs (and complaints) while trying to convince us it isn't needed. They instead should figure out a way to make it better.

The claim that "the shared internet became under-used and unnecessary" is a copout statement. I found it was slow at times which indicates to me that many users are on at the same time. Many of us do not have the top tier data plans which provide hotspot access and lots of data. My laptop computer has only WIFI and no cell access. I like to keep up to date with news sources while on a cruise.

[twototravel]

If we can get internet on airplanes now, surely ACL can provide it as well. If their internet doesn't work well, what makes them think people's cell data will work any better? I agree, just makes one less thing for passengers to complain about 😞

[Joanandjoe]

1 hour ago, BillHana said:

 

The claim that "the shared internet became under-used and unnecessary" is a copout statement. I found it was slow at times which indicates to me that many users are on at the same time. Many of us do not have the top tier data plans which provide hotspot access and lots of data. My laptop computer has only WIFI and no cell access. I like to keep up to date with news sources while on a cruise.

I hope that someone from ACL is reading these posts, and will reconsider the termination of internet access.

 

On our last cruise in Chesapeake Bay last November, internet was, indeed, lousy.  I wondered why Marla, the social director, was giving cell phone courses that only applied to iPhones, including a course on how to use your cell phone as a WIFI hotspot.  Now I know:  ACL was getting ready to eliminate WIFI.   My phone does NOT have to capacity to be used as a hotspot; so this may force me to buy a new phone.  That's definitely not appreciated.  I do not use my cell phone for internet except for emergencies:  the screen is too small.  Apparently ACL doers not want us to connect with the outside world.

 

The least ACL can do is provide people who can't use their cell phones as hotspots with portable hotspots, so we can use our laptops.  (I don't have a tablet; again, because the screen is too small.)

[DaveinCharlotte]

At our first briefing on the Star, a fellow passenger raised his hand and asked the cruise director: "If I can get Wi-Fi at Motel 6, why can't I get it on an ACL ship?"  A lot of people were nodding in agreement.

[donaldsc]

There may be internet available on the mainland American cruises.  There certainly will not be external  internet available on the Alaska cruises.  I just booked an AK cruise.  I can travel and have traveled w/o internet so it will not be a calamity to me but some people might be counting on it on the AK cruises.

 

DON

[t341]

No WIFI on our may cruise on the splendor Miss river.  Luckily we had a data plan and were able to access the internet most of the time.  There were some dead areas along the Miss River.

[CarolynFH]

We didn't have internet on the Northwest Pioneers (Columbia & Snake Rivers) in April.  Fortunately DH and I have unlimited data on our phones, and I was able to use my phone as a hotspot for my dad's laptop when we spent time in the lounge.  No cell signal along most of the Snake River, of course, which was most of the last day of cruising.

[SteelMagnolia9]

I did not know this until I read this thread.   Yes, no mention of it as being included on my upcoming cruise in August.
 

The internet on some of my past cruises was abysmal at times and I usually commented on it on the post-cruise surveys that it needed to be upgraded. Apparently, it’s clear they decided to eliminate it altogether as a cost cutting measure rather than upgrade it. At the price point for ACL cruises, excellent internet service should be a given.

[BaumD]

Currently on the Melody. THERE IS WIFI !  Docked at Hannibal, MO and signal is very strong. 
Now there is no TV as they have a satellite receiver problem. ACL is flying out a satellite expert to fix it. Many unhappy college football fans.

[BaumD]

Looks like the feedback from their customers was taken to heart by American cruise lines. They have just announced that they will be adding a star link Wi-Fi system to all of their ships. This is a satellite based system now being used by some of the larger cruise lines. They also indicated that the Wi-Fi is included at no additional charge. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

See this thread for more details: