Internet: Unlimited, but Unusable. Is this unique?

[caribill]

5 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

Use fast.com onboard - there’s a More Info button when the first test completes.   

the “unloaded latency” number onboard  is primarily driven by the crass physics of the speed of light in a vacuum. 
 

 

When they are using the O3B network, this number is around 100.  When they are using legacy HEO assets it cannot be below 225. 
 

SES’s delays in turning up O3B mPower (new MEO) have been disclosed in various filings related to their stock.   They’re blaming the lack of MEO performance in Europe on the number of ships deployed in a comparatively dense region and promise it will all get better when the new thing comes online, but the Mexican Riviera has a lot fewer ships competing for bandwidth. 
 

Exec from SES saying “let them eat HEO” - https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/information-technology/ses-meet-soaring-cruise-bandwidth-demand-o3b-mpower

 

I don’t buy the ”too many passengers” argument.  Ruby was using the HEO assets this time last year when 75% of cabins went out empty. 

 

Is that result (90 Mbps) from a Princess ship?

 

If so, it is faster on a ship than with my home Internet which has a very good response time with that test showing 72Mbps.

 

Although a different test  http://www.speedtest.net/  had the following results:

 

 

[jennybenny]

3 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Is that result (90 Mbps) from a Princess ship?

 

If so, it is faster on a ship than with my home Internet which has a very good response time with that test showing 72Mbps.

I think it's the latency that is the problem.  My speeds are also similar but 0 latency at home

 

[cr8tiv1]

INTRAnet vs INTERnet

 

Medallion Class App vs Medallion

 

Mini-suite vs Full Suite

 

Princess needs a new PR department

[caribill]

1 minute ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Princess needs a new PR department

 

Princess needs a new Internet at sea provider.

[VibeGuy]

34 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Is that result (90 Mbps) from a Princess ship?

 

If so, it is faster on a ship than with my home Internet which has a very good response time with that test showing 72Mbps.

 

Although a different test  http://www.speedtest.net/  had the following results:

 

 

Only if that ship is docked. Next to my router.  
 

No.  That was the screenshot I use to show friends what I’m looking for.   Two recent results are shown in subsequent posts. 
 

Sustained bandwidth is important for streaming and large file downloads, but the time to resolve DNS, load all the crappy dependencies of websites and mobile apps, register clicks - that’s all driven more by the high latency than the bandwidth.   I’d be perfectly happy with 256-512kbps if the latency and packet loss (not discussed here) was low.  
 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

FWIW the cruises we were on in May and July must be the exception to the rule cruises. In May we were on the Caribbean Princess from SF to Ft Lauderdale and usually averaged between 3-5 mbps upload and speeds from my balcony and I had no issues posting to my Live From thread the entire cruise. But then there were very few young adults and kids on our 18 day cruise since school was still in session. 
 

However, when we were on the Regal for a 21 day B3B in the Med in July, there were over 3200 passengers, with a lot of young adults, and we averaged between 1.5 - 3 mbps upload/download speeds until a little after 9 pm each night, when the “young ones” would all get out their devices to do whatever they normally do. That’s when the speeds would drop to between 0.60 to 0.75 mbps. 😂

 

But other than those late evening times, I had no issues posting both text as well as multiple photos to my CC Live From thread the entire cruise. Well, except one time when we lost connection to the satellite for a couple of hours after we left Gibraltar. 

[emmak8]

March 2022 we had NO INTERNET on the SKY Princess transatlantic. $9.99 per day was refunded. Rumors that new server accessed to save money does not have enough bandwidth.  Worst wi-fi at sea!! Princess needs to fix this NOW. Employees in the internet cafe had to face ANGRY passengers every day.

[kywildcatfanone]

We were on the Emerald in April and the internet worked fine for basic functions as best I remember. Our last cruise before the restart in December 2019 on the Sky, we streamed movies in our room at night with little buffering issues.  Sounds like it has gotten way worse, which I don't understand.

 

I don't need screaming internet on a ship, but would like to be able to have enough internet to stream a movie with no issues.  Was on a Celebrity cruise in October, and the internet was beyond horrible. 

At least with Princess, they have a nice catalog of TV and movies on demand that you can watch.  Celebrity had none of that.

[Musky Ike]

29 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I don't need screaming internet on a ship

That is what princess has now now😄Actually, some swearing as well.

[kywildcatfanone]

On a cruise, as long as I can send and receive emails and texts, I'm good overall.  Since Princess has a lot of on demand stuff to watch, I can find things to entertain me without internet being a priority.

 

With that said, why would the internet be getting worse than better?

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

We were on the Emerald in April and the internet worked fine for basic functions as best I remember. Our last cruise before the restart in December 2019 on the Sky, we streamed movies in our room at night with little buffering issues.  Sounds like it has gotten way worse, which I don't understand.

My story is similar - Internet on the Regal in November (Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean) and the Majestic in April (California Coast) were good enough to stream with few issues.  Something's gone off the rails since then.  Vibeguy's explanations seem especially compelling, but I'm still struggling to integrate it into my understanding.  My next Princess cruise is in April and I hope they figure things out by then.

[ChutChut]

Slow during the day - pretty fast in the middle of the night.

[KLM3164]

8 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

The partners and principals at A**enture are brilliant at selling the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and delivering fingerpaint from intellectually challenged toddlers.   

I couldn’t agree with you more!!! Having worked for an organization that used “A” for a major project this was my experience too. My DH and I both sighed when we saw “A” was the developer of the Medallion app.

[KLM3164]

5 minutes ago, ChutChut said:

Slow during the day - pretty fast in the middle of the night.

This wasn’t my experience. I thought it was ironic that I received the Princess survey at 3:20 am and when I clicked on it to start the survey the email wouldn’t open on my iPhone 13 Pro Max. This was yesterday morning on the Royal.

[PescadoAmarillo]

7 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

Only if that ship is docked. Next to my router.  

You are my morning’s entertainment.

[mom says]

It seems we are an exception when it comes to internet. I'm on the Crown, and have been able to email, send photos, browse CC, and watch YouTube videos all the way across the Pacific. Except for one time during heavy rain. 

[KarmaCruisers]

FWIW; to stream HD content you need 4Mbps. (Doesn’t seem like much; but when you have 56k speeds…haha)

[VibeGuy]

3 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

You are my morning’s entertainment.

You need better streaming subscriptions. 

[Marauder]

On my recent Sapphire cruise to Hawaii I found that getting up at 5:00am and getting on the internet worked great.  Much much faster at that time than at any other time during the day no matter where we were in the Pacific ocean.

 

IMO, the biggest problem is caused by Princess switching to unlimited plans rather than x minutes for x dollars.    Having unlimited minutes makes people feel free to stream movies, youtube videos, zoom calls, online video games, etc.  I call those bandwidth hogs.  When you have hundreds of people streaming at the same time of course it will be slow for everyone.

[shipshapertoo]

19 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

We just got off the Royal Princess today and the internet was unusable. We had pre-paid for it and requested a full refund on day 2. Our request was granted….no questions asked. Ship was at 109% capacity with 800 kids onboard so this may have contributed to the lack of internet. Our next cruise on the Royal is in January and we’ve got the + package so I guess we’ll be stuck with the internet this time. I’m wondering if they do any partial refunds when you’ve purchased a package. Anyone have any experience getting internet refunded as part or Plus or Premier?

I just got off the Royal Thanksgiving cruise yesterday too. Internet was slooooww to non-existent. I had the plus package and complained to guest services. They gave me a refund of $25. Better than a sharp stick in the eye as my Mother used to say whenever an offer, outcome or experience was less than desirable. 😆  Did you notice how IC ran out of food? 

[dweeb]

37 minutes ago, Marauder said:

 

IMO, the biggest problem is caused by Princess switching to unlimited plans rather than x minutes for x dollars.    Having unlimited minutes makes people feel free to stream movies, youtube videos, zoom calls, online video games, etc.  I call those bandwidth hogs.  When you have hundreds of people streaming at the same time of course it will be slow for everyone.

But this is what Princess advertises as their capability.  You cannot blame anyone for streaming or doing anything else since Princess's advertisement says to do this.  The blame is all on Princess.

Edited November 28, 2022 by dweeb
spelling

[Marauder]

56 minutes ago, dweeb said:

But this is what Princess advertises as their capability.  You cannot blame anyone for streaming or doing anything else since Princess's advertisement says to do this.  The blame is all on Princess.

Oh, I completely agree that the blame in on Princess.  I'm just pointing out what the problem is.  Princess's IT team seems to be completely incompetent.

[cruzin4us]

I was on the Discovery for 21 days this October sailing up the Coast of CA down to Mexican Riviera and back up the CA Coast.     Only 1 day out of 21 was I able to use the wi-fi.     I couldn't believe it, we were off the Coast of CA for crying out loud and on a New Ship!

 

Got on the Ruby Nov 7th for a 15 day Hawaii and back.......thought there was no way in H...L the wifi was going to work......I am here to gladly eat my words.   The wi-fi worked all the way to Hawaii and back without any problems.   I watched Netflix every day on my laptop without any buffering.

 

What gives Discovery??

[KarmaCruisers]

1 hour ago, Marauder said:

Oh, I completely agree that the blame in on Princess.  I'm just pointing out what the problem is.  Princess's IT team seems to be completely incompetent.

It’s actually not princess IT; they aren’t involved with ship WiFi at all. This is 100% on the Exec’s at princess and whatever they’ve negotiated with SES.

[sirclean]

hmmm... on the one hand I m glad to know that my terrible experience might not be fleetwide, though nothing in here really fills me with confidence that I can try to get away without being willing to completely cut off from work.  On the other hand, it does not seem that there is a cure for this that is likely to be useful to me in the next 2 cruises! 

 

(At least in June, I will be in Alaska and able to connect in the US ports to check in.)