Do I still need to upgrade to Premium Wi-Fi to post to CC once Starlink has been implemented on a ship?

[Ken the cruiser]

When cruising first started back up and pretty much up until our last Celebrity cruise in August on the Summit when either I wanted to post to a Live From thread or my DW wanted to access the multi-tiered websites she visits, we would have to upgrade to the Premium Wi-Fi package, as the download speed was just too slow with the Basic package to even open up to the Cruise Critic forums, especially if there were more than 1100 passengers on the ship.

 

But now that the all-powerful Starlink continues to be implemented across the fleet, is the Classic bandwidth speed reaching at least 1.5+ mbps most of the time? In other words, do we need to continue to upgrade to the Premium package to post to CC as well as open up multi-tiered websites while on a cruise. BTW we have no desire to stream any forms of data while on a cruise, and I do realize location also plays a role at times in the internet connectivity scheme of things.

 

Any thoughts from folks who have recently or are currently using the Basic package on their Celebrity cruise where Starlink has been implemented will be appreciated.

[long time lurker]

I just got off the Equinox and had the basic wifi package.  I was unable to access CruiseCritic while on board.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, long time lurker said:

I just got off the Equinox and had the basic wifi package.  I was unable to access CruiseCritic while on board.

And I take it Starlink has been implemented on the Equinox and your cruise was in the Caribbean where there should be plenty of satellite bandwidth available.

[Ken the cruiser]

As a side note, on our 2 NCL and 4 Princess cruises we've been on since cruising started back up, we have had no issues accessing Cruise Critic or any other multi-tiered website at any time (except when location played a major factor). But, at the same time, on our 11 Celebrity cruises, the Premium bandwidth was usually 2-3 times greater than their Basic service. 🤔

[long time lurker]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

And I take it Starlink has been implemented on the Equinox and your cruise was in the Caribbean where there should be plenty of satellite bandwidth available.

That is correct.  My husband had the upgraded Wi-Fi and he had much better connectivity.  

[Jim_Iain]

My understanding is that once Starlink is implemented on a ship the basic package is still throttled to the same bandwidth it was previously set to.   Even on the High Speed they throttle to the speeds you read - especially upload.

 

 

[def0715]

I couldn’t get into Amazon AWS on the Beyond in November using the basic plan. Had to upgrade to premium. Basic plans on MSC, Royal and Carnival had no trouble with AWS. Not cool. I sometimes work remotely, so having to pay extra ONLY on Celebrity is really irritating - and expensive. Hoping I don’t run into this on my next Royal sailing.

Edited January 24, 2023 by def0715

[Ken the cruiser]

21 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

My understanding is that once Starlink is implemented on a ship the basic package is still throttled to the same bandwidth it was previously set to.   Even on the High Speed they throttle to the speeds you read - especially upload.

Gee, I wonder why they do that? 🤔😂

[mandream]

6 minutes ago, def0715 said:

I couldn’t get into Amazon AWS on the Beyond in November using the basic plan. Had to upgrade to premium. Basic plans on MSC, Royal and Carnival had no trouble with AWS. Not cool.

 

Did you try a VPN?  I'm assuming you are referring to the AWS Console?  I'm convinced this isn't a bandwidth/throttling issue but rather a configuration issue (either intentional / or misconfiguration).  A VPN would get around the latter.

 

I will try this in March.

 

Mike

[Norwaylady]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Gee, I wonder why they do that? 🤔😂

Will there be a new live adventure soon from you? Since you asked……

[Ken the cruiser]

10 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

Will there be a new live adventure soon from you? Since you asked……

I’ve already started one for our 11-day NCL cruise that starts this Saturday. But I’ll also being doing one for a 30-day B3B on our Sydney to Vancouver TP cruise on the Eclipse starting in mid April. 😁

[MrChuckFL]

Starlink is only used for the upgraded WIFI package. If you have the basic wifi package it is still using the older slower technology.

 

 

[brianz09]

I'm on the Summit on 2/2/23 and received this email yesterday.  Looks like even with Starlink there are two options. 

[skandsea99]

Solstice has not upgraded,  correct?  So if we decide to pay the dough  to upgrade for Premium will we see a real improvement?
We will be staying on the ship much of the time on the coming short cruise with three sea days and one port we will stay on the ship for, so reliable  connectivity  will be beneficial.

Thanks.

[cruisinfly]

7 minutes ago, skandsea99 said:

Solstice has not upgraded,  correct?  So if we decide to pay the dough  to upgrade for Premium will we see a real improvement?
We will be staying on the ship much of the time on the coming short cruise with three sea days and one port we will stay on the ship for, so reliable  connectivity  will be beneficial.

Thanks.

According to Celebrity, Solstice has Starlink. They imply that everybody's internet will be fast (I can't imagine they'd keep their original satellite internet service if they've added Starlink. Starlink should be much cheaper!):

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-solstice

 

"Celebrity Solstice is now equipped with Starlink internet service by SpaceX, bringing you high speed connectivity. Enjoy faster, more reliable internet onboard."

[HBLm3]

If you are in Aqua class so already have the classic package, how much does it cost to upgrade to the premium package? If you wanted to upgrade drinks and wifi would it be two separate upgrades? This is our first ever cruise, so all of this is new to us. Thanks!

[oddly excitered]

Hi all, heading out to Alaska on the eclipse this coming summer and I see X says classic cannot access social media. Is this true?

First time on Celebrity but we have sailed on royal many times and never had to upgrade the wifi to access my account. just want to be able to post updates and brag to all my friends!

[TeeRick]

On 1/24/2023 at 11:29 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

And I take it Starlink has been implemented on the Equinox and your cruise was in the Caribbean where there should be plenty of satellite bandwidth available.

Ken I am on Equinox right now using the premium WiFi and it is on StarLink.  We are in the Caribbean and doing ABC islands (minus A).  It has been very steady and fast.  Streaming has been very good too.  I would recommend it if you plan to be online a good deal of time.  If in a suite it comes included.

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, oddly excitered said:

Hi all, heading out to Alaska on the eclipse this coming summer and I see X says classic cannot access social media. Is this true?

First time on Celebrity but we have sailed on royal many times and never had to upgrade the wifi to access my account. just want to be able to post updates and brag to all my friends!

Got off Eclipse a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't even possible to load this forum on the basic wifi service...

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Ken I am on Equinox right now using the premium WiFi and it is on StarLink.  We are in the Caribbean and doing ABC islands (minus A).  It has been very steady and fast.  Streaming has been very good too.  I would recommend it if you plan to be online a good deal of time.  If in a suite it comes included.

Thanks Rick! That’s definitely the plan. We’re getting ready to do a similar NCL Dawn cruise (minus the B) embarking on it tomorrow where I’ll also be posting to a Live From thread. We found we have to upgrade to unlimited with NCL as its just to painful to watch their “free minutes” tick away when the internet is slow. 😂

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks Rick! That’s definitely the plan. We’re getting ready to do a similar NCL Dawn cruise (minus the B) embarking on it tomorrow where I’ll also be posting to a Live From thread. We found we have to upgrade to unlimited with NCL as its just to painful to watch their “free minutes” tick away when the internet is slow. 😂

Does NCL use StarLink?

[SRQbeachgirl]

I am currently on the Reflection with the Basic WiFi package and have had no problems posting on CC.

[Ken the cruiser]

51 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Does NCL use StarLink?

Not yet, but they just announced they were going to be getting it fleet-wide.

[Ken the cruiser]

29 minutes ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

I am currently on the Reflection with the Basic WiFi package and have had no problems posting on CC.

If I might ask, approximately how many passengers are on your cruise, if you know? For us the limit used to be around 1100 before accessing the CC forums became very difficult on the Basic plan.

[SRQbeachgirl]

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, approximately how many passengers are on your cruise, if you know? For us the limit used to be around 1100 before accessing the CC forums became very difficult on the Basic plan.

 

Not sure, but I would think it's more than 1,100. I'll see if I can find a crew member who knows.