Internet

[papae]

Haven’t cruised in years has the internet gotten any better.

Will be on NCL’S Getaway in March

[CruiserBruce]

I would ask on the NCL board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/64-norwegian-cruise-line/

[hallux]

Getting better is in the crosshairs - NCL has signed an agreement for Starlink.  No details on when each ship will get the new service though.

[Honolulu Blue]

14 hours ago, papae said:

Haven’t cruised in years has the internet gotten any better.

Will be on NCL’S Getaway in March

 

10 hours ago, hallux said:

Getting better is in the crosshairs - NCL has signed an agreement for Starlink.  No details on when each ship will get the new service though.

Depending on how many years it's been, Internet access on cruise ships has generally gotten better.

 

In your specific case on the NCL Getaway, I saw an interesting story on that at SpaceX’s Starlink signs deal with Norwegian Cruise Line - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com) .  I'm suspicious of it because 1) it processes second-hand information and 2) I couldn't find any confirming article or press release.  Anyway, the TL,DR is that NCL has (or soon will) sign an agreement with Starlink and that its equipment is being installed RIGHT NOW on the Getaway.

[papae]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

Depending on how many years it's been, Internet access on cruise ships has generally gotten better.

 

In your specific case on the NCL Getaway, I saw an interesting story on that at SpaceX’s Starlink signs deal with Norwegian Cruise Line - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com) .  I'm suspicious of it because 1) it processes second-hand information and 2) I couldn't find any confirming article or press release.  Anyway, the TL,DR is that NCL has (or soon will) sign an agreement with Starlink and that its equipment is being installed RIGHT NOW on the Getaway.

 

[papae]

Thanks for the info

[klfrodo]

Has the internet gotten better on the ships? or has the user experience gotten better?

 

Two different things. Yes, the ships have improved the number of access points. Yes, the bandwidth has improved.

The user experience has not improved, if at all. Then again, 5 years ago, maybe only 50% of the passengers wanted/needed access. Today, I would venture a guess that 90% of the passengers desire access.

 

The sheer numbers of guests and crew wanting leisure access has voided the equipment and bandwidth improvement. Will Starlink improve things? Temporarily in my opinion. It will greatly enhance things on the ship business side of things. Once the business figures out exactly how much of the available bandwidth and speed they need, they will then figure out a way to enhance the profit margin to increase revenue. They will most likely throttle speeds and access based upon tier levels of access. Top tiers will be throttled at 10Mbps with bottom tiers throttled to 1Mbps with a couple of price ranges in between which will then limit access a year or two down the road as more and more people depend on internet access.

[papae]

Boy I’m afraid you hit it right on the head!
I guess some internet is better than none 😂

thank you

[gerryuk]

In many European ports there is free internet supplied by the actual port. Do ports in America like Miami provide free internet?

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, gerryuk said:

In many European ports there is free internet supplied by the actual port. Do ports in America like Miami provide free internet?

That's a good question that I should have thought about but haven't.  In American ports I rely on wireless access, which is near ubiquitous.  I assume, with the cruise lines' increased reliance on Internet access for their apps, that the terminals have it, but I can't prove it.

[hallux]

I seem to recall there being a Wifi network available in the NCL Miami terminal when I was there last year.  My data plan is metered so I seek out WiFi everywhere I go.

Edited February 1, 2023 by hallux