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Has Hal Launched Star Link WiFi On Their Ships?

aliaschief

By aliaschief,
in Holland America Line

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canadianbear

canadianbear

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Currently on MS Eurodam and they are not utilizing Star Link satellite systems yet. Most likely will but Officer did not have a date. Current WiFi useable for reading mail, sending text and internet browsing.

Well that sucks.  We are going to be on her in a few months.

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lissie

lissie

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On 4/9/2023 at 1:17 PM, Reagan0712 said:

Thanks. First I’ve heard of this issue with an iPhone or a laptop. I was on the Rotterdam last October and the Eurodam last month and experienced the same internet trouble with my android phone. It was especially bad on the Eurodam in my cabin. Then I ran into someone else on the Eurodam having the same problems with an Apple phone.  A young lady from Guest Services even came to my cabin to verify there was a problem.  The only thing she could think of was that there were too many pages open in Chrome but closing them still didn’t help in the cabin, as she found out.

Its either the wifi within the ship on the data connection to the satellite or both.  Do you know where the routers are (the staff should) - you may have to go and sit near there if the wifi is  struggling in your metal box ie cabin. 

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lissie

lissie

Posted
Posted

Star links is not necessarily a cure-all. They flew some starlink terminals into remote villages which were cut off in recent floods in NZ. It wa good enough to send messages but crashed when someone tried to Facetime! (ie a video call) 

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aliaschief

aliaschief

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Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, canadianbear said:

Well that sucks.  We are going to be on her in a few months.

Give it time. The current ships internet we have been able to text, FB, Google and post pictures here on Cruise Critic. Albeit sometimes slow but useable to a degree. 
The new Star Link also has issues if no satellites covering area. A project in progress.

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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Posted
5 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

We each have our choices and I respect that.

I guess the most I’d like it to work is for messenger to chat with our little grandkids.  Or even be able to see photos or videos they post.  We have the HIA so hope the wifi will work a little.  

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robotpony

robotpony

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Posted

I found wifi reliable all over the ship on our last few cruises (i.e., the connection between my device and the ship), and when it wasn't a quick reconnect often fixed it. Reconnect can be as simple as enabling/disabling wifi, though sometimes required going through the app to re-authorize the device (Connect → Internet). Occasionally restarting the HAL app would be needed to get it to work again, for the times it wasn't behaving as expected.

 

Wifi is only half of the equation, though, and internet access. itself is less reliable and is heavily filtered, as well as being throttled. Starlink will be better (once available), but it will also have downtime and regions with limited availability and bandwidth.

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  • 2 weeks later...
aliaschief

aliaschief

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2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Apparently Koningsdam got Starlink on her last drydock.

 

For those more in the know than I, do you think starlink will help much if sailing in to remote areas of the world like French Polynesia? 

From what I have read, one of Star Link objectives was to bring reliable service to remote place. We’ll find out early next year when we are on a world cruise ship with Star Link service.

Today on Eurodam WiFi speed is at snail speed as we sail to Puerto Vallarta. First time it’s been this poor.

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lissie

lissie

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6 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Apparently Koningsdam got Starlink on her last drydock.

 

For those more in the know than I, do you think starlink will help much if sailing in to remote areas of the world like French Polynesia? 

Should be good - lots of sky to see - no mountains or trees in the way. A lot of satellites are in an equatorial orbit. 

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Laminator

Laminator

Posted
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2 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Good to hear. Star Link can really improve WiFi service.

BetMGM which will allow for live sports betting is starting to be implemented on the Carnival and HAL ships. I believe it went live yesterday on the Carnival Horizon. In order to roll BetMGM out on the ships they must have Starlink internet.

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

Posted
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9 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I read somewhere -- The entire HAL fleet will have Starlink by the end of 2023.

 

ETA: the "somewhere" was probably a discussion on Cruise Critic!

 

 

 

Here's the press release from CCL:

 

image.thumb.png.4e72fba346f17d6a89f46ac43ea81b4d.png

image.thumb.png.61f7c354c1ee6862721b553858ab5f41.png

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/holland-america-line-successfully-installs-spacexs-starlink

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