Emerald WIFI speeds and connectivity

[Pilot53]

We are taking the 7/6 cruise to HI.  How is the WIFI and connectivity?  Will have to work remotely, and log into my system.

Have they moved to the Starlink system, I think its called?

Does WIFI calling and messaging work well on the ship?  It's 6 days of no cell service.  A first for me in a long time.

[LACruiser88]

On our most recent cruise on the Sapphire in March, Buenos Aires to Los Angeles, the WiFi worked great.  We streamed Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and video called with our kids with no issues.

 

Hopefully, someone recently on the Emerald can give you a more recent update.  🤷‍♂️

[SCX22]

I would have contingency plans with your employer in case the you cannot get connectivity.  Also, workplace VPN logins don't work through MedallionNet.  I always had to login into my work VPN while mooching off of wifi in port.

 

Can't speak for Starlink or the Emerald, but was on the Royal Princess to Hawaii in January when MedallionNet was still serviced by SES, and the speeds were slow until we got closer to the California Coast or Hawaii.

 

You won't have any problems with the messaging apps.  Wifi calling is pretty good, but not foolproof.  I had 2 calls drop out of 12 I made using this service.

[Atarangi957]

We are currently on Emerald and internet is slow and inconsistent. We are on the June 24 trip to the Mexican Riviera. I am using an ipad. 

[CruisinFinsUp]

We were on Emerald May 2023.   Internet was s l o w.   Emails took time to load.  Websites were impossible.  Didn't matter where on the ship we were.   

 

We were Southern California Coastal.   

[JeffM1]

We were on the Emerald in April LA to FL through Panama Canal.  Wi-Fi was VERY slow.  I was on the ship in 2019 just after the MedallionNet Wi-Fi was installed and it was fabulous.  It truly was the "best Wi-Fi at sea". Very fast, you could use VPN, you could upload large files (sent our pictures to the cloud every night), etc.  The issue now is that they are including Wi-Fi as part of the drink packages so a much larger percentage of the passengers are using the Wi-Fi, so the system just cannot handle it.  You can still check your email, do basic web searches, etc.,  But they appear to be blocking VPN, and we literally could not upload our photos at all on the ship (had to wait until we were in a port and then connect to local cellular).  Did not try streaming but I doubt it would work.  Supposedly CCL is upgrading to Starlink, but I haven't seen it yet.  Sure hope it helps, because the best Wi-Fi at sea has become the worst Wi-Fi at sea!

[Cruise Raider]

They are upgrading the WiFi across the fleet.  Sounds like the Emerald has not gotten it yet.  

 

[phoebe2m]

We were on the Crown in February for 15 days from L.A. to Hawaii. Wi-fi was great except when we were in the middle of the ocean. The further from land, the worse it was. But it still worked, just slow. 

[CruiseSter1ing]

23 hours ago, Pilot53 said:

We are taking the 7/6 cruise to HI.  How is the WIFI and connectivity?  Will have to work remotely, and log into my system.

Have they moved to the Starlink system, I think its called?

Does WIFI calling and messaging work well on the ship?  It's 6 days of no cell service.  A first for me in a long time.

Be careful with your WiFi calling plan, depending on the Repeater, your carrier might treat it was an International call, even though YOU are on a US plan, calling to a US number.  This info is buried deep on the Carriers websites.  At least it was for Verizon.  You might want to check on using WhatsApp or Facetime audio for calls.

[Pilot53]

3 hours ago, CruiseSter1ing said:

Be careful with your WiFi calling plan, depending on the Repeater, your carrier might treat it was an International call, even though YOU are on a US plan, calling to a US number.  This info is buried deep on the Carriers websites.  At least it was for Verizon.  You might want to check on using WhatsApp or Facetime audio for calls.

I just checked with Vorizon. No charge for WIFI calls to the US.  I hope its not dead slow.  I just need to log into my office computer.  I hope that I can do that.  I will do it late at night when the overall usage is less.  Thanks for the info!