Wi-Fi

[lisa6191]

I have tried to search but I can’t find any info on the Wi-Fi packages available on Encore. It’s not included right? Does anyone know the choices and costs?

 

thanks,

Lisa

[Earthtones]

On the Odyssey this month "basic" wifi for one device per passenger was included and you could upgrade to streaming quality for an amount that varied, depending upon how many days remained on the cruise. I think it was about $10/day, but you had to buy it for the duration of the cruise (not just for two days).

 

Some ships now have Starlink, which I think is included and provides high speed access. Not sure where the Encore is in this conversion, but all ships are supposed to get Starlink soon.

[lisa6191]

43 minutes ago, Earthtones said:

On the Odyssey this month "basic" wifi for one device per passenger was included and you could upgrade to streaming quality for an amount that varied, depending upon how many days remained on the cruise. I think it was about $10/day, but you had to buy it for the duration of the cruise (not just for two days).

 

Some ships now have Starlink, which I think is included and provides high speed access. Not sure where the Encore is in this conversion, but all ships are supposed to get Starlink soon.

Did you use the basic Wi-Fi or did you upgrade? Was the basic ok for like checking email, Facebook, things like that? I won’t need to stream shows or anything like that.

[lisa6191]

Although thinking about it we might need more than one device per passenger anyway, we each have a phone and an iPad.

[johng75370]

1 hour ago, Earthtones said:

On the Odyssey this month

Slightly off-topic, but how was the (I’m assuming) non-Starlink performance on Odyssey?  

[caviarforme]

6 hours ago, lisa6191 said:

Although thinking about it we might need more than one device per passenger anyway, we each have a phone and an iPad.

 

On non Starlink ships it is one device per passenger - but you an log off and log on with each device in turn, just not both at the same time.  A pain, but we have always found the basic Wi-Fi adequate for e-mails, internet, WhatsApp etc. Even mid Atlantic. Too busy enjoying ourselves to need streaming.

 

If you are in a premium suite, you get complimentary premium Wi-Fi in any case and we got that on our last cruise (special celebration), really not that different for the use we make of it.

Edited September 28, 2023 by caviarforme

[Earthtones]

11 hours ago, johng75370 said:

Slightly off-topic, but how was the (I’m assuming) non-Starlink performance on Odyssey?  

Free wifi was fine for social media and WhatsApp calls when it worked, but there were definitely pockets of time when the service just died. I assume those who purchased the premium wifi were experiencing those outages as well, but I don't know anyone who purchased it. (TV service also went out with some frequency.) We were off the coast of Alaska and British Columbia throughout--not sure if that had any impact on connection quality.

[cruiseej]

Even though each individual can have only one device active at a time, switching between phone and laptop is something I do frequently, and it's not much of a bother. In the Seabourn app or web page, you click Connect, and it will tell you another device is connected and ask if you want to terminate its session; one click more and you're connected and online. For the couple clicks it takes each time, it's not worth paying for premium service, in my opinion.

[arzz]

Which ships have Starlink?

[robertmartha]

Was on the Odyssey in May (inside passage) and had no issues checking in for work (and working for an hour or so each day) even when we were in some remote areas. Logging in with my laptop and logging off was simple - not an issue at all. 

 

Bob

[skybluewaters]

11 hours ago, arzz said:

Which ships have Starlink?

 

I've heard that Starlink is already on the two expedition ships, Pursuit and Venture, and will be on all Seabourn ships in the near future.

[arzz]

Thank you @skybluewaters  I was just hoping that someone knew when it would be on board. 

[markandjie]

23 hours ago, cruiseej said:

switching between phone and laptop is something I do frequently, and it's not much of a bother.

 

Fun fact: for the minority of you with Android phones, Android allows you to tether a Wi-Fi connection and share it as a mobile hotspot. I do this with my Google Pixel 7 on planes, cruises, etc. Not sure why Apple doesn't get up to speed here but it's one of those features that keeps me on Android. 

[Hobar]

1 hour ago, markandjie said:

 

Fun fact: for the minority of you with Android phones, Android allows you to tether a Wi-Fi connection and share it as a mobile hotspot. I do this with my Google Pixel 7 on planes, cruises, etc. Not sure why Apple doesn't get up to speed here but it's one of those features that keeps me on Android. 

Can do it with my iPhone 15 Pro Max.  Been doing it this week and worked perfectly.  Don’t know if available on basic iPhone 15 model.

[Woodrowst]

2 hours ago, markandjie said:

 

Fun fact: for the minority of you with Android phones, Android allows you to tether a Wi-Fi connection and share it as a mobile hotspot. I do this with my Google Pixel 7 on planes, cruises, etc. Not sure why Apple doesn't get up to speed here but it's one of those features that keeps me on Android. 

Not sure why you think iPhones cannot be used as a hotspot.  I have used my iPhone for years as a hotspot for my iPad.  Any apple product will work with hotspot created with an iPhone.

[Hobar]

1 minute ago, Woodrowst said:

Not sure why you think iPhones cannot be used as a hotspot.  I have used my iPhone for years as a hotspot for my iPad.  Any apple product will work with hotspot created with an iPhone.

I thought so too but don’t recall having to use a hot spot ever before.  Perhaps I did and just forgot; that happens.  (Only thing better than the iPhone was my Blackberry.  Gosh, how I miss it.😪)

[markandjie]

Unless something has changed Apple will only let you share a cellular connection, not a WiFi connection. So if your phone is connected to ship Wi-Fi and you activate your hotspot it shuts off the Wi-Fi connection and tries to use cellular as your Internet access to then share via hotspot.

 

On Android if I pay for airline Wi-Fi on my phone and turn on the hotspot then I can share that one paid WiFi connection with my other devices, my wife's devices, etc. 

 

Again, maybe that's changed, but if so it's very recent. 

[Hobar]

1 hour ago, markandjie said:

Unless something has changed Apple will only let you share a cellular connection, not a WiFi connection. So if your phone is connected to ship Wi-Fi and you activate your hotspot it shuts off the Wi-Fi connection and tries to use cellular as your Internet access to then share via hotspot.

 

On Android if I pay for airline Wi-Fi on my phone and turn on the hotspot then I can share that one paid WiFi connection with my other devices, my wife's devices, etc. 

 

Again, maybe that's changed, but if so it's very recent. 

Well you can and I have.  Lots of YouTube videos, but you can also ask at an Apple Store (or even AT&T or other carrier of your choice).  But if you are happy with Android, then no need to change.  I started with an Apple phone years ago and that was my “gateway” drug to Apple products as they all sync together for seamless interface.  

[Robisan]

9 minutes ago, Hobar said:

Well you can and I have.  Lots of YouTube videos,...

Respectfully, I've been doing Google searches and I don't see this. Are you using a third party app?

 

I'm Running iOS 17 on a 13 Pro and it appears that you cannot enable Personal Hotspot with Cellular disabled. Furthermore, enabling Cellular and Hotspot disconnects wifi (the wifi symbol in the upper right task bar disappears, replaced by 5G) even though wifi toggle in Settings is enabled. If you toggle off wifi and then toggle it back on (i.e. try to reengage a wifi connection) a message pops up saying Hotspot users will be disconnected if you enable wifi and asks whether you want to proceed. So I'm stumped.

 

If you would, can you explain how you use your iPhone as an extender of the ship's wifi? I (and I'm sure many others) would love to avoid paying for additional logins. Thanks. 

[Hobar]

 

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203302

 

Reddit also has helpful suggestions.

 

[Robisan]

30 minutes ago, Hobar said:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203302

 

"With Personal Hotspot, you can share the cellular data connection of your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) with another device. If you need help with Personal Hotspot, follow these steps." (emphasis added)

 

Both the video and the Apple link are using cellular data as the Internet source for sharing. If I'm at sea there will be no cellular data to share. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[markandjie]

7 hours ago, Robisan said:

 

Both the video and the Apple link are using cellular data as the Internet source for sharing. If I'm at sea there will be no cellular data to share. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

This.

[Hobar]

@markandjie @Robisan 

Use Instant Hotspot

To connect to your Personal Hotspot from your Mac, click Wi-Fi  in Control Center  or the menu bar, then choose the name of the iPhone or iPad providing your Personal Hotspot .

 

To connect to your Personal Hotspot from another iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, then tap the name of the 

[Robisan]

1 hour ago, Hobar said:

@markandjie @Robisan 

Use Instant Hotspot

To connect to your Personal Hotspot from your Mac, click Wi-Fi  in Control Center  or the menu bar, then choose the name of the iPhone or iPad providing your Personal Hotspot .

 

To connect to your Personal Hotspot from another iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, then tap the name of the 

Again, the iPhone hotspot is using cellular data...

 

...and the Macbook shows the hotspot is cellular data.

 

There's no wifi indicator in sight. What we want (and what the Android phone does) is to have the iPhone share the ship's wifi as a hotspot.

[Hobar]

@Robisan sorry.  I thought I could help but I’m apparently incorrect.