Connectivity

[Spikehines]

Has anyone had any experience with connectivity at sea?  I have an elderly!!!  Mom that I need to FaceTime with to check her wellbeing. 
Also any information on T-Mobile’s roaming in ports?

[Snaefell3]

49 minutes ago, Spikehines said:

Has anyone had any experience with connectivity at sea?  I have an elderly!!!  Mom that I need to FaceTime with to check her wellbeing. 
Also any information on T-Mobile’s roaming in ports?

The first thing to know is that O says their included internet does not include "streaming".  I suspect O blocks FaceTime connections unless you upgrade to O's premium internet service, but I'll let others say for sure.

 

Secondly, being able to "stream" video does no good if there isn't enough spare bandwidth on the ship's satellite relay.  If she'll be on a ship that has installed Starlink satellite relay, you'll *probably* have enough bandwidth to easily support a video chat.  Otherwise, it will depend upon her ship's latitude (when a ship is close to the equator, satellite relay is cheaper and ships buy more bandwidth), or you may have to plan on chatting at 3am ship's time when the rest of the passengers are asleep and not competing for bandwidth on the satellite.

[babysteps]

T-mobile roaming in ports is generally quite good - which particular ports?

 

Sometimes my T-mobile takes a restart or turning airplane mode on and off for all the data to behave. Usually it comes right up no problem.

 

Once on the way to a cruise while changing planes in Haneda my T-mobile said I didn't have a connection, but I was using my phone as a hotspot so my spouse's phone could talk to the web - and spouse's phone was surfing fine. Not sure how to explain, but it after restarting it worked fine on my phone too.

 

Thailand first day no data, but day 2 it behaved and the next 2 days also fine.

 

Europe never a problem other than restarts so far. Canada often wants a restart when driving across the border. Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico all good.

 

Happy travels!

[tigerfan75]

I’ve always had a VERY good experience with TMobile Magenta Plan internationally.  The “welcome” text as one enters each new country raises the visit’s anticipation.  Enjoy your cruise…

[S4POPO]

Can't speak about TMobile, but I have AT&T and I like the daily $10 charge for any international destination.  It's a single charge and I have access to my regular plan (unlimited talk, unlimited messaging, unlimited data). 

[FlyerTalker]

Do you absolutely need video?  Couldn't a voice connection work well to "check in" on her?  Or are you a medical professional who needs to visually diagnose her condition?

 

 

[Spikehines]

I need visual unfortunately. 

[MollyMoo18]

I was recently on Riviera, two weeks in the western Mediterranean. We did not upgrade the Wi-Fi package and we were able to FaceTime w our grandkids daily.  No issue. Enjoy your cruise!

[Spikehines]

On a slightly different question of connectivity….does What’s App work on the ship for texting?

[TFree]

1 hour ago, Spikehines said:

On a slightly different question of connectivity….does What’s App work on the ship for texting?

It does.  Currently on Vista with the basic (non-upgraded) Star Link WiFi.  We have also made WiFi voice calls on board (using WhatsApp or FaceTime voice calls for people who have those features, and at least one plain old WiFi call on a Samsung phone).  And we tested a Zoom video call the other day.  It worked pretty well, with just a little glitchiness at times.

 

Tom & Judy

[Redtravel]

I played my usual mahjong online using RealMahjong.  Ship was at sea in the Baltic.  The other 3 players were in Arizona, California, and Massachusetts.  Worked perfectly.  We could play and chat. Game started at 1 pm Pacific time.  For me it was 9 pm.  

[Spikehines]

50 minutes ago, TFree said:

It does.  Currently on Vista with the basic (non-upgraded) Star Link WiFi.  We have also made WiFi voice calls on board (using WhatsApp or FaceTime voice calls for people who have those features, and at least one plain old WiFi call on a Samsung phone).  And we tested a Zoom video call the other day.  It worked pretty well, with just a little glitchiness at times.

 

Tom & Judy

Anyone on the Insignia? Wondering if Star Link is now available on that ship?

[MollyMoo18]

WhatsApp worked for texts on Riviera Oct. ‘23.  We were able to text using iPhones on Wi-Fi settings throughout the day as well.   Keep in mind, only one device per room will have Wi-Fi at any given time. We did not have upgraded Wi-Fi. 

[basor]

1 hour ago, MollyMoo18 said:

WhatsApp worked for texts on Riviera Oct. ‘23.  We were able to text using iPhones on Wi-Fi settings throughout the day as well.   Keep in mind, only one device per room will have Wi-Fi at any given time. We did not have upgraded Wi-Fi. 

On all cruises that departed after 01OCT 23 - every cabin receives 2 WIFI accounts......each WIFI account can have 1 device on at a time so no issues to use WhatsApp for texting each other onboard

[edgee]

On 11/8/2023 at 2:38 PM, MollyMoo18 said:

WhatsApp worked for texts on Riviera Oct. ‘23.  We were able to text using iPhones on Wi-Fi settings throughout the day as well.   Keep in mind, only one device per room will have Wi-Fi at any given time. We did not have upgraded Wi-Fi. 

Not true. Effective since cruises beginning Oct. 1, all cabins get 2 wifi connections. We are on Vista now communicating lots using our 2 wifi connections.

[azbirdmom]

On 11/9/2023 at 10:24 PM, edgee said:

Not true. Effective since cruises beginning Oct. 1, all cabins get 2 wifi connections. We are on Vista now communicating lots using our 2 wifi connections.

 

Does this apply even to those who booked an old standard plan?  Our documents clearly state one Wifi logon per cabin and was planning on purchasing a second once onboard.  Was searching for something about pricing and came across your post.

[edgee]

8 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Does this apply even to those who booked an old standard plan?  Our documents clearly state one Wifi logon per cabin and was planning on purchasing a second once onboard.  Was searching for something about pricing and came across your post.

Every cabin gets two wi fi's, period..old "cruise only" booking or new Simply More booking, does not matter. If you want streaming capability you can upgrade for ten bucks per day per wi fi hookup.

Edited December 23, 2023 by edgee

[babysteps]

@edgeeis correct. We just got off Insignia last Sunday, had booked under old system and got 2 WiFi log ins for no additional charge. 

[edgee]

3 minutes ago, babysteps said:

@edgeeis correct. We just got off Insignia last Sunday, had booked under old system and got 2 WiFi log ins for no additional charge. 

Yup...good for you. I am regretful that I changed 3 old cruise only O bookings to SM using calculation that by converting to SM we would get the 2nd wi fi. Right after I converted, O announced that everyone would get 2nd wifi...so I would have had it anyway.Turns out that my cruises were only slightly more expensive under SM and we do get some value out of beer and wine with meals and included excursion money...so my switch turned out to be about a break even, instead of a win.

[clo]

On 11/7/2023 at 11:18 AM, FlyerTalker said:

Do you absolutely need video?  Couldn't a voice connection work well to "check in" on her?  Or are you a medical professional who needs to visually diagnose her condition?

 

 

My thoughts. Some of my doctor appointments are 'video.

[Jim_Iain]

On 11/6/2023 at 5:57 PM, babysteps said:

T-mobile roaming in ports is generally quite good - which particular ports?

 

Sometimes my T-mobile takes a restart or turning airplane mode on and off for all the data to behave. Usually it comes right up no problem.

 

Once on the way to a cruise while changing planes in Haneda my T-mobile said I didn't have a connection, but I was using my phone as a hotspot so my spouse's phone could talk to the web - and spouse's phone was surfing fine. Not sure how to explain, but it after restarting it worked fine on my phone too.

 

Thailand first day no data, but day 2 it behaved and the next 2 days also fine.

 

Europe never a problem other than restarts so far. Canada often wants a restart when driving across the border. Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico all good.

 

Happy travels!

Interesting to hear.  What type of phone.    I have had T-Mobile for 10+ years using and iPhone and have never had to do a reboot to get it to work. 

 

Usually as soon as I tun off Airplane mode I get a text message welcoming me to the country and outlines the 5G connection and the cost to make a phone call of 25C per minute.

 

[1985rz1]

13 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Interesting to hear.  What type of phone.    I have had T-Mobile for 10+ years using and iPhone and have never had to do a reboot to get it to work. 

 

Usually as soon as I tun off Airplane mode I get a text message welcoming me to the country and outlines the 5G connection and the cost to make a phone call of 25C per minute.

 

Same here with our Androids, although our experience doesn't have the 10-year history you have. But we've been to many different countries with no problems.

[edgee]

On 12/23/2023 at 9:24 PM, clo said:

My thoughts. Some of my doctor appointments are 'video.

I would check with your doctor before scheduling a video appt while travelling. Your doctor visit by video may not be allowed. Some doctors will not do a video visit if you are outside the state they are licensed in and even less likely if you are out of the country. IME it is not even up to the individual doctor as the secure clinic/office portal they use will block a connection for an out of state or especially international video visit. You may not have an issue, but I would check.

[vlthom]

On 11/6/2023 at 4:51 PM, Spikehines said:

Has anyone had any experience with connectivity at sea?  I have an elderly!!!  Mom that I need to FaceTime with to check her wellbeing. 
Also any information on T-Mobile’s roaming in ports?

We recently got off a 77-day voyage aboard Regatta.  Both DH and I used zoom to connect with others on numerous occasions during the trip.  There were times that it worked great and other times less so but it was certainly usable. DH was able to participate in work meetings which was important and the quality was sufficient for this purpose.  I used it to zoom with a group that I zoom with regularly and out of the 5 times that I used it, one was a complete bust.  On the other occasions it was at least adequate.  

[Snaefell3]

31 minutes ago, vlthom said:

We recently got off a 77-day voyage aboard Regatta.  Both DH and I used zoom to connect with others on numerous occasions during the trip.  There were times that it worked great and other times less so but it was certainly usable. DH was able to participate in work meetings which was important and the quality was sufficient for this purpose.  I used it to zoom with a group that I zoom with regularly and out of the 5 times that I used it, one was a complete bust.  On the other occasions it was at least adequate.  

Lots of moving parts:

• If using an equatorial (ie non-StarLink) satellite relay, what was your latitude?

• How much bandwidth was O willing to buy?  (the price varies by latitude)

• Just which TCP/IP "ports" did the IT guy aboard that ship enable/disable?

• How much bandwidth were other pax using at that exact moment?