Recent Internet Experience on Vista

[Eve]

Will be aboard the Vista in early March and will need to conduct some business via email and Zoom. Can anyone who has recently been aboard comment on the speed and reliability of the internet service on Vista? TIA. 

[debbyma]

We disembarked from Vista on February 11.  We had the standard internet service.  After 17 Oceania cruises, this is the first time we've had trouble with it.  It was slow to connect, and many times wouldn't connect at all.  Other passengers also complained about it.  We were on Vista last summer and had no issues, so I don't know why there was trouble this time.

[Snaefell3]

3 minutes ago, Eve said:

Will be aboard the Vista in early March and will need to conduct some business via email and Zoom. Can anyone who has recently been aboard comment on the speed and reliability of the internet service on Vista? TIA. 

Realize that Zoom is likely tagged as "streaming".

If so, it will be blocked on the bundled tier of Vista's internet.

[loge23]

The standard WiFi is abysmal - pre-21st century dial-up abysmal. You will need their extra-fee service for Zoom or even to view an embedded video. The WiFi onboard (also on the 1/31 -2/11 cruise) was easily the worst of any we have experienced in recent cruises. 

[Snaefell3]

6 minutes ago, debbyma said:

We were on Vista last summer and had no issues, so I don't know why there was trouble this time.

Vista launched with Starlink and it's polar-orbit satellites, so ship's latitude isn't the problem everyone is used to with equatorial-orbit satellite relay.  That leaves just how much bandwidth O chooses to buy per pax vs how much the average pax decides to use.

 

Last year, Starlink was offering break-into-the-market rates.  Dunno 'bout this year.

[Snaefell3]

4 minutes ago, loge23 said:

You will need their extra-fee service for Zoom

Understand that the extra-fee service has always only unblocked "streaming" -- without any extra helping of bandwidth for your account.

 

Sound like (repeat: sounds like) Starlink has increased it's rates and O isn't buying as much bandwidth.

[Cliff-FLL]

FWIW, we were on Vista in August & September of 2023 and again in October.  We were able to connect both laptops and both phones without any issues and the signal was excellent.

[Hlitner]

Listen up folks. while Starlink offers lots of advantages, it is totally under the control of the cruise line how much band width (and restrictions) they push out to cruisers.  We have been on other Starlink ships (Explora Journeys and Princess) and everything was quite good.  Issues with O should probably be aimed at O...and not Starlink.

 

Hank

[dirtydan]

Had no issues with wifi in January on Vista.  Did several zoom, Microsoft Teams, Facetime and WhatsApp calls without a problem.

[edgee]

Internet on Vista was fantastic during 16 night Panama Canal cruise in November. Back on her for 11 night cruise earlier this month..it was spotty, although with the 10 dollar a day streaming upcharge, I was able to Zoom a 90 minute meeting with no problem. Someone told me that of the 6 Starlink antennae on the ship, not all were working properly. Hopefully that was the reason for sportiness and it will be or has been fixed.

[brellis]

Just off Vista.  Internet was not the best; better than before but we could not stream video content from within a web page. Doubt zoom would have worked.  Speedtest showed single digits to .05. Port days we used T-mobile as it had most countries included and was fast and reliable. 

[pmatawan]

Same situation on Riviera, currently.

[edgee]

10 hours ago, brellis said:

Just off Vista.  Internet was not the best; better than before but we could not stream video content from within a web page. Doubt zoom would have worked.  Speedtest showed single digits to .05. Port days we used T-mobile as it had most countries included and was fast and reliable. 

It is a shame that O cannot or chooses not to get this right. After recent Vista cruise with spotty Starlink, we cruised on Celebrity Ascent which had nearly perfect Starlink internet connection, similar to what one would get at any hotel. 

[pinotlover]

The short moral of the story: No one can tell you what either the weather or the Internet service will be on your cruise. It’s highly obvious, from multiple posts that both change regularly. Additionally, what is “ good or acceptable “ internet service is far more subjective than any food discussions. Good Luck!

[Tr1v1alCru1ser]

We were on Vista over Christmas, and the internet was great, the best we’ve experience on O.  We FT friends without any issues. 

[Jruns]

The WiFi was awful!  We got off vista on feb 11th!  The worst basic WiFi I have had and told the office if you offer WiFi like this for “free” don’t bother because it’s insulting!  Yes, it was that bad!  

[don731]

Hmmm…we are currently on Vista, and the basic Starlink has been excellent, with only one short outage since we boarded on Feb.11th.  I have recorded download speeds up to 120 megs. Streaming services are not supported with the free, included internet.  To stream video, you need to purchase the upgrade version.  The basic version will support FaceTime with no problem.

[Jruns]

The basic didn’t even open up emails … and forget trying to open any apps on my phone!  My husband had the same issue and many people were complaining!  I did see many people face-timing (in public) that’s another subject…. but I’m just addressing emails and apps on the phone.  We hopped on another line for our second cruise and basic WiFi was as it should be🤷‍♀️

[edgee]

 

 

"The WiFi was awful!  We got off vista on feb 11th!  The worst basic WiFi I have had and told the office if you offer WiFi like this for “free” don’t bother because it’s insulting!  Yes, it was that bad! " 

 

"Hmmm…we are currently on Vista, and the basic Starlink has been excellent, with only one short outage since we boarded on Feb.11th."

 

Referring to the two quotes above: As I mentioned in earlier post, Vista internet was terrific when I was on her in November and less than good when I cruised in late Jan/early Feb, disembarking on Feb. 11. I had heard that there was a Starlink glitch which needed repair during our second cruise. Based on differing experiences before and after Feb. 11, perhaps technicians in Miami fixed the problem during turnaround on Feb. 11.

 

 

 

[oskidunker]

On 2/22/2024 at 6:17 PM, don731 said:

Hmmm…we are currently on Vista, and the basic Starlink has been excellent, with only one short outage since we boarded on Feb.11th.  I have recorded download speeds up to 120 megs. Streaming services are not supported with the free, included internet.  To stream video, you need to purchase the upgrade version.  The basic version will support FaceTime with no problem.

Just don't do face time on your balcony, please