twangster

I recently tried a GigSky cellular data plan that included coverage on a cruise ship. I’ll get into the details and provide more background below but in summary GigSky has developed a roaming agreement with Cellular At Sea that provides an alternative to buying internet access from the cruise line. It uses the cellular equipment onboard and is available for many cruise lines in different regions. Some plans also include roaming coverage on land at ports of call so if your home cellular provider doesn’t offer international roaming or their roaming plans are costly this may be an alternative to consider. During my testing onboard a Royal Caribbean ship I observed 3G type HSPA cellular data service using band 2 with speeds up to 6 Mbps down and up to 0.5 Mbps up but more typically speeds were around 1.5Mbps to 3Mbps most of the time. It worked around the ship with some important caveats. The most important of which was that it didn’t work in my cabin or on my deck 6 balcony. It worked outside of my cabin in the hallway however the all steel cabin door was very effective at reducing the cellular signal strength to the point there was no cellular data inside my cabin with the door closed. The 24 hour plan cost $19.99 USD with no additional taxes or fees. At time of writing it appears to be less expensive to purchase additional plans for ongoing coverage, at least at the moment. The plan I chose provided 512 MB of data for a 24 hour period. This was the least expensive plan offered. There are additional plans available to suit your needs that provide more data and more time to use that data. I was automatically offered a $1 credit after my purchase to apply to a new plan of my choosing. It’s not clear if this credit expires. Here is more detail and the specifics of my test. I spent my own money for this test. No one from any organization was involved or informed that I would be performing this test. There is no sponsorship involved, no kickbacks or revenue links used in this review. It is simply my own personal money that was not reimbursed. I received no compensation for doing this test. I paid what anyone else who purchased a plan on this day paid. To set the stage I am on currently on board Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas on a transpacific voyage from Australia to Hawaii. We left Auckland two days. We crossed the Antimeridian yesterday and we are approaching the international date line as I write this. Basically we are in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. I have a paid Voom plan, Royal Caribbean’s marketing name for their onboard internet access. This allowed me to download and install the required GigSky app from the Google Play store and later to purchase the GigSky cruise ship eSIM directly from GigSky within that app. Having already paid for my plan I was now offered discounts for additional plans but you can see the regular or full price below. I recently upgraded from a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to a Galaxy S25 Ultra. I’ve moved most of my personal stuff between the two phones but I brought the S22U along on this trip in case there was something I forgot to move to the new phone. I also have a iPhone with me that I’ll use to capture some photos of this test. My S22U has no other active SIMs or eSIMs so it was a perfect device to use to perform this test without risking my normal cellular lines becoming active on the onboard cell towers risking undue cellular charges. That isn't really an issue for me since I use a prepaid cellular provider who doesn't have a roaming agreement with Cellular at Sea but I am including it here because most people with normal post-paid cell plans have to be very careful not to roam onto Cellular at Sea or they can incur significant charges. Initially I was in my cabin using Voom when I ordered a GigSky eSIM and I struggled to get the new eSIM to activate. I later learned this was because the cellular signal in my cabin wasn’t strong enough. I had what appeared to be lots of bars of service but the signal quality at the desk in my cabin was too poor for data or for activation. After a number of reboots and after going out into the guest hallway activation was easy. Initial speed tests were pretty decent but they wouldn't always be this good. The important thing here is to be in an area with lots of cellular signal for the first activation. My phone was originally carrier locked to a traditional and well known US based cellular provider. Many years ago I paid off the phone and unlocked it. It is no longer bound to any carrier and I have used this phone with other prepaid NVMO cellular providers for some time. This is an important requirement. A phone must not be carrier locked and it must be eSIM capable to be able to use a GigSky eSIM. Despite being unlocked and no longer using my old cellular provider my phone has always booted up with a familiar pink splash screen at least until now. After installing the GigSky eSIM my phone now boots up with an AT&T logo. I’ve never had an AT&T plan associated to this phone so I am fairly certain this new splash screen is due to the GigSky eSIM being installed. GigSky must be associated with or partner with AT&T in some way. Once I had it working the 4G LTE indicator on my phone was displayed but it’s not clear that I had true LTE or 4G service. Speeds observed certainly did not approach LTE expectations for my tests. The cellular industry has a long history of tickling the 4G indicator on consumer phones while not providing a full 4G or LTE experience. This has long been a marketing game of making 3G look better than it is in a race to claim the fastest network. It’s not clear to me if that was what I experienced or if the ship, satellite uplink and region underperformed 4G LTE expectations. I tested the connection using a number of apps. One benefit of using an Android phone for this test is the variety of apps that can provide some technical details regarding cellular signals while the same is locked out on Apple devices. For some reason Apple doesn’t want you to know anything about your connection details. The best speeds I achieved were around 6 Mbps down. The latency was much higher compared to Voom and Starlink which suggest that Cellular at Sea may have their own VSAT legacy satellite uplinks independent of the Starlink terminals that Royal Caribbean uses to offer Voom service on board their ships. VSAT is more prone to rain fade during inclement weather but I wasn’t able to test that on an otherwise pleasant but windy sea day. It is something to consider as you weigh the pros and cons. Bionic bar overlooking the Esplanade signal strength: That's pretty good signal strength. Bionic Bar speed test: The download speed is okay but that upload speed is really slow. I couldn't imagine texting lot of pictures to friends and family back home at these speeds. Pool deck signal strength: Not the strongest signal but okay. Pool deck speed test: Two70 signal strength: Two70 speed test: I was surprised there was no coverage on my deck 6 balcony. I had envisioned a cell tower on the top of the ship delivering the Cellular at Sea connection. This proved to be a wrong assumption. Instead as I walked the cabin hallways I observed a number of strong signal areas at specific locations along the guest hallways walking from full aft to full forward. It appears that Cellular at Sea has a number of micro cells on board most likely to deal with all the steel that ships are made of. I did not perform a detailed or thorough signal strength analysis but there are definitely some areas with strong signal strength and areas with less signal strength as you walk the halls. Since I am fairly forward on deck 6 I am forward of the nearest point of strong signal I observed which may be why I have no coverage in my cabin or on my balcony. Inside my cabin signal strength: That's pretty bad. On the balcony with no signal: Very little signal, no data indicator and just a faint hint of any cell signal while outdoors. Cellular 3G and LTE band 2 uses 1900 MHz which will penetrate steel cabin walls only slight better than the 2.4 GHz WiFi band does. However there are many more WiFi access points in guest corridors resulting in better Voom WiFi coverage compared to Cellular at Sea. Quantum class has traditionally not had the best WiFi coverage as ships go but they have upgraded the WiFi equipment on Quantum and WiFi performance in my cabin has been fine. Voom is also faster than GigSky/Cellular at Sea with lower latency or ping times now that Voom uses Starlink satellites. Voom using Starlink speed test: This Voom speed test has been fairly consistent for this voyage. One thing I like about GigSky is that it allowed me to hotspot the cellular data plan so I activated my S22U cellular hotspot feature and connected my iPhone to it for some more testing. At these low speeds the hotspot feature does fine with minimal losses. At higher speeds the built in hotspot can be a limiting bottleneck but since GigSky isn’t very fast this wasn’t an issue. This may be an attractive feature for families traveling abroad on land or at sea since one plan sized appropriately can be shared by many as long as everyone sticks together. iPhone connected to S22U cellular Hotspot: I was able to VPN using a corporate SSL client over GigSky without issue. For all of the testing I ran around doing I had consumed about 200Mb of my 512 Mb plan. Later I left the phone on doing smartphone stuff as I went to lunch and walked around the ship being a guest at sea. This consumed a little more data. The GigSky app allows you see your usage as you go. However the app needs a data connection to function. If you don't have a GigSky plan you need to be connected to the internet to purchase one. Plan ahead. This tracked a little higher compared to what my phone thought I had used: Another appealing aspect of GigSky is the coverage on land plus at sea if your normal cellular provider doesn't offer international roaming or has costly day passes that add up over a week or more. My prepaid cellular provider is US Mobile. I pay for an annual plan that comes out to less than $33 per month that includes coverage in over 100 countries around the world. This has worked well for me as I travel so I don't need the land coverage that GigSky includes. As a Pinnacle member in Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society I get free Voom for one device. However I sail other cruise lines that don't always give me free internet plans. GigSky is a nice alternative for those that don't have international roaming or internet onboard a ship already included. Having no data coverage in my cabin is definitely a downside to GigSky or Cellular at Sea in general. AT&T is also offering plans that include cruise ship cellular coverage. They use the same Cellular At Sea micro cells on board so I would expect similar performance and coverage. One thing to consider or at least be aware of is that Cellular at Sea automatically turns off when a ship is within the 12 mile territorial boundary of any given country. This is to avoid Cellular At Sea interfering with or running afoul of local laws for communications in any country. Until the ship is far away from land you may not have GigSky data coverage. Due to the location of Auckland for example, we were within New Zealand's 12 mile boundary for nearly five hours after leaving port. The casino didn't open until 11:30pm. I'm sure Cellular at Sea was off until then as well. Ultimately the unlimited nature of Royal Caribbean's Voom plus the much better performance makes Voom a clear winner for my needs. Streaming, uploading pictures or having a video chat with family back home has become commonplace using Voom. If GigSky was significantly less than Voom I could imagine it would be fine going without those things and if you need land coverage too then GigSky maybe a worthy alternative to consider. Check with your current cellular provider to see if they provide usage statistics so you have an idea what you and your family consume for data on a weekly basis. That may help guide you to the best approach for your needs. Ships in the Royal caribbean fleet that are included: Some Visa cards may come with a free or discounted GigSky plan! Pros - Works on land and at sea, hotspot data sharing allowed, some plans less expensive compared to Voom for the full voyage. Cons - Not all cabins or areas around the ship will have service, variable performance that is slower than Voom with much higher latency, rain fade likely with inclement weather, some plans offer no savings compared to Voom, gaps in service until the ship is far out at sea.

Royal rarely updates upholstery on their ships. The amplification mostly focus on common areas.

I remember during that crossing another ship was leaving the UK and crossing. We were one day apart. As luck would have it we were able to skirt below the remnants of that storm Captain Rob mentioned while the other ship had no choice but to go through it given where they were sailing from. Our crossing had some motion but they got it a lot worse. That wasn't because they left from the UK and we left from Barcelona, it was pure luck that weather system went North. If that same system came across further South they would have had a pleasant crossing and ours would have been not as good. One day can make a huge difference for ships on the same route following each other one day apart. It all depends on the weather. Even if someone has done 10 crossings on different ships, it's not the ship size that likely made or broke their crossing, it was just how the weather was on those particular days. Pure luck.

Here are some Captain's briefings for a crossing on Symphony a few years ago. Captain Rob explains some of the weather patterns that would be active for our crossing. He explains some of the swell concepts I mentioned. He further explains why he chose the route he chose for this particular crossing. Swell can be hard to observe but if you capture a time lapse or speed up a video it becomes more evident. In this time lapse video from the same crossing you can see a swell arriving from the front starboard side and how even a large ship like Symphony was being impacted. Even though the seas were otherwise flat, ocean swell is what caused Symphony to move around. As Symphony moved across the Atlantic and as the weather system that created this swell thousands of miles away moved in another direction, the angle of the swell reaching the ship changed throughout the course of the day changing how it was felt on board.

Surface waves don't tend to induce motion sickness but ocean swell does. Swell can originate from a weather system thousands of miles away and with no land masses in the middle of the Atlantic the swell can travel across an ocean unimpeded. The thing about swell is that it impacts all ships large and small. Even on mega ships the impact from swell can be felt. No ship is immune, it depends on the period of the swell, the direction and if there are multiple swells from different systems reaching the ship.. All modern cruise ships have stabilizers that work in left-right axis. They can reduce roll when the ship is moving in that direction but they have no effect for pitching or dolphining effects in the forward-aft axis. If there is swell and it is arriving to the ship from the sides then stabilizers can help to reduce that motion but when swell arrives from the front or the aft of the ship the stabilizers have minimal impact in that direction. What makes a particular crossing good or bad is the angle that the swell arrives to the ship relative to the ship heading if there is any swell at all. There is no way to predict that and it doesn't follow trends. It is what it is for any particular crossing. It's comes down to asking a question like "will it rain during my cruise 1 year from now?". No one knows. In the end it all depends on the active weather systems in the Atlantic basin around the time of your crossing. You could have nothing or it could be bad.

Casino has it's own rules

NSW dodged a bullet when a pink Godzilla chose not to attack Sydney

For those that follow CAS numbers, 13 Australian Pinnacle are on the current Quantum TP to Hawaii. The top cruiser is Australian with 3354 CAS points at this time.

I sail solo and X sucks for solo travelers. Great cruise line but they have a hefty single supplement.

Curent response from the casino host is that smoking in the casino will resume for the next cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. The current TP from Sydney to Hawaii is supposed to be smoke free. That means for me I'll have twenty three nights smoke free in a Royal casino. What a difference not stinking of cigarette smoke. It does make me realize I need to find a smoke free casino cruise line that's friendly to solo cruisers. So if you are like me, hate smelling of cigarettes after a night in the casino, consider the UK or AUS based cruises. Smoke free casino is amazing.

I like Quantum class. Currently crossing the Tasman Sea on one before we eventually make our way up to Hawaii. I like that deck 5 can be used to bypass the Esplanade, a feature that is missing from previous classes when at times it's impossible to move through the promenade on other classes. Icon added a promenade bypass one deck up as well. The last couple of night I've really enjoyed sunsets from the Two bar looking aft where I took this sunset pics: They have the best views from Coastal Kitchen of any ship in the fleet. They also have the best solariums in the fleet. Best Windjammers in the fleet especially compared to Oasis class WJ. The original Q class have outdoor WJ seating which I love. Most of all I like that they are different.

Curent response from the casino host is that smoking in the casino will resume for the next cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. The current TP from Sydney to Hawaii is supposed to be smoke free. That means for me I'll have twenty three nights smoke free in a Royal casino. What a difference not stinking of cigarette smoke. It does make me realize I need to find a smoke free casino cruise line that's friendly to solo cruisers. So if you are like me, hate smelling of cigarettes after a night in the casino, consider the UK or AUS based cruises. Smoke free casino is amazing.

You would think it would be more efficient to flip the smoking and non-smoking casinos. Give smokers a compact space to smoke and breathe each others smoke, give non-smokets an expanded space.

FWIW - a casino host confirmed there is no concept of short vs. long casino offers in Australia. The offers are the same for all cruises from Australia regardless if it is 2 nights or 21 nights.

Staying on for the Transpacific. The casino has emailed Miami inquiring if they can allow smoking in the casino during the transpacific. They are waiting for Miami to respond. TP starts tomorrow.

Adding that a fully non-smoking casino out of Australia is wonderful. So many slots to explore, smoke free.

FYI here is the link for the Australian offers while on a 2 night sampler cruise. If you are ever cruising down under the offers are different. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/offers/APR25AUS.pdf I'm not sure they have the same differences between short and long offers compared to North America and Europe.

When I have the DX and I share my CAS vouchers I simply tell the bartender... "I'd like a <insert drink> and I'd like to use one of my CAS vouchers for this person who wants a <insert other drink>". Never a problem.

Of the ships that could be sailed, i.e. in service or retired, I am at 28. Number 29 will be Star once she is in service. Number 30 is booked for 2026. Contemplating Spectrum from Hong Kong. That would be 31. Maybe 2027. Legend isn't booked yet, but may be 31 if done before Spectrum, or 32 if after.

G'Day from Brisbane. I had a decent view of the Botany Bay cargo port in Sydney while landing before connecting to Brisbane. It's a rather industrial looking area but then again most US cruise ports are industrial in nature. Miami, Port Everglades, Cape Liberty, San Pedro, Seattle to name a few, like Brisbane and many cruise ports around the world, cruise terminals often piggyback onto existing deep water cargo ports which are industrial in nature. Port Everglades, the first Oasis class home port ever is a secure marine deep water cargo port due to its role in the fuel supply for South Florida requiring a vehicle security inspection just to get into the port area. Once within the port there are no tourist venues of any kind. We are lucky in Port Canaveral that Royal has terminal one right beside tourist venues by foot. The rest of Port Canaveral including the cruise terminals on the other side of the port are out of luck without a shuttle or any transit to get to the touristy side. That's usually where Voyager class end up. The charm of cruising from Sydney has always been Circular Quay with easy access to tourist venues, hotels and transit all by foot with beautiful views for sail away. If a cruise terminal was added to Botany Bay it seems most of that Sydney charm would be gone for cruisers. For what it's worth, a source at the port in Brisbane told me that while the first season left some room for improvement, Quantum's season that is just ending has been successful typically over double occupancy (100%) capacity all season long and many times approaching SOLAS maximum capacity. If that is the case you can see why they are bringing Quantum back. Don't mess with success.

Navigator looks like it may be going Los Angeles to Tokyo then Tokyo to Singapore where it begins normal Singapore itineraries. Anthem looks like it does a 1 night deadhead repo from Seattle to Vancouver then it does a Hawaii cruise before it's transpacific to Sydney where it begins normal Sydney itineraries. Quantum looks like it does a 25 night transpacific from Los Angeles to Brisbane where it begins normal Brisbane itineraries. The Voyager references for October 2026 and beyond on the Port of Brisbane site appears to be placeholders for Quantum.

$928 in skin care products in a foreign country while on a cruise? Care for a partial ownership of the Brooklyn Bridge? I know a guy.

Never say never.

Ocean Time had a good one for April 1st.

I think this is one of the most important factors. With Lelepa changing and other developments this isn't the only factor but it's a big one. It's a huge undertaking on Quantum class. They make it work, but don't underestimate the level of effort to tender Quantum class. I had a bad tender experience a few years ago. As a late arrival to port we got a distant anchorage that made the tendering even worse. It was after 1pm before the tender line was satisfied and all aboard was 4pm. This was on Vision class. Tendering isn't guaranteed easy on any class.