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Starlink Internet could be coming to Royal Caribbean


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Just my two cents: Royal has made nearly zero claims that Starlink will improve a passengers internet experience. Therefore it is only perception that Starlink will be better for the passengers; it in fact may not; it may be slightly better; or it could be substantially better...who knows? I am not jumping to conclusions about a huge improvement though. Here's why:

I believe that the change to Starlink  is primarily for the pursers office to record transactions instantaneously with shoreside, just like every other big, corporate point of sale system. There is substantial monetary gain to record sales as soon as possible. The next priority is communications to/from the bridge. Third priority? Remote monitoring of the engine room, just like the airlines do with every engine, on every plane in the air. Fourth...I'm sure every security camera onboard can now be monitored shoreside and also video archived and stored remotely shoreside as well. 

What is the priority tree on now? Fifth??? Yeah, that's for the passengers who pay $25 per day/ per device. In addition to negligible claims or promises of better performance, please notice that the Voom pricing on Starlink enabled ships is unchanged and still about $25 a day/ per device. I think we are all surprised an increase in the cost of internet somehow was ignored once it got a Starlink label put on it.

Believe it or not there is even a lower internet usage priority! You think Voom sucks in the pool or at the Schooner Bar? It's easily just as bad on Deck 0 for the crew and their segregated network. BTW, the crew are paying customers too but not nearly as much as the well heeled passengers. 

 

Who you would have thought to receive Starlink first? Coco Cay and Labadee. Installing Starlink on land would be comparatively simple, no? Also, 1050 Caribbean Way. I am sure those in the corporate office do not suffer from the same excruciating Voom experience we do otherwise they'd be jumping out of the windows daily just trying to get the afternoon Starbucks delivered.

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On 11/9/2022 at 7:09 PM, bobroo said:

Just my two cents: Royal has made nearly zero claims that Starlink will improve a passengers internet experience. Therefore it is only perception that Starlink will be better for the passengers; it in fact may not; it may be slightly better; or it could be substantially better...who knows? I am not jumping to conclusions about a huge improvement though. Here's why:

I believe that the change to Starlink  is primarily for the pursers office to record transactions instantaneously with shoreside, just like every other big, corporate point of sale system. There is substantial monetary gain to record sales as soon as possible. The next priority is communications to/from the bridge. Third priority? Remote monitoring of the engine room, just like the airlines do with every engine, on every plane in the air. Fourth...I'm sure every security camera onboard can now be monitored shoreside and also video archived and stored remotely shoreside as well. 

What is the priority tree on now? Fifth??? Yeah, that's for the passengers who pay $25 per day/ per device. In addition to negligible claims or promises of better performance, please notice that the Voom pricing on Starlink enabled ships is unchanged and still about $25 a day/ per device. I think we are all surprised an increase in the cost of internet somehow was ignored once it got a Starlink label put on it.

Believe it or not there is even a lower internet usage priority! You think Voom sucks in the pool or at the Schooner Bar? It's easily just as bad on Deck 0 for the crew and their segregated network. BTW, the crew are paying customers too but not nearly as much as the well heeled passengers. 

 

Who you would have thought to receive Starlink first? Coco Cay and Labadee. Installing Starlink on land would be comparatively simple, no? Also, 1050 Caribbean Way. I am sure those in the corporate office do not suffer from the same excruciating Voom experience we do otherwise they'd be jumping out of the windows daily just trying to get the afternoon Starbucks delivered.

The only reason they switched is for cost savings.  Period.

The bridge has its own internet connection using a different system.  I've heard that on numerous bridge tours on different ships.  They've gone so far to say that if the Captain watches a video on their smartphone that's Voom the same as guests but all the bridge systems that use internet do so over a different satellite connection and likely will continue to do so.  

POS systems don't need real time connections to land which even Starlink can't ensure 24 x 7 everywhere.  Starlink is not five nines, or four or three nines.  There will be downtime with Starlink just as there is with O3b and VSAT.  

Engine room systems are already remotely monitored but again that isn't a real time requirement.  They track engine data over weeks and months to understand trends and changes that impact maintenance objectives.  A one day delay receiving data doesn't impact vendor tracking.  It's not like launching a rocket where they need real time performance feedback and telemetry data as it flies. 

It's all about the money which is why I suspect they prioritized O3b ships for conversion.  They are on a deadline to end that contract.

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On 11/9/2022 at 8:22 PM, twangster said:

The bridge has its own internet connection using a different system.  I've heard that on numerous bridge tours on different ships.  They've gone so far to say that if the Captain watches a video on their smartphone that's Voom the same as guests but all the bridge systems that use internet do so over a different satellite connection and likely will continue to do so.  

I assume the bridge has multiple internet connections.  There must have redundant communication systems to ensure close to zero failure option just like airplanes and trains.  

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On 11/9/2022 at 4:42 PM, Matt said:
  • Freedom of the Seas
  • Independence of the Seas
  • Liberty of the Seas
  • Enchantment of the Seas
  • Allure of the Seas
  • Oasis of the Seas

Adventure and Anthem are in the process it seems (among others).

If I buy the voom and stream for an upcoming sailing, that should that cover the upgrade to Starlink provided it's installed?

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Jewel's antennas are complete.  The last of them were installed yesterday.

Four on top of the Viking Crown Lounge and four on top of the Sky Bar roof area.

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Contractors installed the four above the sky bar while we were in Nassau.

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It looks like they installed four orientated across the beam of the ship and four orientated perpendicular so as to always have the best opportunity for visibility to a number of passing satellites overhead.

Having so many antenna to choose from will also reduce the potential for an isolated thunderstorm cloud in any given direction from blocking the sole look angle towards a single satellite.  This will in many cases provide the best connectivity availability in all weather conditions.  

Next step is to get the inside equipment connected to the antennas and complete system testing.

Soon Jewel will be Starlink capable.    

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On 6/28/2022 at 6:38 PM, smokeybandit said:

The "problem" with offering more than 80Mbps is there's really no need for anyone to have a use for that kind of bandwidth on a ship.

The faster a user is able to download a file or make a transaction the quicker they are finished congesting the RF radio spectrum.  If I am going to upload a video to share my vacation over iMessage or Messenger the longer it takes for me the more I contribute to congesting the spectrum.  

Same with downloads.  If I pull down a Netflix episode to watch something on my phone if I get that done in seconds versus 30 minutes I congest the shared medium less making it more available for others.  

I understand your argument that I don't need great bandwidth but when more bandwidth is available the user experience for everyone improves.  My cellular provider has a 5GE tower near me at home.  I can routinely get over 500Mbps downloads.  So when I watch videos they quickly transfer to my device so I'm not consuming the RF spectrum over an extended time frame.  Email attachments come through in single digit seconds so i'm not congesting the RF spectrum for 20 or 30 seconds waiting for the attachments to transfer.

I don't need 600Mbps to my phone but when I get higher data rates the user experience is better and  I don't congest the shared RF spectrum making it available for others.

Over the years my email attachments have grown.  When before a 5Mb attachment limitation was okay now those are routinely 50Mb limitations through email providers because we all move more data compared to 10 years ago.  

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Interesting discovery on Jewel today.  

On some ships the per user limitations are often implemented in the wireless platform.  So far on this current cruise I was capped at 2 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up consistently and everyday, until today that is.  Jewel is still using Speedcast legacy VSAT satellite service. 

Today in Cozumel the ship powered down for a generator test.  During the test my speeds went up to 4 Mbps down and 6Mbs up.  That got me thinking.

Knowing they were probably implementing the user caps in the wireless platform I started thinking about how I could get on a wired connection.  The answer - the on board cyber cafe.

So I logged into my Voom account on one of their computer terminals and ran a speedtest. 

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 22.5Mbps down and 6.6Mbps up.  Latency still at 600ms so still on the old speedcast satellite service.  Equally important the graphs are not reaching a plateau so I am fairly confident this is closer to the raw capacity available to the ship.  

Before the shutdown when I talked to Voom specialist on board they would often tell me the committed bandwidth for that ship.  Empress for example had around 50Mbs.  Vision class were higher with closer to 75Mbs total throughput commitment.  Oasis class had over 300Mbs of committed bandwidth.

Seeing Jewel achieving speeds of only 22 Mbps tells me they have dramatically lowered their subscribed bandwidth to save money.  No wonder Voom sucks across the fleet.

Back in my cabin on my laptop and I am doing better than on previous days.  The graphs show the plateau caused by their user caps.  

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So if anyone is on a ship with Starlink that still has a cyber cafe try running a speedtest from one of their wired cyber cafe terminals.

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13 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Upload speeds slower than download?

Faster?  I think the wireless platform rebooted during the generator test.  Everything on the ship powered off.  Elevators, HVAC, outlets in cabins.    For days now my speedtests have been like this:

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I'll gladly take the additional download and upload speeds.  Time will tell if they hold for the rest of the cruise.

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On 11/8/2022 at 4:32 PM, Jmccaffrey said:

Just got off of Anthem of the Seas and they told us that Starlink is scheduled for mid-December for install. 

I will be back on Jan 2nd so I will let you know if it is completed

I'm going to be on Anthem in April and July. I just logged into my CP and noticed that the surf Internet option is showing as sold out on both. This has only happened in the last couple of hours, so I am guessing it must be starlink related.

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34 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I'm going to be on Anthem in April and July. I just logged into my CP and noticed that the surf Internet option is showing as sold out on both. This has only happened in the last couple of hours, so I am guessing it must be starlink related.

I imagine that's just Royal being Royal.  

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3 hours ago, twangster said:

iCafe's have been subject to removal in favor of more cabins during many dry docks and amplifications.  New ships don't get one.  

I was shocked to discover Odyssey doesn't have one (or at least it didn't when I was on in May). And annoyed too as it meant I had to check in for our flight on my phone and couldn't print boarding passes without going to the voom desk.

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1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

I was shocked to discover Odyssey doesn't have one (or at least it didn't when I was on in May). And annoyed too as it meant I had to check in for our flight on my phone and couldn't print boarding passes without going to the voom desk.

Odyssey sort of does but they removed the computers due to the pandemic,  or so they said.  Library in Two70 on the port side.  

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6 hours ago, Al Miller said:

So for my Anthem cruise on 2/4/23 they seem to only be offering Surf and Stream tier. Really good BF discount by the way at $15/day. I wonder if this is just a CP snafu or are they perhaps phasing out the Surf tier as Starlink rolls out.

Looking back before mid-2019 it was uncommon to find Surf in the CP.  We don't know if the sudden disappearance of Surf is just going back to old ways or if it's related to the introduction of Starlink.  Time will tell. 

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9 hours ago, Al Miller said:

So for my Anthem cruise on 2/4/23 they seem to only be offering Surf and Stream tier. Really good BF discount by the way at $15/day.

pre-covid days this was a lot lower/in the single digits -- while i know we are past that now, i was hoping for closer to $10-12 a day for the black friday sale. i also noticed that the surf option is gone from all upcoming sailings in my cruise planners as well. it's only S+S. i figured it was likely starlink related.

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https://support.starlink.com/topic?category=27

What are the limitations of Starlink Maritime?

Best Effort Service: Starlink prioritizes network resources for Starlink Maritime users at sea and on terrestrial waters. Starlink Maritime service is provided on a best effort basis; stated speeds and uninterrupted use of services are not guaranteed. Starlink is not intended or registered for use as a Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) service at this time.

Coastal Waters: Starlink for Maritime should only be used in territorial waters where licensing is either held by SpaceX or the end user. Starlink Maritime is currently approved for use in the US.

FCC Authorization Notice. Federal Communication Commission authorization to Starlink for in-motion services in the United States has been granted on a non-interference protected basis, i.e., unprotected basis with respect to operations in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band. Therefore, Starlink’s in-motion operations, including for vessels, must accept any interference received from both current and future services authorized in the band – even if such interference causes undesirable operations for Starlink Services and its customers. Starlink in-motion Services must not cause harmful interference to any authorized service in the band, whether licensed or not.

Starlink Maritime delivers high-speed, low-latency internet with up to 350 Mbps download while at sea. From merchant vessels to oil rigs to premium yachts, Starlink Maritime allows you to connect from some of the most remote waters across the world, just like you would in the office or at home.

  • Coverage: See the Starlink Maritime Map
  • Hardware: Leverage 2 Flat High Performance Starlinks
  • Fleet Management: Remotely monitor and manage your Starlink fleet from a single enterprise portal.
  • Pause: Pause and un-pause service at any time

Additional specifications about Starlink Maritime can be found here.

 

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47 minutes ago, Matt said:

I got off Odyssey yesterday and they have the best internet in the fleet right now and it's not Starlink.

Proving an old adage... You get what you pay for.

Voom doesn't have to stink but O3b costs money to subscribe to enough bandwidth so that it doesn't stink.

Starlink is currently much cheaper than O3b but... you get what you pay for. 

Hopefully as they continue to build out Starlink it will start to work as well as O3b does (did) AND continue to cost a lot less. 

Time will tell. 

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34 minutes ago, BB1 said:

We just got off Adventure and the internet was the best I've ever experienced on a ship. Maybe on some ships they're still working out the kinks.

The older ships will see the most dramatic improvements from migrating to Starlink. 

Good internet on Adventure was once thought to be unattainable. 

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