clanhill Posted May 12, 2023 Report Share Posted May 12, 2023 I have purchased Voom for out upcoming Alaska cruise on Quantum of the Seas that departs on 5/22. My son will be traveling with my wife and myself, but will have some assignments due for his micro economics class. This will entail video lectures and assignments to complete online. I know the connectivity speed will be slower than our home internet, but does anyone know if it will be good enough to stream and work online at all? Many thanks to you all. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted May 12, 2023 Report Share Posted May 12, 2023 Here is someone on board now in Alaska: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/40727-quantum-of-the-seas-ak-out-of-vancouver-may-8-may-15/ They posted speed test summaries in their thread. mk-ultra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted May 12, 2023 Report Share Posted May 12, 2023 The thing about satellite internet on board ships is... it isn't perfect and it's not always consistent. Even with Starlink now being used there can be bad times and wifi coverage in cabins can be weak. In public areas you can't use laptop speakers but with a good pair of headphones it might be okay. There will be music in the background, announcements over the PA and in some public areas like Two70 there can be shows or rehearsals blasting out music. mk-ultra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted May 12, 2023 Report Share Posted May 12, 2023 I sailed Radiance in Alaska last year. The Internet was good enough for youtube, but I didn't try any actual conversations. On Voyager in the Caribbean, it was better than Radiance. I'm not sure if that's because of our location or if Radiance hadn't been upgraded at that point. One other piece of advice. I've noticed on several ships, if you are around a bunch of people (in the theater for example), then Internet will be much worse. This indicates the ship's routers are getting overwhelmed rather than the satellite connection. Therefore, you might improve your connection by moving to another location on the ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScooterScott22 Posted May 13, 2023 Report Share Posted May 13, 2023 If the link above summarizes what I have heard from @twangster previously about internet service in Alaska, it will mean service will be available but can be slower than you are used to. Our experience with cruising Alaska in 2019 (pre-Starlink) was that service was always available but at times slow. It was similar to logging on back in the 90’s. Images were slow on some days and those days I didn’t even try video or streaming. Other days we even able to log in and stream the hockey playoffs. There was some lag but not bad when it was running. So hit or miss at best. We just got off the boat in Vancouver on Monday and had no issues. Granted we did not go north, we came in from the south but everything was working well. My son was on his laptop and playing games, videos, streaming, etc. and says everything worked like normal. While it may be different as you travel further north, 2023 was better than what we experienced on any day in 2019. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted May 14, 2023 Report Share Posted May 14, 2023 On Quantum now, heading for Victoria today. Last brief stop before disembarking in Seattle tomorrow. Happy to report that Starlink has been very usable for 99% of the cruise — almost everywhere on the ship. One or two minor blips here and there, but no real issues. I was able to do work stuff (ugh) including both SSL and IPSEC VPN and a couple of Webex video meetings. twangster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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