Cruise Specialists Blog

Luxury Cruise News & Reviews

Blog Home / Hosted Cruises

Which Cruise Line Will Be The First To Offer Free WiFi?

Ralph Grizzle

Have iPad, Will Cruise.

Not long ago, a reader posted this comment:

Why do cruise ships continue to rape you for an internet connection? It’s available on airplanes and even in McDonalds for free or a very reasonable price!

I can understand that reader’s frustration, though I probably would not have expressed the sentiment the same way. Still, I have to agree that cruise lines have much ground to cover to catch up to our modern lifestyles. In fact, the few complaints I hear when I am on board ships are usually about internet services, either too costly or too slow.

Cruise lines can do something about both. To be fair, internet does cost cruise lines a bundle. I talked with a technician on one ship who told me that satellite internet services, typically provided by MTN Satellite Communications, cost his cruise line $80,000 per month per ship for download speeds of 1mb per second. Suddenly, I feel a lot better about the cost of my AT&T service!

Cruise lines can slice that monthly fee in half by opting for slower service, .5 mb per second, but that does a disservice to the passengers. There are also options for cruise lines to purchase faster service, and of course, there are new technologies being develop.

MTN recently announced new technology that will deliver entertainment and news programming, as well other content, to personal mobile devices anywhere on the ship. We’ll report on this new service once we experience it.

Seabourn offers an unlimited package that allows users to pay a flat fee, $239 for seven days, or $399 for longer cruises. One thing we like about the Seabourn plan is that you don’t have to log on and log off each time you want to use the internet, and it can be shared on multiple devices, but only one device at a time.

There are ships that offer free internet, river cruisers, such as AmaWaterways and Viking River Cruises, and some cruise lines offer free internet time for their loyal, repeat guests.

What are your internet needs while at sea? Or do you fully unplug?

 

 

 

More from my site

  • No April Fool’s Day Joke: Free Internet On Cruise ShipsNo April Fool’s Day Joke: Free Internet On Cruise Ships
  • Coming To A Ship Near You: Complimentary Wi-Fi — At Long LastComing To A Ship Near You: Complimentary Wi-Fi — At Long Last
  • Comparing Cruise Suites: What Matters for A Great ExperienceComparing Cruise Suites: What Matters for A Great Experience
  • First New Riverboat for America’s RiversFirst New Riverboat for America’s Rivers

Hosted Cruises

Comments

  1. Rod says

    March 29, 2012 at 2:52 pm

    Since bandwidth on ships is limited I think free, unlimited internet is a really bad idea. You think it’s slow now, wait until everyone on board can just keep their device logged on all day. Talk about slow! Remember the ship buys a certain amount of bandwidth and every person who logs on takes a slice out of that. The fist person on can have it all but when the next person logs on it gets cut in half, then thirds, then quarters. If 100 people are on each only gets 1/100 of the max bandwidth and that’s why it’s so slow.

  2. Alysia Murillo says

    March 29, 2012 at 3:42 pm

    So true Rod. If it was free it certainly would mean more people using up the bandwith. Keeping it at a cost does end up limiting the amount of people using it. Very good point.

SEARCH ARTICLES

Article Categories

  • Cruise Destinations
    • Africa Cruise Reviews
    • Alaska Cruise Reviews
    • Amazon Cruise Reviews
    • Antarctica Cruise Reviews
    • Arctic Cruise Reviews
    • Asia Cruise Reviews
    • Australia/New Zealand
    • Baltic Cruise Reviews
    • Canada/New England Cruise Reviews
    • Caribbean Cruise Reviews
    • Cuba Cruise Reviews
    • Europe Cruise Reviews
    • Galapagos Cruise Reviews
    • Grand Voyages
    • Hawaii Cruise Reviews
    • Iceland/Greenland
    • Mediterranean Cruise Reviews
    • Mexico Cruise Reviews
    • Panama Canal Cruise Reviews
    • Scandinavia and Northern Europe Cruise Reviews
    • South America Cruise Reviews
    • South Pacific Cruise Reviews
    • Transatlantic Cruise Reviews
    • World Cruise Reviews
  • Cruise FAQs
  • Cruise Lines
    • Abercrombie & Kent Reviews
    • AmaWaterways Cruise Reviews
    • American Cruise Line Reviews
    • American Queen Voyages Reviews
    • Aqua Expeditions Reviews
    • Atlas Ocean Voyages Reviews
    • Avalon Cruise Reviews
    • Azamara Cruise Reviews
    • Celebrity Cruise Reviews
    • Celebrity Galapagos Cruise Reviews
    • Cunard Cruise Reviews
    • Cunard World Cruise Reviews
    • Disney Cruise Reviews
    • Explora Journeys Cruise Reviews
    • Holland America Line Cruise Reviews
    • Holland America World Cruise Reviews
    • Hurtigruten Reviews
    • Lindblad/National Geographic Reviews
    • Norwegian Cruise Line Reviews
    • Oceania Cruise Reviews
    • Oceania World Cruise Reviews
    • Paul Gauguin Cruise Reviews
    • Ponant Cruise Reviews
    • Princess Cruise Reviews
    • Quark Expeditions Reviews
    • Regent Cruise Reviews
    • Regent Seven Seas Cruise
    • Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
    • Royal Caribbean Cruise Reviews
    • Scenic Eclipse Discovery Yacht Reviews
    • Scenic River Cruise Reviews
    • Seabourn Cruise Reviews
    • Seabourn Expedition Cruise Reviews
    • Silversea Cruise Reviews
    • Silversea Expedition Cruise Reviews
    • Silversea World Cruise Reviews
    • Star Clippers Cruise Reviews
    • Tauck Cruise and Tauck Land Tour Reviews
    • UnCruise Adventures Reviews
    • Uniworld River Cruise Reviews
    • Viking Cruise Reviews
    • Viking Expedition Cruise Reviews
    • Viking Ocean Cruise Reviews
    • Virgin Voyages
    • Windstar Cruise Reviews
    • Zegrahm Expeditions
  • Cruise News
  • Cruise Ports
  • Cruise Specialists Benefits
  • Expedition Cruises
  • Hosted Cruises
  • Ralph Grizzle
  • River Cruises
  • Ship Reviews
  • Solo Cruising
  • Tom Mullen
  • Tours, Trains & Resorts
    • Palace Resorts Reviews
    • Safari Reviews
    • Shore Excursions
    • Trains

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Maggie Blehert

Her ideal travel day: venturing to a new place, learning something interesting and sharing a smile.
View My Blog Posts

Steve and Wendy Bodenheimer
Cruise Specialists Voyage Hosts reporting on their round the world journeys.
View My Blog Posts

Ralph Grizzle

The Avid Cruiser. Well-traveled and insightful. Helping you make informed cruise decisions.
View My Blog Posts

FOLLOW US ON

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter