International Internet Day 2016

International Internet Day is celebrated worldwide, every year on 29th of October.

Since the year 2005, the International Internet Day has been famously celebrated to commemorate a momentous day, in 1969, in the history of telecommunications and technology.

This was the event of the sending of the first electronic message which was transferred from one computer to another on October 29th that year. 


How to Celebrate Internet Day 

Why don’t you start your celebration of Internet Day by visiting the original website, which just so happens to still be online.  Contrast that to websites today.

Internet Today

The Internet is everywhere these days, being accessed on phones and tablets, tied into our cameras and our TV’s. Wi-Fi is accessible from everywhere these days, from city buses to your neighborhood restaurant, and even at sea on cruise ships.  The world grows smaller every day as a result. Internet Day is a celebration of this culmination of computing and communication technology, and they way it has brought all our lives together.

 Keeping in Touch

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Cruise Lines today is meeting the demands for passenger and crew on existing internet resources. Passengers are looking for faster and less expensive ways to stay in contact with friends and family while on vacation. Several Cruise Lines have announced or adopted changes to address the growing demand of their customers and staff.

Luxury Cruise Lines such as Regent, Crystal, and Oceania, have introduced Free Internet Access to a select group of passengers (such as certain suite guests).  Other lines, like Royal Caribbean are looking to increase speeds and offer multiple programs which can be purchased depending on your needs. At Fun Hub on Carnival Cruises, you can select the plan that meets your internet needs and use their computers or your own devices throughout the cruise.

So, if you are planning a cruise vacation, don't leave your electronic gadgets at home.  Whether on the ship or at a local internet cafe while in port, you'll have plenty of opportunity to stay connected with friends and family if you want to.

International Internet Day 2015

International Internet Day is celebrated worldwide, every year on 29th of October.

Since the year 2005, the International Internet Day has been famously celebrated to commemorate a momentous day, in 1969, in the history of telecommunications and technology.

This was the event of the sending of the first electronic message which was transferred from one computer to another on October 29th that year. 


How to Celebrate Internet Day 

Why don’t you start your celebration of Internet Day by visiting the original website, which just so happens to still be online.  Contrast that to websites today.

Internet Today

The Internet is everywhere these days, being accessed on phones and tablets, tied into our cameras and our TV’s. Wi-Fi is accessible from everywhere these days, from city buses to your neighborhood restaurant, and even at sea on cruise ships.  The world grows smaller every day as a result. Internet Day is a celebration of this culmination of computing and communication technology, and they way it has brought all our lives together.

 Keeping in Touch

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Cruise Lines today is meeting the demands for passenger and crew on existing internet resources. Passengers are looking for faster and less expensive ways to stay in contact with friends and family while on vacation. Several Cruise Lines have announced or adopted changes to address the growing demand of their customers and staff.

Luxury  Cruise Lines such as Regent, Crystal, and Oceania, have introduced Free Internet Access to a select group of passengers (such as certain suite guests).  Other lines, like Royal Caribbean are looking to increase speeds and offer multiple programs which can be purchased depending on your needs.

So, if you are planning a cruise vacation, don't leave your electronic gadgets at home.  Whether on the ship or at a local internet cafe while in port, you'll have plenty of opportunity to stay connected with friends and family if you want to.

Trending on Cruise Ships

Staying Connected At Sea

When selecting your dinner location, do you check to see if they have Wi-Fi?   While shopping, do you tend to frequent malls and other stores that also have Wi-Fi available?   If you answered yes to these questions, you'll also want Wi-Fi access during your vacation.

Having internet access at sea is nothing new.  It has been available for many years.  If you've been cruising for years, you are also painfully aware that speed of your connection typically was not on par with your land experience.   At the same time, it wasn't free either and in combination with the slow speed your time online could be pretty costly.   For some people, like us that need to be connected, it was a cost of doing business, but if you are just getting online for pleasure, that was a different story.

The "always-connected" Society 

New Demands on Cruise Lines

With the increase in social networking, passengers have been requesting faster and less expensive internet access.   The cruise lines have made this one of their tasks to address.

The first line to address the speed aspect of the request was Royal Caribbean.  They've partnered with O3b Maritime (see our previous article)
Largest Ships Fastest Internet at Sea

The first major announcement for 2015 from the cruise lines is from Carnival Corp.



Carnival Cruise Line  Launches Carnival Hub & New Pricing 

Carnival Breeze is piloting two new changes that should begin to address the largest complaints about cruise ship internet pricing. A new app has been developed for iPhone and Android phones which can be installed for free and provides the user with ships schedules and other important information to help make your cruise enjoyable.   Optionally, you can sign up for the "chat" feature for $5 for the length of the cruise.  With this feature you can communicate with your fellow passengers individually or in groups.

Some of the key information provided by Carnival Hub on Breeze:

day-by-day schedule of all onboard events 

 real-time balances for passengers' Sail & Sign accounts

information on alternative, casual dining venues

searchable deck plans with key areas highlighted

itinerary details, including the ship's current time

estimated arrival/departure times for upcoming ports 

Largest Ships Fastest Internet at Sea

Meeting the Challenges of Today's Wireless Use at Sea

Like it or not, we live in a connected society today and there is an increasing demand to stay connected everywhere you travel.   On land, you probably are noticing more and more locations providing free WiFi connectivity.   In fact, that has become a competitive advantage for many food chains.

Demand at Sea

Staying Connected via Social Media at Sea

Even before the recent outburst of wireless device use, there has always been a need to stay connected while on a cruise.  Cruise lines introduced internet cafes years ago to meed those needs.  As times changed, they added the ability to stay connected using your own wireless computer from select areas of the ship.  The demand increased and ship-wide internet access was born.

It isn't unusual for a passenger to have several wireless devices with them during their cruise vacation.   They are on Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media sites instantly sharing their vacation with family and friends back home.   When news breaks, you can be sure you'll find a video, shortly after the event, on YouTube.

Royal Caribbean & O3b Maritime

We first reported on this topic in our article, High Speed Internet at Sea Coming Soon, in June, 2012.  O3b Networks announced a milestone multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to provide high-speed satellite-delivered broadband service aboard the world’s largest cruise ship. 

The plans are finally coming to fruition thanks to custom-built antennae which were shipped to Florida last month, and installed on Oasis of the Seas. Testing confirmed the ships' ability to match the fastest broadband connections on shore.

According to information provided by Royal Caribbean, the higher internet speeds will make it feasible for a guest to download streaming video or post video clips to Facebook.

By the time the new system becomes available on Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein said guests can anticipate "several new, show-stopper uses of the bandwidth."

Goldstein continued, "If you're a first-time guest on one of these ships, you won't realize how much work it took to make the wireless so pervasive – or that your cell 'tower' is 4,900 miles over your head. If you are a return guest, you'll be blown away by the improvement. It's that dramatic."

This is exciting news !!!

For those that have used the internet on any ship, not only aboard the Royal Caribbean fleet, you can attest that it takes a lot longer to get a simple task, such as sending an email, done  and it is more expensive consequently.    

Royal Caribbean is developing new pricing plans for added service.     Obviously, someone will be paying for the system's implementation costs, which makes us a little concerned about the pricing.  We hope that this new speed isn't priced such that it isn't utilized.

According to Royal Caribbean, the new high speed internet connections will be available beginning August 2014.

Greetings from Nassau ET Phone Home

Staying Connected

During Your Cruise

 

You've waited for this trip to get away from your daily routine.   You aren't quite ready to be cut off from the outside world completely however.  There are several possible "solutions" to this situation.

In this day and age, most people are walking around with one or more smart devices (phones, tablets, PCs, or some combination of these).  Prior to sailing, you are usually still connected to the outside world via your normal telephone / internet provider.  Once you sail, you can still be on their network in many cases, but the price of communication can go up dramatically since you are roaming.  

Tip:  The price for data and phone calls increase substantially, so you'll want to check with your provider before you travel to understand your options and costs.

Carnival Conquest Network

Carnival Cruise Lines, as well as the majority of the other lines, have enhanced their onboard internet capabilities to meet the demand of the always connected public.  Of course, this comes at a price and reduced speed compared to your back home experiences.

There are several plans available that provide internet access during your cruise.   You can use the ship's PCs or your wireless device throughout the ship to connect to their internet.   Prices range from 75 cents per minute for pay as you go to around 30 cents or less if you purchase a package.

For those that need to be in contact with home or office, this keeps you in contact at any time, provided there is adequate satellite coverage.  As mentioned already, expect communication to be much slower than your normal experience, which translates into increased cost per activity.

In Port Alternatives

If you don't need to be in contact constantly, finding connectivity on shore is perhaps a more attractive solution.   Options range from free WiFi to purchased plans that are usually much cheaper than those onboard the ship.

As you might expect, when you own your own business, you need to be in contact with your office and clients even when on "vacation".   We find ourselves in that situation.

For this particular cruise, we had one of our associates covering for us, but we did promise to keep in periodic contact.  In order to do so, we went with the in port approach.

A short walk from the pier in Nassau puts you outside the Festival Marketplace where you'll find many of the ship's crew and passengers camped out on their cell phones and other devices.  WiFi is free in this area, but the signal isn't always the best.   It did suffice for our needs in checking emails and posting a few pictures for our followers.   You might want to wait until the crowd thins out to increase the odds of getting your emails sent.

Click for Mini-Series Articles / Images

Often coffee shops and restaurants provide internet passwords to their patrons.   We suggest checking out sites in every port prior to your cruise so that you have an idea where to look during your trip.

More about Day 2 of our cruise in our next post.  Be sure to check all the articles in this series to get the complete story about our cruise.   If you have tips you'd like to share, feel free to contact us here or on our Facebook page.

Internet Trial at Sea

 

Keeping in Contact

While at Sea

New Internet

Improvements

on Carnival Magic

Carnival Cruise Line is experimenting with network infrastructure changes on Carnival Magic which has yielded much improved upload and download speeds.   It's not quite the same as being on your home network, but it is definitely an improvement of the slow connection speeds generally available at sea.

The ship is the first in the fleet to undergo the changes.   There currently is a six-week trial period in which the new changes are being tested in addition to some new pricing options.

In the past, passengers paid per minute or they could purchase a package which bundled a number of pre-paid minutes at a lower per minutes cost.   During the trial, you can sign up for $29.95 per day pricing or $119.95 for the 7-day cruise.

One big advantage of this new pricing model is that you don't have to watch your minute usage and if you are using your own hardware, you can stay connected and simply power down your device(s) when not in use.   This eliminates the need to keep logging into Carnival's network each time you want to use the internet.

Carnival will make decisions regarding the rest of the fleet after the conclusion of this trial period.

Not the Only Line Making Changes

We previously brought you news about changes the Royal Caribbean plans to introduce on Oasis of the Seas.   In our article, High Speed Internet at Sea Coming Soon, we shared details about an upgraded communication network that will be coming to the largest ship afloat, Oasis of the Seas, next summer.  

Responding to Demand

Both cruise lines are responding to increased demand for connectivity at sea.   With more and more light-weight portable devices emerging, it's not just the business traveler, that needs to stay in contact with the home office, that are seeking to be always connected even at sea.

This is good news for those that want something close to "high-speed" access during their cruise vacation.  

High Speed Internet at Sea Coming Soon

    O3b Networks & Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas

Providing Ultra-Fast Internet Communications

If you've ever been on a cruise ship and purchased internet minutes, you'll appreciate this announcement.  Royal Caribbean International, long known for their innovations, including the largest ships afloat - Allure of the Seas and sister ship Oasis of the Seas - has announced a venture with O3b Networks of St. John, Jersey, Channel Islands that will make the internet lover smile.

Connectivity at Sea

This week, O3b Networks announced a milestone multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to provide high-speed satellite-delivered broadband service aboard the world’s largest cruise ship. By summer 2013, more than 8,000 guests, staff and crew members aboard the cruise industry leader’s flagship Oasis of the Seas  will be the first to enjoy O3b’s enhanced connectivity at sea as if connected to fiber at home or in the office.

Steerable Beams Tracking your ship

• O3b’s satellite beams follow the ship on its normal route.
• O3b maintains the ship within the beam centre.
• O3b receives latitude/longitude updates on two hour intervals via in-band or out-of-band channel.
• Beam tracking updates in real time if the ship has to change course. 

Steve Collar, Chief Executive Officer, O3b Networks said:

  “With O3b Maritime, Oasis of the Seas will experience connection speeds that are an order of magnitude higher and latency that is four times lower than offered in the market today. At O3b, we believe that affordable, high speed broadband should always be within reach – wherever you are in the world, on land and at sea - and we are delighted to showcase the unrivalled performance of O3b Maritime together with Royal Caribbean.”

Pricing has not been announced at this time.  Currently internet pricing at sea starts around 65 cents per minute and can decrease if you purchase a package plan.   What would you pay to have high-speed access from your stateroom or public areas of the ship?