Internet - Remote Work

[Cruisin Castaway]

How good is the internet onboard if I had to do some remote work?

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Expensive and not fast.

the ‘top package’ is about $90 isn’t unlimited and most people who seem to rely on it burn through a package or two a day for moderate to high use.

 

[insureman]

It will cost you a fortune. Not sure how accurate the below link is.
https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-internet.htm

 

[KevinFL]

Very slow and spotty where at times does not work at all so it was difficult to accomplish work. On our 8/27 we had the same idea and it did not work out. Not to mention that the cell tower at Castaway Cay was struck by lightning a few weeks ago and not working so we were unable to make business texts and calls as we had planned.

 

[Marc D]

While I agree with what was said above, it can still be enough if your work involves only checking and sending emails. You can write them offline then upload them in batch. Forget anything that involves videos, Zoom calls and other bandwidth-heavy applications however. Know that iMessages (without multimedia) can be sent and received for free.

 

[Keyser]

It depends on what work you need to do. When it's something that mainly involves downloading/uploading stuff, it's not so bad (though it can be expensive depending on file sizes); I've used it mainly like this a couple of times. I wouldn't rely on it for video calls or anything that needs high realtime bandwidth. Kind of in-between are interactive network applications (e.g. Google Docs) where you can probably still use it fine, but I wouldn't count on it for something critical, since as others have said, it was sometimes spotty (and there can be lags...).

 

[Intr3pid]

Where are you headed? You can use the onboard wifi for sending emails, etc. For the rest, try working while the ship is in port.

On port-intensive cruises, as long as the ship is close to land, you can pick up a cell phone signal while sailing. We used it to good effect last time in Europe, and the speed was good enough to upload images, send files of moderate size, etc. This was pre-COVID, so no video meetings. You may want to look at the map of the itinerary and choose the room on the side closer to land.

In Bahamas and Caribbeans, you will be more limited as the itineraries aren't port intensive. There are some cruise lines that offer unlimited Internet, but it's not just the data limits - the speed on board, while sailing, is simply not fast enough.

 

[DCLMP]

I bought internet this cruise and it was horrible. I was tempted to complain.In the past I’ve had decent internet on Disney. It could be because everyone is using the APP.

 

[shoes99]

Sign up for the free 50 mb the first day per email address. Use is sparingly . I just bought my laptop to the atrium where
the signal was better. Depends on the ship. I only purchased more data if my 50 + 50 ran out.

 

[icc2515]

I never understood Disney's decision on the internet. They usually pride themselves on providing a step up from other competitors. The internet on the ships is truly bad and it is beyond expensive. Royal Caribbean has internet for about $14 per device per day if you buy a 3 pack. It is fast enough to stream movies and it is unlimited. Maybe it will be different on the Wish.

 

[Steve Dexter]

It can be done, I've done it on all 4 DCL ships. Having said that, it IS slow and expensive, but not impossible.

 

[johnkerryP]

Depends on what your work is. Checking emails and downloading/uploading a file, could be done for a price.

logging into a remote desktop, executing database queries, or logging into a meeting? Probably not gonna work successfully.

 

[erik3dis]

It's disastrous for anything more than "checking in". If you need to do any real work in a collaborative manner, sharing live workspace etc. a cruise is not the right vacation unfortunately.

 

[rhinodadz]

Very slow and spotty where at times does not work at all so it was difficult to accomplish work. On our 8/27 we had the same idea and it did not work out. Not to mention that the cell tower at Castaway Cay was struck by lightning a few weeks ago and not working so we were unable to make business texts and calls as we had planned.

Interesting. We were also on the 8/27 and I was able to get cell service on Castaway to do my fantasy football draft. Used the AT&T $10 international day pass.