Recently, Adam Goldstein, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International posted on AnsweritRoyally (http://www.answeritroyally.com/blog/?p=5043) about how Royal Caribbean is trying to connect with social media such as Facebook. Goldstein asked for comments on how people use social media to share their vacation experiences as well as how they disconnect from their normal world while on vacation with Royal Caribbean. Also, there was a link to an interview Goldstein did with Travel Weekly (http://www.travelweekly.com/In-the-Hot-Seat/Royal-Caribbean-Internationals-Adam-Goldstein/). This article is noteworthy because Goldstein mentions how Royal Caribbean is working on offering faster Wifi connections. Royal Caribbean will be partnering next summer with a company called O3b who has a satellite network that will offer "speeds normally available only on land" with their Oasis of the Seas ship in the Caribbean. This should deal with one of the complaints customers have had about slow connection speeds. It remains to be seen if Royal Caribbean will expand this service to other ships and what the cost of the new service will be.
Concerning cost, Mr. Goldstein was kind enough to answer a comment of mine about Wi-Fi rates on his Splendour of the Seas ship. I'll be cruising on Splendour of the Seas this November and, I wasn't sure if the Wi-Fi rates in Europe would be the same as they are in Alaska and the Caribbean. Mr. Goldstein referred me to an FAQ page Royal Caribbean has on their website (http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/whatToKnow/topTenFAQs/detail.do?pagename=top_10_faqs&pnav=4&snav=2&faqId=310&faqSubjectName=Top+10+FAQ&). My take on this page is that there is a FLEET WIDE standard rate for Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi service. One note I have to make about this page is that a number of Royal Caribbean's ships offer Wi-Fi throughout the ship vice in 6 designated hot spots as the webpage states. Based on the number of ships Royal Caribbean has upgraded in this way, I think Wi-Fi will eventually be available throughout the entire ship on all of Royal Caribbean's ships if it isn't already. I believe this would increase the number of people using the service as it'll be more convenient. It is a bit of pain having to haul your laptop to a hotspot.
On the cost again, I'm looking forward to finding out in November if Platinum Crown & Anchor Society members get a better discount on the ship's Wi-Fi. I know Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members from August 2011 to February 2012 received a coupon in their value booklet for 45 minutes of free time on the Internet as well as a coupon for 25% off on any Internet package. This is one of the ways it can pay to be a member of their frequent cruiser program i.e. Crown & Anchor Society. Happy surfing all!
Update: September 11th, 2013
Crown & Anchor Platinum members do get a better discount. You get an extra 5% off on pre-paid packages. I forget if you got a better set dollar amount off with the coupon. Later this month, I'll get to sail as an Emerald member for the first time and, I'll get back with this post and let you know if you get a better discount as an Emerald member.
Also, Royal Caribbean is upgrading all its ships to where Wi-Fi will be available throughout the ship. However, the upgrade won't take place on each ship till it goes in for re-fit so, it could take a while before it's available ship wide fleet wide.
Update April 30, 2016: Please see my update on my first post about Royal Caribbean's WiFi. It tells about comments made by Royal Caribbean Chief Executive Office Michael Bayley and about them installing their new VOOM WiFi system on all their ships.
No comments:
Post a Comment