
When you’re getting internet on a cruise ship, you’re getting it via a very expensive satellite system that’s designed to be compatible with a moving target like a cruise ship. Remember, there are no high-speed cable lines connecting to moving cruise ships, or line-of-sight transmitters, except when they’re close to ports.

And they’ve made great strides in recent years.īut delivering fast, inexpensive internet to people on ships that are on the move in the open ocean is neither easy nor inexpensive. Where I live in North Carolina, the local cable company’s least-expensive internet package promises download speeds of 200 Mbps.Ĭruise lines really are doing their best to deliver fast, affordable internet just like you’d find at home. On a cruise ship, you’ll be lucky to get download speeds of 5 megabits per second (Mbps). Internet on cruise ships also generally is much more sluggish than what you’ve experienced on land. You’ll pay even more if you want to have multiple devices online at the same time.

You could easily spend upwards of $100 a week on cruise ship internet just to connect with one device. Unlike at resorts on land, the internet on cruise ships is often quite expensive - more than $20 a day on some lines. But if you haven’t cruised before, here’s a little primer. I’ll get to the results of my speed test on Celebrity Edge in a moment. Internet service is available on those ships, but it a different system.įor more cruise news, reviews and tips, sign up for TPG’s new cruise newsletter. In addition, the Xcelerate internet service is not available on Celebrity’s small vessels based in the Galápagos. In general, Celebrity’s newer ships have faster internet speeds. Unveiled in 2018, Celebrity Edge is one of the newest of Celebrity’s 14 vessels, and - as I’ll explain below - that’s a factor in the internet speeds it’s able to offer.Ĭelebrity’s Xcelerate internet service doesn’t operate at the same speed on every one of the line’s vessels. The ship was sailing from Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades to Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico, and the Bahamas.

I put Celebrity’s internet service to the test on board the line’s 2,918-passenger Celebrity Edge last week as it restarted departures for the first time in 15 months. While fast by cruise ship standards, Celebrity’s Xcelerate internet service remains far slower than what you’re probably used to at home.įor more cruise news, reviews and tips, sign up for TPG’s new cruise newsletter. Just don’t expect to be able to do bandwidth-hogging activities such as gaming. You can include most of the vessels operated by Celebrity Cruises on your short list.Īs I found during a recent speed test of Xcelerate - the internet service available on most Celebrity vessels - it lives up to its billing as a service fast enough to allow for seamless streaming of movies and other content.
Where can i download free movies to watch on a cruise ship movie#
Looking for a cruise ship with internet service fast enough to let you do video calls with your friends back home and maybe watch a Netflix movie or two?
