Cruise company Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises (known as the Royal Caribbean Group) have announced that Starlink, the satellite internet subsidiary of Elon Musk’s Space X, will be installed on the fleets of both cruise liners.
It’s famously known that internet and phone calling on cruises sucks. It blows.
And to be fair, it’s not really a problem. After all, you’re on a cruise, right? You should be enjoying the sea breeze, activities on the ship and the petri dish of sicknesses you could pick up on board, not the internet.
But, hey, if you’re like me and prefer the joys of the online world over boredom on the water, then Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises could satisfy you with Starlink.
“Starlink is a game-changer, and we can’t wait to revolutionise the seas with faster and more reliable internet, making it easier for guests and crew to remain connected to work, family and friends, no matter where they choose to travel,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, the president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises.
“Our purpose as a company is to deliver the best vacation experiences to our guests responsibly, and this new offering, which is the biggest public deployment of Starlink’s high-speed internet in the travel industry so far, demonstrates our commitment to that purpose.
“This technology will provide game-changing internet connectivity onboard our ships, enhancing the cruise experience for guests and crew alike. It will improve and enable more high-bandwidth activities like video streaming as well as activities like video calls.”
The group originally trialled Starlink on the Freedom of the Seas ship, but is now rolling it out to the entire fleet.
If you’re out of the loop, Starlink is a satellite internet service offered as an alternative to fibre networks, operated by SpaceX with low altitude satellites. It costs $139 per month, plus a $150 shipping fee and a $924 hardware fee.
Users can expect speeds of between 100Mbps and 200Mbps (reportedly 141Mbps download and 14Mbps upload, as per Ookla). While that download speed is well above the average plans on offer through the NBN (but not the upload speed), users can expect quite high latency at 43ms on average.
“Royal Caribbean Group selecting Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency internet across their fleet will make their passengers’ getaways even more luxurious,” said Jonathan Hofeller, the Space X vice president of Starlink sales.
“We couldn’t be more excited to work with Royal Caribbean Group to ensure travellers at sea can stay connected with a great internet experience.”
We’re not sure how fast Starlink will be on the high seas, nor how much it’ll cost a cruise-goer, but Royal Caribbean’s internet prices are currently offered in the “Voom” package at $17.99 per day, or $11.99 per device, per day for families.
If you’re looking to book a cruise, it’s probably not for the purpose of trying out a Starlink connection, but at least the Royal Caribbean group now gives you that option.
The installation of Starlink technology is expected to be complete on all Royal Caribbean Group ships by the end of March 2023.
If you’d like to learn more about Starlink, we’ve got a page that answers all your questions.