Royal Caribbean announced last month it planned to add SpaceX Starlink to its fleet of cruise ships following a successful trial of the satellite internet service on it ship Freedom of the Seas.
When the cruise line announced the partnership it said it would have its entire fleet outfitted with Starlink by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
With over 40 cruise ships under its different brands, Royal Caribbean has wasted no time and has already started equipping several of its ships with Starlink, with one ship already offering the service to passengers.
According to a Royal Caribbean fan blog, Starlink is up and running on the Independence of the Seas. The ship is currently operating short cruises to the Bahamas, and based on speed tests from one passenger showed download speeds of 3.77Mbps and 3.69Mpbs, but it was a cloudy day which could have impacted the results, as they are much slower than what was seen on previous speed tests aboard Freedom of the Seas.
However the more important figure was the ping (latency), or how quickly you receive data after a request. The tests showed latency of 76ms and 84ms, a big improvement over the traditional satellite internet offered on cruise ships which is often laggy and slow to respond.
Based on reports from passengers, the Starlink service is being offered at the same prices the previous internet packages. The packages range from $12.99 to $19.99 per day depending on the tier.
Along with the Independence of the Seas, crews have been spotted installing Starlink on at least three others ships, including Allure of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, and Liberty of the Seas.
Source: Royal Caribbean Blog
