Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, says it has unveiled the cruise industry’s first-of-its-kind hybrid wireless network – an enhanced high-speed service to eventually be rolled out to all 101 of its ships on all nine of its brands. "This technology innovation is expected to revolutionise how millions of its passengers stay in touch during their cruise and generate even greater interest in cruise vacations, especially among the tech-savvy millennial generation," the company said in a statement.
Carnival's backbone connectivity network, known as WiFi@Sea, will integrate a unique combination of strategically located land-based antennas installed along cruise routes, Wi-Fi from a port connection and advanced satellites, forming an innovative network that is a first in
the cruise industry on this scale. The “smart hybrid” network is designed to provide passengers and crew with faster and more stable internet access throughout their voyage – a feature becoming increasingly important to travelers of all ages looking to stay connected and share their
experiences through social media.
Once completed, the integrated network will seamlessly switch among its various technology solutions to give passengers the highest available bandwidth capacity and strength of signal. The network will be capable of providing Internet connectivity speeds that can be roughly 10 times
faster than those previously offered on Carnival group's ships.
Following the initial launch in North America in fourth quarter of this year for ships sailing in the Caribbean – the world’s most popular region for cruising – Carnival is scheduled to rollout the
technology globally. Under the current plan, the expansion will continue with
Alaska in summer of 2015 and will extend to the Mediterranean, Baltic, Western European and Asian regions in 2015 and 2016. The technology will eventually be available on all nine of the company’s leading global brands – AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises UK, P&O Cruises Australia, Princess Cruises and
Seabourn.
