Royal Caribbean promises faster Internet at sea

This item was written by Johanna Jainchill, who covers the travel industry for Travel Weekly. Jainchill is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away.

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By Michel Verdure

As frequent cruisers can attest, Internet connections at sea can be painstakingly slow and undependable, a source of perennial frustration for passengers.

Royal Caribbean is hoping to remedy that with a recent agreement the cruise line made with O3b Networks that the line says will bring Internet at sea, "as if connected to fiber at home or in the office."

By summer 2013 the company's 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, will offer passengers "high-speed satellite-delivered broadband service" thanks to a multiyear, multimillion dollar agreement Royal made with O3b, a global satellite service provider.

Read more at:  http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2012/06/royal-caribbean-faster-internet/790873/1