Carnival Corporation has signed a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX broadband service Starlink to provide faster service, greater capacity and more reliable WiFi on its ships.
The fleetwide rollout started with Carnival Cruise Line and Aida Cruises vessels last month, but the world’s largest cruise firm plans to expand Starlink to other Carnival brands such as Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruses and Cunard.
The agreement with SpaceX means Carnival Corp has nearly tripled ship bandwidth since 2019 and comes as other lines upgrade their internet connectivity with similar Starlink connections such as rival Royal Caribbean Group.
Carnival Corporation chief executive Josh Weinstein (pictured) said: “For many of our guests, it has become more important to maintain the type of connectivity at sea that they’ve become accustomed to at home and of course to share the unforgettable experiences of their cruise with friends and family.
“We are in the business of delivering happiness. Starlink makes it as easy as possible for our guests to share all their great moments and memories, giving them even more joy out of their cruise vacation.”
The added bandwidth would give capabilities and flexibility to introduce new guest services, features and boost operational functions like onboard equipment monitoring and real-time communications between ship and shoreside teams, Weinstein added.
Jonathan Hofeller, vice-president of Starlink sales for SpaceX, said: “High-speed, low-latency broadband internet is critical in our modern age.”