Elon Musk’s Starlink has landed its first cruise industry customer.
Royal Caribbean announced a plan on Tuesday to use SpaceX’s Starlink internet across its global fleet of more than 60 cruise ships and all newbuilds on order.
Starlink is the high-speed, low-latency satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX.
“Royal Caribbean Group selecting Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency internet across their fleet will make their passengers’ getaways even more luxurious,” said SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Sales Jonathan Hofeller. “We couldn’t be more excited to work with Royal Caribbean Group to ensure travelers at sea can stay connected with a great internet experience.”
Royal Caribbean said the Starlink service, which will be available to both passengers and crew from anywhere in the world, will be installed on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all newbuild vessels. Altogether that’s about 64 ships and ten newbuilds.
Royal Caribbean said deployment will begin immediately following a successful trial that has already taken place onboard its 3,600-passenger Freedom of the Seas.
Starlink is currently available only in select locations around the world but is expanding rapidly to new locations and global coverage sometime in the near future.
“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,” said Jason Liberty, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Group. “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. Using Starlink is one more example of our continued focus on innovation and excellence for our guests, our crew, the communities we visit and our shareholders.”
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