A Royal Caribbean cruise ship is taking its Starlink connectivity to the limit after installing equipment capable of delivering up to 10Gbps in satellite internet.

The Star of Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the world, has been outfitted with a Starlink Community Gateway, which can deliver "10Gbps of symmetrical throughput," meaning it can supply up to 10Gbps for both downloads and uploads.

On X, SpaceX showed off a Starlink gateway onboard the vessel. The orb-like white spheres are usually installed at SpaceX ground stations dedicated to relaying data back and forth to orbiting Starlink satellites in space and terrestrial internet infrastructure. But in this case, Royal Caribbean appears to have placed the gateways on various parts of its vessel.

Starting in early 2024, SpaceX began selling the Starlink Community Gateway to internet service providers looking to use the company’s satellite broadband service as an alternative to laying fiber. But the equipment requires a one-time up-front cost of $1.25 million and $75,000 per Gbps per month.

In July 2024, a company executive posted a speed test showing an 8.1Gbps connection, saying it was achieved over a “mobile community gateway capability, no land in sight.” In its 2024 year-end report, SpaceX also mentioned it had installed “our first Community Gateway on a cruise ship, overcoming the technical challenges of using a Community Gateway on a moving ship.”

It’s not clear if Star of Seas is the first ship since it entered service only last month. Its sister ship, the Icon of the Seas, entered service last year. Royal Caribbean hasn’t responded to a request for comment on how many ships have adopted the Community Gateway tech so far. But the company reached a deal with SpaceX to begin using Starlink in 2022.

Despite the Starlink access, some passengers of Royal Caribbean cruises have reported relatively slow speeds of 10Mbps, far slower than the usual 100Mbps to 300Mbps for a single consumer Starlink dish. This is likely because the Starlink connectivity is shared across the entire ship, including with crew and entertainment venues, such as bars. Another issue is that the internet access on Royal Caribbean can be pricey, costing $18 to $30 per day.

By: DocMemory
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