I'm considering gong on a group cruise from Port Canaveral on MSC Seashore. It isn't till early October so I have time to decide. I have never cruised MSC though they often come up on the lower end cost wise. I've heard mixed reviews, mostly on YouTube. Was wondering if anyone in this community has experience on their ships leaving from US ports. I'm aware of the general pro's and con's. I'm also aware they seem to be different sailing from EU ports than US ports. So really just trying to get a first hand opinion from someone that has sailed them on a closed loop US sailing? If you can compare them to other lines even better? If you're like me and have never sailed them, please share what your reservations are about sailing on them if you have any?

Since this is mostly an RCL group :)...My next cruise is Star of the Seas Nov 29th sailing

We get asked a lot about how we actually manage work on a cruise, not just the WiFi side of it. Truth is, the WiFi is the easy part. The planning is what makes it work. We plan everything months in advance. We will look at the itinerary and break it down properly, sea days, port days, time zones, and then closer to the cruise we’ll check our calendars and meetings and start mapping out what each day realistically looks like. Sea days are where we get most of our work done. They are proper working days for us. We will usually do more than a normal 8 hour day, probably closer to 10, but not in one go. We break it up, move around the ship, and still fit in things we want to do onboard. Port days are completely different. We don’t have strict rules, but 90% of the time we are off the ship early, go and explore for a few hours, then come back onboard in the afternoon and do a bit of work. It just keeps everything ticking over without missing out on the destinations. The time zone side of it is the bit people don’t think about. At the start of the transatlantic we were starting work around 4am ship time to stay on UK hours. As we got closer to Europe that shifted to about 8am starts, which felt a lot more normal 😅 We also structure our calendar around it. We will avoid putting things in on port mornings, push calls into the afternoon where we can, and Kev batches his meetings rather than spreading them across the week. It does mean some longer days, but it gives us more control overall. The biggest thing though is flexibility. Your routine on a ship is never going to look like your routine at home, and if you try and force it, it probably won’t work. What surprised me most is I actually get more done, not less. Especially on the transatlantic with all the sea days and slower pace, it was probably one of the most productive periods we have had. If you have any questions, please drop them in the comments! Or check out our free guide (linked below) https://360cruising.com/cheat-sheets/remote-working

We have just done 15 days working remotely on Odyssey of the Seas, and I can confidently say that’s just not true. In fact, we probably got more work done than we would at home. No life admin, no distractions, no “I’ll just quickly do this”… just proper focused blocks of work, with a sea view which definitely helps. We started this cruise in New York, so time zones were the biggest adjustment. At the beginning we were starting work around 5am ship time to match UK hours, which was not ideal 😅 but as we sailed closer to Europe it got much easier and more normal. Our routine ended up being pretty simple. In the mornings we left the cabin and worked out on the ship because it was so quiet with most people still asleep. Odyssey actually worked really well for this. Two70 was a great space for getting work done, although one thing to note is sockets are limited there so portable chargers were a must. Then in the afternoons we would usually head back to the cabin. On port days we normally took the mornings off and then did a couple of hours of work in the afternoon. WiFi is the big one we get asked about constantly, we had zero issues the entire trip. Calls, meetings, general work, all completely fine. That idea that you cannot rely on cruise WiFi just has not been our experience on this sailing. What actually makes the difference is not just WiFi, it is how you set yourself up. We made everything fully portable so we could pack up and move our “office” in seconds. We also made sure we scoped out working spaces and plug sockets early instead of trying to figure it out five minutes before starting work. And we did not confine ourselves to the cabin all day, changing environment makes a big difference. The biggest misconception is that working on a cruise is harder. For us, it has actually been easier. You take away cleaning, cooking, daily life distractions, and suddenly you have proper time to focus. If you are thinking about doing this, it is 100% doable. But the difference between it being stressful or smooth comes down to preparation.

Prior to my last cruise I watched multiple YouTube videos on hacks etc. I came across an app called GigSky which apparently provides an alternative to ship offered WiFi. The price was reasonable. I wasn't able to purchase it due to my phone not having Esim capability. When I upgrade my phone I'll get one with Esim. Has anyone heard of this, or used it on board or in port?