Wi-Fi on the Rhine

I'm sampling Wi-Fi, among other tasty things, this week on the Rhine River in Germany. I'm on vacation aboard a river cruiser, the MS Amadagio, which sailed from Amsterdam on Sunday. Today we’re headed toward Frankfurt.

As with its TV service, the Amadagio grabs its Internet signal via satellite and distributes it to each stateroom via wired connection. The aft lounge is the only area with Wi-Fi. Wireless isn't available throughout the ship because it's constructed of metal, which impedes the signal.

The marketing manager explained that the Internet signal is much more reliable on this newer ship because previous vessels employed larger satellite discs that had to be lowered every time the ship crossed under low bridges. (Every time we pass under a bridge I expect the signal to drop, but it never seems to.)  It's certainly not the fastest Wi-Fi I've encountered, but the good news is that you can watch the scenery glide by as you wait for pages to load.