Elon Musk's Starlink To Beam 'Kickass' Internet On Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships: What You Need To Know

Cruise ship operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL announced Tuesday it plans to use SpaceX unit Starlink’s high-speed, low latency satellite internet connection.

What Happened: Royal Caribbean said it envisages installation of the service on all Royal Caribbean international, celebrity cruises and silver cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each of the brands.

SpaceX is led by Elon Musk — the world's richest person who also serves as the CEO of Tesla Inc. TSLA, Neuralink and the Boring Company.

The deployment is set to begin immediately following the trial onboard “Freedom of the Seas.” The installation would be completed by the first quarter of 2023. The service would also enable high-bandwidth activities such as video streaming as well as video calls.

“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, CEO of Royal Caribbean.

See also: Elon Musk Applauds His SpaceX and Starlink Ventures Accomplishing These Feats

Quote-tweeting Royal Caribbean’s tweet of the announcement, Musk said, “Kickass Internet connection coming Royal Caribbean ships soon!”

Kickass Internet connection coming Royal Caribbean ships soon! https://t.co/8qJRiUuNah

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2022

Why It’s Important: Musk’s Starlink now has a portability feature and it is also available for recreational vehicles. Most recently, it started offering connectivity at sea for merchant vessels, oil rigs and premium yachts.

Taking an entirely new dimension, SpaceX announced a partnership with T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS last week to offer satellite connectivity to phones. While announcing the new feature, Musk said this would help put an end to cell phone “dead zones.”

Price Action: Royal Caribbean shares closed 1.07% lower at $41.74 on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.