Now you can surf the Internet while cruising the high seas. Farrington, a former executive director of the entertainment division at America Online who had worked as a comedian on the cruise ship circuit for Norwegian Cruise Lines, had been looking for a niche market from which to launch an information technology business. He privately funded all of his research and development in secrecy. He gave each of his engineers different pieces of the plan, and didn't tell them exactly what they were working on for nearly nine months. Once the satellite component was in place, Farrington had a finished working product.
Travelers can even create screensavers with photos from their cruises.
The digital link also provides passengers and crew access to the Internet from their own cabins. Cruise lines that already offer these amenities or will soon have them in place in the near future include Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Lines, Renaissance, Princess, Holland America, Sun Cruises, and Premier. A laptop or desktop computer aboard the ship is connected to a local network that connects to a satellite transceiver dish. The dish is pointed precisely at a communications satellite, which is no trivial feat given the constant movement of the ship. The satellite relays the digital information to ground stations called teleports, which in turn are connected to the backbone of the Internet.