You (the OP) is talking about WiFi in travel areas, which I have experience with in hiking trail towns, not cruising, but there are similarities from what it sounds like. Both have travelers who may not have local cell service, however in places where these people frequent. It has been my experience that travelers fall into 3 categories with respect to this. 1: Those who pay for connection (cellular) so don’t care about WiFi much 2: Those who don’t pay for cellular / connection but depend on WiFi 3: those who abstain.
On long distance hiking trails, such as the Appalachian Trail, if one pays for Verizon (the only one that works at some point every day on the AT, and in almost all trail town stops, that person doesn’t care much about WiFi. The second group sure as hell does care as that is how they connect, thus every trail town stop has WiFi somewhere and that is expected sure as rain on the trail and blisters on the heal - however WiFi is NOT expected at any particular place, but it is expected to be available there in town somewhere for them to use. As for the 3rd group it doesn’t matter. I find it funny where people in group 1 criticize those in group 2 as I know they would be doing the same thing is situations are reversed.
Expect it at airports and hospitals. Places that you may be stuck at for many hours AND you may need some important information. This makes good sense.
I suppose it also makes good business sense for coffee shops and such. I’ve been in a Starbucks type place once or twice. :shrug:.
Otherwise, I don’t expect it since I won’t have any need for it. YMMV.
Here in California the short distance Capitol Corridor train (Sacramento to San Jose) has Wifi. The long distance Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles), which travels along the same route, does not.
On the surface it seems surprising that the long distance train wouldn’t have WiFi, since that’s the one that passes through areas where there’s no cell service. But that might actually be the reason it doesn’t. I’m not sure how the network on the Capitol Corridor connects to the internet, but it’s possible it’s using cell towers. If that is what they use, then a similar system on a long distance train would only work where cell service is available anyway. A long distance train would probably need a more expensive satellite internet connection in order to offer a connection along the entire route.
In 2012 I was in Melbourne, Australia for a few days. The cheap hostel I was staying in either didn’t have WiFi or they charged for it (I’m guessing it was probably the latter). So the first morning I want to a coffee shop about a block away, bought a cup of coffee and obtained their WiFi password. From then on I just stood outside their window and connected to their WiFi every time I wanted to go online. It worked even when the shop was closed.
Other than a handful of stores (Market Basket, Dollar Tree, Town Fair Tire) I expect that there will be wifi available. Because most everywhere else does have it. Trains could go either way - so.e trains I’ve been on have it, others don’t. Other than taking the campus bus I take a couple of times a year when we have work meetings on the main campus of the university, I don’t spend enough time on buses to have an expectation either way.
I’m pretty sure that the Amtrak trains that do have wifi (e.g. Northeast Regional) use a cellular signal. So if you can’t “get cell” (there are dead spots along this route), the train can’t either.
Ah ok, I’m sure that the Amtrak from Chicago to Detroit and Chicago to Springfield IL both had WiFi but I doubt the train went through any cellular dead areas.
I’m in a small rural county. I expect WiFi at some stores, the library, and most medical offices. The local commo monopoly has a few hotspots scattered about. Otherwise I expect little and am rarely disappointed.
I expect free WiFi to be available any place where people spend more than a few minutes’ time. So not at a gas station or a convenience store, but at any large establishment or any place with seating or a waiting area. Definitely any place where you are likely to spend the night.
Not in CostCo, at the state motor vehicles office, county courthouse, or chain theatre. No malls with food courts are nearby so I can’t testify. But there are places, when boredom strikes, where I just read from the 1000’s of books D/L’d on my Android tablet. And I keep a pocket radio handy for hot news flashes.
We’ve seen listings for fairly pricey US hostelries that charge for WiFi in rooms. We skip those. Cheaper places’ free WiFi may cover some rooms but not all, or be very flaky. We’ve had better WiFi in cheap Mexican posadas than much costlier US hotels.
I expect it in chain hotels, hospitals and medical centers, mid and high range restaurants, airports, libraries – places one spends extended time that includes waiting, and places where handling tactical issues would reasonably benefit from it.
But I wouldn’t feel huffy about it if it wasn’t available in most of these places. The places I’d really mind missing it would be hospitals and airports, if they are in places with poor cellular coverage.
The expensive local restaurant we were in yesterday had no wifi nor was cellular available in the area, and I wasn’t surprised or disappointed, though our guests looked a bit adrift with no connectivity at all.
I stay in hotels about 200 nights a year, and I’ve found it ironic that often the mid-level properties have the most available and easiest to use WiFi. Very cheap and very high end hotels tend to charge for it.
The H1lton and Ma44iott chains can also be very obnoxious about WiFi, in that the login system may be multi step and then cut off the second they think your stay is up. Even with the high status I have with a few chains, it can be a nuisance. I’ve become exasperated a few times and pointed out that every goddam coffee shop and McD0nalds in the world has free and easy WiFi, and here they are throwing up roadblocks.
It’s ubiquitous enough in the city where I live, that if I’m in a cafe or something that doesn’t have wifi, it’s quite a surprise. That’s not to say I’d complain or anything.