TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Music On Board - A Lot's Changed

Hi - Coming down next week (!!!) for our 25th Wedding Anniversary (we were engaged in 1989 in CGB). Eighth trip in 28 years, so we are definitely not on the every-year plan. Last time down was in 2011. So, I don't even remember what we did for music back in 1989 (Walkman? Cassette tapes?). I do remember the iPod years. But now we are wondering if we get Wi-Fi on the boat, will Spotify work? What if we just have Verizon cellular data, will it work then? Thanks for your help! Brenda

Onboard music generally better than 6 years ago. But it depends on the boat. Some have "bluetooth" playing thoughout cabin and cockpit, controlled by I-Device or at helm. Haven't tried to stream music live via WiFi connection. I do know not capable of streaming movies and I believe music cannot be streamed live but likely to download.

Just in case, I take my favorite 8-Tracks.

Hi, Brenda. There was a thread on this topic a while back, and as I recall it was generally agreed that Pandora and Spotify do not work in BVI through wi-fi. Your best bet is to use Spotify or Amazon Prime Music to download the music you want onto your phone, create playlists, and then use Bluetooth to play your music through the boat system. And of course your iTunes playlists would also work.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes

US Pandora will not work outside the country. Just tried two weeks ago.
Side music note - have been chartering catamarans almost twenty years. We spend SO much time upfront, either under way when off the wind but the entire time we are at anchor at night and awake. Why are there no speakers up there??? I understand maybe two decades ago but these boats have become floating condos. I realize the exposure to sea water could affect the life of the outdoor speakers but technology has come so far that they sell portable devices that continue to play even when submerged. Just makes me wonder??

Some boats do have speakers in the front. The 4800's have speakers in the front cockpit that are fine sitting on the tramps.
G

We bring a "Jambox" speaker and listen to downloaded playlists offline with Spotify. Bringing a portable speaker has proven to be better sound than the house speakers, and is portable so it goes with you to the front if you desire. If you have Spotify premium you can download an unlimited amount of songs to your device for as long as you want as long as you connect online once every 30 days. There's four of us on the boat and each has spent the last couple of weeks making playlists. Haven't run out of good tunes yet.

If you have vpn "Surfeasy"--downloaded onto your device, then Pandora will work. I have done this for a few years now.
The vpn will show you in the U.S.
Give it a try.

I download all the music from amazon to my phone and tablet and use a UE Boom2 speaker. The speaker plays for like 15 hrs and is waterproof. If you are so inclined you can get 2 and run them as stereo.

The Sirius satellite radio app on my phone works fine with cellular data. I've used Spotify in the Bahamas over wifi, but don't remember if I tried it in the BVI.

We use a VPN and play Pandora and the rest with no problem. We use the PIA/privateinternetaccess.com VPN. We have friends who like NordVPN and they use it to stream Pandora and Netflix across the Caribbean and South America.

Cheers, RickG

I also like the UEBoom 2 speaker(s) for travel. Great up front on the boat, take them to the beach, and the waterproof feature is pretty good (mine's been dropped in a few times!). I used to have a Braven model, but forgot to screw the cap back on after charging that one, and it died in a dinghy on JVD. The UEBoom has a rubber cap over the charging hole that stays on it, and just has to be snapped back in place. Much better design.

>>Some boats do have speakers in the front.<<

Yes, newer Moorings 40, 48, Sunsail 44s that we chartered (all w front doors and porches) have forward speaker sets.

Bluetooth speaker are so easy and cheap for your own music on the tramp. Ive still got a 10 yo iPod loaded w music that i use only when cruising. Premium Pandora allows downloading - though I haven't used it yet.