iCloud on cruise ships

Hey Michael,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities, and great question!

Unless you have a Wi-Fi + Cellular model iPad, your iPad would only be able to update the iCloud Photo Library when connected to Wi-Fi, so it stands to reason that your iPad may be doing this while at sea as well.

You can check out the article below to see how to pause this process for one day at a time:

Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

"Pause library uploads to iCloud

When you turn on iCloud Photos, the time it takes for your photos and videos to upload to iCloud depends on the size of your collection and your Internet speed. If you have a large collection of photos and videos, your upload might take more time than usual. You can see the status and pause the upload for one day.

• On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. You can also open the Photos app, go to the Photos tab, and scroll to the bottom of your screen.
• On your Mac, open the Photos app. Select Photos in the sidebar, then click Photos or Moments in the list of tabs in the toolbar. Scroll to the bottom of your photos and click Pause."

Here's some information to show where to turn this on and off, in which case your iPad would be able to "catch up" and upload any new photos again when you have it enabled again:

Get help with iCloud Photos - Apple Support

"How do I turn off iCloud Photos on only one device?

You can turn off iCloud Photos on a single device when you follow these steps:

• On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, then turn off iCloud Photos.*
• On your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud. Next to Photos, click Options, then deselect iCloud Photos.*
• On your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV (4th generation), go to Settings > Accounts > iCloud. Under Photos, press Select to turn off iCloud Photos.*

If you have Optimize Storage turned on, you might not have all of your original photos and videos on your device. To download the original photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then select Download Originals to this Mac. Then you can turn off iCloud Photos. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com.

Before you turn off iCloud Photos, you might want to make a copy of your photos and videos."

Cheers!