Ping is all over the place

I recently got CIVIII with the PTW expansion pack. I've installed the 1.27f patch for PTW. When I try to play a MP game, the Ping is all over the place. It fluctuates between <100 and 1000+. I don't have anything else running. I have a broadband connection. I'm new to computers (finally got out of the dark ages and bought one) so please keep it simple.

Are you actually having game play problems or just worried about ping stats?

It seemed "laggish". I don't know if this is normal. The host led me to believe that the ping was an issue before the game started. How much lag is normal? It didn't seem horrible. Although I'm used to none at all while playing chess on-line with "timeseal".