Questions regarding using internet to stay in touch back home

[nunuc2000]

For our upcoming cruise in November, I'm trying to figure out exactly how we'll stay in touch with the homefront. We'll be traveling to South America, so cell service isn't something we plan to rely on.

 

For those of you who have used the ships internet service to stay in touch back home, how exactly does that work? I believe I can purchase minutes in a package, right? I don't plan on bringing a laptop, so does NCL have computers we can use for this purpose? Are we charged per minute as soon as we sit down at the computer? Or can I log on, cut and paste any emails I've rec'd into a word document on the NCL computer, log off (thus hopefully not being charged for the "logged off time", read the emails, compose a response, then log back onto my email, cut and paste my reponses, hit "send", and then log off again? As well, what is the cost for internet on board?

 

Sorry for my ignorance... we've not used internet on board before, so I'm really quite clueless as to what the process is.:o

 

Thanks for any detailed help. :)

[blindrid]

For those of you who have used the ships internet service to stay in touch back home, how exactly does that work? I believe I can purchase minutes in a package, right? I don't plan on bringing a laptop, so does NCL have computers we can use for this purpose? Are we charged per minute as soon as we sit down at the computer? Or can I log on, cut and paste any emails I've rec'd into a word document on the NCL computer, log off (thus hopefully not being charged for the "logged off time", read the emails, compose a response, then log back onto my email, cut and paste my reponses, hit "send", and then log off again? As well, what is the cost for internet on board?

 

Sorry for my ignorance... we've not used internet on board before, so I'm really quite clueless as to what the process is.:o

 

Thanks for any detailed help. :)

 

You're pretty much charged for the time you are online. So you are right on with your thoughts on cutting and pasting emails. IIRC, packages are somewhere around 30-40 cents a minute. Something like $20 for an hour or so.

[DMH15]

nunuc2000-

 

I sailed on the Sun in Feb. 2009 in an AC. Don't know if cuz I was in a suite, but I got to borrow a loaner laptop. I still had to go to the computer cafe for email. I had a flash drive I used to journal on the laptop. I can't for the life of me recall if I used it in the cafe... BUT while I was sailing they were in the process of wiring the suites for Internet access. Not sure which suites and cabins were to be wired. Guess I'm just saying that things were in transition.

 

I sailed Santiago to BA and loved it. You are in for a treat.

[bakerintn]

Here is a link to the Internet Cafe info from the NCL website:

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=InternetCafe

 

You will find that the only program that you have access to on the NCL computers is Internet Explorer....so your plan of copy / paste then offline the online really won't work. If you talk the the Internet Cafe guy, he may be able to loosen that up to for you to use, say, MS Wordpad via the Start / all programs menu, but don't count on it.

 

It would work if you had your own computer.

 

In many ports, you will find internet cafes that are much much faster and much much cheaper than onboard the ship.

 

It is possible to use your NCL email box on the ship to read emails for free (at least that option has been posted here on CC)...however, answers will cost you. This is something that you might want to check out....but I would use the internet cafes in the various ports.

 

by the way....the download speed on the ship is very very slow....will remind you of 56k modem days.

[fin]

I used my own laptop on my South American trip. As has been pointed out, the ships internet is slow and expensive.

 

On the South American run, the net may even be lost completely when the ship is among the large mountains, far from strong signals.

 

I also would not count on finding good internet ashore at places like Puerto Chacabuco.

 

But I agree, you are going to LOVE the trip. In my opinion, it is a shame that is being discontinued.

[sissy2000]

We will be on this cruise (South America) in February. I was hoping that the cell tower on the ship would help out. I know it will be expensive, but we own our own business and it would be worth it to be in contact. Does anyone know how well that works.

[DMH15]

Sissy2000-

 

I was on the internet every single day of the 14 day Santiago to Buenos Aires cruise. I have my pup at home and could log on and see her on the webcam. Never had a day the Internet was unavailable.

 

Fin-

 

I agree with you. It was an incredible cruise. I'd love to do it again. Including the trip to Antarctica. It was spectacular.

[STARFISH*4]

my experience with the internet on board has always been very slowwwwwwww...wasnt able to get thru many emails in a quick time and it was very frustrating.

[uneamie]

Sissy2000-

 

I was on the internet every single day of the 14 day Santiago to Buenos Aires cruise. I have my pup at home and could log on and see her on the webcam. Never had a day the Internet was unavailable.

 

Fin-

 

I agree with you. It was an incredible cruise. I'd love to do it again. Including the trip to Antarctica. It was spectacular.

 

 

Wow...I would love to hook up a "web cam" to see our "girls". We have two labs and I know I am going to miss them terribly. How do I go about doing that? I know I'd have to buy a portable "web cam" but then what? I have m own personal web site so do I use that as a place to log on to it? ...if you don't mind me asking.

[sylteach]

I did research about the ports we were in during our Alaska cruise. I found 2 of them had free internet at the library-and, luckily, those were within walking distance of the dock. That may be an option you could check out.

[DMH15]

Uneamie - by home, I meant in Dallas. Actually my pup was at "Dee's Doggie Den" for daycare and boarding. But I know of people who have their homes on webcams. I definately do not have the I.T. Chops to do it.

[uneamie]

Uneamie - by home, I meant in Dallas. Actually my pup was at "Dee's Doggie Den" for daycare and boarding. But I know of people who have their homes on webcams. I definately do not have the I.T. Chops to do it.

 

Thanks for getting back.....actually you gave me a good idea. I am setting up a "web cam" as we speak and it's not really all that difficult. We have a "home sitter" (friend of the family) staying here with our labs for 10 days. Not extremely worried about them because I know they are in good hands....but I'd like to check in and see how they are.....they are like my kids. Great that you can do that at the "daycare" ....how cool is that!! :D

[Duff Man]

We will be on this cruise (South America) in February. I was hoping that the cell tower on the ship would help out. I know it will be expensive, but we own our own business and it would be worth it to be in contact. Does anyone know how well that works.

 

If you don't mind the fees, you may be fine. I always bring my laptop. In the Med, I got on line nearly every day. Sure, it was slow when connecting through the ship tower, but I was o.k. with it and not frustrated (until my now former computer went haywire, but that had nothing to do with the ship's connection :D )

[nunuc2000]

nunuc2000-

 

I sailed on the Sun in Feb. 2009 in an AC. Don't know if cuz I was in a suite, but I got to borrow a loaner laptop. I still had to go to the computer cafe for email. I had a flash drive I used to journal on the laptop. I can't for the life of me recall if I used it in the cafe... BUT while I was sailing they were in the process of wiring the suites for Internet access. Not sure which suites and cabins were to be wired. Guess I'm just saying that things were in transition.

 

I sailed Santiago to BA and loved it. You are in for a treat.

 

A loaner laptop on board would be awesome! But alas, we are only in an inside cabin. :( Maybe the upgrade/upsell fairy will see fit to move us up to a full suite and then we can have free internet!!! :D

 

Thanks for the help everyone... if I'm reading all of this right, then I think our best course of action might be to invest in a cheap laptop (maybe one of those new little ones that are only good for word documents, email, etc) and that would enable us to read and compose emails offline, only hooking up to the 'net to actually log into email. I guess it could double as a way for me to keep a journal of sorts on this cruise for my review. :rolleyes:

 

I'm not certain how many of the ports we'll be visiting will actually have internet cafe's, though I'm sure a couple of them will. However, I'd rather have the option of taking care of email on board.

 

Thanks again everyone... I LOVE CruiseCritic - the knowledge I've gained and shared thanks to this site is incredible!!

 

Celine

[Georgia Buckeye]

Both my wife and I have to stay in touch with work and ended up spending about an hour a day on line (YUCK!) Internet service was very slow and frustrating- though it was doable. We took a laptop but there were computers available for use on board in the Internet Cafe. It was expensive- we bought a $125 card that was good I think for 2 1/2 hours. We found that the on shore internet cafes were much cheaper and quicker. We were on the Spirit this past Spring and found them at every stop (Mexico/Guatemala/Belize) for pennies a minute.

[garycarla]

Doggie Cam - you will pay the $.40 to $.75 per minute to watch them, in slow motion

 

Cell phones - These should work fine while at sea. $2.49 per minute for most carriers.

 

Laptop Rental - they need to still have one available. Do not count on it.

 

Ship Computers - as said above, these are pretty much locked down. Do not expect to run other programs on them

 

Own laptop - we always take ours. If no ethernet in cabin, we do wireless in public areas. We also use laptop for movies while traveling, music, uploading pictures, keeping in touch at home. We have Yahoo Instant Messenger on laptop and our business computers - way to quickly communicate when we log on

 

Speed - yep, it is slow. Try to login when others may not be online. Remember, you are all sharing the same uplink to the satellite.

[trish1c]

I remember having access to word pad but it was cumbersome. There was no Word.

The connection is slow. You are charged for the time you are on line. Read & write fast.

[nunuc2000]

I remember having access to word pad but it was cumbersome. There was no Word.

 

The connection is slow. You are charged for the time you are on line. Read & write fast.

 

LOL!! That reminds me of an old joke letter from years ago... it starts out with someone in the military writing home to their parents, and it opens with "Dear Mom and Dad, I'm writing this slowly because I know you can't read very fast." HAHAHA!!! :p

[nunuc2000]

Regarding "renting" one of the ship's laptops for use during our cruise, can this be reserved in advance?:confused:

[weltek]

Personally, I'd invest in a cheap netbook (for less than $300), as you mentioned. You'll find other times it will come in handy. You can also download your digital pictures to your laptop and free up memory space, start to organize them, etc. while on the cruise.

 

It will be handy when you visit relatives or go on other vacations, too. Worth the money!