Question for past Rhapsody cruisers with laptops

[cottagemama]

Hi All

I will be cruising on the Rhapsody for the first time in February. I have recently purchased a laptop I will be bring with me to use mainly for e-mails to keep in touch with home , download photos and post to my blog. I have been using a home computer for years but never a laptop. What I would like to know is what actually is a hotspot and do you know where on Rhapsody it is? Thanks for any help you can give me

Cottagemama

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Hi All

I will be cruising on the Rhapsody for the first time in February. I have recently purchased a laptop I will be bring with me to use mainly for e-mails to keep in touch with home , download photos and post to my blog. I have been using a home computer for years but never a laptop. What I would like to know is what actually is a hotspot and do you know where on Rhapsody it is? Thanks for any help you can give me

Cottagemama

 

 

Hi Cottagemama, I always take my Laptop everywhere I go, including cruising. On Rhapsody they have 'hotspots' which are areas of the ship where you can pick up the wireless signal to connect to the internet. Of course you have to pay for the connection to use the internet. Internet is not provided in your stateroom, although there are some staterooms I know of on Deck 8 that a near one of the 'hotspots' and therefore the connection can be picked up from those staterooms.

 

Someone else might be able to advise you of the hotspots elsewhere on the ship but I do know of the one on Deck 8 near the Crown and Anchor desk.

Just a tip, always type out your email 'offline' then go 'online' to send it, this will save you heaps on connection fees.

 

Hope this helps you a little.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Jillybean:)

[LuckiePuris]

Thanks for the information Jillybean!

 

With the laptop, do you just search for networks and then choose which one to connect to?

 

Wow only 6 days to go until you cruise! Have a FANTASTIC time!! Look forward to hearing about it when you get back :)

[cottagemama]

Thanks Jillybean

There's so much about internet connection I can't get my head around with travelling. Just a dummy I guess. If it's a hotspot why do I pay? I want to set up a blog so that's probably not a great idea I guess? Our cabi9n is deck 7 aft balcony so I guess that's not close to one. Can you check on the hotspots when your on the Rhapsody? Thanks a bunch

Cottagemama

[aussiedisneyfan]

You need to go to the internet lounge first (on deck 8) and register a userid and password on the internet machines, you swipe your cruise card at some stage. Once that is set up you can then connect from your laptop. I think you searched for wireless networks and then connected to it using the userid and password you created.

 

I think you could get internet access in the atrium area on deck 6 too.

[The_Big_M]

Thanks Jillybean

There's so much about internet connection I can't get my head around with travelling. Just a dummy I guess. If it's a hotspot why do I pay?

 

A hotspot is just indicating where a network (Wifi) connection is receivable - other parts are out of range. It doesn't relate to charging or not.

 

They charge as internet connectivity is supplied by satellite connection, just like telephone calls. Satellite charges are much higher, but necessary due to the remoteness.

[LuckiePuris]

You need to go to the internet lounge first (on deck 8) and register a userid and password on the internet machines, you swipe your cruise card at some stage. Once that is set up you can then connect from your laptop. I think you searched for wireless networks and then connected to it using the userid and password you created.

 

I think you could get internet access in the atrium area on deck 6 too.

 

Thanks for the info on setting up the wireless internet on my laptop!

 

I think I have read somewhere that there is also a hotspot in the Viking Crown Lounge, which looks to be a great spot to sit and just look at the view :)

 

Not long until your Volendam cruises. Are they back to backs? :)

[aussiedisneyfan]

Yes, very excited as it is my first B2B. Have to swap cabins though as we were unable to book the cat for both cruises.

[cottagemama]

Thanks everyone

Cruise critic is the best yet. I'm anxiously looking forward to visiting your beautiful country. Happy cruising to you all

Cottagemama

[bobsydney]

We got wireless connectivity in almost all public areas of the ship ... some cabins might pick up the signal too but not ours on deck 3 midship.

 

I found that wireless speed to my laptop was actually faster than using the internet cafe computers.

 

As someone else said, you have to go to the internet cafe first and use one of their computers to register for wifi (get a user name and password). Cost is 55 cents per minute but there also are packages available that can reduce the per minute charge. If you don't use all your package time though by the end of the cruise, you don't get any credit back. To be on the safe side, I only took a 1 hour package, which meant I paid 47 cents per minute.

 

Cheers

Bob