FunHub - free access to Carnival.com?

[RossTheBoss]

I've read here on CC that the FunHub computer terminals on the Carnival Dream provide free access to the Carnival.com website. Does that free access extend to Carnival's Funville Online Community that is on Carnival.com? More specifically does it provide free access to the Funville Forums?

 

I'm thinking that if it does it could be an easy way to keep in touch with family & friends back home. Simply leave them a message on the forum. It wouldn't be private but it would be free & easy.

 

Is it possible?

[*Mach*]

Yeah... from what I saw anything that linked from the Carnival web site is accessible for free with the singular exception of John Heald's blog...

:)

[RossTheBoss]

Thanks Mach

 

So it sounds like passengers could start a thread in the Funville Forums before they leave home. Advise friends & family by providing them a link to the thread verbally or by email. Then when on the cruise the passanger could wander over to a FunHub and freely post to the forum using an available terminal. [They could advise friends & family that some jerk threw tomato juice at little Rachel as she sat on the stairs]. They could also read messages left for them by their friends & family.

 

The Funville forums do have a notification feature but I'm not sure it works. With it your friends & family could potentially get an email notification if you responded to one of their postings.

 

This free idea would allow passengers to stay in touch without resorting to expensive phone calls.

[arush5268d]

Thanks Mach

 

So it sounds like passengers could start a thread in the Funville Forums before they leave home. Advise friends & family by providing them a link to the thread verbally or by email. Then when on the cruise the passanger could wander over to a FunHub and freely post to the forum using an available terminal. [They could advise friends & family that some jerk threw tomato juice at little Rachel as she sat on the stairs]. They could also read messages left for them by their friends & family.

 

The Funville forums do have a notification feature but I'm not sure it works. With it your friends & family could potentially get an email notification if you responded to one of their postings.

 

This free idea would allow passengers to stay in touch without resorting to expensive phone calls.

 

 

Should I thank you in advance for taking advantage of something good and potentially ruining it for everyone else?

 

Guaranteed that Carnival will catch on mighty quick if people start using their forums as a free (and quite cheap) method of communication.

[*Mach*]

Should I thank you in advance for taking advantage of something good and potentially ruining it for everyone else?

 

Guaranteed that Carnival will catch on mighty quick if people start using their forums as a free (and quite cheap) method of communication.

 

 

I wouldn't worry about that... John has been trying for a few years to get his blog available for free on ships and was encouraging folks to use it to say hi to friends and family at home.

I know the folks who do the Funville Forums and I think they'd be quite pleased with that use.

:)

[RossTheBoss]

Should I thank you in advance for taking advantage of something good and potentially ruining it for everyone else?

 

Guaranteed that Carnival will catch on mighty quick if people start using their forums as a free (and quite cheap) method of communication.

 

Forums are supposed to be a method of communication. Carnival has their Funville forums for users to communicate about cruising. What I am proposing is to just have a thread that friends and family know about, and where they can read your reports on how the cruise is going, ask you questions etc. --- That seems to mesh well with what are the likely goals of Carnival.

 

I highly doubt that because of this thread there will be a mad rush to the FunHub terminals to take advantage of this free communication option. It might help some users but most will likely still use the phone if they need contact with home. It seems highly unlikely to me that if the terminals were being used to access Carnival's own site that they'd have any problem. If anything they'd probably be pleased with a little more activity on the Funville forums.

[Essiesmom]

You can actually access the Carnival website, etc. on your own laptop if you bring it...free...in the comfort of your cabin. EM

[RossTheBoss]

You can actually access the Carnival website, etc. on your own laptop if you bring it...free...in the comfort of your cabin. EM

 

Thanks Essiesmom. That is very helpful information!

 

Can you clarify. Can you access Carnival.com without purchasing any of the internet packages? Or are you saying that if you have an internet package, any Carnival.com visits will not eat into your purchased minutes? (I'm hoping you'll say a package isn't needed).

[firefly333]

Im not so sure, because Iv been on ships, like Conquest where the Forums on the Carnival site were blocked.

 

All other parts of the Carnival site were accessible ... except for the forums. Id say dont count on it.

 

PS when I was on Conquest a year and a half ago I could access the forums ... it was only the last time when I found it was blocked. Im one who misses computer forum access so I did go and read the forum when I could get to it. I could get to it on Triumph last Dec, so its not blocked on all ships.

[DanJ]

I never thought to try to get to the then-named Carnival Connections site while on the Pride last summer, but I was able to go to carnival.com from my laptop without setting up a package.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Seems to me you are unable to access anything where you can actually post, upload, or write anything.

 

The Internet access on the ships is outsourced, so I'm not sure Carnival has a lot to say about what is free or not.

[lsycko1]

I think it would be awesome to have a place to leave public messages while onboard without having to pay and arm and a leg. !:)

[Essiesmom]

Thanks Essiesmom. That is very helpful information!

 

Can you clarify. Can you access Carnival.com without purchasing any of the internet packages? Or are you saying that if you have an internet package, any Carnival.com visits will not eat into your purchased minutes? (I'm hoping you'll say a package isn't needed).

When you bring up the internet page, to the upper right on the login page is the link to the Carnival website. You don't need a package to get on. Host Mach posted a picture of that screen, perhaps on another thread...EM

[Essiesmom]

 

 

Note that the upper right has a box called Free Zone. Here is where you connect to Carnival.com.

[RossTheBoss]

That looks simple enough! Thanks!

 

Looks like we won't need to bring a notebook computer from home as we should be able to access the Carnival Funville Forums in the free zone using my son's iPod Touch.

[jenniffer29n]

Yes you can- I have seen that done recently.

[firefly333]

That looks simple enough! Thanks!

 

Looks like we won't need to bring a notebook computer from home as we should be able to access the Carnival Funville Forums in the free zone using my son's iPod Touch.

 

Wouldnt the ipod touch need to be set up to access even the free zone? I dont know but Im doubting you have satalitte access without getting authorization, i.e. thru the setup $3.95 charge at the very least to get onto the free zone.

 

I do see the poster above said they saw someone doing it ... Im not tech savy, so I use their computers, Im just wondering how you could get into the satalitte??

[jenniffer29n]

Let me clarify...I did not see them posting thrugh their IPOD touch. They were using carnivals computers and then messaging family through the forums. Family also messaged back. Although not as tech savy as my kids I would think that to get internet access for the touch you would still need to pay the connection charge.

[RossTheBoss]

...I would think that to get internet access for the touch you would still need to pay the connection charge.

 

Does anyone know if Jenniffer is correct --- would you as a minimum have to pay a connection charge to access the free zone from your notebook or Ipod Touch?

[Essiesmom]

I don't think you would have to oay the setup fee, but I suspect you would be paying the satellite connection fee of $2.49/min...EM

[arush5268d]

Even with the itouch / ipad / itampon you'd have to pay for the service, if you are on the ship's network.

[RossTheBoss]

As I understand it from what others have written in this thread:

You can assess the 'free zone' (that provides access to Carnival's Funville Forums) without logging into the internet $ervice$. This appears to be confirmed by Essiesmom's images of the login screen. It seems clear to me that you can go to a FunHub terminal, access the free zone, and pay no charges whatsoever. I assume that the deal Carnival has with the internet service provider was set up to allow direct access to the carnival.com domain but that all others likely require you to log on & pay for internet service. The remaining question for me is can you get to that login screen using your own computing device (notebook computer, Ipod Touch or whatever) without some form of prior setup? I'm not against paying a setup charge -- I'm just interested in knowing if it is necessary.

[DanJ]

Yes, you get that setup screen when you turn your computer on and open your browser. I did this on my laptop last summer, but as I mentioned above, although I did go to the Carnival page, I never thought to try the Funville page. I would think that this would be disabled on the free version of carnival.com

 

To the others that mention the satellite, you aren't connecting to the satellite. You are simply connecting to the wifi network on the ship, which is itself connected to the satellite.

[RossTheBoss]

Thanks Dan.

[dnj1]

I'm not tech savy either...so I am going to be sure that I let DH read this thread prior to cruising. Thanks guys.