I-Pad on Eclipse

[BRU5]

Can anyone provide info as to whether our I-pad will work on this ship or is it necessary to bring our laptop? The Celebrity brochure suggests that there may be a problem because of the Safari operating system??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Grandma Gilly]

I had absolutely no problem using my iPad on the Eclipse in December. In fact, there is an i-lounge on board. We even managed to skype a few times even though there is a notice saying that skype and VoIP are not supported on board.

[Fblack]

They have wifi on board but I have found the signal very spotty. I don't see a reason to take it to the iLounge since they have wired computers there. You can try it around the ship and hope for a signal. Remember you will still be paying there expensive ships Internet rates. And the connection can be very slow.

[silentbob007]

You also need to make sure you bookmark the address of the log-off page or else you iPad can keep eating minutes, even if you turn off the wifi. On Millenium they noted this and had a handout with relevent instructions ... I'd imagine they'd have the same thing on Eclipse.

[sail2day]

You also need to make sure you bookmark the address of the log-off page or else you iPad can keep eating minutes, even if you turn off the wifi. On Millenium they noted this and had a handout with relevent instructions ... I'd imagine they'd have the same thing on Eclipse.

 

I agree. I just came off of the Eclipse on Saturday and the I-lounge staff was very helpful in bookmarking my I-Phone so that I could log off after I retrieved my e-mails. If the log off page is not bookmarked you will eat through your minutes.

[Wine-O]

Push comes to shove, after you log off, go into settings and put your ipad into airplane mode and/or turn off the wi-fi. It's all just a touch of the pad.:)

[Scrapchick]

I thought the speed of the internet on the Eclipse was the worst of any ship I've ever been on... Terribly slow on both my iPad and Hubby's laptop. However, there was no problem being able to use my iPad at all and Safari posed no problem.

[Lsimon]

Here is a document from the iLounge on the Eclipse that includes iPad instructions on the last page. If you need help go to the staff in the computer lounge and they'll be glad to help.

iLounge-Internet-Cafe-Eclipse-Feb2011.pdf

[BRU5]

Thank you for all the quick responses.....very useful info!!

[cruzfanatic]

Can anyone provide info as to whether our I-pad will work on this ship or is it necessary to bring our laptop? The Celebrity brochure suggests that there may be a problem because of the Safari operating system??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

I had absolutely NO problem using my iPad on my recent Solstice cruise. It worked like a charm. In fact, I think I connected a little easier than some of my family members who brought their laptops. As others stated, please be sure to bookmark the log-off page and do not shut down or turn off your wireless until you see the message stating that you have successfully logged off.

[CaroleLee]

I had absolutely NO problem using my iPad on my recent Solstice cruise. It worked like a charm. In fact, I think I connected a little easier than some of my family members who brought their laptops. As others stated, please be sure to bookmark the log-off page and do not shut down or turn off your wireless until you see the message stating that you have successfully logged off.

 

Help to all I-Paders out there leaving in 10 days. DH just gave me a I-Pad 2 with AT&T 3G(not sure if I love it- I have original I-Pad that I had planned to use for books and notes-was not taking it off the ship)

Sailing on Solstice BCN-BCN so here are questions:

1.Do I Have to sign-up for ship's internet to use on board. I believe that while in port I should be able to connect w/o ship internet but not sure about sea days. HELP!!

2.Does anyone know if AT&T 3G charges roaming -or whatever the correct term is for Europe( Spain,Italy,France,Montenegro,Croatia)- Yes, as i type I am on hold with AT&T(who keeps saying my call is very important). Help

3.DH wants to use Skype- seeing conflicting info on CC boards-has anyone used it on Solstice?

4. Any other hints/suggestions /info greatly appreciated.

Carole

[Lsimon]

Help to all I-Paders out there leaving in 10 days. DH just gave me a I-Pad 2 with AT&T 3G(not sure if I love it- I have original I-Pad that I had planned to use for books and notes-was not taking it off the ship)

Sailing on Solstice BCN-BCN so here are questions:

1.Do I Have to sign-up for ship's internet to use on board. I believe that while in port I should be able to connect w/o ship internet but not sure about sea days. HELP!!

2.Does anyone know if AT&T 3G charges roaming -or whatever the correct term is for Europe( Spain,Italy,France,Montenegro,Croatia)- Yes, as i type I am on hold with AT&T(who keeps saying my call is very important). Help

3.DH wants to use Skype- seeing conflicting info on CC boards-has anyone used it on Solstice?

4. Any other hints/suggestions /info greatly appreciated.

Carole

 

 

Yes you have to sigh up for the ship's internet to use Wi-Fi on board. This is easily done in the internet cafe. If you take you iPad to the Cafe one of the staff will show you how and also help you set a log-off bookmark. Cost is $0.65/minute and service is slow. There are discounts for purchasing blocks of time.

 

2. The international roaming charges for your iPad are very high - it could literally cost you many thousands of dollars for moderate use that would cost you $25 or less at home in the USA. AT&T does have some international roaming DATA packages which bring the cost down quite a bit but are still much more expensive than domestic plans. You should look into these but make sure you talk to ATT to fully understand how they pro-rate the plans if you turn them on and off in the middle of your billing cycle. It is a bit confusing to understand and you also have to learn to monitor your data volume on your iPad to make sure you don't go over the plan limits. Your best bet is to use wifi services in hotels and cafes. Be sure you have "data roaming" switched off on your iPad at all times except for the limited times you want to be using it - you don't want to leave this on and unknowing incur huge bills.

 

3. I don't think Skype works on the Ship's wifi system, but I have heard differing things about this. Also - for 3G use overseas it might be cheaper to just use your cell phone to make calls - hard to tell for sure.

 

4. I've attached a PDF from the Solstice's sister ship, the Eclipse, which discusses the use of computers on board and has a section on the iPhone/iPad. See below:

iLounge-Internet-Cafe-Eclipse-Feb2011.pdf

[RMSeadog]

Just returned form EQ's TA last Monday. Almost every port free WIFI was offered ashore by one pub or another. A brew or two or glass of wine your internet is free. Good deal, I thought. ~ Ric

[Birdie1810]

I was hoping to blog about the trip from my iPad. This is an app on the App Store that works with WordPress to enable easy blogging from the iPad. I guess I'll have to see what I can do offline and just go online to post. Has anyone blogged and was the expense outragous? Does this even make sense to try to do?

[miched]

With the slow Internet on board and the this slow forum do you think that if someone tried to post on this forum at the start of a 7 day cruise that it would get completed by the end of the cruise? :rolleyes:

[Liz315]

Just making sure I have this right...I'll be able to use my ipad 2 to face-to-face chat w/ my kids on their ipads & ipods w/ f2f while on the ship and at ports using wifi w/ my roaming turned off? Is that correct? Will the face-to-face feature work? No reason why it shouldn't right? I love the idea of being able to see them while I'm out to sea and they are home. Thanks

[Who knew?]

for 3G use overseas it might be cheaper to just use your cell phone to make calls - hard to tell for sure.

 

 

AT&T international roaming rates per minute (for calling, not data):

• France, Spain, Italy $1.39/$.99
  
• Croatia $2.29/$1.99
  
• Montenegro $3.99/$2.29
  
• Celebrity ships $2.49/$2.49
  

Above figures are without/with international roaming package (World Traveler), which is $5.99 a month. Read more:

 

For calling --

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/international-roaming.jsp

 

For data (scroll down to "DATA PLANS/PACKAGES"--

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affordable-world-packages.jsp#data

 

For i-phone tips --

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/iphone-travel-tips.jsp

 

Linda

[Lsimon]

Just making sure I have this right...I'll be able to use my ipad 2 to face-to-face chat w/ my kids on their ipads & ipods w/ f2f while on the ship and at ports using wifi w/ my roaming turned off? Is that correct? Will the face-to-face feature work? No reason why it shouldn't right? I love the idea of being able to see them while I'm out to sea and they are home. Thanks

 

We never tried Facetime on the ship. The onlyr reason it might not work is that the internet connection speed via the wifi on the ship is sometimes very slow. Although I don't know for a fact, I'm guessing it will not be able to handle the amount of data needed for a factime video chat.

[Liz315]

We never tried Facetime on the ship. The onlyr reason it might not work is that the internet connection speed via the wifi on the ship is sometimes very slow. Although I don't know for a fact, I'm guessing it will not be able to handle the amount of data needed for a factime video chat.

 

Yeah you are probably right about the facetime on the ship, but at least I can use it in the port (I hope). I will let you know how it works. If anyone else uses it please let us know. Thanks