IPads at Sea

[Johnny B]

Am thinking about taking an IPad instead on a Laptop on a WC and would like have some feedback from people who have used an IPad over an extended period of time. Any experiences/pros/cons that you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[CaveDiving]

Am thinking about taking an IPad instead on a Laptop on a WC and would like have some feedback from people who have used an IPad over an extended period of time. Any experiences/pros/cons that you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi Johnny,

 

An iPad is not a computer. It is good for an internet connection and many specific programs and games. A separate keyboard is really desirable if you are going to be doing much writing.

 

The iPad is close to useless for spreadsheets and altering pdf documents.

 

I take both an iPad and a MacBook Pro on World cruises.

 

Scott & Karen

[arzz]

Have used my iPad on four different HAL ships for a total of some 85 days at sea and love it. I find the performance with the internet to be equivalent to that which I got on my laptop -- it depends more on the location of the ship, the number of others on line and satellites than the machine (I used to use a Mac laptop).

 

Was able to use the iPad from cabins 445 and 382 on the Prinsendam. Of course, it worked best at about 5 or 6 am, and often required opening my door a crack at some of the other times of day to get a cruse ship decent speed.

 

I use an original iPad, wifi only, no 3G. DH and I each have one. We find the iPad ideal for travel because of it's size and the books we download from kindle and apple.

 

However, we cannot print from our iPad -- I hear this may no longer and issue with the iPad 2. Photo downloads and storage work well however editing

capability for photos is limited (you can, however, delete photos one at a time).

 

The only other issue I had with an iPad while on board was when someone gave me a disk with a downloaded video from their computer. The iPad won't read optical disks or memory sticks. Since it was a computer disk we could not view it on the TV CD player in the cabin either.

 

We still travel for extended periods by choice with the iPad rather than our laptops.

[northernphoenix]

I am about to purchase an Ipad2; and I will be using this on a Baltic 12 day this September. I have an Acer netbook, and used this on our Ak cruise aboard the Volendam, 09. I primarily will use this for ebooks, photo retention, and email once in port. Will I be disappointed with this addition, and should I also carry my Acer netbook,

Marilyn

[catl331]

A long-time ship officer (not currently HAL) has this to say about iPads:

 

We are receiving many complaints lately about connectivity for iPads on ships.

With a large amount of steel around you, the iPad antenna is not efficient enough to connect well unless you are outside, or located near a repeater antenna. In cabin wifi connections that work fine with a laptop rarely will work with an iPad.

[arzz]

I disagree with Mr.Muzz based on my own experiences. I have been told by more than one Exploratiins computer manager of the same issue. Again not my experience. I used to use a Mac laptop and find my ipad does as good or better job with the Internet.

[schoolinmy3]

I use an original iPad, wifi only, no 3G. DH and I each have one. We find the iPad ideal for travel because of it's size and the books we download from kindle and apple.

 

However, we cannot print from our iPad -- I hear this may no longer and issue with the iPad 2. Photo downloads and storage work well however editing

capability for photos is limited (you can, however, delete photos one at a time).

 

We still travel for extended periods by choice with the iPad rather than our laptops.

 

We took our iPads on the last two cruises. Worked wonderfully. An app called Dropbox is a great tool for uploading photos more quickly than sending in emails. Also, we can now print from our iPads. My husband bought a wireless laser printer and it works wonderfully. I did not miss my laptop.

Diane

[Bippie]

I took my iPad and my laptop on a recent Baltic cruise. Never did use the laptop and wish I hadn't brought it along. I also realized I could always have used the laptops in the computer center - the price for internet access is the same whether you use your own computer/ipad or the ship's computer. All I wanted to do was check email, weather, etc.

 

I had no trouble connecting the iPad to the ship's WiFi except I did find some dead spots in the buffet area. Maybe they don't want us to linger there :)

[BumperII]

We carry along an old outdated laptop. If it gets lost, broken or stolen, who cares? We are usually able to check email with it while in port, and in airports. That is about all it really needs to do.

[Charles4515]

I took my iPad and my laptop on a recent Baltic cruise. Never did use the laptop and wish I hadn't brought it along. I also realized I could always have used the laptops in the computer center - the price for internet access is the same whether you use your own computer/ipad or the ship's computer. All I wanted to do was check email, weather, etc.

 

I had no trouble connecting the iPad to the ship's WiFi except I did find some dead spots in the buffet area. Maybe they don't want us to linger there :)

 

I have had my iPad on four ships, two HAL, Veendam and Volandam. Also on Carnival Valor and Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. I had no issues except on Oasis I had to turn off Autofill in Safari to log in. I won't be taking the laptop anymore like I did before I got the iPad. The iPad is great for travel when on vacation.

[msliv]

Hey.

 

I'm thinking of bringing my iPad along for my cruise next month. Going on Celebrity Equinox. Do you have to buy air time or does it work as It would let's say at Starbucks?

 

Thanks

Liv

[jtl513]

Hey.

 

I'm thinking of bringing my iPad along for my cruise next month. Going on Celebrity Equinox. Do you have to buy air time or does it work as It would let's say at Starbucks?

 

Thanks

Liv

That's a question that you should ask on the Celebrity forum, but I'll say I'd be very, very surprised to hear that you could get a free connection. Satellite connections costs big bucks, land connections at Starbucks (etc) are relatively cheap.

 

Edit: I see you sailed the Equinox before. Did you use the ship's computers for internet before? If yes, you'll probably pay the same rate for your iPad.

[Mary Ellen]

I'm thinking of bringing my iPad along for my cruise next month. Going on Celebrity Equinox. Do you have to buy air time or does it work as It would let's say at Starbucks.

As John says the WiFi won't be free. Something else to consider, according to the X brochure we have Apple's Safari browser isn't compatable with Celebrity's wireless network. My iPad2 uses Safari, i'd guess your's does too. As John suggested, I'd ask on the X forum to see what others have. My brochure is the 2011/2012 Exotics, but things may have changed since it was published. Good luck.

[roberts2005]

The only complaint I had on my recent UK cruise was finding hotspots ashore where I could connect. On several occasions I found crew members who found free wifi hotspots with their laptops. My iPad was not able to connect. In conversation with the crew member he felt laptops had better antennas than an iPad

[janmcn]

We took our Ipad, Macbook, and Iphone on a 45-day cruise that went all over Europe on the Prinsendam and had varying results with internet depending on the time, place, and electronic item. Others had the same result. I'd be in a portside free wifi zone and we'd all have multiple electronics all trying to hook in to the signal...sometimes the Iphone did it better, sometimes Macbook, other times Ipad...it was frequently very different....so we used all three electronic gizmos. Also, regarding downloading photos...I'd hate to think of the Ipad as a photo storage device. My CF Cards hold more gb than it does...so no way could I have put photos into it other than a few here and there to show people. I used my Macbook for uploading photos each night and doing any tweaking...and as another place they were kept (did NOT erase the cards) until we came home.

 

So, end result...used the Ipad for the books, games, etc. that I had...but used the Macbook and Iphone ALSO for internet access.

[msliv]

Thanks one and all,your replies are most appreciated.

 

I do have Safari browser, and from your comments I have decided not to schlepp it around.

 

Bon voyage

Liv

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Both are going to be slow on the ship

[RonLankshear]

I have an Acer netbook, and used this on our Ak cruise aboard the Volendam, 09. I primarily will use this for ebooks, photo retention, and email once in port. Will I be disappointed with this addition, and should I also carry my Acer netbook,

Marilyn

Well I hear Ship internet is slow and expensive.

Then my real need was to import photos and videos from cameras and have another backup. iPad does the import. But you have to export to web... Cannot export to a USB hard drive.

 

So I am taking a 160 gb windows netbook and a 500 gb USB Hard drive

Which has WiFi so I can still upload when ashore in WiFi cafes. Netbook will also have good photo editor.

 

iPad is good for reading books and showing photos ......

[Grandma Gilly]

 

iPad is good for reading books and showing photos ......

 

You cannot use an iPad to read in the sun. I take my iPad everywhere and LOVE it but I had to buy a Kindle as well.

[dpump]

You cannot use an iPad to read in the sun. I take my iPad everywhere and LOVE it but I had to buy a Kindle as well.

I wish I could find some screen cover for my IPad so I could read in the sun. I had a Nook and gave it to one of my kids, stupid, stupid, stupid.

[blue whale]

Hi, Diane and John,

 

Just saw your name on this thread and remembered our 08 world cruise where you led the CC group—so well! I remember how helpful you were to me when we were in Cambodia!!!

 

We did HAL's South Am cruise in 2011 and will do a repeat with Regent in 2012. We have signed to do HAL's 88-day Rotterdam cruise in winter 2013, but it is so far in the future, we can't tell what we will do.

 

But thought you might see our post on your thread—we have moved and changed emails—new one is dgandgatfvdotnet

 

Happy cruising. Dorothy

[The Tsar]

Am thinking about taking an IPad instead on a Laptop on a WC and would like have some feedback from people who have used an IPad over an extended period of time. Any experiences/pros/cons that you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

I have taken my iPad and/or iPod Touch on several 3-4 week HAL cruises, both work well. Never had a problem connecting to the internet.

 

I also load a dozen or so movies/DVDs from home into the devices, and play them on the cabin television. I realize the ship has DVDs, but they may not have what you want or when you want it.

 

Depends on the intended use, but a lot easier to slip a iPod Touch into one's pocket than to lug a laptop - Especially if going on shore for free WiFi hot spots.

[Softball20]

As John says the WiFi won't be free. Something else to consider, according to the X brochure we have Apple's Safari browser isn't compatable with Celebrity's wireless network. My iPad2 uses Safari, i'd guess your's does too. As John suggested, I'd ask on the X forum to see what others have. My brochure is the 2011/2012 Exotics, but things may have changed since it was published. Good luck.

 

We've sailed the Equinox twice, and our mac laptops w/safari worked just fine.

[C & D Cruisingfans]

I have taken my iPad and/or iPod Touch on several 3-4 week HAL cruises, both work well. Never had a problem connecting to the internet.

 

I also load a dozen or so movies/DVDs from home into the devices, and play them on the cabin television. I realize the ship has DVDs, but they may not have what you want or when you want it.

 

Depends on the intended use, but a lot easier to slip a iPod Touch into one's pocket than to lug a laptop - Especially if going on shore for free WiFi hot spots.

 

Which ships were you able to play back on the cabin television? I have found they sometimes mount the TV so you can't access the inputs, on others they have disabled the input button. Princess is the only line where I have had good luck viewing.

[The Tsar]

Which ships were you able to play back on the cabin television? I have found they sometimes mount the TV so you can't access the inputs, on others they have disabled the input button. Princess is the only line where I have had good luck viewing.

 

I have not had a problem on any of the ships.

 

Since the backside of the television are not always available/accessible, I use the DVD player cables already connected to the backside of the television. I bring along a doublesided "Female" triple connector to connect the iPod/iPad cables to HAL's cables.