Wi-Fi on Zuiderdam - price to access vs just using the Internet in Cafe

[no11important]

Go easy on me - I know this is a vacation; however, I have a parent in poor health and need to have some way of getting and replying to daily updates that are sent to my email.

 

I will be on the 11-day Zuiderdam cruise in the Southern Carribean & Panama Canal.

 

What's better - having wi-fi access (via a tablet is what I would use) and where are the "hot spots" . . . or, - accessing email at the Internet Cafe?

 

Of the minutes I buy can they be used interchangably between wi-fi "hot spots" and the Internet Cafe?

 

Which is faster - the wi-fi or Internet Cafe?

[CruiserBruce]

There is no difference in price between the two. Everything is run thru the ship's network, and you pay the same per minute rate for access either way.

 

However, in our experience, the WiFi access was quite a bit faster. The trick is finding a hotspot that allows for good speeds. There are a number of good hot spots around the ship. As far as in your cabin- hit and miss.

[fleckle]

Go easy on me - I know this is a vacation; however, I have a parent in poor health and need to have some way of getting and replying to daily updates that are sent to my email.

 

I will be on the 11-day Zuiderdam cruise in the Southern Carribean & Panama Canal.

 

What's better - having wi-fi access (via a tablet is what I would use) and where are the "hot spots" . . . or, - accessing email at the Internet Cafe?

 

Of the minutes I buy can they be used interchangably between wi-fi "hot spots" and the Internet Cafe?

 

Which is faster - the wi-fi or Internet Cafe?

You should be able to use your minutes interchangeably between them, but using the wi-fi is a better value.

 

If concerned about cost, you save a lot of money by using your own computer because it enables you to read and write all your email offline at your own convenience. So you only need to log on briefly to upload and download and immediately log off.

 

Also, you can have easy access to all your reference material for the cruise, the ports you will be visiting and your reservations that way, saving you from needing to pack and carry a lot of papers.

 

If you want to access anything on the internet (such as airline schedules or maps or directions, for example) you can just download them to view offline as well.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

No free WiFi on the ship.

Internet Prices:

 

It doesn't make any difference whether you bring your own laptop or use the ship's computers -- the price is the same -- no free WiFi.

 

The advantage of having your own laptop is that you can work off-line and then just copy and paste once you are online -- will save minutes. The internet is slooooow.

 

There is a one time $3.95 activation fee.

 

Plan 1 - $0.75 per minute

 

Plan 2 - $55 for 100 minutes

 

Plan 3 - $100 for 250 minutes.

 

Most ships will offer 10 free minutes for Plan 2 and 20 free minutes for Plan 3 if you sign up for a plan on embarkation day. Also look for specials in the daily Explorer program.

Check Joanie's thread for Hot Spots here:

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Zuiderdam/index.html

[jtl513]

Check Joanie's thread for Hot Spots here:

 

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Zuiderdam/index.html

I just noticed that Joanie has incorrectly changed her site to say that those are the antenna locations on the Zuiderdam. Those are the locations on the Noordam (I know because I was the one who gave them to her) and I believe some are slightly different on the Zuiderdam.

 

In addition, those locations are only for the cabin decks. There are many more antennas than that around the ship. I have always found that the Internet Cafe/Explorations Cafe is one of the best spots. The closer you are to one of the antenna shown below the better your connection to the ship server will be.

[JJ33328]

Both connections are slow....it's better to use the Wi-Fi with your own computer/tablet since you can download/upload your mail then read it and respond off-line. Plus I'm scared to death of using public computers because of the possibility of transmitting viruses and identity theft.

If you get/send more than 10-15 e-mails a day you will probably need to get the 200 minute plan for the 11 days. The embarkation day deal is worth it to get the extra 20 minutes, which comes in handy if you have friends that send large attachments on their e-mails.

One cool thing is that you can access the HAL and a few other web sites for free. I did a lot of research on-line during my last cruise before I booked my next cruise on board, which is also a very good thing to do.

[Carmeldi]

Is the wifi charge per cabin or per person/device? Thanks.

[Big Dawg CC]

Is the wifi charge per cabin or per person/device? Thanks.

 

The charge is per cabin; anyone can use the time so long as they have access to the password.