Iphone versus laptop on cruise Sydney to Hawaii Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas

[Nomadjan]

We are heading off on our first cruise from Sydney to Hawaii with Rhapsody of the Seas. We are not sure whether to take our iphone or laptop, we are flying back from Honolulu. We have heard many reports of people getting huge phone bills because of data downloads. We would keep our phone on airplane mode, and use wifi when in port and Viber for free calls. All we would do with our laptop is just go on to check emails and download photos/videos. Can anyone advise the best option, can use Skype if we need to also. What internet speeds do you get on board? Nomadjan.

[Hlitner]

Internet service onboard most vessels is similar to the old dial-up service. In other words it can be very sloooow. We have been on ships where it would take nearly 5 min just to log onto a site and start getting e-mails...and this was costing about 50 cents a minute. This is why the crew on most ships uses internet places in ports (just ask a crew member where to go). On most ships Skype will not function because of the poor speeds and its even blocked on some ships to save bandwidth.

 

Hank

[Nomadjan]

Thankyou Hank, that probably settles the question very easily. Suspected that might be the case. Iphone is the answer. Will just get an extra SD card for camera for my photos.

[chipmaster]

I guess I'm a believer that it isn't either/or. A phone is so small and light and useful one should always have it even when traveling internationally, just be smart and turn the wireless off and you will be good!

 

A laptop in my world at least is as critical for checking email on the road. It is not so useful on the ship as internet is dreadful and expensive, but invaluable for backing-up pictures and viewing editing. Every month or so I read a thread about someone losing their camera/pictures and all the kodak moments. I'm a believer in always having backup and thus download pictures to the laptop and also keep on the cards...

 

Laptop also good for airports surfing, watching DVDs etc. ONce I actually got a new outbound reservation when my flight was canceled faster than waiting in the long customer service line.

[silentbob007]

I usually bring both. I turn off data roaming on my iPhone and also put it into airplane mode when overseas or when I get on the ship ... turning off data roaming will save you from huge bills that might occur from the phone downloading data in the background. I tend to like downloading email over wifi on the ship ... you can create an account at one of their computer terminals and sign in with your phone or laptop. I tend to download messages, disconnect, read them, compose any I might want to send, then reconnect to send ... essentially so I don't have to pay usage time for reading email that is already downloaded. I find composing messages, storing photos, and doing other things like journaling is much more convenient on my laptop than phone.

[CraftyEC]

Many cafes or bars in ports have wi-fi and for the price of a coffee you can sit and download your emails and do a little web-surfing in pleasant surroundings. Internet access on board is quite expensive and VERY slow. On our last cruise we bought a small package on board, it was cheaper by the hour so we bought an hour early on, and another hour later in the cruise. We also took a notebook out with us (not on organised trips) to the port a couple of times, it's light and easy to use.

 

So, to answer your question I would take both, the phone for use in transit as a phone, and to use apps from time to time (in port, generally!) and the laptop for accessing the internet, either on board or in port. I prefer to use my notebook (or DH's!) than the ship's computers.

[barante]

I only bring along my MacBook Pro. I buy the basic $100 ship's Internet package. It is maddeningly slow and I end up doing most of my Internetting in wi-fi cafes free of charge on land. As to the ship's satellite wi-fi, it is far too costly, IMO, to consider.

My 2cents: Do it your way, as long as you know the costs involved and the dangers of unknowingly incurring telephone charges. Including the facts that you may be charged for calls from the ship in ports, unless you are some 100 yards away from the ship so its satellite system does not pick up your call.

One plus with a laptop is that HAL gives you a complimentary access to the NYT site either in the cafe or in your cabin. There is nothing comparable for any phone, or other cruise line.

[Nomadjan]

Thank you everyone, may be best to take both. Have experienced the disappointment of having all our photos and videos stolen whilst in Portugal, as well as our cameras. Frustrating to have missed out on hours of video and hundreds of photos taken in southren Europe.

[sunline1]

Will my ipad2 work on the ships wireless or did I need somewhere it has to be Microsoft operating systems, going on radiatiance to hawaii