Computers on Noordam

[bloofer]

I have two questions about the computers on the Noordam. Do any of those in the Explorations Cafe have a printer attached? Secondly, is there a computer in the Neptune Lounge?

[sail7seas]

Yes, there is a printer in every Explorations Cafe on every HAL ship. The price per page rose in the last year to 50 cents per page.

 

Some Neptune Lounges have a laptop some of the time. More often than not you will find one but it is not a guarantee.

 

We just left Westerdam and the computer in Neptune was often in use by guests but just for brief periods. Anyone who wanted to use it didn't seem to have trouble getting access.

 

I love traveling with our Netbook and often use that in Neptune.

[sail7seas]

I have two questions about the computers on the Noordam. Do any of those in the Explorations Cafe have a printer attached? Secondly, is there a computer in the Neptune Lounge?

 

 

Sorry... I meant to add there is not a printer attached to each computer but rather is one for all the computers to use. It does not get heavy duty use. :) You just have to remember to pick up your pages from the printer which is located at the Internet Manager's desk. No problem at all.

 

[Caribbean Chris]

Printer in Explorations Cafe is not always at the manager's desk but he or she will direct you to it. IIRC, on the Ryndam last year, there was one computer terminal with printer attached at the other end of Explorations which was the terminal to use if you wished to print.

[Sea42]

Be advised that the computers in the Explorations Cafe are crazy busy the day before disembarkation. Many people wanting to print off boarding passes for their flights home.

[Krazy Kruizers]

And the Computer in the Neptune Lounge is not free.

You have to pay the same Internet fees as using your laptop or the computers in the Explorations Cafe.

Computer in the Neptune Lounge on the Noordam:

[Krazy Kruizers]

There is no printer for the computer in the Neptune Lounge.

Internet Prices

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.

Plan 4 -- $175 for 500 minutes

Plan 5 -- $250 for 1000 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.

Check the daily Explorer program for other specials offered during the cruise.

[bloofer]

Thanks, folks, for the information & suggestions. Much appreciated!

[hpf]

Last year on the Noordam when we were checking in for our flight home we were able to do so on our own netbook and the printer in the Explorations lounge printed off the documents for us. We just had to go there and pick them up, very easy.

Helen

[profteedee]

Princess has a way to send "postcards" home from your cruise for free. Is there anything like this on HAL ships? We'll be sailing the Zuiderdam in March.

[Sea42]

Last year on the Noordam when we were checking in for our flight home we were able to do so on our own netbook and the printer in the Explorations lounge printed off the documents for us. We just had to go there and pick them up, very easy.

Helen

Were you able to remotely connect to their printer?

[Tabbymom]

Do the onboard computers have USB ports? I got spooked by having a memory card go bad during a vacation so want to download from my camera every day. It would be great if I don't have to bring a laptop to do this. (And I'm not going to buy one of those specialty drives just for pictures.)

 

If the Noordam computers have USB ports, I could copy from the camera to the desktop then back onto a flash drive.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Do the onboard computers have USB ports? I got spooked by having a memory card go bad during a vacation so want to download from my camera every day. It would be great if I don't have to bring a laptop to do this. (And I'm not going to buy one of those specialty drives just for pictures.)

 

If the Noordam computers have USB ports, I could copy from the camera to the desktop then back onto a flash drive.

 

No

They are just plain ordinary computers.

You will need to bring your own laptop.

[Fouremco]

No

They are just plain ordinary computers.

You will need to bring your own laptop.

Can you even buy a "plain ordinary computer" nowadays that comes without at least one USB port? I'd be very surprised. Every computer (PC and Apple) I've bought in the past 10 years or more came standard with a minimum of one USB port, whether desktop, laptop or netbook. Only my iPad and mini iPad tablets came without, but they do have a port that can be used for downloading photos.

 

I think you'll be OK Tabbymom.

 

Mike

[Tabbymom]

Mike, I agree that all computers nowadays have USB ports but not all public use ones do, such as at our local library. Their USB ports are closed off, probably as an anti-virus protection. I suspect the HAL computers are the same. Maybe I'll try writing HAL but this is the sort of question that might only be answered by someone who has used the ports on a ship computer!

 

Edit - just looked at a bunch of pictures of the cafe and it looks like just monitors and keyboards at the stations; no access to the CPU's. So I'll write customer service but looks like I'm lugging the laptop.

[Fouremco]

Mike, I agree that all computers nowadays have USB ports but not all public use ones do, such as at our local library. Their USB ports are closed off, probably as an anti-virus protection. I suspect the HAL computers are the same. Maybe I'll try writing HAL but this is the sort of question that might only be answered by someone who has used the ports on a ship computer!

Good point, I hadn't considered them disabling the port or not making it accessible. As a card reader poses the same potential security issues as a USB port, I'm not sure that it's a logical approach on HAL's part to enable one but disable the other, but so be it.

 

A couple of options if you don't want to lug the laptop:

 

1. Go to the Digital Workshops where you will undoubtedly be able to move your photos to a USB stick. You might not be able to do that every day if you are busy on excursions;

 

2. Buy a few more SD cards. Their price has dropped so low that you could buy one for each day of the cruise!

 

I've moved from taking a laptop on holidays to a netbook to an iPad and always do a nightly download, but I also take several 8 GB cards along, just in case.

 

If you do enquire with HAL, I'd be interested in their response.

 

Mike

 

[hpf]

Were you able to remotely connect to their printer?

 

I guess so, my daughter did the booking and then we went down to the Lounge and picked them up.

 

Helen:)

[jtl513]

Edit - just looked at a bunch of pictures of the cafe and it looks like just monitors and keyboards at the stations; no access to the CPU's. So I'll write customer service but looks like I'm lugging the laptop.

Correct - the computers are in locked cabinets so the USB ports are inaccessible on all HAL ships.

 

On the Noordam (which the OP was asking about) every monitor has a SD card reader attached, which I have used to view my pictures at no charge (it wasn't necessary to log on to do so) but I didn't try copying anything to the desktop or other computer storage area. I doubt that it would be possible. IIRC the monitors also had a slot for CompactFlash cards, so it may be possible to drag pictures from one type of card to the other.

 

But - I haven't seen those camera card readers on any other ship I've been on.

 

I agree with Mike (Fouremco) - bring lots of cards and change daily. Since I bring a netbook, I also back up daily to that in case my "wallet" of cards gets lost. :)

[wander]

For those who suggest doing the work on a laptop and just downloading to transmit, do you take your document or pictures created offline and attach them to an e-mail?

 

Do you use your laptop for all of this, connecting to the internet and all? (Yes, I know one must purchase computer minutes from the ship.)

 

Can you do the same with an iPad with e-mail capability?

Thanks

[Fouremco]

For those who suggest doing the work on a laptop and just downloading to transmit, do you take your document or pictures created offline and attach them to an e-mail?

 

Do you use your laptop for all of this, connecting to the internet and all? (Yes, I know one must purchase computer minutes from the ship.)

 

Can you do the same with an iPad with e-mail capability?

Thanks

My normal routine would be to download my day's photos and then upload them to Flickr or pick a few to send to family and friends. However, past vacations have been land-based with fast Internet that was either free or low-cost. Given the slow speed and exorbitant HAL charges for Internet, I'll be doing very limited sharing until after our cruise.

 

Yes, I now use my iPad.

[wander]

Thank you Fouremco.

[Tabbymom]

I just got HAL's answer (took a while, didn't it!):

The computers onboard do have USB drives. However, files can be viewed and printed, but they cannot be stored or edited. The photography store will be able to burn a CD for you at an additional cost.

It sounds like the photo store can make a CD from my own memory cards? Probably more than I'd want to spend. I think I'll take the advice of bringing multiple cards and just cross my fingers none of them go bad.

[kjw869]

No

 

They are just plain ordinary computers.

 

You will need to bring your own laptop.

 

While in the Explorations Cafe on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week, the computer manager came by at 10 PM and opened all the cases where the computers were mounted. They were all Acer Aspire 1 Netbooks mounted on a stand.