wifi or 3g

[garethllewellyn]

We are thinking of buying an Ipad to take on board on our upcoming cruise from HongKong to Singapore. The Wifi rates on board seem high - so would I be able to get a G3 or 4 signal in the Far East?

Robin and Helen

[Randyk47]

We are thinking of buying an Ipad to take on board on our upcoming cruise from HongKong to Singapore. The Wifi rates on board seem high - so would I be able to get a G3 or 4 signal in the Far East?

Robin and Helen

 

If you think the wifi rates are high you haven't seen anything until you connect through the on-ship cell phone connection. You'll be able to use your cell or iPad while in port or on land through the local networks but make sure you have an International plan with your provider.

[WisRiver]

I have not been to Asia with our iPad, but I can share our experiences in Europe. We have 3g service through ATT which is a GSM network. If your 3g service is through Verizon or Sprint, you should check with your carrier about use in Asia. In any event using a 3g on roaming or the ship's wifi is incredibly expensive, and in the case of the ship's wifi, very slow. If you are trying to log on to the ship's network at a prime time, say 11:00 AM it may take minutes just to log on to the e-mail service. While you are logging on you may be charged $1 a minute.

 

Our solution was to take our iPad on shore and find a public wifi hotspot. Crew members often can disembark and may be able to direct you to the hotspots they use to stay in contact with family back home. We were cruising the Italy, Spain and Portugal. We never had a problem finding a free wifi connection. We were on a transatlantic, so we were eight days without internet.

Enjoy

[Typhoon1]

Go with WiFi. Ship board cell rates are astronomical and not the most reliable.

[JMAUST]

I agree with the above. Prices on board are high. Whenever ashore in most asian cities you can find a public hotspot or a McDonalds or Starbucks which are free. If this fails go to an internet cafe and there are plenty in Asia

[rallydave]

Connecting to 3G or 4G outside the US is extremely expensive even with data plans. Only ATT and T Mobile are guaranteed to work throughout the world. Some places Verizon or Spring "MIGHT" work but, not very often.

 

GSM is the world standard for cell service except in the US where ATT and T Mobile are the only GSM phones. Wifi and free wifi is your best choice and don't believe your data will work on board except thru the ships wifi. The ship wifi and phone service is thru satellites are therefore extremely expensive.

 

Good luck and have a great cruise.

[Bluwater7]

We are thinking of buying an Ipad to take on board on our upcoming cruise from HongKong to Singapore. The Wifi rates on board seem high - so would I be able to get a G3 or 4 signal in the Far East?

Robin and Helen

 

I just bought a KOBO ARC - which was not as expensive as an ipad but does most everything my friends ipad does. Pretty easy to use. and picks up wifi at a few places I tried here at home. Wanted to see what I could do pretending we had just docked someplace. Most any crew member can direct you to free wifi at the ports you call at. :)

[TheEmerson]

If you do plan on getting an ipad, or any tablet for internet access, just get a wifi model. The costs for cell service on the ship is quite high. While getting a GSM SIM card for whatever country you have is easy, but getting the card from any store, activating it, etc for a few hours use is more hassle than finding a place that has free wifi, or wifi with a cost of an item of food/drink.