Laptop computers ok?

[PlumPuppy]

I will be traveling on my first cruise in May (Royal Carribean Radiance of Seas 11 day Honolulu-Vancouver) and I want to bring my computer that I always travel with, is there wi-fi available on the ships? Is it free or do you have to pay for it?

 

Thanks so much!!!

[Langoustine]

Ship's WiFi is fairly expensive, and can be fairly slow.

[CruiserBruce]

A laptop is fine. Takes up space, but fine.

 

As to whether any ship has WiFi, what the costs are, etc, it is always best best to ask on the board for that cruise line. RCI's is here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

 

As mentioned, all Internet access is slow and expensive. We did find on our last two cruises on Holland America, the Internet was noticably faster via WiFi than on the ship's computers.

[DEEDIA]

I always take my Laptop for storing Photos on, Most Ports have a free WiFi so you can get your E Mails off. I find plenty of use for mine, sit and watch a Movie I Download whilst lazing around.

[PlumPuppy]

Thanks for the input everyone! Yes, I wanted to bring my laptop for storing my photos/videos during the trip. And to possibly check email while I'm gone. Thanks again!!!

[PlumPuppy]

A laptop is fine. Takes up space, but fine.

 

As to whether any ship has WiFi, what the costs are, etc, it is always best best to ask on the board for that cruise line. RCI's is here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

 

As mentioned, all Internet access is slow and expensive. We did find on our last two cruises on Holland America, the Internet was noticably faster via WiFi than on the ship's computers.

 

Thanks for the info! Will head on over to that thread now...

[Underwatr]

The bandwidth for ship's WiFi is limited and shared by everyone who is trying to use it at that moment. The two best recommendations (in my opinion) are to install an offline mail program (such as Mozilla Thunderbird) so you don't have to be connected while actually reading your email, and to connect very early (7 AM) or very late (11 PM) rather than in the middle of the day.

[Colorado Kat]

I always feel better if I can backup my photos on a daily basis.

[mamkmm2]

Hubby and I are taking our iPads. When in port what we plan on doing is taking our phones and sending our pics to our email then pulling them up and saving them to the iPad to create a slideshow.

 

We have multiple memory cards for our regular cameras and we will simply have to switch them out and then wait until we are home to download them all. At least with the ipad we'll be able to load some photos to facebook so that our family can keep up with our activities even if it is vicariously ... kids are pretty much demanding it because they want to keep an eye on their mom and dad. LOL.

[indigosails]

I got to know the internet guy on our last cruise and he told me that there is only so much bandwidth and the more people were online the slower it would be. So you'll have a faster experience if you access the internet at off-peak hours like dinnertime, middle of the night, when the ship is in port and the peeps are gone. It does make some difference. Going online in the afternoon on a sea day can be agonizingly slow.

 

Some of the more modern port buildings have free wifi.

[PlumPuppy]

Yeah, I think I will take my computer and just hope for the best... at least I'll be able to upload my photos/vids at the very least.

[Jimnbigd]

Laptop for storing photos or watching movies you brought is good.

Laptop for internet and email is bad -- too expensive and very slow.

[Cuizer2]

I will be traveling on my first cruise in May (Royal Carribean Radiance of Seas 11 day Honolulu-Vancouver) and I want to bring my computer that I always travel with, is there wi-fi available on the ships? Is it free or do you have to pay for it?

 

Thanks so much!!!

 

Yes, there is wi-fi. No, it is not free. Do you remember the days of dial up? The speed of your connection on the ship will remind you of it.

[Crew News]

Take not only your laptop but also a portable hard disk for backup.

 

For the purpose of speed comparison, I downloaded Windows 8 for my laptop through my Comcast internet at home in less than 15 minutes.

 

The computer guy on the Westerdam last December took nearly six hours to do the same download.

[mamkmm2]

Just found out that there is a gadget that will allow me to download my camera memory card right to my iPad and it is relatively inexpensive. This is outstanding news for me because it means I will be able to dual back up my photos and then on top of that, take some time in the ports of call and download my photos to our family computer back home which is backed up by carbonite. I will also be able to send them to FB to post for friends and family (mostly our kids and my parents) so that they can keep track of us so very many miles from home. (grin)

 

I'm just really paranoid when it comes to backing up the back ups ... I have had too many computer and memory card/stick crashes.

[easy_123]

...download my photos to our family computer back home which is backed up by carbonite. I will also be able to send them to FB to post for friends and family (mostly our kids and my parents) so that they can keep track of us so very many miles from home. (grin)

 

I'm just really paranoid when it comes to backing up the back ups ... I have had too many computer and memory card/stick crashes.

 

You might want to look at BOX or DROPBOX, both of which are cloud storage systems with iPad apps (& everything else including rocks!) as means storing and sharing files.

[TheOldBear]

Just found out that there is a gadget that will allow me to download my camera memory card right to my iPad and it is relatively inexpensive. This is outstanding news for me because it means I will be able to dual back up my photos and then on top of that, take some time in the ports of call and download my photos to our family computer back home which is backed up by carbonite. I will also be able to send them to FB to post for friends and family (mostly our kids and my parents) so that they can keep track of us so very many miles from home. (grin)

 

I'm just really paranoid when it comes to backing up the back ups ... I have had too many computer and memory card/stick crashes.

 

If you are really paranoid, don't re-use the memory cards. Just put them in a static safe container after you import them.

 

Also, if you have an Apple / iCloud ID, when you put photos on your iPad they are also added to your iCloud photo stream. This can be set to happen automatically when connecting with WiFi. [in my case, if I leave a Mac running at home with Aperture and the Time Machine backup, the photostream pictures should be added to Aperture's library and backed up to Time Machine unattended]

[CraftyEC]

When in port, as you get off the ship just follow the crew members and they will take you straight to the free or cheapest WiFi access! In some ports this is actually in the port building, and you will see loads of them sitting on the steps with laptops on their knees. We try to find a cafe with free WiFi and it's usually fairly easy, but in some ports it is remarkably difficult - in which case we have been known to resort to making a coffee last a LONG time in a MacDonalds!

[mamkmm2]

You might want to look at BOX or DROPBOX, both of which are cloud storage systems with iPad apps (& everything else including rocks!) as means storing and sharing files.

 

If you are really paranoid, don't re-use the memory cards. Just put them in a static safe container after you import them.

 

Also, if you have an Apple / iCloud ID, when you put photos on your iPad they are also added to your iCloud photo stream. This can be set to happen automatically when connecting with WiFi. [in my case, if I leave a Mac running at home with Aperture and the Time Machine backup, the photostream pictures should be added to Aperture's library and backed up to Time Machine unattended]

 

Thanks! These are both great suggestions. I've got dropbox but have yet to use it ... just need to figure it out. And yes, we do some cloud since we sync our iPads and iPhones. I'll just have to improve/increase their usefulness for this purpose.