Internet question

[hommey13]

Leaving on the Eclipse in 2 weeks...want to be able to Skype with my young kids at home in the US...is the internet connection on the ship good enough to be able to Skype? i'm also getting a data package through Verizon, which isn't much and isn't cheap...

 

anyone have any thoughts on the best way to go? I won't be able to use internet cafes on the islands as they won't be home from school in time...so the ship is really the only way to go...

 

thanks!:)

[4774Papa]

Leaving on the Eclipse in 2 weeks...want to be able to Skype with my young kids at home in the US...is the internet connection on the ship good enough to be able to Skype? i'm also getting a data package through Verizon, which isn't much and isn't cheap...

 

anyone have any thoughts on the best way to go? I won't be able to use internet cafes on the islands as they won't be home from school in time...so the ship is really the only way to go...

 

thanks!:)

I may be wrong about this, but I think that I have seen on cc that you can't Skype on the ships. The search function is inoperable, so I can't go to the source.

[spookwife]

Leaving on the Eclipse in 2 weeks...want to be able to Skype with my young kids at home in the US...is the internet connection on the ship good enough to be able to Skype? i'm also getting a data package through Verizon, which isn't much and isn't cheap...

 

anyone have any thoughts on the best way to go? I won't be able to use internet cafes on the islands as they won't be home from school in time...so the ship is really the only way to go...

 

thanks!:)

 

 

skype, face talk and other VOIP are disabled on board as they take up too much bandwidth.

 

you are going to have to find another way to keep in touch.

[Lsimon]

I'll add to the above that the internet speed is extreamly slow on the ships. More like the dial up modem service you left behind many years ago than today's broadband speeds. So even if they didn't block Skype it is unlikely it would work. But you might find better service that can support Skype at land based internet cafes, or restaurants with free internet, at ports of call.

 

Edited February 18, 2014 by Lsimon

[phoenix_dream]

A few years ago we used Google Talk. You can't see each other, but we were able to communicate real time. We brought our own laptop and used the ship's internet (which I agree can be very slow at times)

[ellasnan]

I skyped on the Eclipse last year. Sometimes we got a good connection and other times just used it without video. I was calling England so many times it was early morning before people were up and about. In Aruba I called in the afternoon when the ship was quiet. My granddaughter said she could see the swimming pool. It was the sea! Try when in port and the ship is quieter is my advice!

 

 

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[Iamthesea]

From the OP:

I won't be able to use internet cafes on the islands as they won't be home from school in time...so the ship is really the only way to go...

 

skype, face talk and other VOIP are disabled on board as they take up too much bandwidth.

 

you are going to have to find another way to keep in touch.

 

I saw someone Facetiming their little one when in the Café Cova on the Constellation last winter.

[Cruisin'Jenny2]

You definitely can't SKYPE in Celebrity's internet room, but if you bring your laptop/tablet/smartphone, OF COURSE you can try. Last Fall on the Constellation I certainly tried, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, sometimes the call dropped (NOT Skype's fault). I never even attempted the video call, only voice calls. In 3 weeks, I successfully completed maybe 12 calls, dropped 12 calls and was unable to even try 50% of the time due to OH SO S-L-O-W internet.

 

I've cruised on seven different cruise lines in the past 10 years and hands down, Celebrity provides the absolute WORST and SLOWEST possible internet service. There is really no excuse for such poor and slow service in 2014 - CELEBRITY - ARE YOU GETTING THIS???????????? NOBODY wants to pay your absurd ship-to-shore, dollars-by-the-minute, telephone rates.

 

Celebrity needs to face this fact: THE way to communicate internationally is VOIP or something like Skype. If they are trying to attract the young, D-I-N-K crowd, they need to start by catering to them - DECENT INTERNET SERVICE IS A MUST - or forget it!

 

Now that my cell phone provider allows for "free worldwide data" (over 3G cell service), I certainly find it much easier and less expensive to just wait for a port - then I can talk on Skype until my battery goes dead. (Maybe this is what Celebrity is counting on?!?)

[gek]

Dear Celebrity, please don't upgrade your internet service. I like the fact that for a short period while we are at sea I am totally cut off from the rest of the world and I'll admit that the lure of fast internet at sea would be just too much for me to resist. No web, no facebook, no VoIP, no email. Please keep it that way. If you really must improve the speed then please make it so expensive that I couldn't afford it even if I spent my cruise mugging every cashed-up casino winner as they walked the deserted corridors back to their cabin in the wee hours of the morn.

 

In the meantime I will continue to spend my time in port as one of those pathetic wifi junkies huddled in the gutter outside the internet cafes, getting my unwanted but necessary fix of digital crack before I get back on board and continue my much-needed nautical rehab.

[hommey13]

So if I have the international data package with Verizon, I can Skype, right? The Verizon guy made it seem so...just want to check before I spend $50 just to have the plan while cruising!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[justcrusn]

So, just think about it this way:

You're out in the middle of the ocean, no cell tower reception possible, so how is your verizon connection going to work? Through the ship.

It's satellite based, to a "bird" 26,000 miles in space and there just isn't a lot of bandwidth available.

[Antonintassie]

Hi I agree it would be great to drop of the grid but I run my own business and cruising despite the inet and email speeds being slow allows me to work and play and has the great advantage of unpacking all my portable office once .

 

 

 

So, just think about it this way:

You're out in the middle of the ocean, no cell tower reception possible, so how is your verizon connection going to work? Through the ship.

It's satellite based, to a "bird" 26,000 miles in space and there just isn't a lot of bandwidth available.

[Iamthesea]

 

Now that my cell phone provider allows for "free worldwide data" (over 3G cell service)' date=' I certainly find it much easier and less expensive to just wait for a port - then I can talk on Skype until my battery goes dead. (Maybe this is what Celebrity is counting on?!?)[/quote']

 

What provider do you have? I am still confused about this new FREE International Messaging that Verizon has announced. Does anyone with a plan from Verizon get this?

 

So if I have the international data package with Verizon, I can Skype, right? The Verizon guy made it seem so...just want to check before I spend $50 just to have the plan while cruising!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

 

You will still have to buy (unless you are a Captains Club Member where you get some free minutes that don't last very long :rolleyes:) Internet minutes from the ship and they can be expensive and slow. Best to use your Verizon package while on shore.

Edited February 19, 2014 by Iamthesea

[Biker19]

In the meantime I will continue to spend my time in port as one of those pathetic wifi junkies huddled in the gutter outside the internet cafes, getting my unwanted but necessary fix of digital crack before I get back on board and continue my much-needed nautical rehab.

 

Quote of the day. :cool:

[Iamthesea]

We tried two Internet cafes just off the pier when we were in the Adriatics last May. Neither would work, and we had to pay.

I will continue to do what I can with the ships WiFi.