Internet on Ships

[jillpra]

I have a question. A friend who is cruising with us is bringing computer as she has to do work for 2 hours Monday-Friday from 6-8 a.m while on cruise. We are sailing on the Liberty to Aruba, Curacao and Grand Turk. I know I've read internet can be slow on the ship and off and on accessibility. Has anyone used your cell phone as a Hotspot to connect? Checking on options as this is a deal breaker if she won't have service. Thanks for your help!

 

 

Jill

[klfrodo]

your cell phone hotspot has to connect with a cellular tower to work. Not too many towers in the middle of the ocean.

You could connect to the cellular tower on the ship. However, not only will you be paying your carriers data roaming rates,,, you'll also be charged the ships connection time which is about $1.95 a minute. (I think)

[mferris77]

In my experience (and this was over 3 years ago), the slow internet was only during peak times. At 6-8am I don't believe there would be too much network congestion. Most people are just waking up/still asleep/heading to breakfast during that time.

[chengkp75]

In my experience (and this was over 3 years ago), the slow internet was only during peak times. At 6-8am I don't believe there would be too much network congestion. Most people are just waking up/still asleep/heading to breakfast during that time.

 

I'm not tech savvy enough to say whether or not the cell phone hotspot would work, but the PP is correct, while at sea, you would be charged not only your phone provider's charges, but the ship's cellular charges, which can be substantial.

 

As far as internet speed, remember that the passenger internet is tacked on to the ship's satellite bandwidth AFTER all ship's business is done. Most ships are on constant connection with the home office for all financial data (all restaurant, bar, and shop POS sales points, front office, purser, etc, are always online to Miami), and the ship's technical departments are continually online to Miami as well. So, this usage will affect internet speed as much or more than the number of passengers trying to connect. Passengers only get the remaining bandwidth after ship's business.

Edited March 26, 2014 by chengkp75

[jamesr3939]

Internet on the Dream was pretty slow. If you are not uploading photos then it should be OK for normal office work. I doubt you could video conference. I did use my Iphone as a hotspot for my Ipad once just to see how it worked, since I don't have cel on the Ipad. I did it will in USVI so I was on the normal ATT network and it was just like at home. But there would be no advantage to doing that at sea. As At Sea cel time is much more expensive than WiFi. As I posted, if close to a US port you should be able to use your phone as a hotspot and not have to pay any extra fees. Just make sure you are connected to a US signal. Like at St Thomas or PR.

 

I used the WiFi on my Iphone, Ipad, and Nook. As long as I wasn't up/down loading large files or photos it was fairly good about not kicking me off. Some Emails locked up if there were photos attached. I also used it to text some photos and videos home to the kids and it sent a little slower than at home, but not much.

[3ricT]

On the Dream as well, I used the funHub just to post a quick check in to the kids on Facebook. For .75 a minute I figured I could get in and out in a minute. Nope, 5 minutes every time I messaged them. And, those terminals are hard wired. I can imagine wifi being worse. YMMV

[klfrodo]

Since you say your friend has to connect for work purposes,,,, if for work security purposes your friend has to connect via VPN (Virtual Private Network) to connect to her companies intranet,,,, the ships wifi may not work.

I've had instances where I could log on and perform personal tasks, but when I tried to log into work via VPN, the speed and bandwidth of the available connection would not connect to my VPN server.

[CrystalBelle]

I would have her tell her work she is not going to be able to make it... I doubt it would work.

[irishnyc]

I have a question. A friend who is cruising with us is bringing computer as she has to do work for 2 hours Monday-Friday from 6-8 a.m while on cruise. We are sailing on the Liberty to Aruba, Curacao and Grand Turk. I know I've read internet can be slow on the ship and off and on accessibility. Has anyone used your cell phone as a Hotspot to connect? Checking on options as this is a deal breaker if she won't have service. Thanks for your help!

 

 

Jill

 

5 days of internet for 2 hours a day will add up - in the neighborhood of $500 on Carnival wifi (and painfully slow), way more via hotspot (and probably still very slow). Will her work reimburse her for it? That would be the true deal breaker for me.

[evanAction]

No VPN, and slow speeds, but WiFi should work fine for her in those hours. Definitely prepay internet package, check prices at Carnival.com ahead of time so there isn't sticker shock.

 

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