How much internet

[patrick401ca]

I'm looking at HAL's packages and they come in a different number of minutes per a certain amount of money.

 

I'm going on a week long cruise. I want to be able to check a couple of sites when I have free time. It's certainly not a priority. I'm not checking business mail, the stock market or anything like that.

 

With two of us and that kind of usage how much time did you find you need.

 

Yes I know it's slower at sea.

 

And please don't tell me to just unplug. I like to check the news and also toward the end of the cruise I need to know what the weather is like in the northeast for my flights.

 

 

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[euro cruiser]

By myself on a recent two week cruise I didn't use the full 55 minutes I started with.

[TAD2005]

I'm looking at HAL's packages and they come in a different number of minutes per a certain amount of money.

 

I'm going on a week long cruise. I want to be able to check a couple of sites when I have free time. It's certainly not a priority. I'm not checking business mail, the stock market or anything like that.

 

With two of us and that kind of usage how much time did you find you need.

 

Yes I know it's slower at sea.

 

And please don't tell me to just unplug. I like to check the news and also toward the end of the cruise I need to know what the weather is like in the northeast for my flights.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

On a recent 21 day cruise, we purchased the 250 minute package for $100. We used it for only e-mails and Skype voice. The speeds are adequate, and we had no problems with short Skype voice calls to friends. At the end of the cruise we had 21 minutes left on the account.

I tried to run speedcheck.net just to see what kind of connection I had. We were getting 3.5 mb/s download and 3.0 mb/s upload with a ping rate of 90. Pretty decent !!

[dockman]

I'm looking at HAL's packages and they come in a different number of minutes per a certain amount of money.

 

I'm going on a week long cruise. I want to be able to check a couple of sites when I have free time. It's certainly not a priority. I'm not checking business mail, the stock market or anything like that.

 

With two of us and that kind of usage how much time did you find you need.

 

Yes I know it's slower at sea.

 

And please don't tell me to just unplug. I like to check the news and also toward the end of the cruise I need to know what the weather is like in the northeast for my flights.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

u do know u can read the new york times online for free while on HAL...

[RuthC]

u do know u can read the new york times online for free while on HAL...

I've never been able to access the entire New York Times for free while on a HAL ship. I've only been able to read selected articles, essentially what's in the Times Digest distributed on board.

[dockman]

I've never been able to access the entire New York Times for free while on a HAL ship. I've only been able to read selected articles, essentially what's in the Times Digest distributed on board.

 

 

i go to the library every morning and use HAL computers to log on to ny times for free. ///

sit and read for half hour or so...it's plenty

 

no its not the full issue but it is way beyond the printed versions..

 

i can also log in from my room for free...try it

[xlxo]

Tip.... if you do get a package... use it after midnight or before 7am. It's less busy at that time and you get better value for your time package.

 

Please remember to LOG OFF when you are finished with it.

[take us away]

If you plan on sending longer emails, if you compose off-line in a word-type document then cut and paste into email when you log in, it really saves on internet time. Did this on a really long cruise with at least 2x per week 'travel log' emails and never used up my 100 minutes. You can usually access weather on the NY Times free site for the overview in your area. You should be able to get by with the lowest package.

[jtl513]

Last week on the OOsterdam four speed tests gave download times ranging from 1.75 Mbps to 2.81 Mbps with latencies from 308 to 376 ms.

 

i can also log in from my room for free...try it

On the Oosterdam once I signed up for a block of time the free HAL and NYTimes access were no longer available. I had to set up a second account in DW's name in order to use those.

 

By myself on a recent two week cruise I didn't use the full 55 minutes I started with.

I think you mean the $55, 100 min package. Edited December 29, 2016 by jtl513

[comcox]

Wait until you are in port and seek out free wifi hotspots in many cafes and often in cruise terminals. When in doubt just follow the crew as they always know where to go.

[wesport]

I agree with what has already been said. Write your emails off line. Use during off peak periods. Remember to type in logout.com . I always go the the internet lounge to get a better signal. I use it in the room, but it is always slower. When in port, look for wi fi. I would start with a small package and go from there. I like to be able to use the ships wifi to check email.

[msmayor]

We've never had internet access on any of the cruises we've taken, but our upcoming Zuiderdam was booked with Explore4 so we will have $200 worth of internet credit. I have no idea if we'll even come close to using it...I figure having it this time will let me send a quick email to our kids, but not much more than that. We cruise to disconnect, so I don't see us worrying too much about our internet minutes.

[Ken the cruiser]

I'm looking at HAL's packages and they come in a different number of minutes per a certain amount of money.

 

I'm going on a week long cruise. I want to be able to check a couple of sites when I have free time. It's certainly not a priority. I'm not checking business mail, the stock market or anything like that.

 

With two of us and that kind of usage how much time did you find you need.

 

Yes I know it's slower at sea.

 

And please don't tell me to just unplug. I like to check the news and also toward the end of the cruise I need to know what the weather is like in the northeast for my flights.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Splurge. You're on vacation! Purchase the 60 minute package and budget your internet time accordingly. If you go through that 60 minutes, then you'll have a good feeling of how much, if any, you'll need to finish the cruise.

[xlxo]

In addition to the NY Times highlights being free on the wifi.... there is also your daily event listings. However I found not all the events are listed and sometimes the event time is inaccurate on my trip.

Edited December 29, 2016 by xlxo

[geoherb]

Wait until you are in port and seek out free wifi hotspots in many cafes and often in cruise terminals. When in doubt just follow the crew as they always know where to go.

I get nervous about signing in to my email in iffy wifi locations. And that's even with changing my password before and after a cruise.

[ScubaPirate]

Just curious...can you purchase a smaller package and then upgrade to a larger package if needed, or do they force you to buy a second package?

[xlxo]

Or just buy the small package and then drain it before deciding to get a second larger package.

[take us away]

I get nervous about signing in to my email in iffy wifi locations. And that's even with changing my password before and after a cruise.

 

Fully understand. Gmail is pretty secure per my cyber-spook nephew so I use that. IMO, I would never check any personal info sites such as banks, credit card companies, etc while in any port or close to a port as the HAL server is not secure - which they tell you each time you log in.

[take us away]

Just curious...can you purchase a smaller package and then upgrade to a larger package if needed, or do they force you to buy a second package?

 

Have never seen an upgrade so assume you would need to purchase a 2nd package.

[sapper1]

u do know u can read the new york times online for free while on HAL...

 

The OP is Canadian and there are no free Canadian news sites on HAL.

I love being able to read my local newspaper while on a cruise.

 

Where available I always buy the unlimited package so I can use FB Mesenger to communicate with others we are sailing with. We can find each other fast in a crowded Lido for instance. I have a tiny Bluetooth speaker and we use the CBC radio app to listen to our local CBC station in our cabin in the morning as well.

There is a small comfort in being able to access some familiar things when you are far away from home.

 

The internet on HAL is not only slow---it is slow beyond belief, although there has been some improvement in the last few years. When I used to buy a timed package I found a lot of time was wasted in watching that little circle swirl around. Sometimes precious minutes are lot just trying to log off if the system isn't cooperating.

Edited December 30, 2016 by sapper1

[LadyVol1]

I cruise on HAL a lot. I find that my iPhone is faster than my Apple laptop. Using my iPhone on average it takes me about 8 minutes to download my email and get USA Today downloaded for offline reading. I do this once or twice a day. So for me I can count on using AT LEAST 8 minutes/day. I hope this helps the OP better estimate his needs.

 

 

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[Ken the cruiser]

The OP is Canadian and there are no free Canadian news sites on HAL.

I love being able to read my local newspaper while on a cruise.

 

Where available I always buy the unlimited package so I can use FB Mesenger to communicate with others we are sailing with. We can find each other fast in a crowded Lido for instance. I have a tiny Bluetooth speaker and we use the CBC radio app to listen to our local CBC station in our cabin in the morning as well.

There is a small comfort in being able to access some familiar things when you are far away from home.

 

The internet on HAL is not only slow---it is slow beyond belief, although there has been some improvement in the last few years. When I used to buy a timed package I found a lot of time was wasted in watching that little circle swirl around. Sometimes precious minutes are lot just trying to log off if the system isn't cooperating.

 

We have found the best time to check email is after 9 pm. We go up to the Crows Nest after the show and check it then. Download speeds are super fast. It also helps that most folks on HAL at that time of night are getting ready for bed and are off the internet.

 

As for newspapers as an alternate source, HAL prints out the newspaper briefs, usually 4 to 6 pages, from both a Canadian newspaper and the New York Times as well as from a few other countries every morning and has them available at various spots around the ship. They do a pretty good job of keeping you somewhat up to date with what's going on in your applicable country.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Ken the cruiser

[sapper1]

We have found the best time to check email is after 9 pm. We go up to the Crows Nest after the show and check it then. Download speeds are super fast. It also helps that most folks on HAL at that time of night are getting ready for bed and are off the internet.

 

As for newspapers as an alternate source, HAL prints out the newspaper briefs, usually 4 to 6 pages, from both a Canadian newspaper and the New York Times as well as from a few other countries every morning and has them available at various spots around the ship. They do a pretty good job of keeping you somewhat up to date with what's going on in your applicable country.

 

We do pick up the Canadian news flyer but find it is not substantial.

Thanks for the tip on the Crow's Nest and speed. Sometimes our cabin is not near one of those ceiling cones.

[jtl513]

Just curious...can you purchase a smaller package and then upgrade to a larger package if needed, or do they force you to buy a second package?

 

Have never seen an upgrade so assume you would need to purchase a 2nd package.

IIRC we used to be able to add time to an existing package, but on my last few cruises I don't remember seeing that option ... just use up what you've got and then start another.