Internet Access = $30 an hour or $1000 for Cruise - Stealing?

[sjbdtz]

Oh my gosh... you remind me so much of a good friend and colleague of mine. I'll tell you exactly what I tell him...

 

If you got run over by a truck tomorrow on the way to work, the business would still function.

 

All of the things you fear would happen if you aren't there would not surface, someone else would handle it. Ever stop to think that maybe NOT having 24/7 access to you might actually make them appreciate you more?

 

I lost my BIL this year, and he felt as you do about his business. News flash - Life is too short. Wake up and realize it. On your tombstone they aren't going to write "he was a good employee/manager/boss and worked on his vacations"

 

JMHO

 

If I was hit by a truck, then I wouldn't care any longer what happened in my territory. HOWEVER, for as long as I am employed in this capacity...what happens in my territory directly affects my income, success, career opportunities, etc.

 

I don't work every day...but I demand the ability to work, when required.

[sjbdtz]

Oh my gosh... you remind me so much of a good friend and colleague of mine. I'll tell you exactly what I tell him...

 

If you got run over by a truck tomorrow on the way to work, the business would still function.

 

All of the things you fear would happen if you aren't there would not surface, someone else would handle it. Ever stop to think that maybe NOT having 24/7 access to you might actually make them appreciate you more?

 

I lost my BIL this year, and he felt as you do about his business. News flash - Life is too short. Wake up and realize it. On your tombstone they aren't going to write "he was a good employee/manager/boss and worked on his vacations"

 

JMHO

 

If I was hit by a truck, then I wouldn't care any longer what happened in my territory. HOWEVER, for as long as I am employed in this capacity...what happens in my territory directly affects my income, success, career opportunities, etc.

 

I don't work every day...but I demand the ability to work, when required.

[Topaz_Princess]

PRINCESS is Charging $30 Per Hour for internet Service

 

This is our fourth cruise on Princess. My wife and I both run our own businesses and need internet access and assumed because the brochure indicated in had internet access that it was reasonable priced. (Note – platinum level cruisers receive internet access free per the brochure which may be very misleading as it does not cover wireless and this ship is not hard wired) Not so. Princess wants 50 cents per minute and we usually purchase 24/7 access for $10 per day or a little more on a ship. Not so on Princess as Princess wants $30 an hour for wireless internet which is the same as stealing. Joan must work several hours a day as she is in contract negotiations and dealing with ongoing client issues. Would never have booked on this ship or with Princess if we had known of this pricing before hand. Does anyone at Princess understand what is going on in the world.

 

1. finish your job before going on a cruise or after your 4th cruise u should have known whats going on.

 

2. if she is so important and running her own business pay and put it under business expenses ? good Tax deduction.

 

3. go on Land Vacation i think holiday inn express has free internet.

[chasetf]

Case of Ready, Fire, Aim. If internet access was that important and necessary, and the cost was a factor, it would seem to me it would be imprudent to not check it out before hand.

 

Too bad he didn't find CC pre cruise as internet costs are discussed all the time. :o .....and only found it post cruise to complain. :(

 

Why would the OP think the cost would be the same (or equivalent) on a ship, plane, ??? as it is at home.

[camNaud]

I'm not sure to whom you are addressing these questions...but I'll answer them for you:

 

 

1. Great idea about using someone else's account. Won't work for wireless though, for those who need to use their own laptops (including those who compose email off-line and then upload it)

 

2. BECAUSE business is this critical, the choices are:

- go away...enjoy...but be in touch periodically OR

- don't go away...ever.

 

3. Before internet access was available on cruiseships, we took land vacations.

 

Yes, the world has changed. Now you're no longer in competition with the guy next door for your job, but with him, the guy two towns over, and 2 billion people in China & India, who are equally qualified.

 

If the business proves it can function without you....then there's an improved chance that it will choose to function without you :mad: in the future.

 

In my case I manage a territory for a company (I'm not the owner)...but I'm uniquely responsible (and impacted by) what happens in the territory. Yes, I have backup coverage from the Director, but he usually accepts my decisions and generally bows to my experience & knowledge of the intricacies of my particular territory.

 

So when the proverbial hits the fan, it doesn't matter if I've chosen to try & get away that week...things need to be resolved, and my input is required....and that's to my own advantage!

 

That's why internet is good, and why occasionally cell phones are necessary (though in my case I have email on my cellphone and rarely talk on it).

 

No worries I do understand not everyone is lucky enough to be able to take the full chill pill for long periods of time.

 

Perhaps you are in the wrong business if you can't 'Relax in your own time'.

[Colo Cruiser]

For the OP,

thank goodness "Joan" is not working on my contract. :eek:

 

 

Maybe she should stay home until the job is finished correctly. :rolleyes:

[camNaud]

Oh my gosh... you remind me so much of a good friend and colleague of mine. I'll tell you exactly what I tell him...

 

If you got run over by a truck tomorrow on the way to work, the business would still function.

 

All of the things you fear would happen if you aren't there would not surface, someone else would handle it. Ever stop to think that maybe NOT having 24/7 access to you might actually make them appreciate you more?

 

I lost my BIL this year, and he felt as you do about his business. News flash - Life is too short. Wake up and realize it. On your tombstone they aren't going to write "he was a good employee/manager/boss and worked on his vacations"

 

JMHO

 

Hear! Hear! :D

[Topaz_Princess]

the OP is running out of luck he's is on the island to hawaii,pretty soon he'll be with no internet access for day or two.And they charged him $15 Corkage fee instead of $10 he posted somewhere else.

[camNaud]

the OP is running out of luck he's is on the island to hawaii,pretty soon he'll be with no internet access for day or two.And they charged him $15 Corkage fee instead of $10 he posted somewhere else.

 

I've never quite gotten the idea behind bringing your own bottle of wine, only to be charged more to drink it. We just order a bottle of something nice from the wine list. I do love Chilean and Australian wines.

[wanderingjew]

Don't expect to see OP for a while hes on the ship until Jan 11 . I don't think he will pay the charge:)

[Admiral Horatio Nelson]

I think something that is so critical to your vacation would not be overlooked when you booked the holiday? Having said that you wont really find any solution with any cruiseline as they pretty much all have something similar in place.

 

As for same as stealing, you and others who say similar things don't have any idea what goes into providing that service to you onboard a ship. Most people think 'well Comcast gives me high speed 24/7 broadband for $30 per month therefore their service is expensive. However, this is your first mistake, the service onboard costs millions to set up (hardware).

 

Have a look on any picture of a Princess ship and you will most likely see two big domes on top of the ship. They are for these services, one for TV and one for Internet/phone services. Inside sits a Parabolic Satellite transceiver, which constantly tracks one of a series of high orbiting Geo-stationary Satellites in space, where your Internet session is forwarded to a Land Earth Station somewhere in the US (most likely Florida), where there are teams of technicians working around the clock maintaining the service. It then goes out to the regular Internet. As you can imagine, this setup does not come cheap. As a rule I tell people 20% of the speed for 200 times the cost, and that's how it works.

 

Giving everyone 24/7 coverage is some way off on the high seas. The bandwidth is restricted because of the shear cost of it and until that comes down the prices will remain rather higher than on land. Although I am sure regular users will have noticed a marked reduction in cost over the last 5 years.

[sjbdtz]

No worries I do understand not everyone is lucky enough to be able to take the full chill pill for long periods of time.

 

Perhaps you are in the wrong business if you can't 'Relax in your own time'.

 

You see...I can easily take 2 weeks, and not worry about a thing. But 4 weeks is considered a little much.

 

Also, I'm making twice what I used to make, in this job...and I'm not willing to give it up just because I have to check my email once in a while on a sea day.

 

I'm ALSO taking some online courses toward a degree program, and they require attention regardless of my vacation plans.

 

THAT's why I chose an intinerary where there were ports I'd visited already, and sea days...in addition to the ports I haven't seen yet.

 

I don't understand why people can't get around the notion of having the best of both worlds. I don't resent checking-in, in the least. It ensures my future success and gives me the financial wherewithall to afford the housing, transporation, vacations, & clothing on which I tend to splurge.

[sjbdtz]

Inside sits a Parabolic Satellite transceiver, which constantly tracks one of a series of high orbiting Geo-stationary Satellites in space, As you can imagine, this setup does not come cheap.

 

Yes. GPS systems work on the same principle. I got one for under $100.

 

It's not as though the ship doesn't require these communications abilities for its own purposes & safety.

 

The fact is that internet provision is a 3rd party service which is operated as a profit centre. I believe the company is Maritime Telecom...they also operate the phone system.

[spongerob]

I know a fellow who refuses to pay for internet. He goes to Starbucks where they have free internet service. Of course, he pays $4 for a cup of coffee...somehow, someway you always pay.

[donna5]

As for same as stealing, you and others who say similar things don't have any idea what goes into providing that service to you onboard a ship. Most people think 'well Comcast gives me high speed 24/7 broadband for $30 per month therefore their service is expensive. However, this is your first mistake, the service onboard costs millions to set up (hardware).

 

I think comcast is close to $50-$60. I'd like to find broadband for $30 month.

[FuzzyMelton]

I know a fellow who refuses to pay for internet. He goes to Starbucks where they have free internet service. Of course, he pays $4 for a cup of coffee...somehow, someway you always pay.

 

AMEN to that, nothing is free, someone is paying for it one way or another.

 

I too agree that the charges are to high with the current technology. The ship is already hooked to the internet for their normal business. My wife and I try to travel once a year without the 4 kids and it is nice to stay in touch from time to time with a few pictures and some notes.

 

good luck on your quest!

[Admiral Horatio Nelson]

Yes. GPS systems work on the same principle. I got one for under $100.

 

It's not as though the ship doesn't require these communications abilities for its own purposes & safety.

 

The fact is that internet provision is a 3rd party service which is operated as a profit centre. I believe the company is Maritime Telecom...they also operate the phone system.

 

It always makes me laugh when people try to compare the things they bought in Radio Shack to the ships. Your GPS 'receiver' thing is not in any way even close to the technology I described. So you are wrong on that count.

 

And you are also wrong on the second one, the ship does not need those domes to navigate or communicate in any way, they are totally provided for the passengers. Look at your same picture of your favourite ship and you will see two smaller domes at the forward section of the ship, they are Imnarsat B or A transceivers. That is for the ship to communicate with land, the two are mutually exclusive.

 

The company is called Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN) and it still costs a lot of money and is still restricted by bandwitdh due to satellite limitations.

 

Like I have said before, a little knowledge can be dangerous! You can try to rationalise it as much as you want but the facts remain the same, as I stated prevously.

 

Have a look at http://www.mtnsat.com if you want to know about the technology.

[spongerob]

AMEN to that, nothing is free, someone is paying for it one way or another.

 

I too agree that the charges are to high with the current technology. The ship is already hooked to the internet for their normal business. My wife and I try to travel once a year without the 4 kids and it is nice to stay in touch from time to time with a few pictures and some notes.

One thing you might be forgetting is that the available bandwidth is quite limited (there isn't an overabundance of satellites) so using those systems at sea is going to cost a whole lot more compared to being on land, where there are a multitude of suppliers who have an excess of bandwidth to sell.

 

I don't know that I've ever used more than about 60 minutes total internet time during a cruise. It's a bit tough for me to get away, too, but I can pre-manage my affairs for about two weeks. That's just long enough for my clients to really start missing me, but not long enough for things to get so bad I can't put the pieces back together again.

[Admiral Horatio Nelson]

One thing you might be forgetting is that the available bandwidth is quite limited (there isn't an overabundance of satellites) so using those systems at sea is going to cost a whole lot more compared to being on land, where there are a multitude of suppliers who have an excess of bandwidth to sell.

 

Exactly. Bandwidth as people refer to is mostly (on land) travelling through cable, of your ISP and cable is something that we don't have a lot of use for at sea! This is why the bandwidth at sea costs a lot more and is not as fast. There is a delay (3 second) with satellite that cannot be overcome at present.

[TexasMom2]

Exactly. Bandwidth as people refer to is mostly (on land) travelling through cable, of your ISP and cable is something that we don't have a lot of use for at sea! This is why the bandwidth at sea costs a lot more and is not as fast. There is a delay (3 second) with satellite that cannot be overcome at present.

 

If it's so expensive, why does Princess give it away to Platinum and above members? It would seem that if it were as costly as you claim, they would need more control over the usage, and its effect on the bottom line. Yet they are giving it away, unlimited, making the cost per voyage an unknown variable week-to-week.

 

Since you are knowledgable about the subject, can you shed some light on the reason why the cost went up, instead of down?

[JLC@SD]

The cruise line is there to provide you with a comfortable and stress-free vacation.

 

They are not there to provide the infrastructure to run your business.

 

It's a cruise ship, not an office.

 

BRAVO......well said......;)

[AliceJ]

I don't work every day...but I demand the ability to work, when required.

 

If you DEMAND the ability to work, then you really need to do your homework far better than you have!!

 

YOU need to figure out what vacations allow you to access your office at a price you find acceptable, NOT expect that your chosen vacation will allow you to work to your expectations.

 

DH owns a law firm, and we both own real estate management firms. We do need to be in touch during vacation. BUT, we research what our internet access will be (if we have it at all) and what it will cost us, well before we make any sort of reservation. It is OUR responsibility to choose the right vacation for us, including access to our offices and what it will cost.

 

While I realize you don't work for yourself, for those of us that do:

 

no work = no money.

 

There is not a fixed paycheck that we get, so we have more of an incentive to be in touch!

 

I do hope that you find the right vacation for you - everyone needs a chance to get away and relax - and that it meets all of your needs.:)

[turbo46032]

Yes. GPS systems work on the same principle. I got one for under $100.

 

It's not as though the ship doesn't require these communications abilities for its own purposes & safety.

 

Not quite. I develop products that usually use both GPS and various incarnations of wireless communications... a GPS receiver is a receive-only system and is not tailored to anyone in particular. The technology has been there for nearly 20 years and is quite inexpensive.

 

Sat-based telecommunications are quite different, and quite a bit less advanced (in terms of price/performance). If the original idea behind things like Iridium had worked the way originally envisioned, we'd be there. But we all know how Iridium worked (not) (here is a reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_(satellite)

 

In other words, we're not there yet. Depending on the itinerary, a quad band GPRS phone (Cingular or Tmobile) may be your best bet, or else, don't go...

[Ethel5]

If you DEMAND the ability to work, then you really need to do your homework far better than you have!!

 

YOU need to figure out what vacations allow you to access your office at a price you find acceptable, NOT expect that your chosen vacation will allow you to work to your expectations.

 

DH owns a law firm, and we both own real estate management firms. We do need to be in touch during vacation. BUT, we research what our internet access will be (if we have it at all) and what it will cost us, well before we make any sort of reservation. It is OUR responsibility to choose the right vacation for us, including access to our offices and what it will cost.

 

BRAVO!!!!

 

It's called taking responsibility for oneself. So many demand this and that and make no effort to do anything to enhance their vacations.

[T&J]

Exactly. Bandwidth as people refer to is mostly (on land) travelling through cable, of your ISP and cable is something that we don't have a lot of use for at sea! This is why the bandwidth at sea costs a lot more and is not as fast. There is a delay (3 second) with satellite that cannot be overcome at present.

 

FYI Admiral, the only additional cost to Princess is the seperate router they use for the MTN system for wireless internet vs Internet Cafe which is on seperate router as well. (is what's it's called onboard Princess Ships). there is no additional soft or hard costs to provide it FREE to pax's who have attained Elite or Platinum. The Company pays a flat monthly fee for the saltelite connection wether they talk on it one minute or 50000 hours. It's a bulk rate.

 

I don't blame the Company at all in sourcing a new revenue generation as this.

 

Tony

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