Internet minutes & loaner laptop

[Phils]

On our very first cruise last fall (my submarine vet group chartered the entire HAL ship, now we are addicted to cruising forever) I dug out an old laptop and monitored my business and email without problem, but the dang thing must weight 10 lbs and is pretty slow. Also, modem only... no wireless.

 

We're signed up for an 11-day cruise on the Sun in late Oct. NCL's website says I can buy internet access for $100 (250 minutes) or $55 (100 minutes) and that there is a complimentary laptop available and optional insurance for it at $3/day.

 

Has anybody used these before? Seems like a great deal but I'm a little concerned about 'key logging programs' and wireless security as many client's personal info is accessible through my business login.

 

And are there plenty of these 'loaners' or do I need to reserve one in advance, if I even can do that? Or should I drag along my 15-yr-old Win95 Gateway? Is there modem access from the staterooms on Sun?

 

Phil

[Philob]

If you are concerned about "key logging" you should bring your own laptop and not use any provided by the ship or onshore internet cafes.

 

This one of the primary reasons I lug my laptop on my trips:cool:

[garycarla]

You could also just use the desktop computers in the internet cafe on the ship. Yes, there could be loggers there, but somewhat less chance since the actual computer is locked down and they do not allow stuff to be installed. Of course the staff could do that, but not a passenger.

 

 

To read lots of FAQs about cruising with NCL, click here

[Carnac767]

I lugged my laptop on our Baltic cruise but left it at home for the cruise last week. The internet cafe on the Sun has plenty of PC stations. One was always available. The ship also runs lots of daily specials on the internet. The connection on the Sun seemed to be much faster than on the Dream. I don't know if that's due to different equipment or just a different location and satellite (Baltic vs Caribbean). My advice is to leave the laptop at home. Save the weight.

[cargoagent]

We were on the Sun last Nov and I was asking the same questions. I checked it out with the person looking after the internet area. The laptops they do have for loaners are "old and slow" (her words) and they weren't good at picking up a wifi signal in area's that had it. I believe the suites and above categories have wifi as well. We ended up using the desktops provided. Unless you need private secure internet access I would just use the desktops.

 

The newer ships (Pearl, Jewel, Gem, Jade) have more wifi hotspots throughout than the older ships.

[Antioch Cruiser]

On our very first cruise last fall (my submarine vet group chartered the entire HAL ship, now we are addicted to cruising forever) I dug out an old laptop and monitored my business and email without problem, but the dang thing must weight 10 lbs and is pretty slow. Also, modem only... no wireless.

 

We're signed up for an 11-day cruise on the Sun in late Oct. NCL's website says I can buy internet access for $100 (250 minutes) or $55 (100 minutes) and that there is a complimentary laptop available and optional insurance for it at $3/day.

 

Has anybody used these before? Seems like a great deal but I'm a little concerned about 'key logging programs' and wireless security as many client's personal info is accessible through my business login.

 

And are there plenty of these 'loaners' or do I need to reserve one in advance, if I even can do that? Or should I drag along my 15-yr-old Win95 Gateway? Is there modem access from the staterooms on Sun?

 

Phil

 

If you are talking about modem phone line I don't think the Sun would have one. It might end up costing more money. Everything is wireless or using your network cable. Mostly high speed Internet.

I see you are from Paradise. I work at the AAA office for one day about 7 years ago. Beautiful country.

Are you on the 10-24-08 Mexican Riviera Cruise?

Just looked you are in our roll call. Talk to you there.

[Phils]

We were on the Sun last Nov and I was asking the same questions. I checked it out with the person looking after the internet area. The laptops they do have for loaners are "old and slow" (her words) and they weren't good at picking up a wifi signal in area's that had it. I believe the suites and above categories have wifi as well. We ended up using the desktops provided. Unless you need private secure internet access I would just use the desktops.

 

The newer ships (Pearl, Jewel, Gem, Jade) have more wifi hotspots throughout than the older ships.

 

Their "old and slow" would prob'ly run races around my old Pentium 133. :D

 

So I buy 100 minutes and I can use them on either one of their laptops, in my room or at hotspots around the ship, or any of the PCs in the internet café, or from a modem in our room if I drag my old Gateway along?

 

If I use their laptop would it be a cable connection in the room (since we don't have a suite) as you mention wifi's not everywhere? I like Carnac767's advice to leave mine home and will probably follow it.

 

Both of us found it convenient to email from the room whilst the other was showering or whatever. We also logged off while composing to save minutes. That worked well but this cruise is longer and I'll likely need to check business some so think the packages will be the way to go and all the better if I CAN leave mine home.

 

I sure appreciate the help here... and we'll be better prepared because of it.

 

Phil

[garycarla]

I do not think the Sun has internet in the room, wired or wireless.

 

And of course you would not be using a modem, but an ethernet type connection. No dial up.

[cargoagent]

Their "old and slow" would prob'ly run races around my old Pentium 133. :D

 

So I buy 100 minutes and I can use them on either one of their laptops, in my room or at hotspots around the ship, or any of the PCs in the internet café, or from a modem in our room if I drag my old Gateway along?

 

If I use their laptop would it be a cable connection in the room (since we don't have a suite) as you mention wifi's not everywhere? I like Carnac767's advice to leave mine home and will probably follow it.

 

Both of us found it convenient to email from the room whilst the other was showering or whatever. We also logged off while composing to save minutes. That worked well but this cruise is longer and I'll likely need to check business some so think the packages will be the way to go and all the better if I CAN leave mine home.

 

I sure appreciate the help here... and we'll be better prepared because of it.

 

Phil

 

Sorry if I confused you. A non-suite cabin on the Sun will not have internet wired or wifi, although the young lady did say they are planning to add access "sometime soon".

 

We were away for a week and bought the 100 minute package and it worked out well. We usually checked in with home (Daughter and Mother-in -law), checked email once a day and the last day spent a bit of time checking our flight home options. We had less than 10 minutes left at the end of the cruise. I seem to remember that you could add extra minutes onto a package for a decent price if you found you were running out.

 

Hope this helps.

[Phils]

This link to NCL's FAQ page says that the Sun (and two others) has "in stateroom access". Of course, that's where I got the other info too.

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=InternetCafe

 

Maybe inroom access is new? I'm kinda surprised that all the ships don't have it.

 

Phhil

[electricron]

This link to NCL's FAQ page says that the Sun (and two others) has "in stateroom access". Of course, that's where I got the other info too.

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=InternetCafe

 

Maybe inroom access is new? I'm kinda surprised that all the ships don't have it.

 

Phhil

 

Yes, but it's not a Cat 5 ethernet cable. It's an old fashioned style network cable, as slow as a sluggish 56k modem. The Pride of Aloha has the same setup. I wouldn't be surprised if NCL had removed them by now.

[electricron]

This link to NCL's FAQ page says that the Sun (and two others) has "in stateroom access". Of course, that's where I got the other info too.

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=InternetCafe

 

Maybe inroom access is new? I'm kinda surprised that all the ships don't have it.

 

Phhil

 

Dial up access means using your internal 56k or slower modem, not as fast as a wireless card, in fact much slower.

[Phils]

I'm VERY familiar with dial-up speeds. Here at the office I'm on a superfast DSL and the phone switching office is across the street. At home way out in the country, I connect via dial-up at 26.4.

 

Don't d/l much at home. For updates I start them and check back every hour or so :o

 

But if they have a 56K modem in the stateroom I'd be satisfied. If it's a network cable I wouldn't have a connection on the old Gateway. No Cat 5 jack on mine either.

 

So maybe I STILL need to use either NCL's laptops or the cafe.

 

Phil

[garycarla]

You do not want to attempt a dial up onboard, and I doubt you could. Normal phone calls are around $7 a minute or something like that. I really do not think it is even possible. No phone line = no modem.

 

Ethernet only. If you laptop is that old that there is no cat5/ethernet possiblility, then leave it home. Or maybe think about a new one. lol

[billie5]

That is the interesting question. Why, for heaven's sake, don't you replace your museum laptop? I used to use my laptop with 17" screen and thought I would never get used to a 12" screen. Ten minutes after picking up my 2 lb. laptop, I knew I would never use an elephant again. Laptops in the 2 to 3 lb. range have become quite inexpensive -- and I wouldn't travel anywhere without mine.

 

Bill

[Phils]

It just seems a waste to buy a new laptop for the sole reason of accessing email on a cruise. Yeah, this cruise is almost two weeks and I'd wanna check on my business a few times, but still.....?

 

Having only one cruise under my belt, and that one wasn't the normal kind since we chartered the whole ship, it wasn't any big deal to get online from our room. I just assumed that ALL ships operated the same way.

 

Starting to sound like the 'internet cafe' will be a daily stop for us. Glad to read the posts that there's always spots available.

 

And it's nice to have this avenue to resolve the issue BEFORE we pack.

 

Phil

[garycarla]

It just seems a waste to buy a new laptop for the sole reason of accessing email on a cruise...

 

Hey, if you never use a laptop otherwise, then it surely would not make sense to buy one. Use the onboard computers.

 

On the other hand, I am on mine all the time and everything is here. We also take ours along with a few movies for those times stuck in an airport, or just decide to hang in cabin. Nice to have the option. Also have lots of music on ours as well.

[donaldsc]

You do realize that you can pick up a brand new laptop w all the bells and whistles for <$500. Worth it IMHO.

 

DON