Laptops

[robo1234]

No one seems to know how much Princess charges for use of your own laptop while on board the ship. Anyone have any experience? I even called Princess and their response was to ask the pursers office!

[Sea Hag]

I don't have a really good answer, but you don't have any answers yet, so maybe this will help. They sell packages of minutes. I think all cruiselines do that. On a recent cruise on Celebrity, I bought a package of some number of minutes or another - more than I needed really - for $40. They had a smaller package than that. Don't remember what the minutes amounts were. If you only want to check email, you probably might only need the minimal package. If you only want access so you can print boarding passes, you can pay by the minute. This page http://www.cruise-links.com/ShipboardInternet.htm has what looks to me like a pretty good overview.

[-Lew-]

No one seems to know how much Princess charges for use of your own laptop while on board the ship.

What are you asking?

 

It costs nothing to use your own laptop while onboard.

 

Are you really asking what does it cost to connect to the internet with my own laptop? If so, you can connect wirelessly in the atrium of most Princess ships for about 50¢ per minute.

 

Lew

[WWCJR]

If you check the links below you will see what the instructions were for using a laptop on our cruise in January and again in May of this year on the Caribbean Princess. These are scanned from the instruction sheet handed out in the Internet Cafe. These instruction sheets have all of the pricing information and how to log-in, etc. Go to the Internet Cafe when you board the ship. The Pursers desk doesn't have a clue. Also check the Princess Patter the first day as they usually have a special for free additional minutes if you sign up for one of the packages of minutes the first day. You will notice that these are the instructions for using a laptop which includes the package minutes. Do not listen to the posters that say that these do not apply to WiFi access. For those that qualify for free minutes the packages are billed to your onboard account and then a credit is applied.

CB WiFi.pdf

CB WiFi Trouble Connecting.pdf

[WWCJR]

What are you asking?

 

It costs nothing to use your own laptop while onboard.

 

Are you really asking what does it cost to connect to the internet with my own laptop? If so, you can connect wirelessly in the atrium of most Princess ships for about 50¢ per minute.

 

Lew

 

NO NO NO it does NOT cost $0.50 per minute, the per minute rate if you do not buy a package of minutes is $0.75 per minute. There is also a charge of $3.95 to sign-up for either packages of minutes or to use the per minute rate. Ses the scanned images in my post above of the handout from our cruises on the Caribbean Princess this year for the correct information directly from onboard the Caribbean Princess.

[-Lew-]

For those that qualify for free minutes the packages are billed to your onboard account and then a credit is applied.

Are you saying that includes wireless minutes? In the Captain's Circle section of the Princess web site there is the following statement: Does not include wireless internet access; effective on voyages beginning on or after April 1, 2007.

 

Lew

[paul929207]

We were on the Star recently, the cost of the Internet Cafe was 75 cents per minute unless you purchased a package. Then it could be as low as 40 cents per minute.

 

The WiFi was 50 cents per minute. There were no WiFi packages.

[-Lew-]

The WiFi was 50 cents per minute. There were no WiFi packages.

Thank you. That is my recollection also with respect to wireless.

 

Lew

[NanD]

Last November wireless charges on the Diamond to Hawaii were $0.50 per minute.

Nan

[WWCJR]

Lew, I have also read on the Princess web site for the Captains Circle benefits that the free minutes only apply to the computers in the Internet Cafe. But while on our last cruise on the Caribbean Princess in May I talked to several people that were doing b2b2b and they told me that they were able to use their laptops and the package prices were credited back to them as part of their Captains Circle benefits. They also were able to carry unused minutes from one week to the next.

 

The pricing for packages and for by the minute WiFi use have been the same on our two cruises on the Caribbean Princess and also a year ago the end of May first of June on the Island Princess.

 

From some of the sounds of things there could be some differences from ship to ship as there is with the pricing of washers and dryers.

[Pam in CA]

NO NO NO it does NOT cost $0.50 per minute, the per minute rate if you do not buy a package of minutes is $0.75 per minute. There is also a charge of $3.95 to sign-up for either packages of minutes or to use the per minute rate. Ses the scanned images in my post above of the handout from our cruises on the Caribbean Princess this year for the correct information directly from onboard the Caribbean Princess.

You are correct insofar as the cost of using EITHER the Internet computers or your own laptop is $0.75/minute if you don't buy a package. However, there was no charge to sign up for any package either for the Internet computers or my laptop other than purchasing the package. I was able to use either my laptop or an Internet computer after I'd bought my package, i.e., it didn't matter which computer I was on, I was logged into the package I'd bought. This was on the Sapphire in April and May.

[WWCJR]

Pam, it does appear that the way things work is different from ship to ship. All I know is that it has been the same on both the Caribbean Princess and the Island Princess when we were onboard both of them. If you read the scanned image of the instructions from the Caribbean Princess that I posted above it clearly states that the $3.85 sign-up charge applies to both the packages and the per minute usage. I have had to pay that charge on all of my cruise on Princess and I have only purchased the packages.

 

It does sounds like it varies by ship as to what is going on with the Internet Cafe, WiFi, packages and charges.

[Pam in CA]

Pam, it does appear that the way things work is different from ship to ship. All I know is that it has been the same on both the Caribbean Princess and the Island Princess when we were onboard both of them. If you read the scanned image of the instructions from the Caribbean Princess that I posted above it clearly states that the $3.85 sign-up charge applies to both the packages and the per minute usage. I have had to pay that charge on all of my cruise on Princess and I have only purchased the packages.

 

It does sounds like it varies by ship as to what is going on with the Internet Cafe, WiFi, packages and charges.

Weird. It shouldn't be that way. I'm on the Crown in four weeks so I'll know what it's like there.

[Ibrasu]

The process outlined in the scanned images above applied to the Sea Princess two weeks ago as well (though we didn't see those actual handouts).

The Internet Cafe is now being run by a company independent of Princess and the manager said this was how it was being done fleet-wide .... course, he could be wrong ......

[raydon]

We took our laptop on the CB in November and on the Sapphire syd-la cruise in April/May. It was the same on both cruises. We bought a package and then connected using our laptop. No difference.

 

Donna

[KenP]

on the sapphire princess (june 2008) I bought a bucket of 150 minutes for $75 (and then got the $75 credited automatically since I am a platinum princess member).

 

Anyway I was overjoyed that I was able to use my ultra portable laptop using the same login for the internet cafe wired computers. By using an offline email reader (Thunderbird) , which I had preconfigured before I left home), I really saved on the connect time. In addition I didn't even have to change the SMTP server settings either. I even had many minutes left over.

 

Thank you, Princess, you've finally got the wireless internet thing done right.

[jonikal]

Thank you, Princess, you've finally got the wireless internet thing done right.

 

 

Agree! Now if we could only get wifi in the cabins, that would truly be awesome! I'll also be configuring my laptop to enable me to read and deal with email w/o using up the minutes before our next cruise.

[qiangf2]

I tried their internet service and it is painfully slow. So I decided not to surf web at all during my cruise. Not sure if they have upgraded their equipment to allow a faster connection speed.

[Putterdude]

I tried their internet service and it is painfully slow. So I decided not to surf web at all during my cruise. Not sure if they have upgraded their equipment to allow a faster connection speed.

 

This seems to be a common complaint and for that reason plus the fact DW would probably kill me if I brought it, I leave my laptop at home and just enjoy the cruise.

[WWCJR]

I tried their internet service and it is painfully slow. So I decided not to surf web at all during my cruise. Not sure if they have upgraded their equipment to allow a faster connection speed.

 

It is agreed that the connection is painfully slow. This is one of the best reasons for taking and using your own laptop. I will log on download my emails then sign-off. I then can read and compose emails off-line, unlike if you use the Internet Cafe computers everything you do is online and you pay for it all. I restrict my use to mainly receiving and sending limited emails (non-work related). I also use it to print out our airline boarding passes the last day.

 

Toward the end of the cruise if it looks like I have unused minutes I might do a little surfing but even that I limit as there is just so much that I can torerate waiting for it to respond. I also find that very late at night it tends to be a little faster when not many others are using it. Now I have let the secret out and it will be busier at that time in the future.

[raydon]

I also noticed our laptop was faster than the cafe computers. One interesting piece of gossip we heard on the Sapphire SYD - LA was from the manager of the Sterling Steakhouse. He told us when the Sapphire goes to dry dock the Internet Cafe is moving to a much smaller location and the steakhouse will be located there, next to Sabatini's rather than in the rear of the Horizon Court. He told us the ship would be putting wireless in guest cabins and thus the smaller space. So....perhaps Princess is going in the right direction!

 

Donna

[raydon]

I also noticed our laptop was faster than the cafe computers. One interesting piece of gossip we heard on the Sapphire SYD - LA was from the manager of the Sterling Steakhouse. He told us when the Sapphire goes to dry dock the Internet Cafe is moving to a much smaller location and the steakhouse will be located there, next to Sabatini's rather than in the rear of the Horizon Court. He told us the ship would be putting wireless in guest cabins and thus the smaller space. So....perhaps Princess is going in the right direction!

 

Donna

[silvercruiser]

KenP, you mentioned an ultra portable laptop. What's the name? Does anyone have suggestions for a very light laptop that would be easy to travel with?

[KenP]

silvercruiser.

I have a Asus Eee Pc. 2 pounds. 9x6x1". $400 /new. Very handy to take on Princess cruises. Downside is small keyboard, but I do more reading than typing when traveling anyway.

[WWCJR]

KenP, you mentioned an ultra portable laptop. What's the name? Does anyone have suggestions for a very light laptop that would be easy to travel with?

 

You might also consider the HP 2133 Mini-Note. It is 10”x6.5”x1”, weighs 2.5 lbs has a keyboard that is nearly full size 92% size of a full size keyboard, so it feels like a full size keyboard and is very easy to use. It is housed in an anodized brushed aluminum case, has an 8.9” WXGA 1280x800 screen. There are a number of different models that start at $499 retail and go up. I got one that is about the top of the line that list price is $829, has 2GB RAM, 120GB 7200RPM HD, 1.6GHz processor, WiFi, Bluetooth, Built-in WebCam. Stereo microphones, stereo speakers, SD memory card slot, Express Card slot, 2 USB ports (one is high powered to power devices that would otherwise require and external power supply, an Ethernet port., Windows Vista Business, plus more. It does not have a built-in CD/DVD drive so you have to use an external drive to load programs. They have some of the models that can be bought on their website but there are others that you would need to locate one of their business dealers such as CDW to purchase., I have not seen any of these in retail stores so far. I have had mine about a month and really love it. It is very easy to take with you and is about the size and weight of a portable DVD player. In fact I use a case for a portable DVD player to carry it.

 

Tip: I just loaded only must have software on it and use a 4GB SD memory card to store any personal data that I do not want in someone else’s hands if it is stolen or lost. I also use a USB broadband card with it for high speed internet.

 

P.S. I do not work for HP but do use a lot of their products in equipment that I design. After reading what I have written it does sound like an ad for them but I am just a happy owner and like to share a good thing with others.