Internet with my own laptop?

[Spa girl nana]

I have a Verizon wireless thing that plugs into my computer and wonder if that will work. I've been told, by my cell phone service, that I need to get an international connection for the month I'll be cruising for my cell phone to avoid roaming. I haven't called Verizon about an "international" rate for internet coverage. I'll be cruising New England/Canada, so 3 of our stops will be in the US anyway and 2 in Canada.

 

Anyone have any experience with this type of internet service?

[wannacruisemore]

We have wireless thru Verizon for the internet as we travel alot in our Motorhome. Has anyone used it on an Alaskan Cruise???:)

[ManOfTheHour]

Does anyone know if you can use a mac onboard? RCCL says window's machines only... do you need to run a program on your computer, because otherwise I'd imagine it would be the same.

[madforcruising]

Does anyone know if you can use a mac onboard? RCCL says window's machines only... do you need to run a program on your computer, because otherwise I'd imagine it would be the same.

 

 

No Mac experience here, but from reading the boards it seems that they say this mostly because they don´t want to have to offer support for MAC (not that they would offer much support for PC:rolleyes:).

 

However I´ve seen many posts from people saying their MAC worked without problems and some that reported MAC didn´t work. I recall posts that there´s one ship in the fleet (can´t remember which one) where MAC´s wouldn´t work, even crew couldn´t get their MAC´s to work. This problem might be solved though as it has been some time since that was posted.

[KeywestK]

Another option....take your computer (especially is you are traveling with a smaller netbook) with you when you go off the ship and stop in at a coffee shop. Good chance of free hi-speed internet access.

 

Karen

[madforcruising]

Another option....take your computer (especially is you are traveling with a smaller netbook) with you when you go off the ship and stop in at a coffee shop. Good chance of free hi-speed internet access.

 

Karen

 

 

Good advice, though I have to admit I rather pay for my internet than waste my time ashore with it.

[OceanDreams]

Anybody know if the AOS has wireless in the cabins?

 

OceanDreams

 

Sorry I'm posting this again....I didn't see an answer. Thanks

 

OceanDreams

[madforcruising]

Sorry I'm posting this again....I didn't see an answer. Thanks

 

OceanDreams

 

 

NO, the only ships with WiFi in cabins are Freedom class and supposingly the upcoming Oasis. All other ships in the fleet have WiFi Hotspots throughout the ships that do not serve the cabins.

 

If your cabin happens to be very close to a HotSpot you might be lucky, but don´t count on it. The WiFi signal does not travel well on a steel ship.

[VickyMcG]

Good advice, though I have to admit I rather pay for my internet than waste my time ashore with it.

I absolutely agree, however, sometimes in port you can pick up a signal. And do note that your laptop is probably a lot faster than the ship's sloowww computers. I enjoyed mine on ROS.

[madforcruising]

I absolutely agree' date=' however, sometimes in port you can pick up a signal. And do note that your laptop is probably a lot faster than the ship's sloowww computers. I enjoyed mine on ROS.[/color']

 

Oh yeah WIFI is a lot faster than their computers. 49kbps vs. 11Mbps

[OceanDreams]

NO, the only ships with WiFi in cabins are Freedom class and supposingly the upcoming Oasis. All other ships in the fleet have WiFi Hotspots throughout the ships that do not serve the cabins.

 

If your cabin happens to be very close to a HotSpot you might be lucky, but don´t count on it. The WiFi signal does not travel well on a steel ship.

 

Madforcruising.... thank you. The "WiFi Cabin" really was my only issue as I had already found the Hotspots on a AOS Compass dated May 17, 2009.

 

Here they are just in case anyone else needed the info.

Cloud 9 -- Deck 14 -- 24 hours

Conference Center -- Deck 2 forward -- 24 hours

Royal Promenade -- Deck 5 -- 24 hours

Solarium -- Deck 11 -- 24 hours

 

OceanDreams

[madforcruising]

Madforcruising.... thank you. The "WiFi Cabin" really was my only issue as I had already found the Hotspots on a AOS Compass dated May 17, 2009.

 

Here they are just in case anyone else needed the info.

Cloud 9 -- Deck 14 -- 24 hours

Conference Center -- Deck 2 forward -- 24 hours

Royal Promenade -- Deck 5 -- 24 hours

Solarium -- Deck 11 -- 24 hours

 

OceanDreams

 

You are welcome. BTW it might pay to try different HotSpots, as not all of them are equally good speedwise.

[bobyng]

I do not recall seeing printers at the computer stations. Not sure how you

could do that.

 

If I were you and you are going to the airport from the ship, tell the Guest

Relations desk that you are going on a flight and you have to get there

early. Then you have plenty of time to get the boarding pass from

your airport or the kiosk.

 

Happy cruising!!!

 

There is not a printer at each work station. There is a network printer for the entire internet cafe.

[mohavemommy]

Is there a way to print onboard, say your boarding pass for the return flight home?

 

Yes, the main internet cafe does have a printer. The last night of our cruise last month it was packed with people trying to print the boarding passes. Fortunately I had just printed mine as the internet connection for the ship went down. It was several hours before it was back up.

[madforcruising]

Yes, the main internet cafe does have a printer. The last night of our cruise last month it was packed with people trying to print the boarding passes. Fortunately I had just printed mine as the internet connection for the ship went down. It was several hours before it was back up.

 

 

Often the Business Center on the ship (at least on the Radiance class ships) has a printer as well.

 

Another thought, make sure before starting the session where you want to print something, make sure there´s enough paper in the printer. I´ve seen the printers running out of paper a couple of times.

 

BTW on RCCL printing is free of any extra charge.

[OceanDreams]

BTW on RCCL printing is free of any extra charge.

 

Now that is a selling item. LOL

 

OceanDreams

[madforcruising]

Now that is a selling item. LOL

 

OceanDreams

 

:D:D:D

 

The reason I mentioned it, is that I actually saw other cruise lines charging extra for printing:eek:

[highseasme]

I also called RCCL customer care and they said that the ship had Hotspots onboard but I would need to have a Windows operating system to get a signal...really RCCL? The ship just came out of dry dock refurbishment and we are entirely an APPLE family, iPhone 4S, Macbook Pro and iPad Cannot imagine why they would not work. Anyone know for sure?

[Merion_Mom]

I also called RCCL customer care and they said that the ship had Hotspots onboard but I would need to have a Windows operating system to get a signal...really RCCL? The ship just came out of dry dock refurbishment and we are entirely an APPLE family, iPhone 4S, Macbook Pro and iPad Cannot imagine why they would not work. Anyone know for sure?

 

Yes.

 

The guy on the phone was wrong.

 

You should have no problem using the signal.

 

Bon Voyage!

[Cotswold Eagle]

Although there are some issues using their WiFi with iOS devices (and Royal's official line is still as you were told), you'll be fine, as Merion_Mum says. I have been using iPhones and iPads on board for a couple of years with no problem.

 

The iOS issue is getting the log off screen. See this (more recent than the one you found!) thread for more details - the final post is useful, assuming the log off URL hasn't changed, but I am still yet to have a problem with carefully cycling the WiFi.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=32657510

[trojan3000]

We had WiFi in our stateroom on Voyager fantastic signal but I did not have a CARNIVAL password (the ship next door)

[idalia]

For people that don't pay attention to thread dates, this thread was started in 2009. The $0.55/minute rate has gone up since then.

 

Here is the latest pricing:

 

The cost for Wi-Fi access through your own laptop is:

 

Base rate is $.65 per minute or choose from one of our prepaid packages:

• $35 for 60 minutes
  
• $55 for 100 minutes
  
• $75 for 150 minutes
  
• $100 for 250 minutes
  
• $150 for 500 minutes