good morning all,

A friend of mine is going to a Atlantic cruising trip in the next cupple of weeks. During his trip he wanna have some Internet access to check his eMails and surf the web.

He was asking me about, to prepare the computer infrastructure for him. But I am not sure, if he need a Notebook or if the Notebook or whatever is included in the rental price. I found only this information about the Internet connection:

>Is Internet access available from the ship?

>Yes, RoyalCaribbean Online allows guests to access e-mail >and the Internet for a small fee. The following ships offer >internet access in your stateroom using a Cyber Cabin >hookup that is available for rental while onboard: Adventue >of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, >Navigator of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, and Voyager >of the Seas

Does anybody have experience in surfing while cruising? The website form the cruising company is: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/

thanks

Most likely, they offer either a telephone line, or an ethernet line, in the cabin. He'd have to bring his own notebook computer, equipped with either a modem or a LAN card (you should find out which it is... the text you quoted doesn't say). I'd recommend checking to make sure the card works and that he can connect to the internet using that card before he goes on the trip. Hard to troubleshoot something remotely when you're out at sea.

But, more importantly...

IS HE CRAZY?

I love my internet connection as much as the next guy, but for God's sake, the last thing I'd want to do on a cruise ship is surf the net. Even sitting out on the deck and doing nothing is better than checking my email.

I just got back from a ten day trip to Europe, and didn't miss the net connection one bit. The only time I used one was to run to Rob's house with Roger to look up travel distance numbers for the meet competition. I wasn't tempted even for a second to check my email or the BBS.

Slap some sense into this guy.

Hello Tony,

Thanks for the answer...You know, he is really one of my best friend. But he is a crazy guy too. . He is doing all kind of contests over the internet..That's true...But he wons a lot of prices (6 month free Land Rover driving, bigger vacation vouchers for him and us etc).

I will go and ask this cruising guys, if there is on the board no experience about that.

Thanks anyway to confirm my viewpoint. I think this will be a help for his girlfriend too.

bye

depends what ports he is going into but the ports i went to in the states had normally an internet cafe quite close to the dock as lots of folk espeicaially the crew used it for keeping in touch.

Thanks!

Are they 24h open? Because this guy is a nightman...and economically. I am sure, that he compares the prices between using the internet cafe daily and the flat rate at his cabin. Strange but true...

bye

No idea as the ship was never in port at night that is when we traveled from port to port so passengers could wake up in a new port most mornings

Greetings!

Actually, send a PM or email to Joe D'Andrea. His wife and (to some extent) he are involved in the cruise business, and I get emails from him all the time while he is at sea.

Paging jdandrea...

Lessee ... insert brain dump here. :-)

From what I've experienced, Digital Seas seems to have the market cornered: http://www.digitalseas.com/

Beware - it can be pricey. If you expect to require access for more than a few hours, look for a ship with an unlimited plan. For instance, I remember the Carnival Fantasy had unlimited access for about $100 in late 2001, and it was a great deal considering the alternatives.

If you have no choice but to use their kiosks, know that you'll be using just that - a Windows-based kiosk that pretty much keeps you jailed within Internet Explorer. If you absolutely must use telnet/ssh and have a web server or other browser-accessible space handy, you may consider installing an ssh applet like http://www.mud.de/se/jta/ ... worked like a charm for me. :-D

Be prepared to pay per printed page, should you use their laser printer.

If you prefer to access from your stateroom, check in ASAP at the purser's desk once you board the ship. You may not have ethernet access and you'll have to dial-up within the ship. In that case, they usually have a limited supply of RJ11 cables and CD-ROMs you can install.

Now, actually, I avoid the software install like the plague. If you ask the admin nicely (and they have a clue ... and aren't too busy IM'ing everyone back home <LOL> - just you watch, you'll see!) you can get the dial-up info and just configure your laptop dialer solo. Sometimes you can lift this info off the CD-ROM too. :-)

One other thing about stateroom access via phone: It's usually per-minute. Any payment you make toward kiosk access usually does NOT apply. Webeat emptor!

More and more ships have 802.11b WiFi access. The reception is fine around the pool deck, the atrium/meeting areas, and some of the adjoining hallways. If you have a laptop and prefer to use that, definitely bring it - the experience will be more like using Wayport from a hotel room and, again, there's usually (but not always) a separate pricing scheme. Sometimes your kiosk access applies to it, and you'll get a popup window that shows your remaining time (which you also need to leave open). Some ships rent laptops and/or WiFi cards (PCMCIA only).

The higher category rooms and more quote-elite-unquote ships are offering (or are starting to offer) ethernet as well. Remember though, you're communicating over a maritime network. Not always the most reliable, usually kinda bursty, but it gets the job done.

What else ... don't bother with the onboard email address. Use your own via web-based access (or your laptop's email client).

Good luck, and remember, everything in moderation. <grin>

wow...Thank you!

bye

Glad to help! I should've mentioned though (and this may be obvious, but ...) if you want telnet/ssh access, set that up and test it out before you leave, not after (since by then you'll be out of luck for the most part).