2chiefs

Jam,

Where are you putting all this food you are ordering?

50 minutes ago, davekathy said:

@2chiefsWe always stay disconnected. Even before retiring. We only take one phone with us and it's off before we get out of the cab at the cruise terminal and locked in the safe once we get to our cabin. I only use about 15 minutes of our C&A internet minutes on the last day to do our airline check in and print our boarding passes. All video and some pictures I take of our trips is done with a small Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS camera. 

Sounds like our typical cruise!!

1 hour ago, cured said:

Nope. We get WIFI because it is imperative to keep the job so we can keep cruising. No posting of vacation pics till we get back.

The best reason yet for getting WiFi!!!! 

1 hour ago, pstone1 said:

We started cruising because at that time, it was a vacation “out of reach” so we could really disconnect.  Now, although we do lock up our phones in the safe while on the ship, we occasionally use our free WiFI to check email and do a little work when we’re on long B2B cruises.

We do the same thing. We will use our free internet time on the ship's computers to check on things. Also good for checking in on flights or hotel stays etc...

1 hour ago, matj2000 said:

Been on 24 voyages and never had WIFI ever.

 

You can get free WIFI in the ports and get anything need done.

 

I  once watched a family of 4 sitting next to us in the dining room, all spent the entire meal staring at there devices.   Even while eating.    They never spoke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see this a lot. Being "connected" seems to "disconnect" from family at times....

2 hours ago, WI-Cruiser said:

As Diamond we have two free days wifi between us.  We spread it out and only use it to check in on health and wellfare of family back home and maybe delete some of the junk email that has piled up.

Is that two days or WiFi or just two days internet access on the ship's computers? We do the same thing on the ship's computers but never thought of using the WiFi. 

2 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

So leave the WiFi on for the app but put it in airplane mode?

 

We like to unplug and leave them in the safe.  I’m not crazy about having to carry around a phone to read the menu.  I’d prefer a paper planner.  The last thing I want to do on a cruise is to read the news, look at Facebook.  Since we get a couple of free days of internet that’s plenty to check for an important email.  Unplugging is really important for the DH.  If he could be reached he’d have no vacation from work at all.  When we do land trips he’s worked many evenings.

 

We do listen to music or read books on kindles but it’s previously downloaded.

This is exactly how we handle it.

2 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

<<<SNIP>>>

I guess going forward we will have to use the wifi (not internet) just to access the menus and planner (but if they still have a paper planner, then I will be carrying that around.

Yeah, I'm getting the feeling everyone will need wifi on the ship eventually. Then maybe the prices will drop? LOL

4 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

You're right. My bad.

 

What do I use wifi for?

Stream Sirius XM for music in my room, local news from back home, maybe a race or NFL chat.

Surf the net

wifi calling

Maybe Facetime if I've got the grandkids with us.

Electronic banking

keep in touch with the pet sitter

Used to skim e-mails from work (when I worked) just in case my co-workers need help with anything. Also, so I didn't come back to 3000 e-mails waiting for me

No worries....

Ah, the ol' 3000 email pile up. I hated those.

Not so bad now that I'm retired. The biggest pile ups now are junk mail.

2 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Are you the only one? Probably not.

Unless you're paying my bills, you do you and don't worry about me. Too simple.

Who said I was worrying about you?

I was just trying to start an interesting conversation.

Sheeez

11 minutes ago, shippmates said:

We lock our phone in the safe as soon as we get out to sea.  Take it with us in ports to use the free wifi to check on our family.

 

We've done that too. Sallie needs to check in on her 94 year old mother on occasion. Sometimes she will get the phone out of the safe to call her from a port where calls would be included on our plan (IE: USVI).

10 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

<<<SNIP>>>

As far as locking phone in safe. Doubtful, this is now my camera of choice. And on today's cruising environment, you 'need' it for menu's and such

I use an inexpensive point & shoot camera that's smaller and fits in my pocket better than my phone. It also has a mechanical zoom lens that is better for distance shots than my phone would handle well. Otherwise, the phone actually takes as good as or better pictures than the point & shoot.

There is so much talk about wifi availability, costs, etc. on these threads, it amazes me that there is such a need (or desire) for wifi while cruising.

I do understand however, the need to stay in touch with relatives in special cases, etc.  I can understand needing to stay in touch on long cruises, family issues or even work for the younger folks still working.

Personally, we like to lock up our phones in the safe while on a cruise and disconnect from the outside world and enjoy our vacation. We typically take cruises that are shorter 7 to 14 days in length. We don't bring computers or tablets with us.

Disclaimer: Pre-cruise, I do love to read live reviews from the ship from those that like to submit them. However, I personally would rather spend my time doing other things on the cruise than reporting and posting pictures. But for those that do, thank you.

I thought might be a fun thread to hear from others how they feel about wifi and how they use it on the ship.

9 hours ago, later said:

The price ranges anywhere from 700 to 1800 so I would appreciate it if someone with experience with having one would respond.

 

it also may depend on how many people you have in the cabana.  We only have 2.

 

 

Advice on this thread is free and you are demanding specific responses?

Lighten up. We were just having some humor!! 🙂 

5 hours ago, zekekelso said:

As an honorary owner of the ship, I would think they would let you on the bridge to steer the ship where you want, at least on sea days. 
 

Note: I’ve never actually sailed in he owners suits, so I can’t confirm that this is factual. 

Unless you stayed at a Holiday last night, I don't think you are qualified to give advice on this subject.

(Unless you know about old Holiday Inn commercials, you won't get this reference 🙂 )

Those cabanas are so expensive that I'm sure the attendant would be thrilled at 20%

🙂

39 minutes ago, keyboardjunkie said:

 

They delivered them back to our cabins later the same day.

Whew! 😓

12 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

I actually had a hard time deciding between CP and OV balconies.... what made the cut was that a) we don't quite live on the ocean and b) I'm not sure about the privacy issues of having another balcony cabin right across the ship.  In the long run, DH being retired Navy (as it appears you are as well), made the ocean view balcony win out, however since this will be our first Oasis class sailing we are really flying blind lol.

I think you will like the Oasis regardless of cabin. As big as the ship is, it really doesn't seem crowded (except on embarkation day)..

Yes, we are both retired Navy. Me in 1988 and Sallie in 1995.

Cheers

17 minutes ago, keyboardjunkie said:

<<<SNIP>>>As soon as the departing guests are all off the ship, they walk everyone down to deck 4 (elevators for handicapped) where you 'bonk' off the ship using your old sea pass card (once, they collected them but the last cruise they did not) and walk down into the terminal.  <<<SNIP>>>

Bummer. We always keep our sea pass as souvenirs (helps remembering dates, ships and cabins we've been in).

8 hours ago, whyrlygig said:

The pub menu includes Smoked Cheddar Ale Soup.  Not quite the same but could be interesting.  

What do you mean not the same????

Ale = Beer  

Cheddar = Cheese

😃🍻🧀🍺

3 hours ago, bouhunter said:

Cruise critic is getting back to normal.  A simple yes or no question results in long detailed unsolicited advice.

 The unsolicited advice was free. 

Besides it was good info for others reading the thread.

Win/Win

😊

On 9/14/2021 at 9:15 AM, John&amp;LaLa said:

 

I've found in several instances that when applying a balcony discount, CP balconies are cheaper than inside cabins

That's right! I've not gotten it cheaper for myself but I did see that when pricing cruises! When we've booked, the pricing was always about $100 or less than an interior (with the balcony discount) total for the cabin.

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

Why do people think that the “critic” part of this site’s name is about criticizing other people’s choices? I for one think it’s better that we don’t all want the same thing. 

Agreed. Seaing (spelled wrong on purpose) the ocean from our room is not special for us for instance. CP cabins have the advantage of costing very little more than an inside cabin and getting fresh air when needed. Watching people strolling in CP is more interesting (to us) than watching an ocean with no activity on it. We spend little time in our cabins anyway. 

We've stayed in Promenade rooms and have enjoyed them. Very little price increase over a standard inside cabin. We won't stay in inside rooms anymore however ever since seeing the ships quarantined during the covid breakout requiring people to stay in their cabin for days on end.

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

I wonder why that is?

Probably because the CDC guidelines change often.