Taking a Laptop in The Spirit?

[driker2]

This subject has probably been covered before, but I can’t locate a comprehensive answer. My wife and are just a few weeks from a 14 day cruise on the Norwegian Spirit. My Internet and e-mail juices are beginning to rebel at the possibility of so long an electronic dry-spell, so I am seriously considering bringing along my laptop. My laptop currently has a wireless network card in it and I am planning to add a USB hard-wired network card. This may sound like I am very technically skilled – I am NOT!

 

We will be on the Spirit in one of the AB suites on deck 10 in the front of the ship.

 

My questions are:

 

> Are their USB network connections in the suites (or, out of curiosity, in the regular cabins) on the Spirit?

 

> If so, I will probably have no need for the ship’s Internet room.

 

> If not, will my WiFi card receive the ship’s wireless transmissions in the Internet room? Will I have to make modifications in my computer?

 

> Is the cost of Internet time on the Spirit calculated only in minutes of use time or is there some type of “always-on” package available?

 

For those of you who have used computers on board cruise ships, are the connections reliable and always available? Have you experienced any problems with sending and/or receiving e-mails?

 

(Go Eagles!)

[tfitz77]

Dick,

Just got back from the 5 nighter on the Spirit. We were in suite 10500. I'm not sure which suite you're in, but I'm sure they are all the same. There is no USB connection in the suite, there is an ethernet port that you have to have activated through the Internet Manager. There is wireless available in the Internet cafe and in the Grand Centrum. Just to let you know, they charge more per minute if you use the wireless instead of the computers in the Cafe. Minutes are sold either at a per minute rate or in blocks of time. If you wait and sign up on the first day, they offer you extra minutes (20 mins. extra on the 5 day cruise) if you purchase one of the plans. This is the link to NCL's internet info page. http://www.ncl.com/more/internet_cafe.htm They also offer a deal for 15.95 for 30 mins. the last day of the cruise. The WiFicard you have should work fine as long as it's 80.11B/G. For in room access, you should bring your own ethernet cable with you or they will charge you for one. (Much cheaper to bring your own. Make sure it's long enough to move around. I recomend at least 10-15 footer). There is no unlimited plan. Hope this info helps. PS. say "Hi" to Maxi the butler and Lisa the concierge for me. They were both great. If you'd like to see pictures of the room, they are posted here on my website. http://homepage.mac.com/tfitz77/PhotoAlbum5.html

 

Tom & Lisa :)

[SVR]

We had a laptop with wireless card with us earlier this month. We were on deck 6 and couldn't get any service wired or wireless in our room.I had to take my laptop up to the library or internet cafe to make it work. The wireless service was pretty bad, it kept dropping me out. I found I used up to many minutes getting back on all the time. They gave me extra time to make up but was a hassle. Next time I'll use there wired computers and leave mine home. I didn't see any big lines of people waiting.

[e.durban]

We were on the Dawn in Dec. and the internet cafe discount package was pretty reasonable: 250 minutes (50 were a bonus for signing up the first day) for about a $100. We really burned through 'em the first few days (sent a lot of wish-you-were-here notes to jealous friends in NYC) and when our ports were rearranged and we had to reschedule several excursions we had booked on our own. It turned out to be plenty of time for an 11 day cruise...a good deal. Needed the notebook to get some writing done, though.