Internet questions on Summit

[jenjes3]

Hello - we are sailing on 6/5 to Bermuda.. thinking about bringing my laptop.. do they have wireless access? How much is the cost for this? Or do they provide hook ups in rooms/ internet cafe? Thank you

Karen

[BobNY]

Enter "summit wifi" in the search box above. You will find many threads discussing availability, locations, pricing, speed, satisfaction, etc.

[Denny01]

Or go to the Celebrity website and enter 'internet' in the search and the FAQ will list a lot of info.

 

We take our iPad and use to take our laptops and used them on cruise. Access can be slow and starts at .65 per min and goes down with various packages. You get an additional 20% more minutes if you sign up early. You go to the Internet room and set up an account and then use your own computer or theirs.

 

Access on Summit I believe is not throughout the ship but near the Internet room or in certain areas around it such as the Cova Cafe. Always used that spot for coffee and email checking.

 

Someone who has cruised Summit recently can say what areas are now avail.

 

Enjoy!

 

Den

[Janet524]

WiFi is available. You set up account and password at the internet cafe. There are several different packages available and the per minute rate varies per package, but I think an average is about $.65/minute. As Elite Captains Club members DH and I both get 90 free minutes and except for airline check in and printing boarding passes rarely bother getting online. You could chisel a message in stone faster than the internet downloads, so minutes are chewed up quickly. (Gee, I wonder if that's by design???)

[sunshineyday]

I was on the 5/15 Summit to Bermuda and needed to log in daily (no way around it, had to do that for work). Some tips:

 

- Yes, they have wireless, available at or close to their hotspots on several decks of the ship. The room I used most was on floor 6 (down the hall from my stateroom). The room was used for classes as well, so if I needed to log in when a class was in session, I sat in a chair outside the room. I also logged on in the Martini Bar, but there were many distractions. I heard that the library was a good, quiet place (and even has outlets to plug in your computer), but I didn't test it out.

 

- It's frequently stated that the service blocks VoIP programs like Skype, but not well-documented that they also block remote access programs if you are logging in to a main computer. I brought my netbook which is not loaded with all of my programs, and planned to log in to my main system via remote access (Logmein). Spent 5 minutes unable to connect, very glad the internet guy ("World Wide Warren") was there to tell me it's blocked or I would have kept trying and wasted minutes. Also, if I didn't have someone back home able to handle work stuff for me, I would have been in a bind.

 

- The minutes add up fast, so log off when you don't need to be online. I would download my emails, respond offline (sometimes in my stateroom), and visit the hotspot area to send/receive.

 

- As you're in a public area, be ready for lots of passers-by to ask about the internet, how to log on, etc. while you're scrambling to get stuff done and not use up your minutes :)

 

- I purchased the 4-hour package on day one that I believe was $99 or so. They offered 10% bonus minutes if you signed up for your package on the first day. I believe some cabin classes had actual discounts or free minutes vouchers in their rooms on day one.

 

- The speed was not as bad as I had expected. It was zippier than RC's pathetic internet service on past cruises. Even World Wide Warren said that the Summit to Bermuda has one of the fastest internet speeds that he's seen on a ship. He also said that the system will be greatly upgraded when it's Solsticized.

 

Hope this helps!

[JerseyGem]

Thanks for those great tips!

 

(Your post was so helpful- have you considered writing a review of your cruise too?)

[RMSeadog]

The M-Class ships are not totally wired for WiFi as the S-Class are, you will have to go to a Hot Spot. If you compose your mail offline then log on do a send/receive it should take less than two minutes. There are packages as stated above to lower the cost per minute. However, there are no refunds for unused minutes. While slower than at home and subject to outtages due to atmospherics, maintainence and the like, it's pretty good for being hundreds of miles at sea.

[TRadle]

If you have to do lots of emails I would suggest bringing your own computer. You can use Word, or another word processing program, to compose your emails and copy and paste into your email once you log on to the Internet. This saves you some time and money.