Internet on Prinsendam

[Howasaur]

We are on a 24 day Amazon Explorer cruise and would like to e-mail our family back home. Does anyone know options the Cost, Packages available for using the Internet.

[maxout]

Recent thread...

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1475051

[Krazy Kruizers]

You may find that going down the Amazon the Interrnet may not work at all.

[Howasaur]

Thanks for the reply. Reading the one above I think Internet Cafes may be far and few between the port of calls we are stopping at. I was wondering if there is someone out there who as used the internet while cruising up the amazon

[luvcruisn']

A lot of passengers and crew used an internet place not far from the cruise dock in Santarem. There were probably many internet places in Manaus - I didn't look for them, but it's a big city. Parintins also has internet cafes.

[catl331]

You may find that going down the Amazon the Interrnet may not work at all.

:confused: Strange, I would think that the satellite reception would be excellent at that latitude. :confused:

[Mary Ellen]

:confused: Strange, I would think that the satellite reception would be excellent at that latitude. :confused:

I agree. It's the polar regions where one will have problems. We've never encountered any problems near the equator, but we've been warned that we're going to lose the satellite both in the Arctic and Antarctic. I don't think we're the confused ones. ;)

[Howasaur]

This will be the first cruise that we have though of purchasing internet. My wife thought it would be nice to keep in touch with our daughter and son in law.

[LindaM]

We were able to have internet access in our cabin, if we kept the door open. The computer didn't need to be near the door. That was a pleasant surprise!

[rafinmd]

I'm no expert here, but I think satellites are in a 24-hour orbit so they rotate with the earth, maintaining the same geographic position, and are placed over areas of the ocean where there are significant numbers of ships. I suspect there is not enough traffic on the Amazon to justify coverage there. Not sure but that's my guess.

 

Roy

 

FWIW, my internet experience on the Prinsendam (cabin immediately below MDR) was that wifi worked if I cracked my door at all. I would usually prop it slightly open with a shoe and got decent reception.

[Mary Ellen]

Roy, I'd say that is an interesting guess. The term you are describing is geosynchronous. That is the orbit used for communication satellites. They are not however limited to ocean coverage, nor is their primary use for ships. Being in the Amazon region will not affect the ability to access a satellite.

[jtl513]

Being in the Amazon region will not affect the ability to access a satellite.

Geosynchronous orbits are directly over the equator (or sometimes slightly inclined) but there may be some directional antennas on the satellite that are not aimed for optimal reception on the Amazon. (This is not my field of expertise either, so I'm just speculating.)

[Mary Ellen]

jtl513 - that may well be the case. If so, my hat's off to Princess. We didn't have any problems with their bridge cam following FIL's 10-12 days or so on the Amazon. They must have drug along one heck of a long phone cord for the dial-up to show those images 24-hrs a day. :) My money's still on the satellite coverage though.