Free Wi-Fi

[AlwaysReadyToSail]

In 5 weeks I will be cruising through the Mediterranean (Rome/Civitavecchia, Messina Sicily, Kudasai/Ephesus, Piraeus/Athens, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos, Naples), and was wondring if someone could please share locations of FREE WI-FI?

 

Also, I plan to dowload Viber & Skype. Does anyone have any reccommended apps for iPhone/iPad while cruising abroad? We would much rather spend our money on sights in these countries than in fees for data usage if at all possible, but we realize there are times where we will need to contact others.

 

 

Any web resources that I can use so that I can plan out where and when I can access free wi-fi?

[UKBayern]

Piraeus cruise terminal (only IN the terminal, not on the ship) has free Wifi

[pjs678]

In 5 weeks I will be cruising through the Mediterranean (Rome/Civitavecchia, Messina Sicily, Kudasai/Ephesus, Piraeus/Athens, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos, Naples), and was wondring if someone could please share locations of FREE WI-FI?

 

Also, I plan to dowload Viber & Skype. Does anyone have any reccommended apps for iPhone/iPad while cruising abroad? We would much rather spend our money on sights in these countries than in fees for data usage if at all possible, but we realize there are times where we will need to contact others.

 

 

Any web resources that I can use so that I can plan out where and when I can access free wi-fi?

 

We just got off the Equinox on 9/14. Nothing in Civitavecchia (the terminal is just a tent). Nothing totally free in Santorini, Mykonos, Naples or Kusadasi, but all of those ports have internet cafes/gelato shops/coffee shops where you can make a small purchase - coffee, ice cream, etc. and get a password for fast wifi. Naples has places in the port building where you can do this just before you get back on the ship.

 

Skype will work, and if you are calling someone with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you can use FaceTime. Make sure you turn off data roaming on your iPhone/iPad before you leave. Keep WiFi turned off on the ship unless you are using the shipboard WiFi (which is pretty reliable if you buy a package). If you decide to buy a shipboard package, do it as soon as you board so you get the 15% bonus minutes. Skype/FaceTime, etc. will not work on the shipboard WiFi.

[aquilegia]

We just got off the Equinox on 9/14. Nothing in Civitavecchia (the terminal is just a tent).

 

There are actually 5 terminals at Civitavecchia, 3 of them are permanent ones. You appear to have docked at one of the 2 temporary ones.

[pjs678]

There are actually 5 terminals at Civitavecchia, 3 of them are permanent ones. You appear to have docked at one of the 2 temporary ones.

 

My bad. I should have said - The terminal we left from and docked in was a big tent with no WiFi. :)

[World Gallery]

Piraeus cruise terminal (only IN the terminal, not on the ship) has free Wifi

They do have WIFI but we found that the Piraeus terminal was the absolute worse terminal to use it at. There were too many users trying to access it at one time and the connection would go in and out and when you did have a connection, it was very slow. Also, at this particular terminal, there were no "real workers" to help answer questions (like at the other terminals we docked at). They had a few workers sitting around in the corners just chatting with each other. It really was the worse terminal we have ever had in this regard.

Another note about WIFI in general. We did a Med. and Balic cruise back to back this summer and before leaving, got a list of WIFI spots since my husband needed to stay connected to work. Overall, WIFI was very frustrating and there was no rhyme or reason to it. For the most part, when we did find a place with WIFI, it was overly packed, too many users, and sometimes we could connect and sometimes we could not. Even if the person next to us could connect, that didn't mean we could. Forget about places like McDonald's or coffee cafes in the main areas. There is standing room only and very slow WIFI.

Also, just because you see a WIFI sign in front, doesn't mean it really works, even with the code given to you by the place. Not sure if they just want to get you into the place to order or not, but in Mykonos and Athens, that was the case, WIFI sign but no real WIFI or just a very weak signal.

About Ephesus, no WIFI at all around the ruins. We docked at Izmir and there was not WIFI there either.

Naples - had it at a restaurant in Positano that wasn't crowded.

It is almost worth buying a ship package to save yourself the aggravation and distraction of WIFI in Med. ports. Now the Baltic ports, a completely different story. It was easy to find and use in the Baltics.

 

 

[ducklite]

Go to almost any cafe in any of those areas and buy a glass of house wine or beer and they will give up the WiFi password--just ask if they have WiFi before you sit down. "WiFi" is a universal term so there won't even be a language barrier. We at times had to ask them to write the password as the accent was so heavy that we couldn't understand them--Kotor was one of those places. They had no problem writing it down for us.

 

We found house wine (100-120 ml pour of drinkable but not complex or aged wine) and the local draft beer (half-liter glass) ranged 2,00-3,00 Euro with service included. We would round up the tab, so if it was 5,50 we'd leave six Euro on the table. We were never charged a sitting fee. A small Coca Cola was 2,50-4,00 Euro, and be aware, the formula is different from what we are used to in the US, much sweeter.

 

Our experience was very different than the previous poster, we had zero problems finding a quiet cafe with a fast connection. Then again we didn't try McDonald's or anyplace right near the pier. We preferred to walk around a bit and then settle into a quieter place in what seemed like an alleyway. We found one in Dubrovnik Prijeko ul. that had exceptional food and super fast WiFi, out total bill including light lunch for two and a liter of wine was 115 Kuna ($20) including service. I'm sure it was a lot less expensive than anything on Placa or near the Cathedral. Likewise we found a place that had decent wings and local beer (sometimes you just have to go for it!) plus lightning speed WiFi in Fira on a side street that I couldn't find again if my life depended on it.

[UKBayern]

 

They do have WIFI but we found that the Piraeus terminal was the absolute worse terminal to use it at. There were too many users trying to access it at one time and the connection would go in and out and when you did have a connection, it was very slow.

 

Did not have that experience at all in Piraeus.

[World Gallery]

One other tip that I just thought about. We noticed that in every Med. port that had WIFI at the terminal, we were able to connect in the morning, when very few people were trying to connect. Our kids would connect while walking out of the terminal easily. We never had a long time to use WIFI in the morning because we had a driver or used public transportation as soon as possible. We remember thinking, "Okay, there is WIFI, we will use it when we get back." That is where we made our mistake. That is what everyone else did. That last hour or so before you are due back on the ship, it was almost impossible to connect (and was impossible in Athens for us in the evening).

My husband has since talked to his computer friend and he says that it's only going to get worse. People are using a ton of bandwidth. We saw the ship's crew sitting in groups in the terminals using Iphones, Ipads, laptops, using up a ton of bandwidth, some using two devices at one time. I would suggest having a backup plan if using WIFI is really important to you.

[UKBayern]

We will be in Piraeus again in 7 weeks. Will see what it is like this time. Wifi is really important to us, because we are self-employed and get all our bookings through the internet. We will also get an expensive internet package on board. We log in, pull in the emails and go off-line immediately again. Cost 1 minute. After we have written all the answers off-line, we connect again and send. Another 1-2 minutes....

[VirtualRain]

After visiting a few Italian and Greek ports and using restaurant/taverna wifi in most places, it became apparent that almost all of them use their phone number as a Wifi password. As a result, if you want quick access to wifi without being a patron, just look at the menu (which usually has the phone # on it) and try accessing the Wifi that way. It will work 9 times out of 10.

 

Having said that, like others have noticed, the wifi speed or connectivity can vary wildly from super fast to dead as a doornail... so YMMV! :o

[ducklite]

Our experience was that none of them used the phone number. Many used the name of the cafe while a few actually used the word "password."