How is the internet on HAL sailing Alaska?

[cigloo]

Hi all,

 

We are getting ready to leave on Holland America Westerdam sailing in Alaska and wanted to know how the internet/wifi is? We want to use our laptop in our suite and hope the conection is good.

 

Any input appreciated :D

 

Jennifer

[garydm]

It is about like dial up. On the Oosterdam in May I bought the usual 250 minute package I typically do, and found I did not use all of it because I used my iPhone as a wireless hotspot in each port. Much cheaper and faster. Used the ship internet when I had to at sea and my laptop worked fine. Wife had a problem with her iPad hooking up to the ship connection.

 

Gary

[Crew News]

Hi all,

 

We are getting ready to leave on Holland America Westerdam sailing in Alaska and wanted to know how the internet/wifi is? We want to use our laptop in our suite and hope the conection is good.

 

Any input appreciated :D

 

Jennifer

 

At sea, using the internet in your suite is nearly impossible. You will have to be near an internet hot spot and away from the peak hours to get decent reception. Last year on the Westerdam, I used the Lido Restaurant and Lido Pool area around 10:00 PM. Just had to find one of the glass domes on the ceiling and sit near it to login.

 

It is best to prepare all of your email before you login to save time waiting for email to send.

 

When Ms Zuiderdam came out of drydock this year, it had 400 internet repeaters installed in lots of cabins. We had one of the repeaters located in the ceiling of our aft cabin and got the best reception ever on a cruise ship. I didn't have to get dressed to go to any hot spot. Of course we still had to avoid peak hours during the day. All of HAL's ships will be upgraded (so we have heard) during their drydock.

 

Your phone can be your hotspot while you are in the Alaskan ports without any additional charge.

[DaveOKC]

Best to try to use the Internet during the early hours. The more people on it, the slower it gets.

 

DaveOKC

[hpeabody]

I was on the Westerdam June 29th sailing. I too wanted access in my cabin, which was located 5 doors from the supposed access point. It never did connect properly/stay connected and I ended up cancelling with the internet cafe manager. I used free internet in the ports to get my email. Juneau in library at the top of the parking structure, it is all over in Sitka and at a coffee shop in Ketchikan where I did pay for something to drink. If you want to use your own laptop you can trek to the internet cafe on deck 10 which was too long a haul for me as I was way aft. IMO, HAL, at least on the Westerdam is Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind in their technology for internet service.

 

I would not bother signing up to be honest.

[Hlitner]

How is the internet? AWFUL! And its also quite expensive and you will find yourself using several dollars of internet time just to connect to a site (or your e-mail site). For some reason HA has just not done much to improve things. Many other lines, such as RCI, Celebrity, Princess, etc, has various policies giving frequent cruisers free internet time. But HA charges just about everyone (including their own crew) and the service is really bad. While most cruise lines have extended WiFi ship-wide, HA continues to have very sporadic to no WiFi in the cabins which forces many of us to go to a public room or space to access WiFi.

 

Since Alaskan cruises are generally in ports for quite a few days of their cruise one is well-advised to wait and use the internet (often free) in ports.

 

Hank

[cigloo]

Thanks everyone - sounds like best to just send postcards :o

[BruceMuzz]

On EVERY ship sailing in Alaska, you are going to have internet challenges. The satellites that furnish the connection are orbiting around the equator. From so far North in Alaska, the shallow angle the ship's antennas must hit to get reception cause many types of interference; atmospherics, mountains, trees, the ship's funnel, other ships, etc.

 

Do you like those smaller, older ships?

They were not designed with internet and WiFi in mind.

Trying to add it later on usually causes additional problems: poor reception, slower connections, and inconsistent WiFi.

The newer ships have far more aluminum and less steel in their superstructures, giving far better and faster WiFi. Their satellite antennas are usually higher up, resulting in fewer blocked signals, and the antennas are better placed to get better reception.

Even so, the biggest and newest ships in Alaska still experience frequent connection problems.

 

In Alaska, the best plan is to ask your waiter or cabin steward where he goes for internet.

[sail7seas]

At sea, using the internet in your suite is nearly impossible. You will have to be near an internet hot spot and away from the peak hours to get decent reception. Last year on the Westerdam, I used the Lido Restaurant and Lido Pool area around 10:00 PM. Just had to find one of the glass domes on the ceiling and sit near it to login.

 

It is best to prepare all of your email before you login to save time waiting for email to send.

 

When Ms Zuiderdam came out of drydock this year, it had 400 internet repeaters installed in lots of cabins. We had one of the repeaters located in the ceiling of our aft cabin and got the best reception ever on a cruise ship. I didn't have to get dressed to go to any hot spot. Of course we still had to avoid peak hours during the day. All of HAL's ships will be upgraded (so we have heard) during their drydock.

 

Your phone can be your hotspot while you are in the Alaskan ports without any additional charge.

 

 

Try opening your cabin door.

I leave the door ajar a little and it helps.

 

[wander]

Cigloo,

 

Well, the internet is certainly not like home, but there are ways to use it fairly efficiently. I write all my e-mails where ever onboard it is convenient (cabin, deck, lido...). Then when I am ready, I go to the computer center, sigh on and upload my e-mails (upload very quickly). At the same time it downloads my new mail, also quite quickly. I then read them off line, write responses, new e-mails, etc and repeat the process in a day or two. (I usually go on longer cruises.) It takes me longer to sign onto the internet and sign off that it takes to send 12 or so messages and to download about the same number.

 

Trying to compose e-mails online on a ship is too time consuming (and expressive) for me but doing all the work offline is fine. On my last cruise I purchased a plan that would allow an average of 5 minutes online a day and I had almost an hour left at the end. Now that is a waste of money! Next trip, knowing how efficient I can be I will purchase fewer minutes at the beginning. (This last cruise was the first one I brought something with me. i brought my iPad.

[cruz chic]

I had the penthouse on the Oosterdam last week and the only place the wifi worked was right by the front door. The reception was fine in the Neptune lounge. I found the Internet no faster or slower in Alaska then anywhere else I've been.

[mtebor]

I had to keep up with business so I had a data plan from verizon that I could do while in port. The internet connection was horrible. It took over 15 minutes to download 35meg file.