Complimentary internet on board Allure?

[Memsy87]

Hi,

 

Are there computers like an "internet cafe" on board where you can just check emails/online banking a couple of times on the cruise, rather than paying for the Internet Package? Paying over $100 just to check these things once or twice seems a little high.

 

Thanks .

[jo24]

Hi,

 

Are there computers like an "internet cafe" on board where you can just check emails/online banking a couple of times on the cruise, rather than paying for the Internet Package? Paying over $100 just to check these things once or twice seems a little high.

 

Thanks .

 

Hi

 

The only internet sites that I have found to have complimentary access are airline websites in order to do online check in.

 

Jo

[Memsy87]

Hi

 

The only internet sites that I have found to have complimentary access are airline websites in order to do online check in.

 

Jo

 

 

Thanks for the reply Jo.

[jo24]

Thanks for the reply Jo.

 

No problem, have a fantastic cruise :)

[Clarea]

You can usually find some free or low cost WiFi at the ports. For example, there's a McDonalds at Nassau (eastern itinerary) that has open WiFi.

[jo24]

That is a good point Bob, I wasn't considering onshore options!

 

St Thomas has wifi available (possibly a small fee) in one of the buildings by the dock.

 

However, if you are stopping for lunch, a lot of restaurants offer wifi.

 

Jo :)

Edited February 17, 2014 by jo24

[Memsy87]

Thanks Bob, and again Jo. :)

[rafinmd]

My recollection is that the wifi in McDonalds Nassau is very slow. For a very small fee, the Nassau Public Library has much better wifi. BTW, McDonalds in St. Thomas is one of the few that doesn't have wifi.

 

Nassau library is kind of tiny and cluttered, I would check and make sure there's a place to work before paying.

 

Roy

[setsail]

Personally, I would never use someone's open WiFi connection to do online banking in the Caribbean or anywhere else

[Memsy87]

Personally, I would never use someone's open WiFi connection to do online banking in the Caribbean or anywhere else

 

I agree with you, I'd feel much safer doing it on board the ship. But Not to pay over $100 for the package. :)

[Clarea]

I agree with you, I'd feel much safer doing it on board the ship. But Not to pay over $100 for the package. :)

Maybe there are other options, but all I could find that was recently posted was a daily rate of $50:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=40825365&postcount=3

Edited February 17, 2014 by clarea

[nelblu]

Just off the Allure and the connections was very very slow. There is a package of .$70 per minute, 1 hour for $30, etc. RCL offers free airline boarding pass printing and it seems like forever the get the sucker to print. It took us about 4 tries and some 45 minutes to complete the task. On this trip we used all of our free D time of 60 minutes to basically send/read approximately 6 messages to our kids. Never experienced this slowness before.

[trev71]

when i was on the Allure I tryed to use the computers and buy by the mintue like I did on the Liberty back in 2008 and 2011, last time on the Oasis 2012 and the Allure 2013. It wouldnt let me, it told me i had to buy a package. That kind of ticked me off cause all I wanted to do was check a hockey score and write a quick email to family saying still alive. how is everything.. a few bucks at the most of what I ever spent on the Liberty for a 7 day cruise

[seaofwonder]

You can also turn on your smart phone in st. Thomas for free since it is a us territory. I also would not recommend using anything sensitive over public wifi. Any smart hacker would just be waiting for the rich American tourists to get on.

 

They did a story on this in Sochi, and the nbc guy was getting hacked within seconds. It's not difficult to get your passwords and then you are back on the ship without access to wifi to check your accounts.

 

To that end, I wouldn't check sensitive information on a public network anywhere in the world.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[molly361]

You can also just pay by the minute, you do not have to purchase any packages.

[waterbug123]

You can also just pay by the minute, you do not have to purchase any packages.

 

Correct. As for online banking and the risk of open wi-fi, I would think you could do any necessary online banking before you go on the cruise. I know with my bank, I can go online and schedule bills to be paid at any future date in the month I choose. Much easier than worrying about logging in to pay a particular bill mid-cruise.

As for email, if you really just need to check once or twice a week, use your smart phone in a US port (usually no charge), find free onshore wi-fi, or buy internet by the minute onboard the ship....scan your emails, if there's an important one you must answer, do it; leave the rest for when you get back. Should take more than a few minutes and that would be cheaper than buying a package.

[graphicguy]

Personally, I wouldn't even use the ship's internet package to do ANY on line banking. As others mentioned, I wouldn't do it ashore in the Caribbean, either. Never know what enterprising person(s) who may have nefarious intent, while trying to steal some personal data.

[reedl]

As to online banking, the data transmitted between your computer and the bank's website is encrypted with an SSL connection which is extremely difficult to decrypt without the keys. So even is someone is "sniffing" the packets out of the air, there is not much that they could do with them without some major computer power available to them.

 

OTOH, visiting websites like this one which do not encrypt their traffic is more of an issue. Since all the traffic is unencrypted, it is quite easy to grab packets out of the air, and find your password quite easily.

[leisuretraveler223]

I agree with you, I'd feel much safer doing it on board the ship. But Not to pay over $100 for the package. :)

 

If all you're doing is checking your email and banking a few times, I'm not sure what has you under the impression you need to buy a $100 package. You can also pay as you go at a minute rate, or buy a smaller package.

[vacation_junkie]

Hi,

 

Are there computers like an "internet cafe" on board where you can just check emails/online banking a couple of times on the cruise, rather than paying for the Internet Package? Paying over $100 just to check these things once or twice seems a little high.

 

Thanks .

 

Wait until you hit a port.

When you get off the ship just watch where the crew heads.

Follow them... They will take you to the best free internet connection there is!

[killtheump]

AT&T can be used in St. Thomas, I could be wrong be I do not think Verizon has The V.I. on their package.

[negc]

I'm not sure about the internet program on Allure but on most, if not all other RCI ships you can access the internet at a per minute charge (admittedly high rate) As a Crown and Anchor member you should also get a certain amount of free minutes and/or a discounted rate. The amount of free minutes will vary according to your C&A level

[Memsy87]

Thanks everyone for your input and replies. Appreciate it :)

[nolesrule]

They did a story on this in Sochi, and the nbc guy was getting hacked within seconds. It's not difficult to get your passwords and then you are back on the ship without access to wifi to check your accounts.

 

 

That NBC story, done by someone who had no idea what they were talking about, has been thoroughly debunked by the online technical media.

 

Nothing was hacked. Instead, it was malicious downloads forced onto devices based on visiting malicious websites... which can happen anywhere, even in your own home.

 

As has been pointed out, connecting to a banking website using a secure SSL connection over public wifi or cellular data connection is more secure than participating on this website from your own home.

[LindaO]

We were on the allure first week in December 2013... I tried to access the internet to use my 'free' Diamond Plus minutes. I asked at guest relations, I asked at the internet area (the staff in charge there)... and I tried to log on by the minute. There were NO by minute options available. Unless it has changed since the first of December... you had to buy a package.