Wi fi

[travelhelp]

What is the availabity and where can you use it.

[wesport]

I have travelled on Holland many times, and wifi should be available on all ships, but its expensive and slow. Have done two trans atlantics, and it almost not worth the money as most of the time there is no signal. With that being said, I get the smallest package, download email and read it offline. Make sure you down load the emails you want to read so you can read them offline. Sometimes you can get it in the room, but its best if you go to the explorations café for the strongest signal. Remember, time is money!

[Crew News]

What is the availabity and where can you use it.

 

Some ships after recent drydock have repeaters (square boxes marked "Cisco") on the stateroom ceilings allowing internet connection while in your stateroom. If you cannot receive WiFi in your stateroom, The Lido Restaurant, indoor Lido pool area, Crow's Nest, and Library are other locations. Look for the glass domes mounted on the ceilings and sit near one for best reception.

 

Note you can get a good connection but it will be slooooooww during peak hours when most passengers are sharing the connection. One of my favorite spots is in the Lido Restaurant during the late night snack.

[Kamloops50]

I like using the internet early in the morning before the pursers department starts there daily downloads.

[cruising cockroach]

The wiifi connection will probably be good. What will be painfully slow (and expensive) is the connection from ship to the internet.

[take us away]

WiFi now works throughout many of the ships but some now have labeled 'hotspots' but the Explorations area is still the best. On the Prinsedam, someone recommended that if we had a weak signal in the cabin to open the door - worked like a charm. When in port, we can sometimes pick up the terminal's free signal sitting on the promenade deck which is great. We also write our emails in a word document then just copy it over to the email to save time and try to group as many addresses together as we can with the same message rather than individual messages.

 

If you want to use the internet ashore, quite often the crew knows the cheapest or free spots.

[cruising cockroach]

If anyone is using a Windows computer (more specifically Win 7, 8 or 8.1) and a hotmail/live/outlook/MSN/gmail e-mail account, download Windows Live Mail/Windows Live Essentials from Microsoft and set up your account there.

 

It will download any mail and upload (and send) any mail you write while offline. Easier than copying n' pasting to a web browser.

 

The only trouble is sometimes, the webmail account is suspicious of your usage in different countries which makes it a PITA.

[Typhoon1]

Very pricey and very slow. If you can wait, wait until you are in port and use an internet café.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Typhoon1

[eandj]

Depending on your need and itinerary you may indeed find it easily avail at ports. We bought time on our cruise last month. But with a tablet in dh's, tote, we could check our email and news without depending solely on the ship. We use a different email address when traveling so only family and friends use that mailbox. Makes everything easier.