Free wi fi question

[DrJW]

We have been given free internet usde while on our cruise..does this mean that we can access and send emails as well as have free Wi Fi access from our stateroom? ..we are in the PH2 category. I believe that laptops are offered in these staterooms..not sure...just wanted to know if we needed to go to the Computer Centre to make use of the internet or can we do it from our stateroom and similarly not be charged.

 

Thank you.

[Mura]

I always bring my own laptop with me because it allows me to do more than the computers in the cabins do ...

 

However, my understanding is that email will be fine with that computer. You will not need to go to the internet cafe to go online for that purpose. (Sometimes you might get faster service by going to the computer center but if you have free WiFi that's not a consideration.)

 

If you want to do more in your room -- write a diary, download photos, etc. -- then you should have your own computer. OR, I suppose, go upstairs.

 

The room computers are VERY limited in what you can do. They used to have Word (or Word Perfect in the good old days) but I don't think they don't anymore. Don't quote me because I've never used that laptop they provide in the room.

 

I'm not sure if you can really go online with the provided laptop since I've never tried. But if you have your own laptop or tablet with you, with free WiFi you can access anything you want.

 

Mura

[StanandJim]

The Oceania supplied laptops are perfectly satisfactory for emails or surfing the net, but as with any "group use" electronics, it isn't permitted to upload or download any software or programs onto them. Some people find this restriction so onerous that they prefer to bring their own electronics, others don't seem to notice it at all.

 

The "Free Internet" that you are speaking of means that you won't be paying for the pass-code used to access the ships' Internet Service, and up until now that free code has worked in conjunction with only one Internet device at a time.

 

That is to say that you may use any number of Internet Devices while you are onboard, but you may only have them connected to the Net, one at a time.

 

That's one device per cabin, incidentally, not per passenger.

[DrJW]

I'm sorry. I'm not tech savy..so are you saying with free internet useI can use the in room laptop or evemy own iphoneto get and send emails as long as I don't use any other of my devices at the same time? Even while at sea?

[pacheco18]

I'm sorry. I'm not tech savy..so are you saying with free internet useI can use the in room laptop or evemy own iphoneto get and send emails as long as I don't use any other of my devices at the same time? Even while at sea?

 

 

Yes

One device at a time per cabin account.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[hondorner]

I'm sorry. I'm not tech savy..so are you saying with free internet useI can use the in room laptop or evemy own iphoneto get and send emails as long as I don't use any other of my devices at the same time? Even while at sea?

Correct. I use a laptop, Android tablet or Android phone (one at a time), and my wife uses her iPad or Android phone when I'm not hogging the connection, They can be used anywhere on the ship; your account is available no matter where or with what you hook up.

 

It's proper usage to log off every time you are finished with a session. It's critical to do so when paying for internet, because you will be billed for all the time you are connected, even if you're not using it. With free internet some folks forget to log off when they're finished. That means their connection is tying up bandwidth that other users sorely need. It would also make it more difficult for the other user in your cabin (assuming you have a partner) to log on.

 

I agree with the others about using the provided laptops; I tried it once, several years ago, just to see how it worked -- it was so limited I have never turned one on, yet, and I've taken to unplug them and stick them in a drawer to free up an outlet and make more room on the desk.

[Jay23]

We had free wi fi on Riviera a couple of weeks ago. The service was the best we have ever had on board any ship. We were able to download our UK newspaper just like we do at home. The iPad worked in many places around the ship including on deck! We did see the internet manager in order to set up the iPad in the first instance, but there was no problems at all. We did not use the ship's computers.

I agree with the comments regarding remembering to log out each time.

[joan24]

We have never had free wi-fi on any of our 5 O cruises. We paid for each email sent or received. Last year it was $1 per email. Is free wi-fi a perk some TA's provide to their clients or is it an O perk for some sailings.

Joan

[LHT28]

We have never had free wi-fi on any of our 5 O cruises. We paid for each email sent or received. Last year it was $1 per email. Is free wi-fi a perk some TA's provide to their clients or is it an O perk for some sailings.

Joan

 

Some sailings are offering free wifi check O's website for the Promotions

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/ywos/

 

Seems the UK cruisers get free WiFi & Beverage packages

Edited October 11, 2014 by LHT28

[Mura]

Joan, we've never had free wifi either and we've done 14 cruises on O. If it helps, once you get to silver status you will get a discount. And at gold, it increases. (The silver discount is 10%, I'm not sure what the gold discount is.)

 

From what I've seen and heard, the free wifi is cruise specific from O, not the TA. And it's a recent development that is NOT available to all cruises.

 

I was thinking that the UK passengers didn't seem to get any perks since they don't seem to get the ones that US/Canada passengers do (such as upsells). From what Lyn says, I'm wrong about that. I do believe UK people have asked here a few times about upsells which they've never received and so perhaps I translated that to "they don't get anything we do".

 

Maybe that's a fair trade? We get upsell offers, they get free wifi/beverage. Hmmm, I think I'd prefer the latter! I've taken an upsell offer once, and an offer to switch cruises once. Other than that, we pretty much stick to what we ordered. (We wouldn't really use the beverage package but we could benefit from free wifi.)

 

Mura

[hondorner]

Free WiFi is a perk for the World Cruise; we've never had it before either, except on Marina's Maiden Voyage where it worked so poorly they had no idea how much to bill, so they waived the fees. That was straightened out lonbg ago, of course. We couldn't conceive of sailing the WC without internet - how would we pay bills?

[Mura]

True enough, Don. It's one thing to pay the fees for 2-3 weeks. Quite another to pay for 6 months!

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

We have free wifi on our upcoming Cape Town to Singapore cruise. It was a booking promotion from Oceania.

 

We purchase unlimited wifi every cruise. For us it is a necessity. We don't want to count minutes. Too stressful

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Rumpymuffin]

We have been given free internet use while on our cruise..does this mean that we can access and send emails as well as have free Wi Fi access from our stateroom?

 

My DH has an iPhone. Will he be able to read his emails and surf the Internet without a charge? Should he go to the Apple store and have his iPhone tricked out in some manner before we leave home, e.g., with a sim card or something else? Should he sign up for something with AT&T Mobility, his Internet service provider?

 

You can tell who is over 65 and didn't grow up with this stuff! :o

[robertf57]

Rumpymuffin,

 

No "tricking out" needed. The iPhone simply connects to the ships Wifi access points like any other Wifi connection on land. If you want internet connection while roaming the streets of foreign ports, you may want to activate a roaming data package with your carrier. Generally that is fairly expensive in most foreign countries. When I am staying in another country for an extended time period I have used a local SIM card for data in an older iPhone with good success. On a cruise, that doesn't work too well. For our Med cruise next month I am trying out a google project Fi phone which reportedly provides data connection in 120+ countries, albeit at pretty slow 3G speeds.

 

You likely should have the tech team onboard help you connect your devices.

Edited June 14, 2016 by robertf57

[potterhill]

Unless they have done an epic upgrade since November, don't get too excited about free internet. In the past we bought the package and it worked really well most of the time. Only a small percentage of passengers would shell out for it. Now they give it away and everyone is connected all the time. It's Impossible to use for the most part. Nearly impossible to upload a photo. If you happen to be awake in the middle of the night, then you're good to go.

 

If it has been given as a booking incentive to almost everyone, and for whatever reason you don't have it, I would say don't pay for it. It's an exercise in frustration. Unless, of course, they have increased capacity. We were on Marina.

 

Mo

[Paulchili]

No "epic upgrade" on the Marina after dry dock :(

[adam320]

I assume streaming live sports is going to be a pipedream? This is my cruise (Marina), I wasn't expecting much in way of wifi speed but was hoping.

[Paulchili]

I assume streaming live sports is going to be a pipedream? This is my cruise (Marina), I wasn't expecting much in way of wifi speed but was hoping.

 

Most unlikely.

Maybe at 3 AM when everyone else is sleeping.