Internet use

[NewJerseycruzgirl]

My daughter is skipping her colleges classes for the week we are on the regal.

She will need to do some work online. Do they have wifi for free? Or is there a fee? Is it good enough wifi to do work?

Thanks March can't come fast enough!!

Edited February 10, 2015 by NewJerseycruzgirl

[gooch47]

Wifi is expensive and very slow. Sometimes it isn't available at all.

 

You need to buy a package of minutes to get thebest price.

 

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[Potstech]

There is a fee and it is quite slow. She may have problems doing things on line. May find free wifi in ports to do her work.

[partybarbie]

Unless you are elite or platinum, you will pay for internet usage that is expensive and slow. You are lucky to be able to open your e-mail.:eek: Many ports have free or cheap internet (think Starbucks). She would be better off working off-line, then sending when she gets on shore.

[gooch47]

I agree that finding free internet ashore may be helpful. Ask a crew member for suggestions on where to find it. They always know.

 

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[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Just look for a buck of people on there phones in a small area usually free wi fi

[caribill]

Here is pricing of the Internet on Princess.

 

There is a bonus of extra minutes for packages purchased the first two days on the ship, but the bonus minutes double if you purchase from Princess before the cruise.

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/gifts-and-services/

 

As others said, the speed is slow, often what dialup used to be and availability is not guaranteed.

 

Speed will be faster at 2 AM when most people are sleeping than at 5 PM when many may be trying to use the Internet.

[trbarton]

Download the app "Find Free Wi Fi". This may help in finding Wi Fi off the ship. Also find out where the crew goes. They know where the free Wi Fi is

 

Tom:)

[pablo222]

Also find out where the crew goes. They know where the free Wi Fi is

 

The trouble with this is that since all the crew goes to the same place,

they often overwhelm it. In the terminal in Barbados, the DHCP server

was exhausted, and no one new could connect until someone disconnected.

 

I remember in Antiqua -- there was a place -- crew were standing using

laptops, sitting on the curb. I paid $5, went inside, sat at a desk, and

had a soda while I used the internet. Good value!

 

The other way to use free wi-fi is in the last hour before the ship

leaves. Crew usually has to be back on board before pax...

[paul929207]

The last time I checked, Princess charged 75 cents per minute if you don't buy a package. The largest was (I think) $150 for 500 minutes. As mentioned above internet is slow. She would want to do as much reading and typing off line and only connect to send and receive info.

[Hlitner]

Your daughter is going to have a lot of trouble doing work via the onboard internet since, at best, it is slower then an old dial-up, and at worst it does not even function. It can cost several dollars of time to just sign-on to a various sites or simply get your e-mail. Those of us who have cruised on Princess many times get a lot of free internet minutes and this actually makes it worse for those paying. The more folks trying to use the limited bandwidth internet, the slower it gets. On our last Princess cruise DW and I got a total of 1,000 free internet minutes...most of which we did not even use since it was too slow to be practical.

 

So, your daughter could spend her port days sitting in a local place that has free internet, but I am not sure that is anyone's idea of a vacation.

 

Hank

[elliair]

We have a total of 500 free minutes and over half of it was used up waiting to get on line and read emails. I would NEVER pay to get on the internet on a cruise because of how slow it is and it's frustrating. If there's a way, can she do the work before leaving for your cruise in March?

[LucyR.]

American ports have Libraries where you can find free wifi.

 

I have used the Library in a Alaskan library.

Some restaurants have free wifi.

 

Mexico, Caribbean, have several places where you can get free wifi.

 

Presently, I have found that if you use the computers early in the morning or late at night you get faster and better reception. You can also use your personal computer anywhere in the Princess ships.

Some people have money to BLOW and they even use it at their dinner table while they are eating and using their computers.

 

I am Elite and get 150 minutes per cruise. I am cruising back to back so I will have 300 total minutes to use on my cruise.

 

I have always looked for free or cheapy rates in every port I go to. I have a tiny computer and easy to pack and carry.

 

My advise is if you are in a forgein sp port you need to protect your daughter from thieves who will want to take her computer.