Wifi on Veendam

[Moriah]

Anyone been on Veendam recently who can tell me the state of the internet? Reliable? Does wifi reach into all staterooms? I'm sailing to Bermuda next week and as usual it will be a "workation" so it really matters to me how easy it is to work on the ship, especially on sea days. I'll start a separate thread about internet cafes or the like in Bermuda but if someone can speak from recent experience with the internet on Veendam, I'd really appreciate it.

[TiogaCruiser]

Anyone been on Veendam recently who can tell me the state of the internet? Reliable? Does wifi reach into all staterooms? I'm sailing to Bermuda next week and as usual it will be a "workation" so it really matters to me how easy it is to work on the ship, especially on sea days. I'll start a separate thread about internet cafes or the like in Bermuda but if someone can speak from recent experience with the internet on Veendam, I'd really appreciate it.

 

Just off a month ago. Connections were still slow. I doubt you will have connectivity in your cabin but it may depend on where you are. I think it was faster last month in Mexico than the old system in South America in January 2013 with the previous one. I mostly used the antenna in the LP atrium and thought it was decent.

[Moriah]

Just off a month ago. Connections were still slow. I doubt you will have connectivity in your cabin but it may depend on where you are.

 

Yes, this is what I was afraid of... do you happen to remember what HAL is charging for internet on Veendam?

[Dr.Dobro]

I was on the Veendam for 35 days in 2014. I got service just fine in my cabin, but I would not count on it; on my recent Ryndam cruise, I had 3 or 4 bars in my cabin and 5 up in the library. Depends where you are. Service is slower at far north and far south latitudes (fewer satellites).

 

Service is slow, but I have found it considerably faster than the old system (changeover in 2013, I think).

 

You cannot expect to have comparable service to what you have at home and you can't expect to use it as you do at home -- no Pandora, no streaming videos, and no staying online surfing around.

 

I need Internet to check and send e-mail. look at bank account information, keep up with the Red Sox, and that's pretty much it -- and to do so, I log on, open the windows I need to read, and log off. I write e-mail replies offline, then log on and copy-and-paste, then log off again.

 

I forget all the rates, but I believe it is $55 for 100 minutes, and there are three other tiers of minutes (maybe 250, 500, 1000?) where the per-minute rate is lower. I think the 1,000 minute deal is $250. Using the web without a package is 75 cents per minute.

[Dr.Dobro]

I should have added that daily access to the New York Times is free, and that's a nice perk. You can use your own device or the workstations in the library.

[Moriah]

I was on the Veendam for 35 days in 2014. I got service just fine in my cabin, but I would not count on it; on my recent Ryndam cruise, I had 3 or 4 bars in my cabin and 5 up in the library. Depends where you are. Service is slower at far north and far south latitudes (fewer satellites).

 

I forget all the rates, but I believe it is $55 for 100 minutes, and there are three other tiers of minutes (maybe 250, 500, 1000?) where the per-minute rate is lower. I think the 1,000 minute deal is $250. Using the web without a package is 75 cents per minute.

 

Thanks for this! I'm thinking I'll email my clients and tell them I'm not available for the sea days and then log on in Hamilton when we get there. I usually don't tell "anyone" that I'm on a cruise (otherwise my life would just look like one big vacation!) and keep working, but I also don't like to promise I'm available when I can't be....

[TiogaCruiser]

To OP: I bought the 30 minute plan for $12 and renewed once. Used it for text emails in a "secret" account so I anything in my inbox was from DH. And I had to install the kindle app on my iPad (which took about 15 minutes). Due to an ill family member I checked email 2-3 times a day and it took anywhere from 2-9 minutes to check whether I sent and received or just received. I left 10 unused minutes. (I am getting this from a screenshot not memory, so it's accurate for what I did).

I will check my cruise papers to see if I have the rates for other packages and post if I find it.

[Moriah]

To OP: I bought the 30 minute plan for $12 and renewed once.

 

 

Hmmm previous poster said 100 minutes for $55 but you had 30 for $12... either way that's probably the way I'll go now that I think about it. Get the cheapest number of minutes and just ration them on the way to Hamilton, and then if there is any actual work that needs to be done I can at least see that by keeping up with email a few minutes here and there, and then telling them I'll be able to work when we dock. I'm getting excited, actually, for a day or two of being "unplugged".. it's so unusual for me.

[goodroe]

Just off the Veendam and for the last six days did not have internet at all. Was told that a technician was boarding in Ensenada to work on the problem. Hope that it got fixed. Connection time was also very slow when I was able to access the internet prior to Hawaii. On previous cruises, have had pretty good luck using the internet but not this time.

[Moriah]

Just off the Veendam and for the last six days did not have internet at all. Was told that a technician was boarding in Ensenada to work on the problem. Hope that it got fixed. Connection time was also very slow when I was able to access the internet prior to Hawaii. On previous cruises, have had pretty good luck using the internet but not this time.

 

Oh, my goodness! That doesn't sound good... I hope it will be fixed before I board next Saturday!

[jtl513]

Hmmm previous poster said 100 minutes for $55 but you had 30 for $12... either way that's probably the way I'll go now that I think about it.

The 30 or 15 minute options are usually (or at least used to be) only offered on the last day or two. They are aimed at people who have used up their larger blocks but want to print air boarding passes or send last minutes messages. Be forewarned that if the last day before debarking is a sea day, in the afternoo and early evening ship internet is likely to be very slow with people trying to do that. :)

 

Edited April 25, 2015 by jtl513