Wifi in ports

[angelbearmom]

I,m going on a Panama Canal cruise on the nieuw Amsterdam in a few weeks. Starting to think of logistics. I'm wondering if there will be enough wifi in ports to avoid getting internet on the ship or a roaming package with my phone provider. I do have a medically fragile child at home but he will hopefully be quite stable at the time. I'm a little leary of being out of touch for 24 hrs at a time. We are never at sea more than 1 day at a time. What experience have others had with relying on port wifi for communication? It's a 21 day cruise?

[Scrapnana]

Some port facilities have wifi but in my experience it has been very slow because the crew and passengers are vying for its use. You could do some research and find places (often restaurants are your easiest to find) that have free wifi or will allow you to use wifi if you buy something. The problem with that is you are wasting a great deal of port time getting to and from the wifi source. My recommendation would be to either pay for a plan with your cell phone provider or buy the least expensive internet package on the ship.

[dpump]

When we were in the Caribbean we'd look for the pack of people on their computers, iPads and phone, we new we hit a hot spot.

[SFO Peter]

I am using KeepGo prepaid data sim on my IPad which is good for one year and renewable. It is good for all over the World. I have not tested it internationally yet but will soon. You can use Skype or Google Phone to make calls. In San Francisco it connects to TMobile.

 

Peter

Edited September 6, 2017 by SFO PETER
aded

[liketraveling]

I did a Panama Canal Cruise in April-May. I did purchase an internet plan for receiving text messages. The internet was slow on the Ship.

 

I also used the wifi in Puerta Vallarta, Manzanillo, Hualtuco, Puerta Chiapas, quatemala, Costa Rica, and Grand Turk. It wa usually in cafe's where I needed to buy A drink or something. In Puerta chippas it was 10.00 for 30 minutes to use wifi in the cruise terminal.

[easyboy]

You can ask the crew where there are wifi hot spots in port.

Check also your cellular provider for their plans outside the US. Your existing plan might already include free text outside the US, like T-mobile, so you can check on your child at home.

[Lizzie68]

I've done that cruise and those ports 4 times. My personal feeling - after the first cruise - is that it is simply not worth it to waste time looking for wifi in ports and then spending ages trying to deal with a very slow connection with dozens of other people also using it. Unless you happen on a Starbucks, for instance in PV.;p I just sparingly used the internet on the ship to keep in touch with home.

[iancal]

We only use free minute on board a cruise ship...IF we get any.

 

We use free on shore wifi. But,we avoid the places close to the dock where everyone else seems to be. We go two or three streets down and a block over. We find a bar or cafe that is not busy, has wireless, and we login. In our experience the worst place is the cruise terminal with wireless. Everyone and his dog is there. Same if there is a Starbucks, MacDonalds or some other chain across the street. Packed with people doing skype and taking up the band width.