Internet access on Oceania??

[brian_uk]

Lahore.....did you read all my post.........

 

I ended up with

 

"just a joke "

 

We all work hard for our money and spend it on the things that are important to us............I didn't mean to offend.

 

Brian

[lahore]

Yep I caught the end Brian. Wasn't particulary offended, although I thought 'what a crock' was a bit unfunny. Guess I might be a bit sensitive as I get a little sick of some of the posturing that seems to go with cruise travel. I also didn't respond to the ashes bit as I couldn't give a toss about cricket. That's the troulbe with internet communication though; I reread my post and it sounds offended - it was just discussion.

[jc719]

We just returned from Insignia Rio-BsAs. I took my laptop but only used it standalone in the room. They have wireless in a few areas, but not the rooms. I didn't bother with the setup as $0.95/min is too steep for me. There were Internet cafes almost everywhere for $1-5/hour. For the dial-up connection, I understand that they disconnect (or otherwise connect to) the phone (which in our A cbin was on the wall between the bed and the bathroom) and connect a (long?) modem cable to the PC. I didn't use it.

 

MTN is their internet provider (mtnsat.com) and the connection is used for both guest surfing as well as other shipboard operations (like pax lists & stuff, I guess). When I talked to the Internet manager for a while, he reported that they have occasional problems with the system, both when it can't see the satellite (higher latitudes & mountains sometimes puts them in a shadow), and sometimes, it just breaks. MTN also provided the service on a Holland cruise a year ago and it was slow there, too, and my VPN connections didn't work (wouldn't matter to those who don't use a VPN client. You know who you are.). They should look at a new provider. Conexion by Boeing was on a Lufthansa flight earlier this year to Germany and it worked great. WiFi in the plane. If it can work on a plane bouncing around @ 500 mph, it should work on a ship at 20.

 

You can use the computers in their computer room for free to download and edit pictures and you can write them to a CD (probably a fee if you don't bring your own CD-R media) or a USB drive. I just downloaded to my laptop with USB cable. They have media readers on the PCs for CF, SD, etc., but I didn't use them. The room was pretty busy. There are a couple more computers in the library.

 

I had no power problems, but I always bring an extension cord and cube taps for all my chargers. Makes quite the cable mess to connect laptop, cell phone, camera, etc. They had 110v US and 220v Europe (round pin) receptacles by the desk.

[susiesan]

For the price of an Oceania cruise it's too bad they can't do what the Celebrity Xpediton does-allow everyone 15 minutes of FREE internet time a day, signed up on a first come first serve basis. This was just enough time to check e-mail. In the Galapagos they had fast wireless access. How come Oceania can't get it in Asia or Europe but Celebrity can 600 miles off South America in the Pacific?

When in Europe next summer I'll pass on the exhorbitant $1 a minute rate from Oceania and use local internet cafes. Oceania seems to be like most of the other cruiselines in the "we're going to nickel and dime you to death" mode. Having just come off the all inclusive Xpedition it will be hard to have to think if I want a drink or cappucino I have to pay lots extra for it so I'll probably skip it. I guess I got spoiled.

[lahore]

OK, JC719, thank you so much. Now I know that if i just take my brand new 2gb memory stick plus I was thinking of buying a high volume USB thumb drive (eg also 2gb), then I can back up one to the other for no cost. This is good, less luggage and I would never have even considered paying USD $1 per minute to download emails. Think of what you would be paying for SPAM! No way, either internet cafes ashore or the world will have to do without me for two weeks, which sounds quite appealing actually !

 

Thanks

Lyn

[swanon]

Wireless internet is available on deck nine, the pool deck, the library and the card room. The speed is soo slow, it is also very expensive 200 minutes for $140.00 US. When I pay $79.00 Aus for unlimited time per month that price sucks. They also collect the emails and send them in a group when you get near to land, we sent our children an email and they did not get for for five days. Very poor service.

[shoshona2]

To Swanon,

 

When we were aboard the Regatta and Insignia, I ONLY used my Yahoo address since it is universal and has all my important addresses in my address book. I sent one email to only those addresses to let my family and friends know I was okay and having a great time. This way, you do not have to open any spam or other garbage at $1.00 per minute on your regular email address. I also did NOT use the email address that Oceania gives you and charges $2.50 PER EMAIL received or sent. My friends and family received my emails immediately after I sent them and I was able to answer them either from the ship or ashore. We were able to find to find internet cafes off the ship in the Baltics, but on the Black Sea cruise it was most difficult. My daughter-in-law was having a difficult pregnancy so I bought 100 minutes for $80.00.

 

Sheila

[Miata6]

On Radisson recently, we were charged $6 per hour but it was VERY slow and, due to the satellite, incurred many outages, irritating if it happened after one had spent 15 min composing an EMail. The counter at the top of the screen, clicking off my $6 was distracting. I can only imagine what $6 per minute would be like. Sounds cheesy to me. :eek:

[Portolan]

MTN is their internet provider (mtnsat.com) and the connection is used for both guest surfing as well as other shipboard operations (like pax lists & stuff, I guess). When I talked to the Internet manager for a while, he reported that they have occasional problems with the system, both when it can't see the satellite (higher latitudes & mountains sometimes puts them in a shadow), and sometimes, it just breaks. MTN also provided the service on a Holland cruise a year ago and it was slow there, too, and my VPN connections didn't work (wouldn't matter to those who don't use a VPN client. You know who you are.). They should look at a new provider.

 

I just got off a cruise on Holland America's Volendam. Internet service was by MTN and there were hotspots at various locations around the ship. I could even get a decent connection in my cabin. It was 802.11G! Especially near the hotspots it was very fast (I'd judge DSL-like speed...not the cable modem speeds I enjoy at home). By far the fastest I've ever had on a cruise ship and apparently with decent capacity as the Internet center was always crowded (that's why, among other reasons, I bring my own laptop). Also, the service was consistent. Price was $55/100 minutes or $100/250 minutes with a one-time setup charge of $3.95. Because of the speed, I was able to monitor 3 email accounts for a 7 day cruise with a bit a general browsing under 100 minutes. The bottom line is that it is the equipment, not something general to cruise ships.