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What to do in the early morning.

Fionatritton

By Fionatritton,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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Fionatritton

Fionatritton

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Posted (edited)

Sorry to ask an incredibly stupid question. Is there WiFi/4G on cruises close to land ? I know there isn't in the open ocean  eg on a TA closing, We are theoretically on the Iona in December; I run my own business and am a very early riser. My usual holiday procedures is to get up with a coffee on the balcony and do some social media/blogging for a couple of hours at around 6 as I find holidays is a perfect time to schedule and create material for later use. Dh and daughter usually sleep in til 8.30/9 and we then have a leisurely brekkie. I know people probably think I'm bonkers getting up at 6 on holiday but it's one of my favourite bits of the day getting up early with no housework to do ! 
will there be somewhere I can get coffee early as well ? Or somewhere peaceful to sit ? We have a deluxe balcony with sitting area but that's where Little missy will be sleeping and I reckon the balcony might be a bit nippy at 6am in December haha. 
if we don't go in December we will be rescheduling the cruise so question would still be relevant 

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Selbourne "Live from...." Rare

Selbourne

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11 minutes ago, Fionatritton said:

Sorry to ask an incredibly stupid question. Is there WiFi/4G on cruises close to land ? I know there isn't in the open ocean  eg on a TA closing, We are theoretically on the Iona in December; I run my own business and am a very early riser. My usual holiday procedures is to get up with a coffee on the balcony and do some social media/blogging for a couple of hours at around 6 as I find holidays is a perfect time to schedule and create material for later use. Dh and daughter usually sleep in til 8.30/9 and we then have a leisurely brekkie. I know people probably think I'm bonkers getting up at 6 on holiday but it's one of my favourite bits of the day getting up early with no housework to do ! 
will there be somewhere I can get coffee early as well ? Or somewhere peaceful to sit ? We have a deluxe balcony with sitting area but that's where Little missy will be sleeping and I reckon the balcony might be a bit nippy at 6am in December haha. 
if we don't go in December we will be rescheduling the cruise so question would still be relevant 


It’s not a stupid question at all, although I wondered what you might have been referring to with your thread title 😂. The answer is ‘it varies’. We have never been able to get free WiFi whilst on the ship. Even the free WiFi in the cruise terminal doesn’t seem to stretch to the ship when you are berthed, hence the crowds of crew often sitting in the chairs in the terminal on their phones! As for normal phone / internet reception, we find that you can often get it within 20-30 mins of arriving or departing a port (and all the time when berthed) but never beyond that. Now and again you might catch a quick signal, but you have to be very careful as your phone may switch to the maritime network which is very very expensive. I usually turn my phone on as we approach a port and catch up with emails then, or at breakfast and I turn the phone off as we lose signal 20 mins or so after leaving the port.

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BrianI

BrianI

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You can get internet connection at any time via the ships satellite system but it is very expensive. You can usually pick up a phone connection when you are near land, say less than 5 miles. In port there are usually many free WiFi connections available. Most cafes offer free connection. 
As for early morning coffees, you can put the kettle on in your cabin or go to the self service restaurant where there are machines to dispense tea or coffee available 24/7.

 

Brian 

Edited by BrianI
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Adawn47

Adawn47

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47 minutes ago, Fionatritton said:

I know people probably think I'm bonkers getting up at 6 on holiday but it's one of my favourite bits of the day

If you're bonkers then so am I. I love getting up early while it's still quiet and sitting on the balcony with a coffee listening to the ship's wake and watching the sky lighten and the day begin. Even nicer when we're on the sunrise side. Even on cool mornings I wrap up warm and snuggle in the chair. I have to say though that as we go to board the ship the phone is tuned off and never sees the light of day until we disembark

Avril

Edited by Adawn47
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DamianG

DamianG

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It takes me several days to adjust to getting up later on holidays so I'm another early riser. I'd agree with the other comments and just add that if you do decide to take the plunge and pay for internet onboard you can sometimes negotiate a discount by booking it and prepaying in the week before embarkation. Prices may change of course, but as an example the "Browse" package (email, browsing, pretty much everything except streaming) on our last 12 day cruise was £120 (aka £10 per day) but I got it for £104 pre-cruise. You can boost the signal in your cabin with a range extender/booster too.

 

As for an early morning coffee, the Horizon version is far too strong for my taste but according to the deck plans Iona does have Vistas Cafe Bar which looks good on the promotional images (though you'd need to pay of course).

Edited by DamianG
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kalos

kalos

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With my work I was up and of for 4am so when it came to cruising I would 

wake up  around the 4-5am mark ,which suited me fine as doing some of my YouTube 

films I almost had the ship to myself.

Then up to the buffet for an early morning cuppa and would be lucky to see more than a 

few like minded people at that early hour.

Like others my phone would go in the safe and never see daylight until the end of the cruise.

I have just shown Mrs K  the title to this thread ,she gave me a strange look and said....

" I can take my time in the buffet with my cuppa" and shook her head .:classic_wacko::classic_smile:

 

 

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terrierjohn

terrierjohn

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1 hour ago, BrianI said:

You can get internet connection at any time via the ships satellite system but it is very expensive. You can usually pick up a phone connection when you are near land, say less than 5 miles. In port there are usually many free WiFi connections available. Most cafes offer free connection. 
As for early morning coffees, you can put the kettle on in your cabin or go to the self service restaurant where there are machines to dispense tea or coffee available 24/7.

 

Brian 

Brian, I wonder if kettles in the cabin will be one of the Covid casualties, once cruising restarts.

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Josy1953

Josy1953

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14 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Brian, I wonder if kettles in the cabin will be one of the Covid casualties, once cruising restarts.

I hope not, I like to have a cup of chamomile as soon as I wake up before I shower and get ready for the day. 😊😊

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BrianI

BrianI

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17 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Brian, I wonder if kettles in the cabin will be one of the Covid casualties, once cruising restarts.

I don’t see why as they will only be used by the cabin occupants. More worrying would be the potential virus spreading by the cabin stewards going from cabin to cabin or handling baggage on and off the ship. I would hope that all potential virus spreading has been thought about. 
Brian 

 

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kalos

kalos

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26 minutes ago, BrianI said:

I don’t see why as they will only be used by the cabin occupants. More worrying would be the potential virus spreading by the cabin stewards going from cabin to cabin or handling baggage on and off the ship. I would hope that all potential virus spreading has been thought about. 
Brian 

 

A lot of the hotel chains Premier/Holiday Inns still have room Tea & coffee making facilities

within their rooms covid cleaning protocols .So I would be surprised to see kettles withdrawn

from a ships cabin as I would expect the ships cleaning protocols to equal the land based 

rooms.

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terrierjohn

terrierjohn

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1 hour ago, kalos said:

A lot of the hotel chains Premier/Holiday Inns still have room Tea & coffee making facilities

within their rooms covid cleaning protocols .So I would be surprised to see kettles withdrawn

from a ships cabin as I would expect the ships cleaning protocols to equal the land based 

rooms.

I thought most hotels had dispensed with any loose items in the room, and even TV remotes are now kept in disposable plastic sleeves, all to cut down on the sanitizing between customers.

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grapau27

grapau27

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Brian, I wonder if kettles in the cabin will be one of the Covid casualties, once cruising restarts.

We stayed at Liverpool Premier Inn Albert Dock 3 days last week and our room had a kettle and tea/ coffee/milk so I think the kettle will still be available on board.

We had the option of maid service but declined so no one came into our room except us.

They delivered towels within 10 minutes of us requesting them.

Edited by grapau27
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kalos

kalos

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22 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I thought most hotels had dispensed with any loose items in the room, and even TV remotes are now kept in disposable plastic sleeves, all to cut down on the sanitizing between customers.

Correct John, cushions menus have been removed but the kettles have remained but then again once

the kettle is cleaned then only you would use it . 

As Graham has just posted ,no one enters your room unless you request maid service.

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SarahHben "Live from...." Rare

SarahHben

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With my work I was up and of for 4am so when it came to cruising I would 
wake up  around the 4-5am mark ,which suited me fine as doing some of my YouTube 
films I almost had the ship to myself.
Then up to the buffet for an early morning cuppa and would be lucky to see more than a 
few like minded people at that early hour.
Like others my phone would go in the safe and never see daylight until the end of the cruise.
I have just shown Mrs K  the title to this thread ,she gave me a strange look and said....
" I can take my time in the buffet with my cuppa" and shook her head .:classic_wacko::classic_smile:
 
 

What’s your YouTube channel called? I enjoy watching cruise content on YouTube


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SarahHben "Live from...." Rare

SarahHben

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I'm supposed to be writing a report but I keep dipping into Kalos' YouTube videos instead 😊. They're very interesting Kalos, particularly the one with the Captain's Log. It turns out I had watched the Ventura cabin one a while ago.

Thanks for the link. Did you replace your broken camera?

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kalos

kalos

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1 hour ago, SarahHben said:

I'm supposed to be writing a report but I keep dipping into Kalos' YouTube videos instead 😊. They're very interesting Kalos, particularly the one with the Captain's Log. It turns out I had watched the Ventura cabin one a while ago.

Thanks for the link. Did you replace your broken camera?

 

Glad you like them The Captains Log was filmed using the old camera JVC Everio which died on me on the New Year cruise .

When filming the Captains Log I would set alarms and go racing back to the cabin to start filming before Capt Camby 

started his reports. We dodged the worst of storm Katie that year.

The new Camera is a cheap and cheerful Panasonic Lumix V260 Full HD Camcorder which I really like.

On the Lisbon film it worked well in the dark better than the old camera would have ,it has a nice zoom and really 

worked well picking the train out on the bridge . I'm happy with it .

Right you back to work .. Get that report done ! :classic_smile:

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SarahHben "Live from...." Rare

SarahHben

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27 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Glad you like them The Captains Log was filmed using the old camera JVC Everio which died on me on the New Year cruise .

When filming the Captains Log I would set alarms and go racing back to the cabin to start filming before Capt Camby 

started his reports. We dodged the worst of storm Katie that year.

The new Camera is a cheap and cheerful Panasonic Lumix V260 Full HD Camcorder which I really like.

On the Lisbon film it worked well in the dark better than the old camera would have ,it has a nice zoom and really 

worked well picking the train out on the bridge . I'm happy with it .

Right you back to work .. Get that report done ! :classic_smile:

I've given up on the report for now, having lunch while watching more videos 😊

I've subscribed to your account and left a comment. My husband made an account last year to post holiday videos for family to see but there's only a few on there, he's still got half of last September's holiday to edit down.

The whole family are into photography and videoing but I leave the videoing to him and our kids (grown up) and I take the stills.

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