Rhapsody - Satellite Phones and Wireless Internet?

[nascar3lover]

Does anyone know if Rhapsody has Satellite Phones available for rent and is there Wireless Internet capability in the rooms if you bring a laptop? I am leaving in less than two weeks and am leaving 4 kids at home and would like a way for "emergencies" to get through if possible...

 

Thanks,

Misti

[SA Traveler]

Rhapsody has Cellular at Sea and Cingular cell phones work. I'm not sure about the others. I think the "at sea" charges are 2.49 a minute and when you are in port, the cost varies from port to port. I don't know about the sattelite phones and I don't think the wireless internet works in the cabins but I've never taken my laptop on a cruise so I don't really know. My ingular cell phone definetly worked.

[wraithe]

I've never heard that any of the RCL ships have satellite phones to rent, there are satellite phones available to rent before you go to sea, http://www.satellitephonestore.com/, http://www.outfittersatellite.com/, and there are others if you do a search for satellite phones. You can of course just pick up your stateroom phone and call home, for about $8.00 US/minute. Cellular service is good for almost any phone except Verizon from what I've gathered on the boards, but make sure you have international calling turned on. If you use your phone on the ship, then every time someone tries to call you, even if your phone is turned off, you may get a charge, check with your provider. If you have Verizon, you're SOL (slap out of luck, or something like that:D), except for Carnival ships according to Verizon's web site.

 

As for internet, having Wi-Fi in your room is very unlikely, except for Freedom. On the other 19 RCL ships, they have hot spots set up, you need a Windows box, with built in 902.11b, or it costs extra to rent a card from the ship. Internet fees are 50 cents/min, or packages from $25 US for 60 minutes, $35 for 90 minutes or $50 for 150 minutes. Unused minutes are non-refundable. If you have a Mac, then it may work, many on the boards have used theirs, but if it doesn't work, there is no tech support on the ship. Rhapsody is a Vision class ship, and thus does not have cyber cabin available. Hope this helps.

[Wilson]

We were on Rhapsody a couple of weeks ago and our Cingular cellular worked anytime we needed it (at sea or at a port) without any issues. Have been told that it is about $5.00 per minute while at sea, with all of the charges, and only about $2.50 if you are in a port. Have not got bill yet so cannot confirm. Saw several people around ship with laptops. They will give you a map with the "hot spots". They told us that they did not work in staterooms. We used ships computers and it was 50 cents a minute. If you have sailed with RCI before you will receive a coupon book for at least ten minutes of free internet. Several people told us that internet was extremely slow. We found it to be almost as fast as DSL. Maybe they have improved. Enjoy your cruise!

[nascar3lover]

Thanks to everyone for the information - I do not have Cingular, but do you think that prepaid Cingular would work? I could buy a prepaid Cingular for cheaper than satellite, I think...