Another wireless question

[RLH]

If someone takes their laptop, where can they get wireless connection from on the ship? Is it just in Explorations Cafe? What about the cabins? Would some off the higher cabins have access? Thanks for the help.

 

RLH

[magictam]

I don't know about all ships and locations, but we took our laptop on the Noordam to Alaska in August.

 

We didn't go to the Exploration Cafe, just used it in our cabin. We have service with Verizon for our laptop as well as for our phones. We were able to get service when we were closed to a port and during port times. Not to great out to sea.

 

But at least we didn't have to pay HAL for wireless minutes.

[jtl513]

If someone takes their laptop, where can they get wireless connection from on the ship? Is it just in Explorations Cafe? What about the cabins? Would some off the higher cabins have access? Thanks for the help.

 

RLH

It varies some from ship to ship, but as an example on the Noordam the hotspots are the Explorations Cafe, the Crow's Nest, in and near the Atrium (the Ocean Bar starboard side is my favorite spot), the Lido pool area, and - if you're in a suite - the Neptune Lounge. Another popular spot in good weather is in a deck chair on the Promenade just outside the Explorations Cafe. On sea days when the weather is not so great I like to sit at a table at the forward end of the Lido pool area and watch the view while on-line.

 

Also, some cabins near those locations can also detect a usable signal, such as the inside cabins next to the Neptune Lounge, or a few cabins away from the atrium on the Main deck.

 

On S class ships the Lido restaurant usually has a strong signal, and lately some people have been reporting usuable signals in cabins that theoretically shouldn't be getting any!

 

When you sign up your Internet Manager will be able to tell your where the hotspot antennas are, and if they are all working at that time.

 

Even though you only asked about wireless, you should know that on the Vistas all cabins have a dial-up port. When I've tested it, it was running at about 25 kbps, but it is an option if you only want to do something short and don't want to bother to go to a hotspot.

[oh2cruisemore]

Anyone know the costs?

[maxout]

It costs $3.95 to sign up for Internet service. Then, to use it, you have a choice:

You can go with the per minute rate of $0.75. Or, you can purchase one of two plans.

There's the 100 minute plan for $55, or the 250 minute plan for $100. If you sign up for a plan the first day there's usually a bonus of 10 or 20 minutes. Late in the cruise there's usually smaller plans, of 10 minutes, available.

[newfarmers]

Foxpaw is posting from the current Amsterdam Asia Pacific cruise. I'm sure he has mentioned that the wireless on Amsterdam is now ship-wide. Maybe they are updating the whole fleet? Check his posts on the Amsterdam roll-call for next year's Asia Pacific cruise. He has commented that he's going to be cutting back on his posting due to the appalling connection speeds:( .

 

I'm hoping maybe they'll be upgrading Rotterdam's wi-fi while she's getting a spruce up next week:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our Canada/New England cruises in August on the Maasdam I was able to use my laptop from our suite.

[jtl513]

On the Statendam in AK in Sep I was able to detect a signal from the "mtndsi" server in cabin 394 but it was too weak to be usable. In our friend's 201 I was able to get a usable signal while on her verandah, but it was too weak while inside the cabin.

 

newfarmers: because Foxpaw is posting on the Amsterdam Roll Call, and not here, I was unaware of his info. Thank you ... that is good news!