School work via internet whilst on board

[Miss Jolly]

Our lucky teens will be cruising with us next year for 32 days on board Diamond Princess Bangkok to Whittier.They are both homeschooled and plan to work through much of their traditional summer break to "get ahead" with their work before we cruise. They plan to bring their laptops to do some schoolwork on board - particularly during the 6 sea-day stint between Muroran. Japan and Whittier,Alaska. What would be the best options re accessing the internet for research please? If they had wireless internet cards, does and how does Princess charge?

Thank you.

Jen

[crusinmama06]

Well internet on most cruiselines is pretty expensive. But that's not the worst part, it is SLOOOOOWWWW. Really slow.

 

I haven't been on Princess. But I have been on 4 other cruiselines and I haven't been on fast internet yet. And it's not really the problem of being ungodly slow, I always get disconnected ALOT. So it takes me 4 tries to get to my email account.

 

 

Here is the info I found on Princess...

 

There are expanded wireless "hotspots" for Internet access on ships throughout the fleet; including availability in the atrium areas of all 14 vessels. Passengers with their own laptops can purchase Internet access for 35 cents per minute ($10.50 for 30 minutes) at the front desk. Those whose computers lack a wireless network card may purchase a 'Windows XP' compatible card. Shipboard Internet Cafes feature between eight and 26 terminals, depending on the vessel. Sun Princess, Dawn Princess and Regal Princess have all recently opened Internet centers, most open 24 hours and easily accessed. Selected vessels' libraries also provide computer stations with direct links to the Internet.

[MrsPete]

Our lucky teens will be cruising with us next year for 32 days on board Diamond Princess Bangkok to Whittier.They are both homeschooled and plan to work through much of their traditional summer break to "get ahead" with their work before we cruise. They plan to bring their laptops to do some schoolwork on board - particularly during the 6 sea-day stint between Muroran. Japan and Whittier,Alaska. What would be the best options re accessing the internet for research please? If they had wireless internet cards, does and how does Princess charge?

Thank you.

Jen

Cost and speed are not your friends in this equation! I'd suggest that they "get ahead" on internet-based assignments, and plan a literature unit for the cruise. Novels are cheap and easy to tote along.

[junglejane]

The above posters aren't kidding when they say that onboard internet is sloooooow. It's maddening seeing your expensive minutes tick away while waiting for the page to load. It won't help during the 6 sea days, but land based internet cafes are usually available at ports of call and are much much cheaper and faster.

 

--Junglejane

[wrp96]

One more thing, ship's internet is reliant on the satellite connections the ship has. I know there are times where onboard internet is not available.

 

I would ask on the Princess board about the reliability of internet access during the Pacific crossing before relying on having internet access during those 6 sea days especially.

[Kerry's Girls]

On any Princess cruise I've been on, including the Diamond, the internet has been extremely slow and cuts in and out. The internet cafe is nice, except for the grumbles of everyone crabbing about how expensive it is to watch a page download - and we were never too far from shore (Mexican Riviera cruises). I agree with the previous posters - it will be an expensive and extremely frustrating way to keep up with schoolwork. Best to download as much as possible beforehand and save the time, money and headache.

 

Usually you can find out from a crew member where the best internet cafe is in each port (though if this is an unusual itinerary, they may not have been to those ports before).

 

Best,

Mia

[kitty9]

In all honesty, you cannot rely on a ship's internet system without planning on paying lots of money and spending lots of time online. It can take two minutes to download just one page of information. Per minute charges can range from 40 cents a minute to over 65 cents.

[onthelake]

We also homeschool and are doing the same cruise this Sept. - Vancouver to Whittier and on to Bangkok. If you are taking school work, I would suggest math and a novel study - neither of these needs much for extra materials. But, if you must work on a subject that requires research, the ship's library has a certain amount of material available. We choose not to school during a trip so that our son can enjoy every aspect and relax. He has proven to us that he will do everything necessary to complete all his subjects with excellent results.

[Miss Jolly]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this. Thank you. I feel that all that will be experienced on this trip will be the most valuable education. Our trip to Europe last year was treated in this way with much relevant research pre and post cruise.However, as they will be in Year 10 and Year 11 for this coming cruise, their actual schoolwork will be supplied by our education department and completion of their set tasks compulsory. I guess working ahead before we leave and bringing some work that does not involve actual research will be the key. They will be away for 6 weeks but I am sure they can make that up due to the flexibility of homeschooling - a big advantage over trying to catch up 6 weeks of work from traditional schooling

Jen

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[Ula]

I just thought of something since you are sailing on Princess. If you get a suite the internet is free. And that is unlimited. The internet will still be very slow.

Back when we lived on a boat, there were lots of families that cruised and they home schooled. That was before computers, they used hard copy materials.