Silver - Seven Seas Society

[parisbully]

We have reached the silver tier and will be cruising next week. Am interested in the computer time and the 1 hour phone use. How will I receive this? Will there be something in my cabin telling me how I can get my free computer time, etc.?

[ajax]

We used our Silver benefits on a recent Voyager cruise, and the wi-fi in particular is a significant savings. I estimate that I used about $450 of internet time at no charge. The way it works is: you register and "purchase" time in 180-minute blocks as if you are having it billed to your account, but it just does not show up on your statement. The ship to shore phone works the same way. They simply flag your room number as a Silver member and the charges are not billed.

Tim

[Hambagahle]

We have been "Silver" for a while - we'll be "Gold" after our next cruise - and each time we arrive in our suite there has been a letter from RSSC spelling out our benefits. FYI I thought that the ship-to-shore phone time was not much use but then on one cruise we were closing on a house sale and I needed to talk to the lawyers - it was very useful indeed! You will also have free pressing on informal and formal nights. There is a special laundry slip to use for this - your steward will tell you about it. The free internet time is really, really great. We were on the Latin American cruise, Lima to BA in January and this certainly saved us oodles of money, well into the hundreds of $$.

[parisbully]

Thanks for the responses. Do the ships computers work OK, or would it be worth it the "haul" my laptop?

[DebbieH103]

Computers work fine, but I like to haul my laptop so I can mess with my pictures, and I like to do my internet early in the morning in my jammies.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Computers work fine, but sometimes connectivity is slow. This depends where you are, it wasn't bad in the Caribbean last time. Welcome to Silver!

[Rally]

Computers work fine, but I like to haul my laptop so I can mess with my pictures, and I like to do my internet early in the morning in my jammies.

 

We actually continue to run our internet business while aboard and the free internet time saves us a lot of money. Bring your laptop if you plan on using it a lot, especially on the PG =)

[ruralpearl]

Am on the Voyager computers now...your options are to purchase 250 minutes at $62.50

or 100 minutes at $35...have already used 1000 minutes as a Silver...one technique I use to get by the very slow loading of the internet site u select is to open 4-5 internet explorers and select the site--then when I'm ready, I go back and forth on each loaded site. r/colonelwes (don't know why I got logged on as ruralpearl)

[Wendy The Wanderer]

It's also a good idea to write lengthy postings in wordpad or some text editor, then when you're ready to post, cut and paste it in. Lots of long posts have been lost when connections go down.

[OrpingtonT]

It's also a good idea to write lengthy postings in wordpad or some text editor, then when you're ready to post, cut and paste it in. Lots of long posts have been lost when connections go down.

 

Yes. I always did that. I never want to spend more time than necessary sitting at a computer when on a cruise. (Could be eating and drinking!)

[DebbieH103]

One common problem I saw on my Regent cruises was that those with Silver didn't really keep track of what they were doing with internet, and often did not log off. Has any timeout mechanism been put in this year that helps with this? Perhaps the system would be faster. I agree that long posts should be typed first, though I often don't do it, and I have been bitten a few times with long posts being lost due to timeouts. I also post pics, and it gets to be expensive and slow.

[wishIweretravelling]

There is a timeout mechanism at least on Navigator now. I'm not sure what the amount of time is, but it isn't long. If I do not do something on the internet for even a couple of minutes, it bumps me off. But the tradeoff in terms of preserving bandwidth makes me not mind that at all.

[Portolan]

Just remember that while the Silver and above Internet benefit is unlimited and you can't incur a charge, the phone time is limited and the rates (as on all cruise lines) are very high. We keep a note pad next to the phone and keep a running total of our time on the phone because I have no reason to think that when you exceed your benefit level free phone time that you'll be notified...you'll just start being charged at $14/minute or whatever (that was the rate at one time)...a painful lesson.

[DebbieH103]

Crystal, thanks for the update.

[Travelcat2]

We actually continue to run our internet business while aboard and the free internet time saves us a lot of money. Bring your laptop if you plan on using it a lot, especially on the PG =)

 

Doing business while on a cruise ship is a bit of a stretch. We have seen the internet being used by business people that also over utilize the printers. IMO, the internet is there for passengers who wish (or need) to contact their family during the cruise. . . . it is sad to think that business people are taking up space:mad:

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I admit I was a bit dismayed when I saw that as well. But free is free. I think with the pax that Regent gets, there must be a fair number of people keeping in touch with their offices in a big way. And people posting to boards like this, and uploading pix to websites, etc.

[DebbieH103]

My internet was never free so far, and believe me I was paying a tremendous amount while others were on for free, and part of work for me is making info available about ships to a wide audience.

 

I have my Blackberry that is paid for that I do a lot of things with my family and friends and some of my work.

 

There are many people that can't take 2 weeks away from their business and have to answer work emails and make themselves available at least at appointed times of the day. Not everyone is retired.

[OrpingtonT]

There are many people that can't take 2 weeks away from their business and have to answer work emails and make themselves available at least at appointed times of the day. Not everyone is retired.

 

These days almost everyone expects to be contactable and kept in touch but it isn't very long ago that a holiday meant a holiday and a complete break from work. Their businesses didn't go to the wall whilst they were away.

 

But those were different days.

[larry1365]

If you are at a tier level that includes free phone time, you can always call and see someone at the concierge desk. They can tell you how many minutes you have left. I would trust that number (since that's the amount they will use to charge any excess), rather than a handwritten tally on a note in your suite.

 

Larry

[Jim B]

We had always thought people were crazy to lug their laptops along on a cruise

until our last one.

1st we were silver status. 2nd we were on a 19 day cruise. 3rd needed to take care of year end business while on board.

How nice it was to have it with us. Did not have to go down to the computer center only to find all of them busy. Could work on it anytime of day.

In other words we will be taking our computer with us from now on.

[Travelcat2]

These days almost everyone expects to be contactable and kept in touch but it isn't very long ago that a holiday meant a holiday and a complete break from work. Their businesses didn't go to the wall whilst they were away.

 

But those were different days.

 

I really agree with you! A holiday is meant to be a holiday. I have taken up to five weeks vacation without contacting work. . . yes, they had our itinerary, but it had to be a real emergency to contact us. People seem to forget that no one is indispensable in the workplace (and yes, this includes owners). Unfortunately many are being reminded of this fact as the U.S. faces continued layoffs of thousands of people.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Although I go online occasionally on a cruise, that's usually it. No cellphone, no email. I leave emergency contact info with immediate family only. We are basically out of touch.

[tombo]

We just got off Voyager after two back-to-back 8-day segments. We reached "silver" after the first segment and received a letter informing us of the upgraded perks. I asked how to get the complimentary internet and was told to "buy" a plan online and that the cost would be credited. As it turned out, they even waived the activation fee and the minutes plan I had bought during the first segment, when we were still "bronze".

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Oh how nice!

[alanhotatl]

On our last cruise, we were Silver and signed up for internet service time blocks but had to watch our bill because the staff kept saying they would be crediting the mounting charges. But at the last day, they never did. So at disembarkation, they were still trying to get everything credited. Not exactly how you want to spend your final hours.