Do you bring a laptop cruising with you?

[Roadtripster]

I am debating if I want to bring my laptop or not. Not necessarily for the internet (which I doubt I would use - too expensive) but for offline.

 

I think it would be great to blog for the day and for downloading my pictures and getting them all organized before I come home.

 

Biggest thing stopping me, is the airport. Such a pain to get a laptop through security and that would be one of my carryon's that I need for clothes. LOL

 

Anyone bring one on board for offline reasons and do you really use it once on board? Or are you having too much fun?:D

[RetireeWannabee]

I vacation to get away from computers, so I would never lug a laptop on vacation. It's more fun for me to go thru the pix when we get home, anyway, reliving everything.

 

I don't blog nor have any reason to contact anyone back home so I just simply don't need it, while you will find that many people consider it to be a necessity, especially small business owners.

[kjunea]

I take mine. DH uses it to watch a movie on the plane, I download pictures, write notes on the ship.

 

I use the case that the laptop is in to carry my tickets, passport, etc. and still have a bag to carry my other things. The laptop counts are your "personal" and you can still bring another bag for clothes, etc.

[justfoxie]

We're planning on taking our netbook with us on our cruise in June, precisely for the reasons you mention. Since it's small though (less than 3lbs and about 10" on the longest side) it doesn't take up much room. I'll probably take upwards of 200-300 pictures per day in port and probably another couple of hundred on the ship, which works out to between 2-3 GB of pictures per day (rough guess). Having the netbook with 160GB hard drive will significantly save on the number of memory cards I'll need to carry with me. That and I'm much more likely to "journal" the trip if I can type it rather than write it out by hand.

[ab0si]

I have a small, light 'puter I take on cruises and other leisure travel (and a much heavier laptop for when I need more capabilities). I find it useful for recreational purposes as well as being able to burn CDs/DVD from my camera as well as to view pictures.

[PAFC2004]

I will be. I use an 8MP and 21.1MP DSLR, so I'd have to take dozens of CF cards otherwise.

[lisiamc]

My DH has a huge, 17" laptop that weighs a ton, that he takes on cruises, mostly just to download and edit photos. Every time we go through security and he has to take off shoes, jacket, belt, etc, he says, "Here, hold this," and gives the heavy thing to me. I swear I finish every trip with longer arms than when I started!

 

I bought a tiny netbook, to save myself from packhorse duties. I showed it to him, and he said, "That's nice, we can take that too." :eek:

 

Lisa

[cruiserbryce]

yes we do, but not for the internet. DW takes tons of pice throughout the trip...last cruise was well over 1000...so we download them to the computer every couple of nights

[chipmaster]

I am debating if I want to bring my laptop or not. Not necessarily for the internet (which I doubt I would use - too expensive) but for offline.

 

I think it would be great to blog for the day and for downloading my pictures and getting them all organized before I come home.

 

Biggest thing stopping me, is the airport. Such a pain to get a laptop through security and that would be one of my carryon's that I need for clothes. LOL

 

Anyone bring one on board for offline reasons and do you really use it once on board? Or are you having too much fun?:D

 

Always take one, yes its a pain with security. You could consider the newer "netbooks" about 399 with a real HDD and windows, sometimes less on sale. With these new compacts between laptop and charger you are down to 4 lbs or so.

 

Laptop is great for downloading, sorting, and backing up pictures.

 

As OP mentioned nice to watch movies, surf the free web in airports. It also actually came in handy twice when I was delayed and could actually get information faster then waiting in line or waiting on the phone.

 

Everyone should go buy a new netbook and help the economy :D

[cruisin' judi]

We took our laptop on the last Caribbean cruise in January. We did purchase 100 minutes of internet for $55 and used them all. We are taking it with us again for our Med Cruise in October. Not sure if he will use it for the internet or not. But probably will use it in the hotel since they have free Wifi.

[BroncosFan2010]

I would not dream of bringing mine, unless it was absolutely necessary for school/work. I am on my computer about 12 hours a day, but I manage very well without it on a cruise. I blog and post when I get back. I am always having too much fun to worry about anything going on online or needing a computer.

With the tight weight and carryon restrictions in airports these days, do yourself a favor and leave it home! Also, the room safes are NOT large enough to keep a laptop safe and secure.

[BroncosFan2010]

yes we do, but not for the internet. DW takes tons of pice throughout the trip...last cruise was well over 1000...so we download them to the computer every couple of nights

 

 

For a very small fee, you can put your pictures on CDs while on board. This might be useful if bringing the computer is too much of a pain. The price of memory cards has also dropped. We bought a 2G card for $20 and had plenty of room after taking almost 800 pictures. It has to be easier to just get a larger memory card or put things on CD than lugging a laptop through the airport (especially since you are not using it for internet).---- Just a suggestion.

[JerseyJaguar]

I just bought a netbook for my next big trip. They are so portable and well priced that I couldn't resist. I'll be traveling to the northern most part of Alaska and then through the interior for two weeks before my cruise, and I know I will be taking lots of pictures. Having the netbook will give me a chance to edit pictures, choose which ones I want to share with people, etc. If I wait till I get home that's a lot of pictures to go through, quite a task!

 

Plus I can download them to a site to share with friends if I want. The netbook came with wifi and I've already checked where there is free wifi along the way on my trip (I'll be in the Anchorage airport for 3+ hours in the middle of the night till my flight to Barrow, so it will come in handy there for occupying my time).

 

It's so small that even in it's own case it hardly takes up any room in my backpack.

[DanJ]

The CD thing on the ships of okay for the casual user. For the power picture takers though, 700mb on a CD at 10-15 bucks per just won't cut it.

 

I finally got a laptop last year and am going to take it with me this summer on our cruise. The last couple times I had thought how nice it would be to have one with me instead of going to that boring internet cafe. I remember sitting there last year doing a "live from" thread on here, and answering questions from people that were sailing in the next couple weeks. And the clock ticking as I typed LOL.

 

I would much rather sit out on deck or on my balcony typing out my notes and downloading the pictures off the camera. And if the ship has wifi in places other than the internet cafe, all the better. Who knows, it may turn into something I don't like and won't do again, but I'll at least take it with me once.

[April-in-NC]

This isn't necessarily a cruise related response, but maybe it will help. :) My sister got married in Florida right over Christmas. I was not going to take my laptop but my mom specifically asked so I lugged it along.

 

It came in really handy! I downloaded my pictures every day to show my parents, we were able to download the pictures from cameras of friends and family and then check our flight status the night before we left. I was glad I brought it.

 

If you are traveling in warm weather where you don't have to remove your coat to go through security then bringing a laptop isn't that much more of a hassle, especially if your liquids are all in your checked bag! :)

[critterchick]

We got an Acer lightweight laptop last year and it's our travelling laptop. Even with the battery it weighs less than 5lbs. No DVD drive, so it won't be for watching movies, though. I like to keep a diary (and I've been known to post it to CC), play with my photos (I snap with abandon and a sea day or early evening after sailing away from a port is the perfect time to sort through them) and do a little surfing on the Internet.

 

I've never really found it to be a hassle to take even my larger laptop out of the bag going through security. The little one is easy.:)

[Andee]

We never take a computer on vacation, and we haven't missed it. There are only a couple of times when we need to send an email (to tell my parents I was thinking of them on the anniversary of my brother's death, to tell a private tour guide our port had changed from Amalfi to Naples), and we used the ship's Internet for that. My husband has a very small and light CD burner, so he downloads pictures from the camera every night.

[Sundagger]

I take my laptop wherever I go, cruising or land vacations. I use it for email, the internet, downloading photos, listening to music, keeping a journal, and just writing in general (relaxes me). Mine is a big, heavy 17" wide screen, so I could watch DVDs on it - but I haven't yet.

 

It only takes a minute or two to get the thing through airport security. Not a problem at all.

[DaveLite]

I take my laptop with me no matter where I go. I never know when I'm going to want to do something on it. If I never turn it on while I'm on a cruise, I don't care. I had it with me if I wanted it.

 

Getting the laptop through security isn't that bad. I think taking my shoes off and putting them in the tray is more of a pain than pulling the laptop out of the case and putting it in a separate tray. Have the laptop easy to pull out and put back in the case.

 

We download our pictures, play the music we want to hear, and my wife had school to take care of on our last cruise and it was nice for her to be able to do her school work in the cabin.

 

Take your laptop !!!

[PlumpGal]

:confused: If you take your laptop, what do you do with it when you go to the beach?

 

If it doesn't fit in the safe, is there another way to make sure it is secure while away from the boat?

[chasetf]

:confused: If you take your laptop, what do you do with it when you go to the beach?

 

If it doesn't fit in the safe, is there another way to make sure it is secure while away from the boat?

I put mine (a small 12" er) in the desk drawer just to get it out of sight. Never had a problem nor worried about it.

 

I worry more about someone breaking into my home and stealing the one I left behind.

[chasetf]

.....Anyone bring one on board for offline reasons and do you really use it once on board? Or are you having too much fun?:D

I bring a "traveler" to download and backup my photos. It is nice to see how they are coming out and my wife enjoys a slide show of our days activities before retiring to bed.

 

My "traveler" is a used 12"er lightweight I got some years ago. I am considering picking up one of the new 9"er because it would probably cost as much to upgrade my woefully small hard drive as it would to buy the 9"er.

[cruisin' judi]

:confused: If you take your laptop, what do you do with it when you go to the beach?

 

If it doesn't fit in the safe, is there another way to make sure it is secure while away from the boat?

 

We just left ours on the desk when we were gone. This time when we are in the Med, we may put it in the suitcase under the bed or in a closet.

 

Judi

[dibbitz]

The security issue is a good point that I had not thought of.......any ideas? Can you leave it with the service desk or concierge? We had planned on taking it with us since we will be gone almost a month. Our original plan was to use it to download and edit pictures but now the info that we are finding on the Canon camera says that it is not compatable with the Vista on the laptop.....any thoughts? Thanks, L

[HesitantCruiser]

Our original plan was to use it to download and edit pictures but now the info that we are finding on the Canon camera says that it is not compatable with the Vista on the laptop.....any thoughts? Thanks, L

 

If your laptop has Vista, it is probably fairly new. Does it have a card reader that works for the memory cards your camera uses? If not, you can pick up an expernal card reader very inexpensively. I find using card readers to be much better than using the camera as a device. No worries such as you've described here.