7/25/2013 Med. Mickey's 12 Night Italian Job - with Nice, Valletta and Dubrov !

[fourbryants]

We should! They can go play video games together or something! All mine wants to know is if there'll be a PS3 or Xbox on board!

Mine too. there is definitely electronics on the ship... My sons name is Forrest, what is your sons name?

 

[UKSwans]

Mine too. there is definitely electronics on the ship... My sons name is Forrest, what is your sons name?

Mine's Cameron. He'll be delighted that there's some kind of gadgetry to keep him occupied! I never see him these days without his eyes glued to his laptop or his iPod! How he'll manage without 24/7 Facebook I just don't know! I have spotted a couple of families on this board with sons of a similar age so maybe there's a chance of them making friends! I think girls are just more outgoing and willing to be sociable in general whereas boys don't seem to want to get themselves out there!

 

[fourbryants]

What time can we board the ship? I can't remember when we did the other times in Barcelona... It says port opens at 11 and boarding is at 1. I believe we went around 11:30 or 12.

 

[Celestine]

Mine's Cameron. He'll be delighted that there's some kind of gadgetry to keep him occupied! I never see him these days without his eyes glued to his laptop or his iPod! How he'll manage without 24/7 Facebook I just don't know! I have spotted a couple of families on this board with sons of a similar age so maybe there's a chance of them making friends! I think girls are just more outgoing and willing to be sociable in general whereas boys don't seem to want to get themselves out there!

Your FB comment made me smile as DD (13) will be the same. She was relieved to discover that most (if not all) ports will have a local wi fi cafe she can keep up to date with life at, lol! My 7 year old is worried that without FaceTime her friend will think theyre no longer friends! And to think when I was their age the biggest worry was whether we would beat the postcard home! We are not going to buy onboard internet. Previous experience has shown it to be patchy and as this is port intensive we'll just hit a coffee shop too!

Celestine

 

[UKSwans]

Your FB comment made me smile as DD (13) will be the same. She was relieved to discover that most (if not all) ports will have a local wi fi cafe she can keep up to date with life at, lol! My 7 year old is worried that without FaceTime her friend will think theyre no longer friends! And to think when I was their age the biggest worry was whether we would beat the postcard home! We are not going to buy onboard internet. Previous experience has shown it to be patchy and as this is port intensive we'll just hit a coffee shop too!

Celestine

My 9 year old and 7 year old haven't been complaining about a lack of internet yet but maybe just because they haven't twigged that they won't have constant broadband yet! I think I'll have to suss out places with free WiFi in each port before we go otherwise Cam will lynch me! He can't go 5 minutes without 'liking' some drivel online! Truthfully I don't know how I'll manage without 24 hour Facebook either! But there's no way we're paying for onboard WiFi if it's not good value, we'll just have to wait. My mum said today that if you send/receive text messages on board you get charged extra because it's using the ships signal. Is that true?!

 

[mom_rules]

Currency question-Do you think they will be selling Kunas on board?

I know last time they sold euros and I think Russian currency when we did the Baltic..........

 

[Figment_Fan]

Gee, I'm starting to feel bad. We have prepared our kids for the fact that the batteries will be removed from their devices until we are back here in the US. Trying to avoid roaming charges.

 

[mom_rules]

Gee, I'm starting to feel bad. We have prepared our kids for the fact that the batteries will be removed from their devices until we are back here in the US. Trying to avoid roaming charges.

I wouldn't. After all you paid a lot of money for your kids to join you on this cruise. If they wanted to spend their time on the internet or playing video games you could save a ton of cash and leave them at home.

 

[mom_rules]

My 9 year old and 7 year old haven't been complaining about a lack of internet yet but maybe just because they haven't twigged that they won't have constant broadband yet! I think I'll have to suss out places with free WiFi in each port before we go otherwise Cam will lynch me! He can't go 5 minutes without 'liking' some drivel online! Truthfully I don't know how I'll manage without 24 hour Facebook either! But there's no way we're paying for onboard WiFi if it's not good value, we'll just have to wait. My mum said today that if you send/receive text messages on board you get charged extra because it's using the ships signal. Is that true?!

There is a great cruisemates article- the guy got supremely dinged even though he had roaming turned off.

 

[Figment_Fan]

That's why we are removing the batteries. DW did some research and found that taking out the batteries is the easiest and most reliable way to prevent any charges.

Besides, it will be nice to disconnect from the world. DW may have more problems with it than the kids.

 

[mom_rules]

That's why we are removing the batteries. DW did some research and found that taking out the batteries is the easiest and most reliable way to prevent any charges.

Besides, it will be nice to disconnect from the world. DW may have more problems with it than the kids.

Here, Here. Good for you. There are always the computers on the ship should you need to do a quick check for emails (for those business owners that have to check in every now and again). Pay by usage rather than buy a package.

 

[UKSwans]

There is a great cruisemates article- the guy got supremely dinged even though he had roaming turned off.

Omg Id better check it out! I know that they charge us extra in mainland Europe to get phone calls and messages but I didn't think it cost extra to use the ship signal!!! Scary stuff! We might be taking our batteries out too!!

 

[Kirsty_Lou]

I've never had any issues with my phone. I usually leave it switched on and I only get a signal when I'm near enough to land to get one. I do have a rubbish phone though none of this Internet stuff lol. But I've never been charged anything more than a standard international text. And I'd never answer my phone abroad unless it was an emergency.

 

[thestewarts]

Your FB comment made me smile as DD (13) will be the same. She was relieved to discover that most (if not all) ports will have a local wi fi cafe she can keep up to date with life at, lol! My 7 year old is worried that without FaceTime her friend will think theyre no longer friends! And to think when I was their age the biggest worry was whether we would beat the postcard home! We are not going to buy onboard internet. Previous experience has shown it to be patchy and as this is port intensive we'll just hit a coffee shop too!

Celestine

I was looking at this last week and it appears this may be slightly more difficult in Italy due to their anti terrorism laws

". several spots around Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome and other big cities are covered with free Wi-Fi access provided by the local administration, but at these and any other Wi-Fi spots around Italy, anti-terrorism laws make it obligatory to register for an access code before you can log on."

Seemingly you need an Italian mobile to register so it may be that the only places will be in France, Dubrovnik and Malta?

 

[Kellycanada]

There is a great cruisemates article- the guy got supremely dinged even though he had roaming turned off.

We went camping across the border last year to South Dakota for a week. My DS kept checking the NFL Viking news and videos on the iPad and we received a $1000 internet bill. Thank goodness they dropped it to $200. We are turning everything off this trip. We bought an international texting plan for the iPhone and will be communicating though texts only!! Kelly.

 

[Parrot Cay]

We decided to rent a pocket wifi device. For about $150, we will be able to use the internet in every port on up to 5 devices. We plan to keep our iPhone, iPad etc. in airplane mode to avoid any chance of roaming charges.

 

[rounderjd]

We decided to rent a pocket wifi device. For about $150, we will be able to use the internet in every port on up to 5 devices. We plan to keep our iPhone, iPad etc. in airplane mode to avoid any chance of roaming charges.

Are you using TEP or xcom global? I signed up from TEP because we'll be in Europe for about a month and that's a long time to go without Internet! I'm hoping it works as described!

 

[Celestine]

I was looking at this last week and it appears this may be slightly more difficult in Italy due to their anti terrorism laws

". several spots around Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome and other big cities are covered with free Wi-Fi access provided by the local administration, but at these and any other Wi-Fi spots around Italy, anti-terrorism laws make it obligatory to register for an access code before you can log on."

Seemingly you need an Italian mobile to register so it may be that the only places will be in France, Dubrovnik and Malta?

OK, this is news to me. Will send DH off on a research mission with colleagues at work that travel frequently & see what they come back with. If/when I get an answer I'll post it here.

We don't remove the batteries from the iphones, but do remove the sim cards which then effectively turns it into an iPod so they will only get any internet if it is free wifi. Worked well in the US at Christmas so hoping for a similar result in the summer

Celestine

 

[Parrot Cay]

Are you using TEP or xcom global? I signed up from TEP because we'll be in Europe for about a month and that's a long time to go without Internet! I'm hoping it works as described!

TEP. Hoping to avoid spending time at ports searching for Internet access.

 

[fourbryants]

We decided to rent a pocket wifi device. For about $150, we will be able to use the internet in every port on up to 5 devices. We plan to keep our iPhone, iPad etc. in airplane mode to avoid any chance of roaming charges.

We too will be away for about a month and that is a great idea. I will look into it. Thanks!