8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC Part 2

[jonesing]

That is not so good. So you're using that VOIP deal. Wow... I thought about switching to that. I pay $55 up a month for the voice land line which I hardly EVER use - so the idea of a lower cost unlimited use VOIP was very tempting... I was just waiting to ask someone about it who has used it for a while. You see... I wanted to interview a guinia pig...

So how is it... any gripes or is it all priase short of tonights service interruption?

http://www.hawaii.edu/gpigs/images/patches.drawing.gpdd.gif[/.img][/CENTER][/QUOTE]

LOL well we've been using VOIP for about 3 years now. The first service provider was a little rough around the edges but they were technically superior to the Big V we're using now. The main reason I went with the first provider is that I bought my own telephone adapter (TA) and while the "lock" the TA to their service for the duration of your account, you can unlock it and use the same TA with a different provider... Think of it like an unlocked GSM phone that you can use on T-Mobile, Cingular etc. TA's for the Big V on the other hand, only work with their service...but this new one has worked flawlessly. I say new one because we cheated a little...canceled the service from our old location and signed up for new service via Best Buy and got a bunch of goodies. It's well woth the cost considering we have a main number and a "virtual" number both with area codes local for our friends/family.

So while VOIP has come a long way, I don't think it's quite ready for my dad who isn't very tech savvy. Sure he can *use* a computer but that's it.​

 

[jonesing]

You guys are too funny ...get some sleep ...

There's plenty of time to sleep when you're dead!
--Gustov Graves, Die Another Day

 

[sk8ingmom]

There's plenty of time to sleep when you're dead!
--Gustov Graves, Die Another Day

On that note, I'm off to bed.

 

[atakaratemom]

Hey Night Owls! I have a booking question. If I book a stateroom tomorrow and just reserve it for DH and myself, can I add the kids later for the same price as it would be tomorrow, or do I risk their price rising if I do that? Advice anyone?

 

[captaincrash]

LOL well we've been using VOIP for about 3 years now. The first service provider was a little rough around the edges but they were technically superior to the Big V we're using now. The main reason I went with the first provider is that I bought my own telephone adapter (TA) and while the "lock" the TA to their service for the duration of your account, you can unlock it and use the same TA with a different provider... Think of it like an unlocked GSM phone that you can use on T-Mobile, Cingular etc. TA's for the Big V on the other hand, only work with their service...but this new one has worked flawlessly. I say new one because we cheated a little...canceled the service from our old location and signed up for new service via Best Buy and got a bunch of goodies. It's well woth the cost considering we have a main number and a "virtual" number both with area codes local for our friends/family.

So while VOIP has come a long way, I don't think it's quite ready for my dad who isn't very tech savvy. Sure he can *use* a computer but that's it.

I am not very tech savvy and your Dad might even confuse me on some tech issues. While on others I might know more then him. And - of course - you almost certainly know more then me on a wide range of tech issues.

So - if it is not ready for main stream - plug and play transparency then I probably am not ready. Imagine - a simple WIfi went unused for a while out of my fear of opening files that I was not certain of. I had to have a good friend come over to set it up for me.

Well - really - we have one corporate notebook that had this insane closed interface - a private thing - and my pal is quite adept and overly bright to boot - and he was able to handle it too. PLUS my neighbor had his wifi running unprotected - so we went over and asked if he knew we could look inside his computer files - and we, rather my friend oferred to turn off this and a=turn on that to secure his computer and his wifi gateway.

It was all nominally foreign to me. At my core I am just another untechnical fellow.

 

[DisneyVegas1]

Hey Night Owls! I have a booking question. If I book a stateroom tomorrow and just reserve it for DH and myself, can I add the kids later for the same price as it would be tomorrow, or do I risk their price rising if I do that? Advice anyone?

You do risk the price going up . and also risk the number of people you can have in your room .....remember they have to account the number in your room to a life boat ....lets say in your area they met there quota for people , then your out of luck to add the kids ...My advice ...add the kids in the morning when you make the res

 

[captaincrash]

Hey Night Owls! I have a booking question. If I book a stateroom tomorrow and just reserve it for DH and myself, can I add the kids later for the same price as it would be tomorrow, or do I risk their price rising if I do that? Advice anyone?

As long as you select a cabin that happens to be a QUAD then you can add them - plus the ship cannot be atthe point where it is sold out on registry capacity. The ship is supposd to hold a maximum of say 3,000 ( I don't know what the real absolute capacity is) ... and if the ship is at this max then they cannot add anyone else even if your cabin has pull down bunks unassigned.

That is how I understand it... if I have missed anything - please step up and embelish. And if I am wrong about anything - please PM atakaratemom with the corrections rather then posting the corrections openly so my ignorance can be concealed a few minutes longer. My reputation is so fragile - I don't know if I could stand any more damage to it.... snif.

 

[captaincrash]

You do risk the price going up . and also risk the number of people you can have in your room .....remember they have to account the number in your room to a life boat ....lets say in your area they met there quota for people , then your out of luck to add the kids ...My advice ...add the kids in the morning when you make the res

Yeah... you're better off adding the kids now and removing them later - before we fall under the 75 day window prior to embarkation.

 

[jonesing]

I am not very tech savvy and your Dad might even confuse me on some tech issues. While on others I might know more then him. And - of course - you almost certainly know more then me on a wide range of tech issues.

So - if it is not ready for main stream - plug and play transparency then I probably am not ready. Imagine - a simple WIfi went unused for a while out of my fear of opening files that I was not certain of. I had to have a good friend come over to set it up for me.

Well - really - we have one corporate notebook that had this insane closed interface - a private thing - and my pal is quite adept and overly bright to boot - and he was able to handle it too. PLUS my neighbor had his wifi running unprotected - so we went over and asked if he knew we could look inside his computer files - and we, rather my friend oferred to turn off this and a=turn on that to secure his computer and his wifi gateway.

It was all nominally foreign to me. At my core I am just another untechnical fellow.

Well for the Big V you don't need to be an ubergeek. Actually, they have some phone units with the VOIP built-in. Just realize a few things...the telephone "jack" that you plug into is on the VOIP box, not the wall. Meaning if you want more than one phone to use the line, then you need a multi-handset cordless phone. Older 2.4GHz phones had some intereference problems but we have a 5.8GHz spread spectrum phone and it works fine. You don't get seamless E911 service with all provides, but most are going that route...but remember the 911 service is tied to the box which is tied to the billing address. So, if you move the box (from say Chicago to Miami) and dial 911, you get a Chicago VOIP 911 operator! And, as in my case, if your Internet goes down, you lose phone service. But they all have an option where you can forward calls automatically if the servers can't reach your VOIP box.

Although it's a violation of their terms, a buddy got a VOIP box and took it to his son who is going to grad school in Germany. So now, when he wants to call his son, he just makes a local phone call! Likewise, his son can call anywhere in the states (plus Canada, Puerto Rico, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK) and dad doesn't have to pay anything extra! Their $25/mo plan gives unlimited calling in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK! By similar token, you can take the VOIP box on vacation and when you plug it into the hotel's broadband connection, family and friends can call you at your home number.

 

[pyramid2000]

SO what's up Caroline??

Isn't it late in your neck of the woods?

Sorry I wasn't here to answer you. I had a bit of cleaning to do before DH arrived home.

 

[pyramid2000]

What did you say Caroline???​

 

[pyramid2000]

***?!?!?!? My internet connection went down!!! And since we're using VOIP for phone service that meant NO PHONE !!!!!

So help me if Comcast drops the connection when I'm on the phone with a CM......

Keeping fingers crossed! The way Comacst is around here and how awful my internet can be, I won;t be signing up for their phone anytime soon.

 

[atakaratemom]

You do risk the price going up . and also risk the number of people you can have in your room .....remember they have to account the number in your room to a life boat ....lets say in your area they met there quota for people , then your out of luck to add the kids ...My advice ...add the kids in the morning when you make the res

Yeah... you're better off adding the kids now and removing them later - before we fall under the 75 day window prior to embarkation.

Thanks for the good advice. I was forgetting about the capacity issue. I will just go ahead and book the little buggers and fork over the extra $1000. They would be none too pleased to discover we were going on a 15 day Disney cruise without them.

 

[pyramid2000]

Is it too obsessive to have the NIST time server running on my desktop?
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java


My default is the US Naval Observatory but they are down right now...
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl

 

[pyramid2000]

Hey Night Owls! I have a booking question. If I book a stateroom tomorrow and just reserve it for DH and myself, can I add the kids later for the same price as it would be tomorrow, or do I risk their price rising if I do that? Advice anyone?

As far as I have seen, you will charged to going rate when you add them. There is also the risk of their ages being full.

 

[pyramid2000]

Well for the Big V you don't need to be an ubergeek. Actually, they have some phone units with the VOIP built-in. Just realize a few things...the telephone "jack" that you plug into is on the VOIP box, not the wall. Meaning if you want more than one phone to use the line, then you need a multi-handset cordless phone. Older 2.4GHz phones had some intereference problems but we have a 5.8GHz spread spectrum phone and it works fine. You don't get seamless E911 service with all provides, but most are going that route...but remember the 911 service is tied to the box which is tied to the billing address. So, if you move the box (from say Chicago to Miami) and dial 911, you get a Chicago VOIP 911 operator! And, as in my case, if your Internet goes down, you lose phone service. But they all have an option where you can forward calls automatically if the servers can't reach your VOIP box.

Although it's a violation of their terms, a buddy got a VOIP box and took it to his son who is going to grad school in Germany. So now, when he wants to call his son, he just makes a local phone call! Likewise, his son can call anywhere in the states (plus Canada, Puerto Rico, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK) and dad doesn't have to pay anything extra! Their $25/mo plan gives unlimited calling in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK! By similar token, you can take the VOIP box on vacation and when you plug it into the hotel's broadband connection, family and friends can call you at your home number.

Sorry, I had thought you were talking about having a phone through Comcast... We thought of getting one of these so my DH could give it to his family in Egypt and we could make the call 'local'. Problem is their Hi=speed internet right now isn't very cheap right now. I had no idea it was against their terms.

 

[pyramid2000]

Well, I would be sleeping but DD4 woke up. Her nose has been stuffy and it hurts.

DH's plane came in and he should be arriving any minute.

I am afraid to go to sleep now for fear of not waking up! !

 

[pyramid2000]

Thanks for the good advice. I was forgetting about the capacity issue. I will just go ahead and book the little buggers and fork over the extra $1000. They would be none too pleased to discover we were going on a 15 day Disney cruise without them.

Heck, I was contemplating adding in two 'ghost' people to our ressie. We are getting 2 cabins (hopefully) with me and DD in the 6 and DH and 2 DDs in an 11. I thought of adding in 2 TBAs in the 6 for the off chance DH can't go and I would have to add them to my ressie later!

 

[pyramid2000]

I am so used to talking to myself!

 

[pyramid2000]

DD has fallen asleep by the way...