Internet on Med trips

[jackson190]

We are sailing on the June 27 Med trip. My husband needs to access email via a VPN account during the trip. Has anyone had any luck with email from the States? How slow is the internet? Is it wireless? Can you buy it by the minute?

 

[sharolyn]

It is not bad, a bit slow, but not bad!!! I accessed my university account without a problem. Anyway....you can buy it in blocks and there is wireless that i heard you could access from your cabin, i used the ones down in the internet lounge.

 

[Kissimmee]

It is not bad, a bit slow, but not bad!!! I accessed my university account without a problem. Anyway....you can buy it in blocks and there is wireless that i heard you could access from your cabin, i used the ones down in the internet lounge.

It was horrendously slow on the May 26th 11 day Med. People were complaining left and right. Practically unusable most of the time. Which cruise were you on? It sounds like it has improved.

 

[sharolyn]

i just got off the boat a week ago. it was not as fast as at home, but it allowed me to do what i needed to do. it was faster at times, like late night, early morning when everyone was off the boat, so basically at port it was faster. But late nights, not bad. I did not try doing anything other than sign on, download and read my emails and respond. Actually, not even sure i responded. I was trying to get info on my shore excursions, etc. So lots of downloads!! Anyway, good luck!!

 

[ladyvet]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question..........

There are actual computers in the internet lounge, right? My plan is to check my email daily for catastrophic news, and otherwise be computer free

I won't need to bring my own computer? Also, is it difficult to get on those computers? Is there a time limit?

Thanks for any info,
Beth

 

[Kissimmee]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question..........

There are actual computers in the internet lounge, right? My plan is to check my email daily for catastrophic news, and otherwise be computer free

I won't need to bring my own computer? Also, is it difficult to get on those computers? Is there a time limit?

Thanks for any info,
Beth

Yes they have actual computers in the Internet café.

They were never all in use on the cruises I was on. No time limit although common courtesy would apply if people were waiting but as I said I never saw that happen. With expanded wireless availability most users bring a laptop.

 

[ladyvet]

Thanks for the info. A few minutes daily should be enough for me
Beth

 

[OurDogCisco]

Well... we were planning on bringing our laptop but only to download pictures. Maybe we'll just buy enough cards to take enough. I love taking pictures so I'm not sure how many. I wasn't really planning on accessing internet unless I had too.

 

[sharolyn]

Brought computers to download pics, which with 23 of us, we did a lot of!!! And used the computers in the lounge to read emails, dowload tour info, etc. I never tried to sign on our personal computers...mainly because i wanted to be able to print out what i was reading, if you do it that way, you can save minutes, which are precious on this cruise!!! I am just saying, no it was not being at home with my internet and computer, but I made it work for me. I was not trying to do business from the boat, that would probably be very frustrating. If you are just needing to catch up, it is fine! Major downloads, work ect, well....good luck!!!

 

[kaseyC]

So I should not have a problem accessing DCL site from the ship? We are cruising on the August TA Repo and my 105 day window for making ressies for our 12/1/07 cruise starts on 8/18/07 and I cannot leave something that important in the hands of my DH who will be at home. I plan on using the ship's computers to check email every so often as well as make my Palo, Spa and Excursion reservations for the our December cruise.

 

[Doingitagain]

So I should not have a problem accessing DCL site from the ship? We are cruising on the August TA Repo and my 105 day window for making ressies for our 12/1/07 cruise starts on 8/18/07 and I cannot leave something that important in the hands of my DH who will be at home. I plan on using the ship's computers to check email every so often as well as make my Palo, Spa and Excursion reservations for the our December cruise.

Check when you board, but I think you can access the DCL site without buying an Internet package or using minutes.

 

[kaseyC]

Check when you board, but I think you can access the DCL site without buying an Internet package or using minutes.

That would be awesome if thats the case. I will certainly check once onboard.

 

[Seaurchinzz]

Thanks for the info we'll be needing to keep in touch with home

 

[kmitchel]

I just got back from the June 11th Med cruise and I was able to use VPN on my own laptop. If I remember correctly, if you buy a block of 500 minutes, it was $150. The mornings were the fastest for a connection. The evenings before the show or dinner were the slowest.

Uploading pictures to a blog were next to impossible.

 

[ladyvet]

I have a "smartphone" that has wireless internet access. I'm assuming I won't be able to make calls with my phone, but will my internet work? I suppose somehow you get signed up to use the wireless service on board?

My phone is a UT-Starcom with Alltel.
Thanks!
Beth