Unlimited Internet Cafe Option on the Repo?

[thiscloud]

wow! i guess i really started something with my post. i emailed costco, our travel agent, and this is what they said:

Thank you for emailing your question to us. I contacted Disney
Cruise Line this morning, and they advised that the 14 day package is
currently no longer available. The representative advised that
currently the Disney Magic is having trouble with her internet
connection, and that it will be under repair while she is underway on
the August 20 sailing. However, this situation may be resolved by the
time you board the Magic, so please be sure to check with the Guest
Services desk once on board.

what sucks is i've only been on one previous dcl cruise, a 4 day on the wonder in september of 2002. the cafe was undergoing renovations the too so only half the terminals were open, and they cancelled the unlimited service. i had to stay in touch for work and ended up spending a hundred bucks when it should have just cost $40 for unlimited service. oops, they did it again!

(yes, i will be so happy to just be on the cruise, etc etc, but i need to stay in touch with the landlubbers, and i'm just upset that it's going to cost more to do so.)

 

[thiscloud]

I haver a question about the internet access, but having never used it on board I may be wrong. If I bring my labptop (With wireless capabilities), can't I type my emails "Offline" and then only sign on to actually send them? Therefore only paying for the actual minutes spent sending and not those spent typing? This was my hope and then I thought my cheapest option would be to just pay by the minute and not buy a package. Please help me if I have this wrong.

yeah, you can use most mail programs in offline mode if you're using POP mail. imap and exchange configurations try to keep a persistant connection, and even then if you just make sure your wireless is turned off, they'll work offline, and automatically synchronize, uploading and downloading emails, when you reconnect.

 

[miclen]

Miclen, that's what I was going to do. At the very least, you can type in Word, then sign on and copy and paste to your e-mail. There are definitely ways to preserve your actual "on-line" time. I think 20 minutes a day to keep in touch by e-mail will be plenty for me. We too are using our internet for business purposes while cruising, but, with careful planning, we can mak it work.

Thanks for the reply. I hope the copy and past will work!!

 

[winotracy]

wow! i guess i really started something with my post. i emailed costco, our travel agent, and this is what they said:



what sucks is i've only been on one previous dcl cruise, a 4 day on the wonder in september of 2002. the cafe was undergoing renovations the too so only half the terminals were open, and they cancelled the unlimited service. i had to stay in touch for work and ended up spending a hundred bucks when it should have just cost $40 for unlimited service. oops, they did it again!

(yes, i will be so happy to just be on the cruise, etc etc, but i need to stay in touch with the landlubbers, and i'm just upset that it's going to cost more to do so.)

I just contact DCL as well because if the service is questionable and maybe not up at all, I need to make alternative arrangements here at work. The CM read me the memo concerning the internet. They said in order to avoid any potential trouble and give everyone the best possible experience, they will be modifying both the internet cafe and wireless billing structure for the August 20 cruise. They will be elimiting the unlimited internet package and offering per minute and minute package plans.

Because wireless is the same price per minute as the internet cafe, my guess is they will be offering the same packages as the wireless.

Tracy

 

[ivanova]

not having unlimited access blows - my only consolation is that I'll be able to itemize the expense as a business expense.

 

[thiscloud]

not having unlimited access blows - my only consolation is that I'll be able to itemize the expense as a business expense.

that's looking on the bright side! my consolation is that i wasn't going to bring a laptop, so i couldn't send pictures live to friends and family, and now i will. if the pricing's the same whether it's a cafe pc or my own laptop, i'm luggin' that thing.

 

[Lisa F]

I'm looking at the bright side too. We have a budget for spending money on this cruise and if we have to spend it on the internet, there will be less crap to haul home. DCL is certainly not going to get MORE money out of us because of this, that's for sure.

 

[DisneyElf]

Well we were thinking of doing the unlimited plan ... for checking on work emails, and of course posting for the "Live" thread ....

but -- since I'm a little bit upset too about DCL changing everything at the last second -- I'm going to go cut down to the $ 55.00 for a hundred minutes and try to spend less than 10 mins. online each day.

Guess our "live" thread will be *boring* like the our cruise meet thread. I can't imagine too many people wanting to answer questions onboard if there is a timer constantly running - otherwise someone could end up with a $1000. internet bill

 

[ladypoo]

Well we were thinking of doing the unlimited plan ... for checking on work emails, and of course posting for the "Live" thread ....

but -- since I'm a little bit upset too about DCL changing everything at the last second -- I'm going to go cut down to the $ 55.00 for a hundred minutes and try to spend less than 10 mins. online each day.

Guess our "live" thread will be *boring* like the our cruise meet thread. I can't imagine too many people wanting to answer questions onboard if there is a timer constantly running - otherwise someone could end up with a $1000. internet bill

That is what we are going to do. Maybe even less. Just go on line as needed to check on parents and pay a few bills.

We are going to have fun no matter what!

 

[DisneyElf]

I agree -- the whole purpose of the trip is to relax & have fun.

Just feel sorry for the dis'ers who won't be able to follow along as closely.

 

[webray]

We were on the 14 night cruise. The unlimited internet is definately 179.99

 

[Regina]

There were issues at times during the "practice" repo cruise in May - folks waiting in line to use a terminal, being limited to 10 minutes of use. There were probably complaints from folks that paid for unlimited and felt since they were limited to 10 minutes at a shot they weren't truly getting "unllimited" service.

If DCL perceives that might be an issue again, simply remove the unlimited option and (supposedly) remove the Guest complaints.

?????? I was on that cruise and had unlimited access. I never, ever was given a time limit when I was on the computer. I was on at all different times and could stay on as long as I wanted.

Yes, there were lines and if I saw someone waiting, I did try to get off quickly, but that was my decision. I never heard of a time limit and believe me, if this was the case, it certainly would have been mentioned during that cruise.

 

[webray]

No time limits here either, not in the cove cafe or the main internet access area. Plenty of people checked their email and got off quickly so others could get on as ther were usually lines of people waiting. Then there were those, of course, who sat there for hours..lol.

 

[cotomom]

Also on the May repo and there was never a time limit imposed. You did what you felt was appropriate - or at least most of us did!

 

[Lisa F]

We were on the 14 night cruise. The unlimited internet is definately 179.99

You mean WAS $179.99. It is not $179.99 on the august cruise, there is no unlimited option on the august cruise. That is part of what I (and others) are so peeved about. It's not like it's a policy change all across the board and they are doing away with the unlimited package on all cruises. We are paying a fortune to be on this cruise and now they are treating it like the red-haired stepchild. It's very unlike our previous experiences with DCL but if this is a sign of things to come this will definitely be our last Disney cruise.

The only GOOD thing is that DCL has confirmed that we ARE indeed only expected to have around 700 kids on our cruise and not 1200 as was claimed by the may people, which is pretty much what the statistical sampling of the 20% of the ship that our group accounts for said way back when there was a whole BFHD (big fat hairy deal) made out of it. Sounds like the perfect amount of kids, not too many, not so few that the adult areas are overcrowded.

 

[JDSski]

I have read this thread. I missed something. I was told the Magic was going wireless until after the dry dock period. Now it seems to be wireless. I am confused. I didn't want to bring the laptop but if it's wireless the laptop is going on the Repo cruise I won't have an excuse not to check up on my office. Someone explain...Please.

 

[ivanova]

It didn't need to wait for drydock. Wireless was already available, CMs had to use wireless. They just made it available to guests on the Wonder first then the Magic, this summer.

So, yes, you can bring your laptop and have wireless access (for a price).

 

[Hygiene99]

Also on the May repo and there was never a time limit imposed. You did what you felt was appropriate - or at least most of us did!

We did Receive a $15.00 credit on the last day of the Cruise..
for our troubles with the Internet ..

so it was only $165.00
As many of you know we did not have trouble getting on .

 

[cotomom]

We did Receive a $15.00 credit on the last day of the Cruise..
for our troubles with the Internet ..

so it was only $165.00
As many of you know we did not have trouble getting on .

That was cool that they did that, but not even that necessary in my thoughts. I never had any trouble w/ the internet. Might've had to wait a few minutes, but never more than a few minutes. I think most people were very respectful of seeing if someone was waiting.

I'm sorry they've taken the unlimited away for the August cruisers. Doesn't seem too fair.