Wireless Internet Onboard

[thiscloud]

I haven't poked around the DCL site recently (well, except to book Palo and the much-talked-about Surial/Rasul spa treament for our upcoming cruise), but I noticed this page recently:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/onboard/more/detail?name=WirelessInternetDetailPage

The page specifically mentions wireless for the Wonder, and I was just wondering if anyone knows how long this has been running and what people's first-hand experience is on it.

I heard recently that they're running tests on the Magic, and during these tests, the service was free. I'm hoping that's still the case when we're on the Magic less than 4 weeks from now, because the prices are quite high!

 

[ivanova]

Egads I hate those prices so I'm hoping the Magic is still in a "free" trial basis when we board in 3.5 weeks!!

 

[Skaught]

Ouch. You'll have to be a serious Internet geek (or stupid rich) to pay those prices. My email will just have to WAIT.

Scott

 

[Brisully]

That's a LOT of money. Ouch is right. It better be a lot quicker than the wired internet that is currently offered....

 

[Whiskers]

Would my husband's Blackberry work if the wireless Internet is working on the Magic?

 

[jel0511]

Would my husband's Blackberry work if the wireless Internet is working on the Magic?

Blackberry's work on cell service not WiFi, so no.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

WOW, that is pretty high. Guess we won't be taking a laptop on the repo cruise unless we know for sure it is still free for a trial basis.

 

[Whiskers]

Sandy: I think we will take the laptop and keep our fingers crossed it is still free on trial for wireless. I wanted to use the laptop to put pictures on CD anyway (and the boys can play a couple of computer games on it too!)
Only 26 more days!!!
Diane

 

[wdwstar]

Oh, darn its a shame i will have to bring my laptop onboard for work, i guess my company will have to pick up the tab this time

What i dont get is you still cant use your laptop in your room, but in the 5 places that disney already has their computers. I cant see why people would pay by the minute when you can just use their computers and pay the one time fee.

 

[DisneyMom05]

Hello to my fellow internet geeks! I am currently using the wireless internet connection while sailing on the 4-night Wonder cruise. I thought it would be more convenient to use my own laptop than to use the computers at the Internet Cafe. First of all the prices are a bit steep. Then I made several attempts to send a e-mail message but I kept getting disconnected. In fact I hope this reply gets through. Yes it would be very convenient to be able to use the laptop from your stateroom...maybe some time in the future. But for now I would just like to be able to send my e-mail from one of the hotspots. I will follow-up with an additional report later.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

[Brisully]

I am guessing then that the speed leaves something to be desired?

 

[Debbie H]

Go figure, all up and down I-95 in all of the motels, you can get "free" high speed internet wireless access but with Disney you have to pay big time. It amazes me that even at the resorts you have to pay. When we were at the Grand Californian, we hooked up to them for free. Perhaps WDW and DCL should do what DL is doing.

 

[Buddy Bear]

WOW, that is pretty high. Guess we won't be taking a laptop on the repo cruise unless we know for sure it is still free for a trial basis.

I would reconsider regardless of wireless internet. I always bring my laptop; we have three digital cameras and rarely go a day without fulling up our memory sticks so I use the laptop to clear the sticks. Plus it is fun to see the photos right away.

 

[thiscloud]

i'm hoping that someone who buys the unlimited internet cafe package gets some free wireless minutes or a deep discount.

also, speed shouldn't be worse than the cafe computers. the wireless bandwidth is going to be much higher than the bandwidth off the ship.

 

[tvguy]

Okay, they don't offer unlimited with the wireless, but according to my math the 75 cents per minute fee is identical to what they charge for using the ships computer.

I can't see dragging my laptop, I've got enough to carry, and then there are the hassles of clearing security at the airport.
I must not take many pictures either, I have 3 memory sticks for my digital camera with a combined capacity of 4000 photos, and that is more than enough for me. Rather tote a couple of tiny $29 memory sticks rather than a $2000 laptop.

 

[ivanova]

Go figure, all up and down I-95 in all of the motels, you can get "free" high speed internet wireless access but with Disney you have to pay big time. It amazes me that even at the resorts you have to pay. When we were at the Grand Californian, we hooked up to them for free. Perhaps WDW and DCL should do what DL is doing.

Debbie,

Hotels can get high speed wireless for their hotels at a reasonable rate - Disney (as with any cruise line ship) has to pay for satellite access, not cheap - but the satellite applies to their terminals as well, so I don't understand why the WiFi access is so much more expensive!!!

 

[Admiral Boom]

That's such a crock. I will stick to the internet cafe!

 

[DrCavin]

The wireless access still ends up using the same satellite equipment/service as the wired terminals, so the speed will at best be the same as on the wired terminals. It may even be slower depending on how well the signal is being transmitted/recieved by your laptop.

Hopefully they will add more equipment to allow access in more areas.

 

[grlzmom]

I would reconsider regardless of wireless internet. I always bring my laptop; we have three digital cameras and rarely go a day without fulling up our memory sticks so I use the laptop to clear the sticks. Plus it is fun to see the photos right away.

We also began taking the laptop for this reason. We cruised once with friends and after getting home, everything on their memory card was gone, and unable to be retrieved (don't know the lingo for this). All they had were their shutters pix and the few pictures we had taken with them in it.

Since then, for our peace of mind, we take the laptop, download the pix nightly and burn them to cds just for safetys sake. Hasn't been a big deal to drag it, and takes about five minutes nightly. We do seem to be taking lots more pictures now, not sure why

However, I think that I might utilize the wifi capability if they have it. Then I could upload my pix to winkflash while still on the cruise and they might be there when I get home, what a nice thought that is.

 

[natdencro]

So, you pay $1000s for a cruise - then spend much of it on the internet?