Wireless Internet On Board

Instructions for Princess' Wireless Internet

Carnival's new Valor has wireless Internet access all over the ship.  Other ships in the fleet offer it in and around the Internet Cafe. If you don't have a laptop most Carnival ships will rent you one as well as a wireless connection card. 

If you have both at home, bring them.  In many cases that is the only way you'll be able to download anything as the ship's computers have downloads locked out....that even means attachments to emails.

On Princess wireless is available in 30 minute blocks for the same price as using a terminal in the Internet Cafe.  Soon, we'll be able to add time as we need to from our laptops which we must bring with us, they don't rent them but wireless cards are available as well as an attendant to help get it all going.  Purchasing the "coupon" that allows access though is done through the Guest Services Desk.

Speed?   Ok but nothing to get excited about.  You have to really want to upload or download anything as those functions can be slow.

 

Remote Internet Access

Airpath High Speed

Imagine being connected to the Internet at blazing broadband speeds while you travel with your Laptop or PDA....at the airport boarding gate, hotel, coffee shop, or other global Hot Spot location! All you need is a WiFi 802.11(b) wireless "modem" for your laptop or PDA and you'll be surfing your way to the Internet at speeds up to 50 times faster than dial-up! Staying in touch with your friends, family or office is as easy as opening your browser

Internet Access At Sea

The Internet Cafe, available on most cruise ships can be a great way to keep in touch with family and friends back home.  You can do pretty much anything on the internet while at sea that you could do at home.  You can send  and receive email, surf the web, chat, even conduct business while in the middle of the Caribbean. 

Now why the heck would you want to do that?

After all it took to get you on your "vacation of a lifetime" cruise you're gonna keep up on the office gossip?  That's just nutz.

You're gonna let your kids IM thier friends on Instant Messenger and sit there chatting in the middle of the ocean?  What like there's nothing else to do?

On our first cruise "unlimited" internet access was offered.  We bought it and the kids sat for hours talking to one another from one station at the Internet Cafe to another station at the Internet Cafe ON THE SAME SHIP.  Imagine the technology at work here boucing that "Hey wuzzup?" message off the ship, up to a satellite, over to someplace else, back to the satellite , and back to the chair next to the one that sent it.  On later cruises the "unlimited" option had been eliminated.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the internet, technology or silly icons attached to your IM.  In fact, IM me anytime you want.  (AOL Screenname: Aborcrmbe2)  I just think that its REALLY important to keep it in check while on a cruise.  Especially now, because it can be expensive.  Those same couple of hours a day (yeah like I could live on a couple hours) of internet access that are included in your internet access at home will cost you $50 on a ship...any ship. 

For the four of us we got by with a 100 minute package on our last 7-day cruise, but just barely.  And that was with us each checking our email just once a day.  I had sworn that we would not use internet access while on that cruise but gave in due to Sydney's melancoly demeanor at the thought of being without her boyfriend.  Big mistake.  Next time is bring the boy along or forget about him for a week, no exceptions

 

Wireless At Sea

The latest development at the Internet Cafe is the wireless network.  Soon to be installed on all ships in the fleet, it offers those with a laptop comuter some unique opportunities. 

Several cruise lines have  installed a wireless network which works within 50 to 100 feet of the internet cafe.  If you have a wireless network at home or in your office, you can use it onboard!  The price is  the same as if you were to use one of thier terminals but you can work on your own machine, at your own pace, and have all the options available to terminal users.  If you don't have a wireless card but DO have a PC slot in the side of your laptop they will rent you a card for ten bucks a day.  If you are one of those strange people that bring work with you (I saw several) this is a great deal.  As the system catches on, Carnival plans to put more transmitters for the wireless system scattered around the ship.  At some time in the near future you will be able to sit in your cabin and surf the internet while you look out of your window at the surf rolling by.  Cool?

It's great for me though.

 I get up really early in the morning right after all the drunks have been poured into bed but before the sunrise watchers have rolled out to the coffee machine.  I get about 2 hours where its pretty much just me and the ship.  That's when I do some of my favorite (not necessarily good) writing.  One day I might park myself in the lobby, another on deck, still another along the Promenade.  For the first couple days the occasional security guard looks me over, but soon they realize I am not trying to tap into the ship's guidance system and they just nod a good morning. 

Rates Are Posted In The Cafe's

Take Your Email Address With You

mail2web

Visiting this site from any computer hooked up to the Internet will enable you to check any email address from anywhere in the world.  There are other sites that do this but I have used this one flawlessly for years and highly recommend it.  Write this address down and bring it with you to the ship along with your email addresses and passwords

Need a News Fix?

Curious if a 'news' newspaper is available on the ship?

No...and when you think of it, that makes sense. Doubtful that they would do an air drop and catch the papers on a sea day or send a Coast Guard ship out to intercept us in able to give us the news

But as a newsaholic myself IF I needed to feed my habit at sea the internet cafe can get me anything I want.

I must say that one of the things I am really good at though is losing contact with reality while on a cruise. As far as I am concerned the world can blow up while I am away, I'll deal with it after the cruise

<a href="http://pl.b5z.net/i/u/21092/f/01_Prelude__Dark.wma">Play the media using the stand alone Player</a>

Carnival's Internet Access Plan

Can I access the internet while on board?

For those guests who want the option of staying connected to the everyday world, we have implemented Internet Cafes fleetwide. The Cafe is open 24-hours a day and features private workstations with the latest flat panel computer terminals. Guests will have the ability to send and receive e-mail and access Internet sites. Guests can access their home account through AOL, Hotmail, Juno or Yahoo or have the option of setting up their very own temporary account on board with our CruiseE-mail. The computers are equipped with WordPad. The Internet is accessed via satellite through a satellite modem and guests are able to surf the internet as if they were at home.  Files can be downloaded as "read only" but cannot be saved, since a floppy disk cannot be inserted into the PC's. The Internet connection speed is able to connect with bursts of 2.5 megs and 128 kbps upstream. If Palm Pilots are wireless than guests can take advantage of our wireless access. Guests may bring their own personal Laptop for use on board by using our Wireless Internet Service.  If the laptop is not equipped with a Wireless Internet Card, guests will need to rent one from the Internet Cafe. If the laptop is running on Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows 98 or Windows 95, software will be installed in order to run the Wireless System. This will take approximately five minutes.  If the laptop is running on Windows XP, the above software is not needed. The Wireless Internet Service is compatible with a Wireless 802.11b card, which is the industry standard. Even with the wireless service, guest's personal Laptop must be used in close proximity of the Internet Cafe. It cannot be used in guest?s staterooms. Internet Cafe Price List Charges for the following services will be billed directly to guest's Sail and Sign Account as follows:  A one time activation fee is $3.95.  To obtain a temporary account while on board, the set-up charge is $3.95.  To print information, the charge is $.50-per page. To utilize the service of the Internet Cafe, whether using a private workstation, renting a laptop or using the guest's personal laptop, the charge is:  $.75-per minute. Block of Minutes (no refund for unused minutes):  3, 4 or 5 Day Cruise 30 minutes for $16.50 (.55 per minute).  60 minutes for $24.00 (.40 per minute).  7 Day Cruise or Longer 100 minutes for $55.00 (.55 per minute). 250 minutes for $100.00 (.40 per minute).   To rent a Wireless Internet Card for a guest's personal laptop, the rate is $10.00 per day. To rent a Laptop, the charge is $35.00 per day; optional insurance is $10.00 per day.