Thread: Internet access on Alaskan cruise

My wife and I have been putting off an Alaskan cruise for some time due to the fact that my business requires that I have internet access for at least an hour or so Mon-Fri.
I cannot get a straight answer out of my agent on what access is like on board. All he says, is to use the Internet cafe the calls are too expensive in the cabin. I need to work, the internet cafe is not an option I even want to consider.
So my questions are:

If I bring my laptop (which has wireless access btw) what kind of connection can I expect in our cabin?
What does it cost typically per minute on board.

Conversely, if I have a Blackberry, can I get access that way?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Mike

Which Cruisline and ship were you thinking of or just a blanket question???

Welcome to the site, Mike!!

Depends if you can get wireless in your cabin (not all ships have that in the cabins, most likely you have to go to a hot spot somewhere in the ship) BUT you will still pay the same internet fee by using your laptop as you would in the internet cafe. Then the signal is an issue. If there are too many clouds the satalite may not be able to get a signal for internet.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by sue miller

Which Cruisline and ship were you thinking of or just a blanket question???

Welcome to the site, Mike!!

Thanks for the welcome!
Well, it was kind of a general question but we would probably go Princess but Carnival is an option.

Hi Mike B, glad you stopped by here.
Most ships have an internet cafe. Some of the newer ships have connectivity in the cabin, and a few have hot spots for wireless. One Carnival ship is completely wired for wireless laptops, but it is doing Caribbean cruises right now.

You really have to check on a ship by ship basis. All lines have ships of varying ages, and it depends on when it was built how it will handle connectivity.

As for your blackberry, check your cellular provider to see if they cover Alaska. It's sometimes easier to get an email rather than a phone call - it just depends on the phone company.

I have to respond to Heather our Cruise Princess that it depends on the cruiseline. For the lines you are considering, she may be correct.

Let me make 2 recommendations:
1- Get another Travel Agent. He hasn't done his homework for you. It sounds like either he is trying to sell you a more expensive vacation, or he doesn't care if you vacation or not.
2- Take a look at Royal Caribbean. They have two ships that go to Alaska in the summer that have CyberCabin. You pay one fee, I believe $100, for your entire cruise, and you have unlimited access to the internet through a hook-up on your cabin phone. (Not wireless, but these ships are just a little too old for that.) Radiance and Serenade were built for cruising in Alaska and have lots of glass, so you can see the scenery and still stay warm. Both ships continually have people raving about them, so I am not jsut picking them for the Cyber cabin alone.

Don't rule out Princess or Carnival; they may have what you need. In fact if you post a similar question in the Alaska part of this board, you should gets lots of info. I just wanted you to know that there is at least one way to have affordable internet access on a cruise, despite your TA's advice.

MCcruiser, GREAT advice! That was very helpful and much appreciated. I'll do more research and for sure check out the Alaska forum

Glad to help; I hope I wasn't too harsh about your TA, since he may be very good about other parts of cruise planning.

Originally Posted by mikeb

Conversely, if I have a Blackberry, can I get access that way?

Mike

Depending on your itinerary your Blackberry should work in port and thru most of the inside passage. The only place you would might have problems is crossing the Gulf of Alaska. Alaska is the US and has very good cell coverage and many cruise lines are offering it on their ship when in the remote areas.

As of December 2005, all 19 RCI ships offer Wi-Fi connection through six hot spots on board. Of course the ships also have Internet Lounges and some of the newer ships offer very slow Cyber Cabin dial up service.

LL