Conducting Business on Coral Princess

[jarrod1]

I am Sailing on Coral Princess in May and will need access to an internet connection for my own laptop; or at least a fax machine to send and receive documents. (Unfortunately. I will have to be able to work while on the ship.) I know there is the AOL/Internet Cafe; however, I was told by a customer service rep. at 1800princess that I would not be able to access the internet on my own laptop. She also told me they would not be able to assist me in transferring data files between my laptop and their computers that have internet access. It seems to me there should be some way to conduct business as I would from any business class hotel; but maybe not? (This is my first cruise.) Does anyone know if there is a business center available on the ship; or if there is a way I could contact someone who actually works on the ship that would be able to address these concerns. The customer service rep didn't seem to have much practical knowledge about the ship or services available. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MouseMan]

I would call Princess back and speak with a Public Relations MANAGER. In my dealings with Princess I have found that the managers usually are able to find answers to hard questions. Not that the reps are not doing their job, they have limited information.

Rhapsody of the Seas "97"
GRAND Princess "98"

Till the Diamond
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[Coral]

I have been on the Coral Princess. Their computers are more "internet centers" where you can use email, surf the web, take pictures of yourself and send them back home, etc. . There may be MS Office on them but I can't remember (I know Office is on the other ships I have been on, just can't remember this one).

There are "only monitors" at these stations and there is no place for zip disks, floppies, etc. . The Island Princess and Diamond Princess allow for wireless connections with your own personal computer but this is not available on the Coral Princess (not sure of Caribbean Princess). I believe there is fax service available but didn't use it.

Here is the picture of one side of one of the internet centers (there are 2 and then are in corners facing the atrium).

I would suggest (in addition to what the other poster suggested) is sending an email to: coralprincess@princesscruises.com and in the subject line say "Question for Purser's Desk/Business Center" and then ask your question in the text area.

http://homepage.mac.com/tlassek/.cv/tlassek/Sites/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2003-06-08%2008.41.41%20-0700/Image-3D9A740C99C511D7.jpg-thumb_269_202.jpg

[stuartalt]

Business services are generally poor. Even where you can hook up laptops (and on the grand you could rent them with wifi access in atrium) they are sporadic at best. Lots of dead time. I know the ships can receive and send faxes, but this very expensive. We were able to arrange business services at one of the ports (Grand Cayman not suprisingly) to hold a fedex for us and send a couple faxes out. Even the most basic ports, like COsta Maya, had internet access palces that can handle most needs. Probably your best bet.

[coiran]

Going on a cruise is supposed to be a relaxing time - getting away from business - if your business cannot survive without you for a week or ten days, do not go.

I have seen people on Princess ships with a laptop plugged into a phone line along some of the public areas - Perhaps utilizing the ships $9.00 per minute hookup for personal computer related needs. You may want to check on this.

NCL PRIDE OF AMERICA Oct. 2004
SUN PRINCESS 2004 Caribbean
REGAL PRINCESS 2003 Europe
GOLDEN PRINCESS 2002 Canada New England
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Panama Canal
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Mexico
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
SEA PRINCESS 2001 Alaska
REGAL PRINCESS 2000 Mexico
REGAL PRINCESS 1999 Panama Canal
PACIFIC PRINCESS 1999 Europe
SUN PRINCESS 1998 Caribbean
ROYAL PRINCESS 1996 Panama Canal

[Coral]

Or is it possible to rent an international cell phone and use it as your modem connection when you are in port.

[cruising with marti]

Poor guy, having to conduct business on a cruise, but if you have to, you have to.

Geeze what a bummer.


Phil

galaxy trans Atlantic
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[jhannah]

I would suggest researching Internet cafes on shore. They were very accessible on our Panama Canal cruise in February. The Coral Princess center, as stated above, is not equipped for conducting business, and can be slow or go down entirely from time to time. (I generally had good luck, but often had to wait and go back later.)

'Vegas Jim

[CruisenEd]

The Island Princess is suppose to have wireless access, but the Coral does not, as I tried on our cruise on April 1 through 11. The internet center was okay, but very, very slow. To bad the cruise lines don't sign up for Connection by Boeing, where you get DSL speed. It works in Jets flighing at 600+, should work great on cruise ships at 20+.

Time until we leave on the Caribbean Princess Leaves
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Caribbean Princess April 2, 2005

[jhannah]

Isn't the Boeing service via a satellite connection? There could still be some blind spots aboard a cruise ship, depending on how far north of the equator it is and the local topography. At 30-35 thousand feet, line of sight is no issue. (Unless you go over one of the poles.)

'Vegas Jim