downloading photos to computer

[emmalbrent]

If we have too much carry on luggage and cannot take laptop, how much does Oceania charge for the whole cruise? How much is each CD?

Has anyone downloaded their photos to Oceania's server during the cruise?

[PurpleCow]

$15-$20 to transfer the photos to a CD. Don't know what it would be if more than one CD were required.

[Paisley12]

I was on the 5/1 to 5/11 Athens to Rome on the Insignia and I periodically downloaded my digital images from my camera card to the ships servers. AM I GLAD THAT I DID!!!! Unfortunately, I didn't download the last two days! :( But the rest were there!! :)
After we got off the ship in Rome and got into our hotel we rushed into 2 cabs to go to the Vatican and in my rush to get out of the cab my camera dropped inside the cab... well needless to say no one ever recovered it even though the cab company was called within the hour from the Vatican. Geez, you'd think there would be some honest people around the Vatican! Soooo .... I sent an email to Oceania asking if they had my images. The tech in the computer room said they keep them backed up for 1 month past your voyage. They responded and will send what I downloaded to their servers on a CD to me. I haven't received that CD as yet but I have a contact name in Franklin, Tennessee at HighSeas Computer Services which I assume has all the backups. Keep backing up OFTEN!

[emmalbrent]

How much did they charge you for each CD? Did they fill up each CD or do it by download.

[Paisley12]

In the middle of my cruise I asked the tech to download to a CD all the pictures I had in my account so far (more than 300 pics of Greece) even though I knew they would not fill up the CD. I just wanted a CD backup because I'm a paranoid picture-taker :o . My card was filling up in my camera and I had to delete my card to make room for Italy! All of my pics are still on their servers (I hope). He said he could hold all of them on the server til the end of the cruise whereby he could put all of them on a CD providing they did not go over 720 MB (which is a lot of pictures). The charge was $15 for each CD (worth it). The CD has the HighSeas Computer Services logo on it and the tech gave me a business card from them also in case I needed it. I DID NEED IT as you can see from my post! The people in the computer room on the Insignia were very helpful and knowledgeable. I am sure there is a charge for them cutting a CD and sending it to you after the fact but seeing my pictures again will be worth it. I only regret I didn't download on the last day of the cruise. I lost two days due to the loss of my camera. I can let you know what the charge is when I get the CD sent from the ship, if you wish.

[emmalbrent]

We probably won't take a laptop, since cost of CD is no more than on other cruise lines. Also won't need to take the 30 blank CDs either.

Was there an original cost for downloading pictures?

Hopefully won't need another CD after cruise, but you never know. Please let me know cost, if not too much trouble.

[Paisley12]

There was no other cost .... just the $15 per CD while you're on the ship. You will have to get an ID and Password in the computer lab...no cost. However, I believe it will be a significantly higher cost once you're off the ship due to downloading, cutting a CD and mailing from a foreign port.

As far as email, I know you didn't ask but here's my 2 cents about that, I did do a lot of email to my kids while on the ship and there is per email for on-ship email BUT if you use your own email like Outlook, Hotmail, etc. off the internet you can pay package prices for minutes used. You can send selected pics attached to your email if you choose to do so but compress them before you send them. If you don't know how the tech will be happy to show you... it's very simple. I got the packages 'cause I'm a nut about letting my kids know my adventures and just to keep in touch. They'll give you a sheet with the costs when you're on board. And the nice thing is that the lab is open 24 hours.

[emmalbrent]

We heard the packages were very expensive and the transmission time very s-l-o-w. Our travel companion will probably use internet cafes and she still has overseas calling on her cell phone. If anything happens at our home, there is nothing we can do about it. Only reason for us to return home is our health.

She has too much carry on luggage and would have to FedX her laptop to me. Or I take my very "heavy" one. We need it to download photos. But from what you have said, using the ship server would take a big worry off our minds.

[Paisley12]

You know, I didn't really notice the slow speed that has been complained about in previous posts when I was on board ... well, it wasn't "lightening" fast but it sure wasn't like dial-up. They may have upgraded while the Insignia was in dry dock in April .... I don't know. But then I also found that if you wrote your email in MS Word, save it as a doc and THEN signed on the internet and THEN did a cut and paste you saved those precious minutes. Normally minute by minute is .95 cents a minute if you don't buy a package. I think .. if I remember ... the packages started at $80 for 100 minutes ... $140 for 200 minutes. If you buy a $80 package (@ .80 cents a minute) and you go over 100 minutes and if you upgrade to $140 package for 200 minutes (I think it was .70 cents a minute for the 200) your .80 cents a minute is converted to the lower rate. I hope this is clear. You'll just have to judge how much you'll use the internet while on board.