Tablet benefits aboard a cruise??

I recently got a Blackberry Playbook and I plan to bring it with me on my cruise. I know the basics I can use it for (pictures, videos, etc) but I'm thinking I'm not considering all the various ways I can use a tablet while on board.

Any uses I'm not considering?

Also, I'd love to use wifi while I'm in port. My cruise stops in St Maarten, Labadee, St Thomas and Puerto Rico. Can anyone mention a bar or somewhere that is wifi equipped near these ports?

Thanks! :D

On the ship, any internet connection will cost you...connecting, whether wi-fi or not, is NOT included in your fare. Each ship/cruiseline CHARGES for internest access...whether it's thru your device or their computer. Check with your cruiseline for pricing....generally, it starts at around $.65 per min.

On the ship, any internet connection will cost you...connecting, whether wi-fi or not, is NOT

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I mean places outside of the port that I could have access to. I planned to buy an internet package aboard anyways.

Here is what a google search turned up:

Labadee

No free wifi, any signal would come from the ship and cost money

St. Maarten

Free WiFi hotspots: SkipJack's, California Restaurant and Rancho del Sol above Orient, Cappucino Diner in Simpson Bay..

L'Esperance Hotel and The Horny Toad Guesthouse have free wireless for their guests.

By far the wildest exterior for an internet café belonged to Café Dot Com at the head of Philipsburg (that would be the eastern end near the cruise ship dock), no longer in operation.

St. Thomas

Beans, Bytes, and Websites offers wi-fi in town, but it's not free. You pay something, and they give you an access code.

In/near Havensight, Offshore Bar & Grill has free wi-fi with purchase, and so does Paradise Gate near the Butterfly Farm.

There are probably other places, too, but these are the ones that come to mind right now, and are easy to find.

Puerto rico

WiFi Hotspot Location Hotspot Address Wireless Networks

Backup Computer Store Road 115 Km 12.0 Plaza Bonet, Rincon, 00677, Puerto Rico Backup

Embassy Suites Hotel - San Juan Hotel & Casino - Int'l Airport 8000 Tartak St, San Juan, 979, Puerto Rico PASSYM, V-Link

Friends Cafe behind the church, Cabo Rojo, 00623, Puerto Rico Independent

download the nook app and you can load books right onto your tablet, if you like to read. use you calendar feature and put all your shows etc on it.

Down load a map of the ship to help you get around.

Keep a journal to go along with your pictures so you can remember where you were when you get home...or compose email and you can copy and paste them when you have wifi to save time.

If you dock at havensight, I think there's free wifi at senor frog's.

In Puerto Rico, there's free wifi at burger KIng right up the top of the first hill.

Here is what a google search turned up:

Labadee

No free wifi, any signal would come from the ship and cost money

 

St. Maarten

Free WiFi hotspots: SkipJack's, California Restaurant and Rancho del Sol above Orient, Cappucino Diner in Simpson Bay..

L'Esperance Hotel and The Horny Toad Guesthouse have free wireless for their guests.

 

By far the wildest exterior for an internet café belonged to Café Dot Com at the head of Philipsburg (that would be the eastern end near the cruise ship dock), no longer in operation.

 

St. Thomas

Beans, Bytes, and Websites offers wi-fi in town, but it's not free. You pay something, and they give you an access code.

 

In/near Havensight, Offshore Bar & Grill has free wi-fi with purchase, and so does Paradise Gate near the Butterfly Farm.

 

There are probably other places, too, but these are the ones that come to mind right now, and are easy to find.

 

Puerto rico

 

WiFi Hotspot Location Hotspot Address Wireless Networks

Backup Computer Store Road 115 Km 12.0 Plaza Bonet, Rincon, 00677, Puerto Rico Backup

Embassy Suites Hotel - San Juan Hotel & Casino - Int'l Airport 8000 Tartak St, San Juan, 979, Puerto Rico PASSYM, V-Link

Friends Cafe behind the church, Cabo Rojo, 00623, Puerto Rico Independent

Thank you so much! :D I'm emailing this information to myself right now to load onto the Playbook.

Anyone bringing a smart phone/Tablet?

Here are my suggestions:

Install Ship Mate

Set your wi-fi off

Set your Date & Time to NOT set Automatically.

Set time zone to …

If the Captain changes ship time, then (and only then) you change time zone to match ship's time.

Set airplane mode ON

When you meet a new friend add them to your contact list complete with photo/email address/note of which cruise etc.

Take lots of pictures

Enter items from your daily compass into your calendar.

download the nook app and you can load books right onto your tablet, if you like to read. use you calendar feature and put all your shows etc on it.

Down load a map of the ship to help you get around.

Keep a journal to go along with your pictures so you can remember where you were when you get home...or compose email and you can copy and paste them when you have wifi to save time.

If you dock at havensight, I think there's free wifi at senor frog's.

In Puerto Rico, there's free wifi at burger KIng right up the top of the first hill.

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I love to read so much that I've already picked out 3 books to bring with me, but the Nook option would definitely be lighter on my bag!

Anyone bringing a smart phone/Tablet?

Here are my suggestions:

Install Ship Mate

Set your wi-fi off

Set your Date & Time to NOT set Automatically.

Set time zone to …

If the Captain changes ship time, then (and only then) you change time zone to match ship's time.

Set airplane mode ON

When you meet a new friend add them to your contact list complete with photo/email address/note of which cruise etc.

Take lots of pictures

Enter items from your daily compass into your calendar.

Thanks! I actually do customer service for a wireless company, so my phone will definitely be in airplane mode! LOL I've already downloaded the Ship Mate app. I'm really liking the calendar idea that's been suggested a few times thought; never crossed my mind to do that.

In February we used our android phones a lot on ship (with the wireless turned off of course) and then connected to the wifi when we wanted to update facebook or upload a few teaser pictures. So this year I went looking for a good deal on a larger tablet and picked up an Acer Iconia Tab a100 (8gb) for $189 on black friday and couldn't be more excited. It's perfect for viewing photos we've taken, doing some minor editing (PicSay Pro) and also keeping the ship map and our itenerary on it.

Now, how do I go about downloading a map of the ship? I'm so new to this! LOL I'm assuming I can just get it through RC's website while on the tablet, right?

Now, how do I go about downloading a map of the ship? I'm so new to this! LOL I'm assuming I can just get it through RC's website while on the tablet, right?

It's on shipmate. (Sadly I just found out it won't work with Honeycomb yet)

Ok, gotta ask, What is Shipmate app????

Why set airplane mode on?

I may buy a Tablet before our cruise in March so this is new to me. Thanks

Ok, gotta ask, What is Shipmate app????

 

Why set airplane mode on?

 

I may buy a Tablet before our cruise in March so this is new to me. Thanks

Ship Mate is a mobile app for iphone/pad and android. http://shipmateapp.com/

Take a look at their website for better details but it has a ship map in it.

Airplane mode means that you can't get data from the towers and rack up a crazy bill for international use.

Dear friends:

We just came off an RCCL Caribbean cruise. And we work onboard while we vacation, so this is what we found:

The ship Internet connection costs $.65 per minute and can go down to about $.30 per minute if you buy their packages. The connection is slow, and very sporadic.

To get Internet in Labadee, you can pick up the ship's signal and use your Internet package if you are on one of the beaches close to the ship, such as Barefoot beach. However, if two ships are in port that day, you might get the signal from the other ship, in which case your Internet package or log-on will not work.

However, if you have GSM service, on Labadee you can pick-up several of the Caribbean networks. The best one that works throughout most of the Caribbean is DIGICELL. This network works for voice and data, although the data is usually slow because it is hard to pick up a 3G network.

In St. Thomas and San Juan you pick up the U.S. networks, and that tends to work well.

As far as WiFi is concerned, some of the ports have it for free as part of the port infrastructure. Also, several of the restaurants/bars in the port complexes also offer it for free for their customers, and it is very nice to sit in these restaurants and have a drink, coffee, meal or snack while you are using the Internet.

Even if you don't find a restaurant with free Wi-Fi, in all of the ports there were Internet cafés or Internet shops where you can bring your own device or use their computers, and the connection is never more than $1 an hour, approximately.

In St. Maarten, apart from the restaurants with possible Wi-Fi, they have a large cellphone store set up with a lounge area where you can bring your own device or use their computers to connect to the Internet. The air-conditioning inside this store is usually very strong, so bring a sweater or sweatshirt if you are going to stay for a long time.

However, unless you are people like us who run a company from wherever we happen to be travelling, which makes connecting to the Internet a necessity anywhere we go (even on the ship), don't waste your time during the whole cruise doing this -- you have plenty of time to do this while at home. Enjoy the ports, the beaches, the vacation --

Last word of advice -- while on the ship, turn off the roaming -- data function of your tablet so that your tablet doesn't automatically connect to the Internet to do things in the background while using the ship's cellular network, since this is very very expensive.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta