WIFI on the PG

I was thinking about bringing my laptop to check on email, edit photos, etc while on the cruise. Does the Paul Guaguin have wifi or convenient ethernet ports? Is there a charge. If I leave the computer at home is there easy access to a computer to check emails while on board?

There is limited WiFi if you bring your own laptop; it's available in the card/computer room on deck 6, and in La Palette lounge at the back of Deck 8. (I'm surprised they didn't add more WiFi capability while the PG was in drydock earlier this year.) I brought my laptop on a trip last month, and found WiFi worked fine in those areas -- although the satellite Internet connection is sometimes slow. Sometimes *really* slow. There are four PCs in the card/computer room. It looked like you could generally get on one when you wanted, although at some busy times (e.g. a rainy morning) you might have to wait. There are no wired Ethernet ports you can plug into that I'm aware of.

There are fees, unless you're Silver (or higher) level in the Seven Seas Society frequent traveler program. You can pay by the minute, or pay for a block of time at a fixed price of about $25 or $50. You select the plan you want when you first go online; it's the same whether you use their wired computers or your own via WiFi.

I carry my laptop so I can dump photos from my camera's memory cards and do some preliminary editing, charge my iPod without carrying a separate charger, and listen to music in the stateroom. It also makes it handy for composing email messages offline in a word processor and then copying-and-pasting into your web email when you're online -- you can spend less time online that way. But if your laptop is a bulky, heavy one and all you really want to do is check email a few times, you could certainly leave your laptop at home.

-- Eric

Thanks Eric, your reply was very helpful. I do have a small, lightweight laptop but nonetheless I think I'll leave it at home and spend more time enjoying the cruise.

I do have a small, lightweight laptop but nonetheless I think I'll leave it at home and spend more time enjoying the cruise.

The first few days of the cruise, I tried to send emails to a few family members and friends, enclosing a few pictures of life in paradise. But I realized that exporting and resizing photos and writing messages was eating into my valuable time for sitting on our balcony, or having a drink before dinner, or simply vegetating on deck, so I stopped. I checked email a few times, and otherwise used the computer for my photography and as a music player for our limited time in the cabin.

-- Eric