museumlover

Follow up to the phone question:

You can always purchase a local phone when you land in Rome. The reason we wanted this world phone is simply the number of countries it covers plus having two phone numbers (one US and one Europe). If we are traveling in Europe or Asia or if my husband is working in the mission field of Costa Rica or Africa, it will work for us. HAPPY TRAVELS!

Hi Janet,

 

Thank you for your fantastic, detailed, enthusiastic and fun review of your Jade adventure. We are looking forward to our Jade cruise beginning on April 12. In your review you mentioned calling home. Did you use a sim card in your smartphone? We are looking into the best way to handle, since wifi on the ship won't permit Skype. We were on the Jade last year, so we know that. Last year we used email and google chat, but I wanted to see if we could make calls. Thanks, Regards, Carol

Like you, we will be using email and google chat but we also this week purchased a world phone. The basic phone was $19.95 with no monthly fees or initial cost other than the cost of the phone. We loaded $50 into the phone because the phone credit never expires. It comes with two phone numbers (one is US and the other is UK). While in Europe it will cost us $0.49 per minute to call out and free for incoming calls and texts. Our family in the US can call us for free and it will only cost us $0.29 per minute. All of this comes out of the dollars we loaded into the phone. My husband plans to use it while doing mission work in Costa Rica. The phone covers just about every country except Japan and South Korea. I got the idea from Jean (azgolfer) who is a golden fountain of great ideas. Just thought I would pass this on to you. We will see you on April 12th on the Jade. HAPPY TRAVELS!

Hello Lisa,

 

Janet emailed me and I thought I should reply. I hope I answered your questions. I tried to answer them to the best of my ability. I hope this helps. Good luck and Safe travels.

 

 

1. How dependable is the WI-FI on the Jade. We have a WI-FI only iPad. Is it slow like a lot of hotels' WI-FI? Do you know the mbps?

I thought the wifi on board was slow but manageable. My husband had to use the internet to do some work. We found that we had a better connection close to port then in the middle of the sea/ocean

2. Is it possible to use WI-FI on the Jade to upload pictures?

I personally didn't up load pictures but my husband did. We brought our laptop and uploaded our pictures from the camera and then he uploaded a few pictures on his phone to post onto fb/instigram. His phone had a international data plan.

3. How costly is the Jade's WI-FI?

Here is a link I found on the NCL Jade regarding the wifi prices. We purchased our wifi plan towards the end of the trip. Towards the end of the trip the prices tend to drop and we got an extra 15 for free, I believe.

 

http://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-internet-access

 

4. If you didn't use the Jade's WI-FI, what did you use?

We used the jade wifi but sometimes when you go out and eat like at a cafe they provide free interenet. We actually found a cafe in Barcelona near the Sengrata (wrong spelling) that offered free internet for our device.

5. Besides trying to find a local McDonald's near the port, what other WI-FI options are there?

I am not sure if I saw internet cafes while we were on ports but if your at a local busiess that offer internet you are most likely have to purchase something. I know at the hotels my husband and I stayed at we had free internet.

6. I'm trying to determine what app to use to download my Tom's Port

I am not sure what the Tom's Port app is but if it is free the download it. If I were you I would write down or print out stuff as much as you can at each port if you are espically touring by yourself and not with a tour gudie. Janet she is what I call the ORganized Queen. She had a journal and printed out stuff she found interesteding and pasted into her journal. Next time when I get a chance to travel I plan on doing the same.

Thank you so much! Your information helps a lot. Happy travels always!

Lisa -

How exciting - your trip is coming up soon! You must be thrilled!

 

I did not use wi-fi on board. I have emailed a friend who did use wif-fi on board, to try to get some info. I did find that on Day 1 & 2 they offered up to 20 free minutes when you purchased a plan. From what I heard people talking about, service was very slow.

 

I brought along 8 different memory cards for my camera (ranging from 2 to 32gb). I just switched them out after a day (or 2 or 3) and then downloaded them once I got home.

 

A lot of places in port offer free wi-fi (not just McDonald's). In fact, on both of the HOHO buses, wifi was available!

 

I downloaded my Tom's Port Guides, as well as email confirmations, onto my Kindle. That seemed to work well for me.

 

Sorry I can't be more helpful, but if I find anything else out, I will come back & post!

 

Janet

Thanks Janet! Your review has helped so much! Happy Travels always!

Janet:

I have so much enjoyed your detailed review. You did a great job and such a blessing to your father!!! Thank you for sharing with all of us!

My husband and I will be on the April 12 sailing of the Jade. If you have the time, please respond to the following questions:

1. How dependable is the WI-FI on the Jade. We have a WI-FI only iPad. Is it slow like a lot of hotels' WI-FI? Do you know the mbps?

2. Is it possible to use WI-FI on the Jade to upload pictures?

3. How costly is the Jade's WI-FI?

4. If you didn't use the Jade's WI-FI, what did you use?

5. Besides trying to find a local McDonald's near the port, what other WI-FI options are there?

6. I'm trying to determine what app to use to download my Tom's Port Guides and my schedules/info sheets. I need an app that is usable OFF-Line. I'm thinking about using EVERNOTE. Is there an app you would recommend over EVERNOTE?

7. Thanks again for your reviews and for taking the time to answer these questions.

Happy Travels!

Lisa:

We completed a Costa Pacifica cruise with stopover in Egypt in March 2010. We were very happy with Ramses and with their tour guide, Karim Serry. Ramses was waiting for us when we docked at 6:30 and promptly took us everywhere requested. Karim with Ramses was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We have only good things to say about Ramses.

Thanks to everyone for your great advice. These postings are wonderful. A special thank you to Ruth for her great insight into Israel and for Cynthia's willingness to help! You gals are the greatest! At this time we are DIY for the following ports: Savona (taking a train to Genoa), Olympia (renting a car wiht another couple to Olympia), Rhodes (just walking around in the old city), Cyprus (renting a taxi service with another couple), Athens (taking the metro/train to the city), and then paying for a private guided tour in Israel and Egypt. If we need any more info we will post again. Thanks!

I just found out that it will be impossible to rent a car on a Saturday in Haifa (why in the world does Costa schedule Israel on a Saturday???). So, it's either blow up our budget (we had budgeted $300 for Israel touring and a private tour is around $500) ...take money from one of the other 6 ports ...or walk around in Haifa and then get back on the boat. We were hoping to find someone to join us and keep our budget in line but that may not be possible. We have a great guide lined up, we just need one more person. Oh well, we will keep on working and hoping for that one person. Thanks for all the great info and tips. Cruise Critic folks are the best!

Ruth:

Thanks a bunch for the info. I was a little worried about Purim and Saturday impacting our touring.

We have budgeted $300 for our Israel day. So far we have located a wonderful guide but his price (which is in line with all other guides) is $450 for the car and his services for the day. With a quick lunch, entrance fees, and souvenirs the cost goes up to over $500. We are now looking for someone to join us in the car in order to drop the $500+ cost down to our $300 budget. We hope to find someone. Because we are on Costa, that may be difficult to find another English speaking couple. If worst comes to worst, how do you feel about renting a car and doing Caesarea/Haifa/Mt. Carmel by ourselves (we toured Caesarea back in 1999). I have driven in Los Angeles, etc. but only once overseas (England).

After doing some more research and considering that we only have one day, we are leaning toward touring Caesarea and Haifa/Mt. Carmel. Since we arrive on a Saturday plus it's the day before Purim, how will all of this impact us?

Greetings in the New Year!

My husband and I will be docking at Haifa on Saturday, February 27th on Costa Pacifica at 0700 hours and departing Haifa later the same day at 1900 hours. This will be our 2nd time to visit Israel. We hope to tour Caeasera (we toured in 1999), Mt. Carmel, and perhaps Zippori or Akko. We will not be doing any major shopping or long meals, mainly just touring. We are searching for a private tour guide for 2 people. We would love to hear your comments on the above mentioned sites. What is the most likely weather during this time of the year (temp range - etc.). Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Dear Ruth:

While I realize temps can change from year to year and only God can control the weather, what type of typical temps and/or rainfall can one expect at the end of February? Thanks in advance!

Thanks Moti! I had not consider the bus. Is bus service frequent between port at Ashdod and Jerusalem? How long does it take for a bus? By the way, we love Israel! While we have always done Israel with a "big bus" tour, we are thinking about doing this one day on our own. Are we stupid to consider this method?

I have enjoyed reading your replies. Thanks! Here are my questions: (1). What type of weather should we expect on a typical February 28? (2). We are very familiar with Jerusalem. What is your opinion of using a taxi to go from the port to Jerusalem and back? Any problems? Any estimate of taxi cost? Thanks again!