Computer facilities on board

[Gamelan1971]

Greetings!

 

I will be going on my next cruise in March. My work schedule is fairly busy though, I will need to have email access while on board.

 

Last time I cruised, I brought my laptop and used the wireless service. This time, I'd prefer not to bring my laptop and to use the computers in the Explorations Cafe instead.

 

Does anyone know if the computers have the typical microsoft office programs? If not then Its best if I bring my laptop.

 

I'll be sailing on the Amsterdam.

[pms4104]

Greetings!

 

I will be going on my next cruise in March. My work schedule is fairly busy though, I will need to have email access while on board.

 

Last time I cruised, I brought my laptop and used the wireless service. This time, I'd prefer not to bring my laptop and to use the computers in the Explorations Cafe instead.

 

Does anyone know if the computers have the typical microsoft office programs? If not then Its best if I bring my laptop.

 

I'll be sailing on the Amsterdam.

I believe that the onboard computers are for internet use only ... no installed programs like Office.

[gregdude]

The one thing you don't want to do is use their computers. You only have Internet access on theirs and the clock starts ticking the moment you logon to use them. If you use your laptop you write your e-mail off line (not using minutes) then just go online to send and receive. Most cabins have WiFi access so it is much more convenient and you don't have to wait for a computer to become available.

[Gamelan1971]

Thanks! I can see that it will be better to bring my own laptop (although I was hoping to avoid lugging it on this trip but if it can't be avoided, so be it).

[jtl513]

Not only are there no Office programs, there's no way to get your data on/off the ships' computers other than over the web, as the USB ports are disabled. I only bring this up in case you happen to think about bringing a flash/thumb drive such as a SanDisk Cruzer or portable hard drive that would allow you bring along your own programs. :)

[jeda]

If you don't want to take your laptop then the IPOD touch also works great for email. It is small and compact, the size of a cell phone and has wireless capability and a full keyboard. You can prepare email off line and then send. I used it on my last cruise and it worked great!

 

Jess

[jdwheel1]

I just was on the Veendam in South AMerica and used my own laptop successfully. I composed emails off line and only connected to send them. Beware that the internet speeds are S-l-o-w. Much like dial up of the 80s. I was on a 20 day cruise and used 200 minutes just sending about a dozen emails and downloading my mail. On day 1 of the cruise they mormally have discount packages (like 10 minutes free if you buy 100 minutes). If you buy "by the minute" it is $0.75 per miunute and it takes at least 5 minutes to get you mail using a web browser (don't even think about using Outlook it is way to slow). So, if you need to do business... buy the biggest package available and get it for about $0.40 per minute. Als be careful of their cellular service. THey chanrge you international roaming to connect... even if you are in Alaska USA.

 

Check out the boards on this site and cellularatsea to get better info.

[caltnl]

Can anyone tell me how Apples Mail programs work to upload and download mail time wise.

 

thanks,

[tarps14]

I will add a note here, also. The 'wired' computers in the Explorations Cafe were considerably slower than the wifi connection. We took our laptop (which received a very good signal most times in our corner aft cabin on deck 5) but stopped in one day to the cafe and used theirs. Big mistake...wasted a chunk of time just trying to get online and then in 20 min time could only get to two websites. Stuck with wifi after that. Wifi is still not like home-fast, but, it was lightyears better than the wired.