How do Laptops work on board

[West Coast Gal]

okay, I am an Elite and I want to bring on my own laptop on the next cruise . . how does that work, can I use it in my room? Appreciate any information on how this works!

[cr8tiv1]

Depending on the length of your cruise, you will get x amount of minutes that can be used in your cabin or in common areas. It is surprisingly slow. I have DSL at home and it can sometimes be slower than that. It took me 40 minutes to book an airline reservation from start to finish.

 

I've also taken my iPhone and iPad and all work well.

 

I have a combination security cable that I bring along and attach it to the railing near the television and use the outlet behind the tv.

 

I am "learning" to cruise without my computer and bring LOTS of memory cards instead.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[cruznliz]

We bring a netbook which works fine in the cabin. It's certainly not as fast as at home, but I don't expect it to be. We are also Elite but I routinely hoard our free minutes. I will open up a "word" program and pre-write any e-mails and then copy and paste them once online. Conversely, any e-mails I receive I copy and paste into the word program so that I can read them and reply while off line. It works for us and we always have lots of time leftover. ;)

[Pam in CA]

okay, I am an Elite and I want to bring on my own laptop on the next cruise . . how does that work, can I use it in my room? Appreciate any information on how this works!

Yes, you can use a laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. anywhere on the ship, including your cabin.

 

Select the ship's WiFi (it'll show up as available), open a browser (I.E., Safari, FireFox, etc.) and a login page will appear. If it doesn't, type "login" in the address bar. In the login, you put your first name, last name, cabin # (the first letter of your deck plus the number, C701, for instance for Caribe 701), and your birthdate. You will then be asked to create a password. As an Elite, it will automatically tell you which package you're eligible for. You will then be asked if you want to purchase more minutes. Then, it logs you into the system and once it says "Successful," you can open any page on the Internet, email program, etc.

 

Make sure you either select the red "Log Out" button on the original sign-in screen or type "logout" in the address bar. If you fail to log out properly, you'll still be signed in and use minutes even if you shut down and turn off your device.

 

I log in, download my email, log out, read and respond, re-log in, send my email and log out. All this takes maybe 3-4 minutes of your Internet package. It's amazing how quickly it can be used if you remain logged in while responding to email. Stay away from sending photos or files or using Skype or FaceTime as they are huge bandwidth hogs and will slow down everything for not just yourself but everyone else trying to use the Internet at that time.

 

Certain times are very busy and connection will be excruciatingly slow. I've found that before 8am or during dinnertime, between 6-8pm are among the best times to connect.

[Griller]

Some cabins on some ships don't have good wifi signal and so going off at a slight tangent can I recommend that anyone who wishes to improve their reception of weak wifi signal - either on board ship or on shore - buys an Alfa 1w USB wifi dongle. They are about $20 on Ebay if you do a buyitnow and significantly improve the capability of a laptop to pick up wifi.

I routinely connect easily to free wifi Internet from over a mile away with one of these, very useful in ports.

The best model at the moment which also gives you connectivity to 802.11n as well as the older b and g signals is the

Alfa AWUS036NEH 802.11n WIRELESS-N USB adapter 1w Wi-Fi

 

 

There is an even more powerful 2 watt model but its much bigger and bulkier and not small and light like the one I recommend.

 

Laptops only have a pretty weak wifi capability built into them as standard. Without one of these your laptop won't even see wifi that this adapter will connect to.

[MMDown Under]

Some cabins on some ships don't have good wifi signal and so going off at a slight tangent can I recommend that anyone who wishes to improve their reception of weak wifi signal - either on board ship or on shore - buys an Alfa 1w USB wifi dongle. They are about $20 on Ebay if you do a buyitnow and significantly improve the capability of a laptop to pick up wifi.

I routinely connect easily to free wifi Internet from over a mile away with one of these, very useful in ports.

The best model at the moment which also gives you connectivity to 802.11n as well as the older b and g signals is the

Alfa AWUS036NEH 802.11n WIRELESS-N USB adapter 1w Wi-Fi

 

 

There is an even more powerful 2 watt model but its much bigger and bulkier and not small and light like the one I recommend.

 

Laptops only have a pretty weak wifi capability built into them as standard. Without one of these your laptop won't even see wifi that this adapter will connect to.

 

Does this work for Ipads or only laptops?

[Griller]

Sorry I do not know, Ipads don't come as standard with USB do they. All I could find was this, which isn't too helpful but may mean something to you. Don't think you will be lucky with this and the Ipad.

 

Supports driver for Windows 2000, XP 32/64, Vista 32/64, Windows 7

Linux (2.4.x/2.6.x), Mac (10.4.x/10.5.x/10.6.x) Power PC& PC.

AWUS036NEH is not compatible with Mac OS 10.6.7 or above.

[MauiLvrs]

Same as onshore :eek:

Sorry ... Couldn't resist :D

 

For a week signal ... a wireless repeater may help.

[paul929207]

I always take my laptop. It works fine. The connection is slow, but that is life at sea. I compose most of my emails and read the incoming ones while disconnected, so as not to waste my precious Elite minutes.

[ChiefBoats]

They work fine in the cabins but slow.

 

_____________________________

Previous Cruises

Alaska - 2008 Island Princess

Alaska - 2009 (B2B) Island Princess

Alaska - 2010 Royal Princess

Alaska - 2011 Golden Princess

Panama Canal - 2012 Coral Princess

Alaska - 2012 Star Princess

Western Caribbean - 2013 Crown Princess

 

Future Cruises

Alaska - 2013 Island Princess

Western Caribbean - 2013 Caribbean Princess

Eastern Caribbean - 2014 Royal Princess

[MauiLvrs]

They work fine in the cabins but slow.

When folks say slow ... do you mean slow data throughput (takes a long time to load a page, display a picture) or

slow response after hitting enter/clicking on a link (takes a long time to do anything.)

 

The ship has no wire connecting it to the internet ... so it uses satellite which are way up there (35,786 km)... So the time it takes for the signal to get from the ship to shore can be 3-6 seconds ... every time you hit enter.

 

So, on the ship the response time will be slow as the signal only goes the speed of light and it has to go a loooong way.

[Griller]

When folks say slow ... do you mean slow data throughput (takes a long time to load a page, display a picture) or

slow response after hitting enter/clicking on a link (takes a long time to do anything.)

 

The ship has no wire connecting it to the internet ... so it uses satellite which are way up there (35,786 km)... So the time it takes for the signal to get from the ship to shore can be 3-6 seconds ... every time you hit enter.

 

So, on the ship the response time will be slow as the signal only goes the speed of light and it has to go a loooong way.

 

I don't pretend to be very technical but couldn't they put the Internet down the same cable the ship gets electricity from? :rolleyes:

 

Rather than use that slow old 186,000 miles per second speed of light? :confused:

[J-D]

Although laptops can connect to WiFi from most cabins using just their built-in WiFi capability, there are some cabins where the signal is too weak for a reliable connection. I recently had the misfortune to be in one of those cabins on the Grand. Our neighbour across the hall also could not connect from inside his cabin, but was able to connect by bringing his laptop into the hallway.

 

I don't think the transmit-time from ship to satellite to ground station contributes much to the delays. At the speed of light, the total distance converts to much less than 1 sec of travel time. The main problem is the limited capacity of the satellite-linked connection. At high-use times, it cannot keep up with the demand as more and more passengers use more and more bandwidth.

 

John

[paul929207]

When folks say slow ... do you mean slow data throughput (takes a long time to load a page, display a picture) or

slow response after hitting enter/clicking on a link (takes a long time to do anything.)

 

The ship has no wire connecting it to the internet ... so it uses satellite which are way up there (35,786 km)... So the time it takes for the signal to get from the ship to shore can be 3-6 seconds ... every time you hit enter.

 

So, on the ship the response time will be slow as the signal only goes the speed of light and it has to go a loooong way.

There is talk that the new Royal will have a better internet system. It is called dial up

[PunkiC]

We always take a laptop and usually an iPad and use them in our cabin. Lately the speeds have been much better than they used to be.

 

When we are in a port, we always take our iPhones and can usually find a free wifi hot spot. Sometimes they will even have free internet in the terminals at the dock.

[Pam in CA]

On the Diamond the past two plus weeks, connection speeds were the fastest I've seen... as long as you didn't try to connect mid-day. Early morning and early evening, I could sign in, download email, even with some photos, and log out in 2-3 minutes. Considering we were in the middle of the North Pacific, I was surprised. I used both my iPhone and iPad.

[EddieCruzer]

okay, I am an Elite and I want to bring on my own laptop on the next cruise . . how does that work, can I use it in my room? Appreciate any information on how this works!

 

Seems odd that someone who is "Elite" would be asking this question. Wouldn't you have had plenty of time to figure this out while sailing as Platinum? :rolleyes:

[Putterdude]

It's nice to hear that speeds are seem to be picking up. Like Paul said to help things a bit I compose my emails off line before sending. I also request our email friends not send us the usual jokes and stories or emails with large attachments while we are on a cruise.

[Griller]

Seems odd that someone who is "Elite" would be asking this question. Wouldn't you have had plenty of time to figure this out while sailing as Platinum? :rolleyes:

Maybe he didn't have a laptop when he was Platinum?

[Griller]

It's nice to hear that speeds are seem to be picking up. Like Paul said to help things a bit I compose my emails off line before sending. I also request our email friends not send us the usual jokes and stories or emails with large attachments while we are on a cruise.

 

When I was on the brand new Carnival ship Breeze recently there were 2 speeds of Internet you could buy. It was quite cheap as well, and unlimited. The faster speed was apparently excellent. I didn't need it but on reflection should have spent the $99 for the experience.

[Griller]

Although laptops can connect to WiFi from most cabins using just their built-in WiFi capability, there are some cabins where the signal is too weak for a reliable connection. I recently had the misfortune to be in one of those cabins on the Grand. Our neighbour across the hall also could not connect from inside his cabin, but was able to connect by bringing his laptop into the hallway.

 

 

John

 

Hi John, this is where the Alfa 1 watt USB dongle for a Windows laptop would have likely solved the problem. Would have been $20 well spent.

[Putterdude]

When I was on the brand new Carnival ship Breeze recently there were 2 speeds of Internet you could buy. It was quite cheap as well, and unlimited. The faster speed was apparently excellent. I didn't need it but on reflection should have spent the $99 for the experience.

 

I don't think Princess offers this option do they.:confused:

[Griller]

I don't think Princess offers this option do they.:confused:

Not so far but nor did Carnival until the Breeze went into service.

I wonder if it might be available on the new RoyalP ?

If not it will be policy not lack of available technology.

[paul929207]

Not so far but nor did Carnival until the Breeze went into service.

I wonder if it might be available on the new RoyalP ?

If not it will be policy not lack of available technology.

Haven't seen any mention of it in the promotional info

[Pam in CA]

Haven't seen any mention of it in the promotional info

I haven't either. But the Royal will have an intranet system for the first time on a Princess ship. Not sure yet what the capabilities will be but you should be able to check things such as your onboard account on your smartphone, tablet or computer without using Internet minutes.