Facetime (Ipod) on Summit

[travelloverontario]

Hi there...I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with using an Ipod touch for Facetiming on the Summit (Southern Caribbean)?

 

We would be buying an internet package to keep in touch with our kids while we are away, and would love to use facetime. I am a little concerned with how slow people are saying that the wifi is. If it is going to take 5 minutes just to get it up and running, that can sure eat away at our minutes on our package.

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also...Do any of the ports have free wifi? San Juan...Barbados...St Lucia...St Marteen...Antigua...St Thomas.

Thanks.

[travelloverontario]

Sorry...an add on to my questions....if we bought a 90 minute package, how many minutes of that would you say are wasted minutes due to the slow loading, etc??

 

Another...if we buy the 90 minute package, then part way through (not after we go over, but when we are still within our minutes), can we upgrade. It is hard to say how many minutes we may use. I don't want to purchase the bigger package and not use it...or find it too frustrating or slow to bother using it. I also don't want to keep paying full rate package price for a bunch of smaller packages if we end up needing more.

 

Thanks again!!!

[luvs2fly]

I was on Summit last feb. The internet was very slow. We had great cell phone coverage in St Thomas and San Juan and did face time from our iPhone.

[jgnova]

I would not count on the ship's satellite connection for anything using streaming technology - just too slow. I think all of your ports have decent WiFi places (either in the terminal building or nearby shops but you could check the ports of call forums for details on reliability. At least one terminal on our January Summit B2B had really slow service.

 

j

[Fouremco]

I'd keep Facetime for when you are ashore and have access to much faster free or cheap wifi, which you will find on each of the islands. Facetime, Skype etc may not be allowed due to bandwidth, but even if allowed, will not be the experience you are used to.

[stevea36]

Hi there...I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with using an Ipod touch for Facetiming on the Summit (Southern Caribbean)?

 

We would be buying an internet package to keep in touch with our kids while we are away, and would love to use facetime. I am a little concerned with how slow people are saying that the wifi is. If it is going to take 5 minutes just to get it up and running, that can sure eat away at our minutes on our package.

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also...Do any of the ports have free wifi? San Juan...Barbados...St Lucia...St Marteen...Antigua...St Thomas.

Thanks.

 

From what I have read, the ship's internet is too slow for facetime and may have the necessary ports (read that as channels) that videoconferencing uses blocked due to the large amount of bandwidth that it takes.

 

As far as the ports, I believe that they all do. You should be able to get wifi in your hotel in San Juan (there is really not anything near the cruise port itself). And I, personally, have used free wifi in a couple of those ports. Your best bet is to ask the crew where they get their wifi in each port.

 

Steve

[Algebralovr]

You won't be able to use Facetime. iMessage will work if you want to text back and forth, but it will still require data.

 

Best bet is usually email while on the ship, since you can type up what you want to send, log on and send it, download any emails that you've received, log off, compose replies to the emails you downloaded, repeat.

[travelloverontario]

Wow..you guys are quick!! Thank you,

 

I am trying to figure out the best way to keep in touch. Kids are staying home by themselves this trip, and although they are not little, I still would like to stay in touch, daily, if possible.

 

We are from Canada, so what works for a lot of you, will not work for me. Canada seems to have very expensive plans for out of country or cruising. I can get a texting package for US ports for $20.00, but that would only cover San Juan and St Thomas...and only while IN port. Also, most of the kids will be in school during the day while we are in port, so that kind of defeats the purpose. I would like to reach them about 7 pm-9pm sometime.

 

I can get a Zone 1 texting package...200 outgoing texts and unlimited incoming texts for $30.00...that would cover the other islands, but not St Thomas or San Juan....so I would need both.

 

BUT...that still doesn't help me while on ship.

 

I guess I will have to call again and see what they offer while on ship. Maybe I will just do the phone thing and skip the internet package all together.

 

I am not as up to date on technology at sea as I would like to be...and we just booked this cruise a few days ago and we leave in just a few days. So needless to say, I haven't had a lot of time to research it.

 

Thanks again for all of the helpful replies!!

[Algebralovr]

I feel your pain. I left the 17yr old at home last Feb. Officially, he was under the temp guardianship of big sis, age 19, living 6 blocks away. I checked in with him when my ship was in a US port (since we have US cell plans), but on other days had no contact at all. Then we did it again in May when I found a deal.

 

Doing it again this Feb, he is 18 now, and we'll be gone longer and farther away. I'm a nervous wreck, but too many people have my cell number and I don't want to turn it on while I'm in Central America and come back to a huge bill.

 

How about using text using an online service? That is what I'm considering, but again, whether cost effective or not is unknown.

[Fouremco]

Wow..you guys are quick!! Thank you,

 

I am trying to figure out the best way to keep in touch. Kids are staying home by themselves this trip, and although they are not little, I still would like to stay in touch, daily, if possible.

 

We are from Canada, so what works for a lot of you, will not work for me. Canada seems to have very expensive plans for out of country or cruising. I can get a texting package for US ports for $20.00, but that would only cover San Juan and St Thomas...and only while IN port. Also, most of the kids will be in school during the day while we are in port, so that kind of defeats the purpose. I would like to reach them about 7 pm-9pm sometime.

 

I can get a Zone 1 texting package...200 outgoing texts and unlimited incoming texts for $30.00...that would cover the other islands, but not St Thomas or San Juan....so I would need both.

 

BUT...that still doesn't help me while on ship.

 

I guess I will have to call again and see what they offer while on ship. Maybe I will just do the phone thing and skip the internet package all together.

 

I am not as up to date on technology at sea as I would like to be...and we just booked this cruise a few days ago and we leave in just a few days. So needless to say, I haven't had a lot of time to research it.

 

Thanks again for all of the helpful replies!!

You are so right about our service providers, be it Rogers, Bell or whomever!

 

DW and I usually get a ship's package and use it purely for email. By signing on, downloading, signing off and preparing messages offline, signing on, sending, signing off, you can stretch those minutes out.

 

We'd then Skype or Facetime once ashore. Our daughter had her first child during our last cruise and we were able to keep in touch that way. Not quite as good as being there, but we'd booked the cruise first! :)