Internet Access on a Mediterranean Cruises

[Kiwi_cruiser]

We are doing a 7 day Greek Isle and a 21 day Western Mediterranean cruise latter in a couple of weeks.

 

I was wondering for those who have done a Mediterranean Cruises before and needed access to the internet or wanted access to the internet. What did you do??, Did you just use internet cafe ashore and places that had free wifi or did you use your mobile internet??

 

I know the ship internet could be slow or wont be any around these places.

 

PS: if you want to know why I need internet access as because I will be working on these cruises and I have another 3 cruises to sort of thing to do in those ports!

[paul929207]

Your ship will offer Wifi, but at a cost. It is expensive (about 30 to 75 cents per minute) and slow. It is usually, but not always available. Ashore, internet cafes are going the way of Blockbuster - going out of business. You an get free or cheap wifi ashore. Easiest way to find it is to ask a crew member or just follow them when they leave the ship.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We have done Europe cruises the past three summers and had no problem finding wifi in the ports, but as in anything some is better than others.

 

Some of the port buildings themselves have free wifi, but our experience with those is that there are so many passengers and crew using it that you have trouble getting a good connection. And there is also the issue of those doing facetime back home with the grandkids that find it necessary to speak WAY too loud!

 

Most often we go to a cafe' and buy a coffee and use their wifi. Many require a password that they will give you or will be on your receipt. The beauty of that is that you can also use the bathroom (very few public restrooms in Europe and if you have to pay to use a public restroom you might as well spend a little extra and go to a café and also get wifi). If you are in a larger city McDonalds usually has free wifi and bathrooms. Starbucks also have wifi, but most require a password so a purchase is necessary.

 

One of my favorite places to use wifi is in a museum. We love museums of all types large and small, so usually visit at least several during a cruise. I have found them to have excellent connectivity, nice cafes and of course bathrooms! If you are on tours, sometimes the tour bus is a free wifi "Hot Spot". Also, many of the Hop On Hop Off buses have free wifi.

 

Good luck!

Edited August 11, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[Colo Cruiser]

We used both the ship and shore side wifi.

It was cool because I had been to the same places a few times already so when we returned my phone hooked right up to the same cafes from before. :D

 

Ship board can get really expensive.

[Essiesmom]

If I work it out right, you are currently platinum on Princess, which means you will have 150 free minutes each on the first and third cruises, 500 minutes on the Grand Adventure. That's 800 minutes. I know, it seems like a lot, but doesn't last long enough... EM

[Matcodixon]

When we were on our 12 day Grand Med cruise, I brought along a netbook. I used it for photo storage, downloading the days photos every day ( took a total of 2700 on that cruise) but I also used it for internet.

 

I had a relatively small package of minutes (120?)on the ship system, but by following certain rules, I did not even use them all in the 12 days.

1. do not bother sending photos or video. System is too slow and WAY too much time consumed for each one. Save that for when you return home.

2. I had 2 email systems I checked daily. The key is to read and write all email correspondence offline. Just do a send/receive when everything is ready. That way you use very few minutes each time.

3. No social media use. You are on a cruise, enjoy your time away from all that!

 

Dixon

[caribill]

 

I had a relatively small package of minutes (120?)on the ship system, but by following certain rules, I did not even use them all in the 12 days.

1. do not bother sending photos or video. System is too slow and WAY too much time consumed for each one. Save that for when you return home.

2. I had 2 email systems I checked daily. The key is to read and write all email correspondence offline. Just do a send/receive when everything is ready. That way you use very few minutes each time.

3. No social media use. You are on a cruise, enjoy your time away from all that!

 

OP has to do work related Internet use, so only he knows how much time he expects to be using the Internet. My guess is that he will not be sending/receiving video, photos, etc.

 

Doing work on a cruise means he may not be able to "escape completely," but the work allows him to do some escaping.

Edited August 12, 2015 by caribill

[emmak8]

WORK? Wait to cruise when you can enjoy your VACATION!!! Worrying about internet connection will ruin your trip. It is painfully slow and expensive.

[Pjran]

Best bet is to follow the staff when they go ashore, they always know where the free wifi spots are. My husband does this when we cruise on ships and have no free internet.

 

There is a website detailing where the free wifi is in ports, just google it and I'm sure you'll find. I've found it for you it's called crew wifi http://crew-center.com/crew-wifi-locations-ports-worldwide

[Corfe Mixture]

If the OP has an 3/4G iPad, then he/she can get a SIM card for around £20 (check on Amazon UK and eBay) from the UK supplier Three. This offers 3GB with full roaming to be used over a period of 90days from first use.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_6_7/280-8614682-8048335?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=3g+sim+3gb&sprefix=3g+sim+%2Caps%2C265

 

Be careful with the above link. Only the Three SIM cards offer 'just like UK home' roaming. There are also different size SIM cards.

 

Once you have the SIM up and running in the iPad, you can then set up the local hotspot on the iPad to allow it to provide access for your laptop.

 

Although I have a French 3G contract for normal use, my wife uses the above in her iPad and it provides a service for her in the UK, Channel Islands (which is a separate country for telecommunication purposes) and in France.

 

We also use it in the USA before and after our cruises.

 

Much much better than relying on hotspots, which are neither quick or secure

Edited August 12, 2015 by Corfe Mixture
added link

[Keith1010]

We sign up for the internet service and use it for our internet requirements.

 

Keith

[shredie]

Best bet is to follow the staff when they go ashore, they always know where the free wifi spots are. My husband does this when we cruise on ships and have no free internet.

 

 

Yes, works every time. They also know where the closest ones are.

[partybarbie]

I highly recommend the Hard Rock cafes, especially the one in Venice where you can watch the gondolas go by. The bathrooms are usually clean and the wifi is free with a drink purchase. BTW, they stock local beers and wines. Order the bruschetta and a chianti and enjoy you day.

[Colo Cruiser]

I highly recommend the Hard Rock cafes, especially the one in Venice where you can watch the gondolas go by. The bathrooms are usually clean and the wifi is free with a drink purchase. BTW, they stock local beers and wines. Order the bruschetta and a chianti and enjoy you day.

 

 

I understand what you are saying.............but

The Hard Rock would be the last place I would go in Venice.

But thats just me. ;)

[shredie]

I understand what you are saying.............but

The Hard Rock would be the last place I would go in Venice.

But thats just me. ;)

 

It's funny how the Hard Rocks all over the world are full of Americans soaking up "local culture." LOL. I try to avoid them if I can, but sometimes I get dragooned into buying T shirts for somebody back home.

[paddingtonbear]

We are just back from a British Isles cruise on the Royal. It was our first cruise so I wasn't very savvy about how the ship worked.

 

I bought 240 mins of the ships internet time. This is equivalent to about 30 mins of internet time that you are used to at home. It is slow downloading and uploading documents and photos but the real problem is that it is also slow connecting and disconnecting and it drops out regularly and all of that time is taken out of your internet minutes.

 

You really need to go to the internet cafe when you arrive and get the crew there to put a connect and a disconnect button on your phone so you can easily and quickly connect and disconnect from the internet.

 

It didn't work reliably in our cabin (kept dropping out) so I found it worked better to sit in one of the cafes on the internet cafe level and work from there.

 

I tried to make my work (and uploading photos to my blog : )) as undisruptive to my dh's holiday as possible so I bought a Three UK mobile phone package with Unlimited internet (!!!) and free UK calls and sms (pretty useless) for 30 GBP for 30 days. It worked in every port (including ireland) and sometimes along the coast. I found it great when we got into port early I could do my work before dh woke up and before we went ashore. Then in the evenings before we departed I could use it again for a hour or so while he was relaxing or watching a show or getting a coffee. Initially it took 15 mins to set up and I went to a Three store.

 

The free wifi on buses etc is generally only for 15 mins and by the time you do a search all the time is gone. I didn't want to spend our limited time ashore looking for wifi and then spending an hour or two working in a cafe. Starbucks in London had free wifi and it was really unreliable. It's also not very private or conducive to work to be doing stuff in a cafe (no paperwork etc).

 

In Italy (a few years ago when we were travelling and not on board ship) I used TIM which had a good mobile broadband package for 30 days. Although TIM was in greece the same sim didn't work in greece so I had to get another sim and broadband package for greece. WIND in greece is also good.

 

It would be great if you could pre-purchase these sims/dongles because it takes time finding the stores and having them set it up for you. But if you need it you just have to spend the time setting these things up.

Edited August 16, 2015 by paddingtonbear

[Shogun]

Hi paddingtonbear,

 

So how was your cruise, sorry about the weather,

 

I have to do work things when on a cruise so due to time zones, being up early 5.00am etc works great, internet is quite to works well, do everything off line then just go on line to send.

 

yours Shogun

[paddingtonbear]

Hi paddingtonbear,

 

So how was your cruise, sorry about the weather,

 

I have to do work things when on a cruise so due to time zones, being up early 5.00am etc works great, internet is quite to works well, do everything off line then just go on line to send.

 

yours Shogun

 

Our cruise was great Shogun.

 

I have been busy making up for 2 months away! I am about to write a report. : )

 

We had B234 and the reception from the ships internet was pretty good most of the time once you had connected but I used a lot of time just connecting. I was uploading and downloading documents and photos and they really eat up the time when the internet is slow. I found it better to use the ship internet near the internet cafe. But that could have just been our cabin. Yes I did everything offline.

 

I really, really appreciated having the unlimited 3G internet from Three to supplement the ship's internet. If you weren't relying on the internet for work the ships internet would be fine stand alone. I guess it depends on how much you have to use it and what price you are prepared to pay for that use.

[paddingtonbear]

Hi paddingtonbear,

 

So how was your cruise, sorry about the weather,

 

I have to do work things when on a cruise so due to time zones, being up early 5.00am etc works great, internet is quite to works well, do everything off line then just go on line to send.

 

yours Shogun

 

We were pretty lucky with the weather.

 

Yes it was cold for June/July but not too much rain on days that we were out and about. Even on the days it poured in the morning it generally cleared by the afternoon.

 

I found that the people you met and tour guides made a difference to the weather. If you had a bad tour guide the weather suddenly became an issue. If the tour guide was great it wasn't a problem : )

[partybarbie]

I understand what you are saying.............but

The Hard Rock would be the last place I would go in Venice.

But thats just me. ;)

 

LOL, it's just for an hour or two, not the whole day.;) I'm very picky about public toilets, and the ones at Hard Rock are the best.

 

We spend a lot of time walking around outside and visiting museums too.:) My DH is a big history buff.

[caribill]

I bought 240 mins of the ships internet time. This is equivalent to about 30 mins of internet time that you are used to at home. It is slow downloading and uploading documents and photos but the real problem is that it is also slow connecting and disconnecting and it drops out regularly and all of that time is taken out of your internet minutes.

 

It didn't work reliably in our cabin (kept dropping out) so I found it worked better to sit in one of the cafes on the internet cafe level and work from there.

 

 

The ship's Internet speed is usually no better than old-fashioned dial-up was and is sometimes slower. It is usually better when there are less users on at the same time which is very late evening or possibly at dinner time.

 

In any case, it is not really fast enough to upload or download regular size documents and photos.

 

If the signal is not strong in your cabin, it will work better if the door to the hallway is propped open a little. This is not unique to Princess. I remember one RCCL cruise where I saw one passenger in his bathrobe sitting on the floor outside of his cabin using the Internet.

[paddingtonbear]

LOL, it's just for an hour or two, not the whole day.;) I'm very picky about public toilets, and the ones at Hard Rock are the best.

 

We spend a lot of time walking around outside and visiting museums too.:) My DH is a big history buff.

 

I agree about the european public toilets. It used to be called "spend a penny" but now at 1 or 2 Euro to use public toilets why not get a coffee as well in nice surroundings? Mind you an hour later you have to find another toilet... :)

[paddingtonbear]

The ship's Internet speed is usually no better than old-fashioned dial-up was and is sometimes slower. It is usually better when there are less users on at the same time which is very late evening or possibly at dinner time.

 

In any case, it is not really fast enough to upload or download regular size documents and photos.

 

If the signal is not strong in your cabin, it will work better if the door to the hallway is propped open a little. This is not unique to Princess. I remember one RCCL cruise where I saw one passenger in his bathrobe sitting on the floor outside of his cabin using the Internet.

 

Caribill,

 

Being a newby it took me ages to realise I could send my dh off to a movie, take my laptop down to level 5, get food at the international cafe, a drink at the piazza bar and sit there close to the internet cafe and do my work in luxury.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

WORK? Wait to cruise when you can enjoy your VACATION!!! Worrying about internet connection will ruin your trip. It is painfully slow and expensive.

 

We are travelling for 4 months, doing 3 back2back cruises, plus 2 more cruises after that, so I cant really not do any work for that time, other wise I wont have any spending money!! :)

 

I know it will be slow, but I will give it a try, other wise I will just do a bit in any any hotspots I find at the ports etc...

 

If I work it out right, you are currently platinum on Princess, which means you will have 150 free minutes each on the first and third cruises, 500 minutes on the Grand Adventure. That's 800 minutes. I know, it seems like a lot, but doesn't last long enough... EM

 

We are Elite on Princess :D (I cant fit all my cruises in my sig! :eek: :) ), so we will have a quite a bit of internet mins, but there maybe times when I will need a land base connection.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Thank You everyone for your replays and information :)