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[wa1tx]

This is our first cruise. We are on Splendor of the Seas leaving Jan 02, 2006 for 10 days. . We have two kids we are leaving with grandparents. How can stay in touch over the 10 days with out going bankrupt? I plan to bring my laptop which has wireless and our cell phones. Is there internet available on Splendor? How do other folks stay in touch while on the cruise? Thanks in advance.

[wrp96]

Whatever you do, don't use the ship's phones. That is the easiest way to build up a huge onboard bill (at $7.95 a minute and they charge from dialing not from connection time). If you are bringing your cell phone, make sure your carrier will cover you in your ports. For example, if you are with Cingular you need to have some kind of international plan to have service.

[patbob]

Internet is 50 cent a minute so set up a code as one letter = one word because the cost can be large , our son sent us a book $$$$patbob

[patbob]

Internet is 50 cent a minute so set up a code as one letter = one word because the cost can be large , our son sent us a book $$$$patbob

[patbob]

Internet is 50 cent a minute so set up a code as one letter = one word because the cost can be large , our son sent us a book $$$$patbob

[patbob]

Internet is 50 cent a minute so set up a code as one letter = one word because the cost can be large , our son sent us a book $$$$patbob

[springtxbill]

Internet speed is very slow, probably slowere than a typical dial up. Be sure to set up an email address to use ahead of time that will only be used by your family so that when you check the mail a whole lot of other stuff does not have to be downloaded.

[FunCruiser56]

Yes the internet is slow,watch for 'happy hours' it's only .25 then..send your email and get off as fast as you can. Many sites are blocked, we could never check our bank and AOL was hard to connect to.

The most cost effective way is at each port of call find an internet cafe, ask the purser where they are at, usually pretty close to the pier. We can email, check our bank acct, read our messages and spend about $3 for up to 30 min.

This is the place too for long distance calls to the states, we have paid about .95 a min.

Calling cards have rarley worked for us and don't what ever you do use your credit card for making calls- could cost you $$$$!!

 

Funcruiser

[Happy ks]

I worried like you the first time we left our kids and had a difficult time and incurred quite a bit of expense trying to call and email. The funny thing was, when we finally got through to our kids, they didn't care about talking to us, they were too busy and having too much fun!

 

My point is, relax, don't worry so much, your kids are in (hopefully :) ) good hands or you probably wouldn't have ever planned on going away without them. They deserve to be alone with their grandparents as much as you deserve a break away from real life.

 

Once I realized this, I didn't bother to try to call or email again the rest of the trip and was sorry I'd been a wreck about it the 4 days I could not communicate with them (out at sea). The next 5 days were lovely and the kids were waiting for us when we got home, excited to hear about our trip and excited to tell us about their time with the aunts and uncles.

 

Have a great cruise!

[zotzer]

I had dogs with a new dog sitter, and one of them can be a bit wary of strangers, so I was worried about being reached if something happened. I alleviated this by having left key contacts in case trouble arose, and provided those contacts with the sitter's cell phone number so they could check in.

 

I would check e-mail very early in the mornings, and it averaged about $5 worth of time doing a quick daily check and replying. Only one morning out of 7 was I unable to get online using the public terminal, but it was back up and running later in the day.

 

My cell phone (Cingular) also had signal in all ports (except Labadee). I only ever made a call from Cayman, and it was $1.99 per minute. Thank goodness I kept it brief!!

 

Good luck, relax, and have fun!

Tracy

[goodml]

The most cost effective way is at each port of call find an internet cafe, ask the purser where they are at, usually pretty close to the pier. We can email, check our bank acct, read our messages and spend about $3 for up to 30 min.

This is the place too for long distance calls to the states, we have paid about .95 a min.

Calling cards have rarley worked for us and don't what ever you do use your credit card for making calls- could cost you $$$$!!

 

Funcruiser

 

We do the same thing. Calling cards are often a waste of money. There are usually several internet cafes very close to the ports and it's really cheap. For instance in Nassau earlier this month, we just walked down the street at the pier and found three different internet cafes. One was closed but the second one we went into had computers and telephone booths. I told the girl at the counter that I wanted to call home to Canada, she assigned us a booth and we just went and called direct. It was .50 per minute to anywhere in North America so we talked to the kids, caught up on basketball games, swim meets, school etc all in seven minutes. Afterwards you just go back to the counter they look up your booth # on the computer and tell you what you owe. Spent $3.50 - it was great. The internet charges were dirt cheap also. I didn't use them this time but I have in the past.

[sicsinohio]

I think RCI has wi-fi access on some of its ships...contact their customer care center and ask. I remember hearing something about a flat rate for the whole cruise, but this is something new and might not be available on Splendor. If that's not an option, the next best bet is an internet cafe while in port. The internet onboard is slow, but functional and not too bad for a quick few words to reassure yourself that the kids are fine and having a good time with their grandparents. We've gone this route in the past.

 

We've also found our cell phones worked in some ports and even at sea, if we were near land. I think roaming was .99/min.

[jbond]

We were on Serenade of the Seas in '03 when my wife's sister died. With the delay from England to our kids in California and then their calls to us at sea, it was five days and too late to do anything when we got the message. It cost our kids almost $80 just to leave us a message to call home. We decided that we had to do something different.

 

We got an international cell phone from MOBAL. On our last cruise, Brilliance of the Seas, we were stranded in Barcelona because of a fisherman's strike. :( The cell phone proved to be a life saver. We were able to book air transportation for ourselves and other passengers, keep in contact with our kids and help other friends do the same. We'd never leave home without an international cell phone.