Remote Work From while Cruising?

[lottiegreen56]

Has anyone ever done remote work or heard about anyone doing remote work for an extended period on a cruise ship? Hubby and I were discussing this last night. Our jobs both require way to much face time to ever be away for extended periods but there are many jobs that it would seem perfect to try to work remotely while being pampered. For instance, I could see a person catching up or cranking out a ton of work while on a back to back cruise. In our opinion, the two big impediments would be unreliable internet connection and staying focused while those around you are enjoying their time off.

[LuckyStar]

My sister was able to do some work from the Vista in April.  She didn't work all day but she did get to deal with some major issues and all worked out fine. 

[soonernstlouis]

If it was me having to do daytime work while in vacay I would choose an all inclusive since you would always have reliable WiFi and could immediately step out of a meeting to the beach.

 

[TNcruising02]

I have worked remotely on every cruise I have taken except my first cruise.  The internet speed is an issue, but I am always able to get what I needed accomplished.  There were times when I have had issues and other times when it's been fine.  I try to get as much done as possible before my cruise.  When I have a lot of work to do, I always save everything possible to my laptop so that I can work offline as much as possible.  The messaging on my phone (which shows up on my Mac) and facebook messaging are never a problem.  Email has sometimes been an issue, depending on the connection at the time.

[Purvis1231]

I have done this and found the internet was adequate around 3:00am to 6:00am so be prepare for some early mornings or late nights depending on your perspective. I also found some reliable internet onshore. The best were in libraries in Alaska. 

[LMBB]

I wrote a 120-page scientific report and 15-page manuscript while on the conquest a couple of years back. I wasn’t planning to work on vacation until I couldn’t meet my deadline before I left and my choices were to stay home and work or go on vacation and work. It was oddly relaxing. The internet was an issue. It took at least 2 hours to send the email with the completed documents attached. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

I’d say it’s dependent on the ship. Not all ships WiFi systems are the same. The newer ships have very good connections and the older ships not so good. RC and NCL newer ships have excellent WiFi.

[Mallow]

If you require a VPN for work it, it may be impossible.  I tried to connect to a few different VPN's for work while on the Magic 2 years ago with no luck.

[xDisconnections]

1 hour ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

I’d say it’s dependent on the ship. Not all ships WiFi systems are the same. The newer ships have very good connections and the older ships not so good. RC and NCL newer ships have excellent WiFi.

MedallionNet is pretty awesome on Princess and Voom works nicely on the Royal Caribbean ships that offer it.

Edited May 29, 2019 by xDisconnections

[SRF]

There is a guy who lives and works on RCI ships.

 

Search CC for Super Mario.  He has some 17 THOUSAND cruise points.

 

And yes, he does work.  

[Mike981]

We've done both, resorts and on ship. You have less hassle with the internet at resorts of course, but it can still get pokey. After some research, only you will be able to decide if you can function with your business.
If you can, plan ahead and try not to need/use large files to email, it will help. It also really depends on where you are cruising and as others have said, what line and ship.

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, LMBB said:

I wrote a 120-page scientific report and 15-page manuscript while on the conquest a couple of years back. I wasn’t planning to work on vacation until I couldn’t meet my deadline before I left and my choices were to stay home and work or go on vacation and work. It was oddly relaxing. The internet was an issue. It took at least 2 hours to send the email with the completed documents attached. 

 

When I had big files to upload I would wait until we were in port.   Besides that when I was still working seems I had a lot of phone calls.  I wasn't paying for them so as long as my boss thought I was needed on a call, it was fine with me. 

 

All of the above another reason why I find retirement even better than I ever thought it would be!