Possible to attend online course while on Miracle??

[simkoreb]

Hello!  I booked an Alaskan cruise over year ago.  Today I just found out there is a college course I will need to be taking, and part of the time I will be on the ship.  It will be 2.5 hours over 2 separate days.  So I'm wondering if it's possible to zoom, as I believe that is the platform my online course.  Is there a cafe on the Miracle, or should I use my cell phone or laptop?  Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

[Itried4498]

Will you be at port or at sea?  If you’re at port, it should be simple enough to find a place with decent WiFi, or even use your phone as a hotspot.  If you’re at sea, I wouldn’t count on the internet to be reliable enough (largely depends on how much bandwidth is being used at any given time, and unless you’re at port, it’s often unusable during peak hours).  Alternatively, check with your instructor to see if attendance to these sessions is mandatory (e.g. no exams, projects, homework, etc. that cannot be submitted later).

[groundloop]

 

I sure wouldn't count on it, Carnival internet service is pretty bad (even the so called "premium").

[Ducman]

We just got off the Miracle to Alaska from San Francisco.  You will not have ship internet for a couple of days.  The rest of the time, we had internet.  It wasnt the fastest, but it worked.

[SDPadreFan]

A lot of times, Zoom meetings (and others) can be saved (or archived) for future use. It allows for students to watch a second or third time. It's kind of an advanced version of the old mini tape recorder (showing my age) like I used to take into the lecture halls/classrooms. That was a HUGE help in achieving a high GPA. I only took VERY BASIC notes during class and that allowed me to truly concentrate on the actual lecture. That SAME night, I would play back the recorded lecture and really develop detailed notes. Those detailed notes became my study guide for future exams/reports. Aced a lot of exams that way. So check with your professor and see what he/she can do to help you out.

[cruisingguy007]

It seems like it would behoove the cruise lines to improve the internet viability, especially with a lot of folks doing work from home. I'm sure plenty of families would cruise over summer and other non-school times if they had a reliable connection and VPN access. Maybe it's cost prohibitive? I know a lot of resorts and AI's have deals for this type of arrangement. Some of the Caribbean islands too, with two month visas and deals.  

[1025cruise]

1 hour ago, cruisingguy007 said:

It seems like it would behoove the cruise lines to improve the internet viability, especially with a lot of folks doing work from home. I'm sure plenty of families would cruise over summer and other non-school times if they had a reliable connection and VPN access. Maybe it's cost prohibitive? I know a lot of resorts and AI's have deals for this type of arrangement. Some of the Caribbean islands too, with two month visas and deals.  

Resorts and AIs are on land with access to high speed connections.

Cruise ships are reliant on satellite. While the technology is getting better, there's only so much that can be done.

 

In addition, when in Alaska, there are mountains to deal with which block the signal.

[Eli_6]

4 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

I sure wouldn't count on it, Carnival internet service is pretty bad (even the so called "premium").

This!  My husband always has to do work on his computer during our cruises and during our last cruise, it took him 2 hours to do what would normally take him 15 minutes. He had to walk around the ship to get decent internet despite us getting the best internet package.  We did not have this trouble on the Vista or Mardi Gras, but the older ships (we were on the Breeze) seem to not have very good internet.

[SDPadreFan]

Cruise ships pitch and roll constantly. Staying dead locked on to a specific satellite requires some very sophisticated and expensive antennas. Not to mention that first priority for the available bandwidth belongs to the ships bridge, engineering, and hotel director. Trying not to be too harsh - people need to disconnect from the electronic world, pick up a good book, watch the sunrise & sunset, gaze upon the stars at night, and have a fantastic time on vacation. Or just stay at home.

[Guest BasicSailor]

If it's a must, replan the dates of your cruise. Bite the bullet.

[CruisingFromLA]

Internet on Carnival is really hit and miss. On average I get about 0.10-0.15 Mbps upload speeds (Panorama and Sunrise) and that is if it was even working that day. Some other lines might have better internet. I have personally not gotten internet internet on the other lines, but I have read Royal Caribbean averages 5Mbps, while Princess can average 50Mbps. 

[simkoreb]

Thank you all with helpful information.  We are not rescheduling, as it's our 20th anniversary and many things are bought and paid for.  My friend is in the class with me.  I will see if the professor can record the class or get notes from her.  Which is actually nice as I don't want to be doing school work on a vacation anyway!  

[MikeandLinda2010]

On 5/19/2022 at 1:40 PM, simkoreb said:

Hello!  I booked an Alaskan cruise over year ago.  Today I just found out there is a college course I will need to be taking, and part of the time I will be on the ship.  It will be 2.5 hours over 2 separate days.  So I'm wondering if it's possible to zoom, as I believe that is the platform my online course.  Is there a cafe on the Miracle, or should I use my cell phone or laptop?  Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

I teach online. I have been on the Miracle three times to Alaska. I have bought the middle package and I did not have a problem at all.    On the Madri Gras, please be aware they have done away with Computers. The only thing they have are ipads and Microsoft office is not available.  So you will need to bring a laptop with you for your course.  One other issue that is a concern, my college requires a verification code every day to sign in to the account which is sent only to phone (only).  I have TMobile and they do not have good international service. I talked with my college and they are willing to disable the verification requirement while I am gone but they were not too happy to make this exception.  We are going on a two week cruise in October. I am asking my students to upload their assignments as usual but to also send me a copy to my personal email. I am a little afraid of getting online and the college bypass not working.  

Edited May 23, 2022 by MikeandLinda2010
Spelling

[Oklahoma Cruiser 2012]

2 hours ago, MikeandLinda2010 said:

I teach online. I have been on the Miracle three times to Alaska. I have bought the middle package and I did not have a problem at all.    On the Madri Gras, please be aware they have done away with Computers. The only thing they have are ipads and Microsoft office is not available.  So you will need to bring a laptop with you for your course.  One other issue that is a concern, my college requires a verification code every day to sign in to the account which is sent only to phone (only).  I have TMobile and they do not have good international service. I talked with my college and they are willing to disable the verification requirement while I am gone but they were not too happy to make this exception.  We are going on a two week cruise in October. I am asking my students to upload their assignments as usual but to also send me a copy to my personal email. I am a little afraid of getting online and the college bypass not working.  

That's why I try to do asynchronous courses whenever I can. We went to Hawaii last semester; I just did everything 3 weeks ahead so I wouldn't stress.  Talk to the Prof, he/she may let you work ahead to accommodate your travel plans. 

[Lane Hog]

On 5/19/2022 at 7:06 PM, SDPadreFan said:

Cruise ships pitch and roll constantly. Staying dead locked on to a specific satellite requires some very sophisticated and expensive antennas. 

It's so sophisticated and expensive that anyone with an RV can buy an in-motion system that will stay locked on DirecTV or Dish Network for under $1000, and boat owners can buy an Immarsat compatible system for around $5000.... 

The limiting factor isn't the technology.  It's bandwidth.  Put 5000 people on a ship doing live streaming, facetiming, VOIP, texting, NetFlix, porn, etc. and you're going to see latency somewhere....

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Lane Hog

[jetsfan58]

If you really must cruise at this time I would send a note to the Virtual Professor to see if they would kindly excuse you from the specified week and allow you to make up the work and submit the assignment when you return. 

 

Or as someone said above, call Carnival and reschedule. 

[AllAboardatSea]

I work from home, or from cruise ships rather 😉  The internet is just fine for everything I need. I make calls over Microsoft Teams, and the usual emails. I don't have to be on a VPN for most things, but if you need that it will require the Premium level, as Carnival got smart and blocked its use on the mid-tier a few years ago. The one caveat to all this is I don't do video calls, so that may be an issue if you require video as it take a tremendous amount more of bandwidth.

[AQW]

My teen was able to participate in his synchronous college class via Zoom while on the Miracle last month with no trouble at all, using the ship's premium-level wifi. The big caveat is we were anchored in Catalina at the time.