Onboard Internet Charges/Latitudes

[FierceAXBoi]

Are there any Discounts? Also if I have my own email address and dont want to use the NCL assigned one is it less expensive?

[shoreguy]

Never use there account. Access webmail using one of the minute plans. You get 10% bonus minutes as a latitudes member.

 

http://www.ncl.com/more/internet_cafe.htm

[Baitman19]

Are there any Discounts? Also if I have my own email address and dont want to use the NCL assigned one is it less expensive?

 

Here's the prices for the INTERNET. You get 30 minutes free for being a Latitudes member when you sign up for a plan. You can use your own e-mail. We use our hotmail account while we're inboard.

 

Terminal usage time

$0.75 per minute

Time Package Plan:

250 minutes for $100 ($0.40 per minute)

100 minutes for $55 ($0.55 per minute)

Pay as you go $0.75 per minute

Personalized Cruise-mail™

$3.95 per e-mail transmission (send only)

$0.99 offered in the staterooms only through the ITV television on the NCL Jewel, Pride of America and Pride of Hawaii

In Stateroom Access - currently available on the Norwegian Sun, Pride of Aloha and Pride of America.

Normal usage fee $0.75 per minute.

Dial up access: Diskettes for dial up network access and cable is $10 (available at reception desk - fee refundable when diskette is returned)

Wireless Internet Service for laptop usage

Time Package Plan:

250 minutes for $100 ($0.40 per minute)

100 minutes for $55 ($0.55 per minute)

Pay as you go $0.75 per minute

Wireless card - $10 per day (if required)Wireless card Insurance - $3.00 per day (optional)*

Laptop rentals

Laptop rental – Complimentary with the purchase of a Time plan.

Laptop insurance - $3 per day

Access to printers

$0.50 per page

 

Happy Sailing,

Monty

[Ol'Muck-n-Mire]

WOW those are some expensive rates just to use the internet! I'm looking forward to getting completly away from cell phones, computers, world news, television, celebrity gossip, e-mail..etc..etc. At those prices, it won't be that hard.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not cheap, but $.75 per minute is outrageous.

[shoreguy]

WOW those are some expensive rates just to use the internet! I'm looking forward to getting completly away from cell phones' date=' computers, world news, television, celebrity gossip, e-mail..etc..etc. At those prices, it won't be that hard.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not cheap, but $.75 per minute is outrageous.[/quote']

 

Better then the old $8.99 a minute to use the phones onboard. Warning turn you cell phone off most will still work onboard since they installed cells linked to the satellite. Starting at $2.49 a minute.

 

I normally take the $100 package - $10 a day to stay in touch is worth it to me. The price of a 90 second call from the ship.;)

[IrishKathy]

Monte:

 

I hope I understood your posting of the Internet rules/prices. Will I be given the use of a laptop FREE for buying one of the packages? We are going on the holiday cruise on the Star (12/24/06 - 01/01/07) and I was going to report back to this board "live" every day or every other day commenting on the ship decorations for Christmas, holiday meals, etc.

 

If they give me the use of the laptop, then I could do everything on Word and cut and paste when I have finished my commentary. Is that possible? Would I be charged for the time I used Word?

 

Do I have to use the laptop in the Internet Center or can I take it back to our stateroom?

 

Thanks for your answers.

 

Kathy

[Naashtezhi]

I was going to report back to this board "live" every day or every other day commenting on the ship decorations for Christmas, holiday meals, etc.

 

I just did a similar thing on the Pride of Hawaii a couple weeks ago (wow, time flies), but posted to a blog I created on blogger.com

 

http://naashtezhi.blogspot.com/

 

I didn't buy a package and took my own laptop. There was a $3.75 one-time sign-in/setup charge and then I went with the 75¢ per minute deal. When I got the bill, I connected an average of 5 mins at a time (I'd swear it was less, but I wasn't timing it). On the other hand, there's suppose to be a seperate pop-up window for you to use to end your session. I run Firefox normally and it blocks pop-ups. I would just unplug the LAN cable and hope for the best. Total cost was $21.95.

 

I wasn't able to pick up the ship's wifi signal in the stateroom and only picked up other people's laptops out on the balcony. So take along a CAT5 cable just in case. I didn't try connecting in any public areas.

 

I did add the pictures and do some editing to the blog this past week, so it probably looked a little "raw" while we were cruising. And as you can see from the time stamps of the postings, I didn't get around to posting every day.

[Naashtezhi]

Forgot to mention that the connect speed was more like a slow DSL connection.

 

Better than dial-up, but not anywhere near something like a cable connection.

[shoreguy]

). On the other hand, there's suppose to be a seperate pop-up window for you to use to end your session. I run Firefox normally and it blocks pop-ups. I would just unplug the LAN cable and hope for the best. Total cost was $21.95.

 

 

Hope for the best is in fact what you did. If you don't log out you are billed until it times out even if you unplug and shut down. Lucky it was only 3 or 4 minutes.

[JRae]

Does anyone know if you get any kind of break in a penthouse suite

[tomluvsaida]

I got an internet remote card from Sprint. At least where I live (Los Angeles/ Orange County area, California) it works great! I took my lap top to San Diego and it worked fine there as well.:D I don't know if it will work on the ship or not. Also if it does work, I don't know if it will work in every port. Has anyone else used one of these? I believe Verison and some other companies provide them as well.

[tomluvsaida]

I just did a similar thing on the Pride of Hawaii a couple weeks ago (wow, time flies), but posted to a blog I created on blogger.com

 

http://naashtezhi.blogspot.com/

 

I didn't buy a package and took my own laptop. There was a $3.75 one-time sign-in/setup charge and then I went with the 75¢ per minute deal. When I got the bill, I connected an average of 5 mins at a time (I'd swear it was less, but I wasn't timing it). On the other hand, there's suppose to be a seperate pop-up window for you to use to end your session. I run Firefox normally and it blocks pop-ups. I would just unplug the LAN cable and hope for the best. Total cost was $21.95.

 

I wasn't able to pick up the ship's wifi signal in the stateroom and only picked up other people's laptops out on the balcony. So take along a CAT5 cable just in case. I didn't try connecting in any public areas.

 

I did add the pictures and do some editing to the blog this past week, so it probably looked a little "raw" while we were cruising. And as you can see from the time stamps of the postings, I didn't get around to posting every day.

I read and enjoyed your blog very much. :) While reading it I was thinking you must be spending a fortune on it!:eek:

[garycarla]

I got an internet remote card from Sprint. At least where I live (Los Angeles/ Orange County area, California) it works great! I took my lap top to San Diego and it worked fine there as well.:D I don't know if it will work on the ship or not. Also if it does work, I don't know if it will work in every port. Has anyone else used one of these? I believe Verison and some other companies provide them as well.

 

It will probably work on the ship, but you will be paying over $2.00 per minute for cell phone usage. Keep in mind that the domestic data network is just that, domestic.

 

The only cheaper alternative to the $75 to $.50 pe minute internet is to send text messages only via your cell phone. They are usually much cheaper. Cingular international is $.10 to receive and $.50 to send a text message.

 

To learn more, do a search here.

[tinker]

I was on the Spirit in June and and the internet was a joke! It was my biggest complaint of an otherwise terrific first cruise on NCL.

I bought one of the "packages" on the first day which by the way, changes all week long and the specials get better towards the end of the week, and bought something like 40 minutes for $23.95. It would take 3 to 4 minutes to even get connected to my AOL account and then so slow I would only type a few one liners to my daughter or sister to check in on my elderly parents at home.

At the end of each session, you are supposed to get a print out of how many minutes were used, and I would get an "error" message so no idea if I used 6 minutes or 16 minutes and afraid I would get some sort of overage bill at the end of my package.

The internet manager was very rude, a few times gave me some "credit" but by the end of the week I requested a full refund saying I had absolutely no piece of mind, which was the purpose of my using their service, as never sure if and how long I would connect, if anyone was even getting my mail and generally a real nuisance.

He declined by request and informed me that "I was the only one on the ship with a problem" when I heard MANY people complain and the response was that "they were experiencing problems with AOL". (My daughter heard one woman yelling at him that "she would just have to send her husband back to handle it!!!)

So my advice is don't count too much on it, buy a minimal package for some simple mail and save yourself a lot of aggravation for the week.

[shoreguy]

My advice avoid AoSlow:) Bring or get a laptop, create you emails off line, logon cut past log off. I could post 500 words in 3 minutes.

[heelfan94]

My advice avoid AoSlow:) Bring or get a laptop, create you emails off line, logon cut past log off. I could post 500 words in 3 minutes.

That's what I do, shoreguy. I open up a Word document then type out my email to family and friends. I have my group already set up in Yahoo so I just have to click on "Family", cut and paste my email, and it only uses a couple of minutes of internet time. Then I can use the minutes for important things like checking scores. ;)

[garycarla]

I also say avoid AOL. They are the worst service in the world but have sucked in millions.

 

And, as I always point out when using wireless on the ship. Do not automatically use it where it "seems" to have a connection. Even the strongest signal will be slow, but if you have a marginal wireless connection, it will be even worse. Even painful.

 

Normally you would just put up with it, but when you are paying that kind of money, you do not need slow or marginal connections. I remember on one ship asking he desk where the repeater was so I could get close to it and get a strong signal.