New Internet Rates - Constellation

[Jim_Iain]

Celebrity has installed new equipment on Constellation after trrminating services with High Seas.

 

New rates ar.65 per minutes or as low as .38 a minute for 263 minutes.

 

They also have IM available for most popular providerd

[Traceybell]

My edocs show $.65 per minute for a March 12 sailing. Last year they were something like $.75.

[travelhound]

We're looking at the Constellation in Europe for two weeks. Do you know if the new internet access allows wireless with our laptops?

[Germancruiser]

HI

does anyone know if we will be able to watch the cams on Consteallation again somewhere in the near future- I loved to follow her via the webcams.

Greetings

Michael

[nydolphin]

Have you any idea who the new provider is and whether they are to re-activate the webcams?

[florisdekort]

Interesting... $0.65 - $0.38 sounds better then $0.75 - $0.50 that I've gotten used to on previous sailings, excellent news :D

[Jim_Iain]

The new provider is Royal Caribbean. At least the WiFi address is Royal.

 

Travelhound - The wifi is operational also and the same rate. I believe the signal strength is stronger at least on Penthouse Deck. I was in a Royal Suite (they have a terminal in the room) so I did not use WiFi. On my laptop I was getting 5 bars.

 

GermanCruiser - To my knowledge they have not yet gotten webcams going. I would expect it to be very similar to Royal Caribbean Site for webcams.

 

One other thing I noticed is that they no longer have access to Microsoft Office. I noticed that the training room is being setup with laptops.

[CRUISEATLANTIC]

Please e-mail me copy of deck 4 dining room. Thank you.

LAND06LUBBER@AOL.COM

[tuggers]

Jim, I assume the 263 minutes refers to a $100 pkg? Can you then use the Elite coupon and get 20% off of that price?:)

[Bodger]

I was on the same cruise as Jim (Hi Jim, thanks for the party!) last week. Our cabin was on the eighth deck near the aft stairwell. I was able to see a wireless signal (Royal as Jim said) but it was showing as very weak and I decided it would be rather slow so I didn't use it.

 

The crew had cell like phones that I suspect were VOIP wireless devices as a number of wireless nodes showed up on my notebook.

 

You save a bundle on shore with internet cafés if you are not desperate for communications.

 

Bodger

[Jim_Iain]

Tugger - you are correct the $100 was for 263 minutes. The 20% coupon was still in the Elite book so I would assume you could use it.

 

I have a PDA with a wireless unlimited data plan. I was doing all my e-mail and web browsing on my HW6945 so did not use the on-board system. I was surprised at having connectivity the whole first and last day at sea. I am not sure if I was bouncing off Cells on the Key's or possibly Cuba.

[lysolqn]

Is X still offering the Connect@Sea in-cabin hookup? If so, any idea of the cost? When it was first introduced about four years ago, we paid $100 for unlimited in-cabin internet access on a two week transatlantic cruise. Not a bad deal. Shortly thereafter, High Seas took over and the charge went to $100/week for the kit, including 50 minutes access per day; then most recently, it was $25/day for the kit plus per minute or bundled time access charges. We'll be on Constellation in a few weeks and it'll be interesting to see what the new rates are.

[Jim_Iain]

I didn't see any mention of the in room connection. They did indicate that if you wanted to use wireless you sign up for a user name and password and then it was a per minute charge of between .35 and .65 per minute. I believe you still can use the 20% off coupon.

 

Maybe someone else will let us know if phone connection is still available.

 

Jim

[Quickcanuck]

Is the new vendor (RCL) offering the Photoshop Elements courses that High Seas used to offer?

[robnbill]

In answer to Tuggers question - the 20% coupom for elite can be used. It does not provide a 20% discount - rather 20% more minutes!

 

WiFi works in the public areas midships - decks 4 and 5 - outside of the internet cafe and Cova cafe. Also, deck 10 aft - inside and outside is covered.

 

Speed is slow -- I was told they only have a 94K satellite conection. I doubt if that's right - suspect it's higher than that - but, it's likley shared across all internet connections on the ship.

 

Cell service - was activated during the cruise. It may have been in test mode when I used it. If you are using GSM it appears as CellularAtSEA for the ID. It was fully active on the Thursday before we docked. You can check this link: http://www.cellularatsea.com/technology.htm

 

PS: Hello Jim and Ian!

 

Rob

[judyfssw]

On our cruise on the Summit last month, I was very surprised that I could use my cell phone most of the time. The two exceptions were at the beginning of the Panama Canal and in Aruba, but Aruba has their own cell service and I've never been able to use my cell there. It was great being able to contact my mom who is not in the best of health at 89. Made both of us feel better knowing there was a connection.

[Jim_Iain]

Rob - Thanks for the information on the Elite Coupon. We did not use ours. My PDA has unlimited data at no extra charge. Like Judyfsww I had phone connections at least 50-60 percent of the time.

 

I was surprised that I had phone connectivity almost all the way from Cancun back to Fort Lauderdale.

[judyfssw]

Watch the cost of connections. I was told that my out of country minutes would be .69 per minute. Imagine my surprise when my bill turned out to be over $200.00. It seems that cingular services the ship and my minute charges turned out to be $2.49. What a shocker. I'm not complaining though because I was able to check on my 89 year old mom practically daily. She felt good about that and so did I.

[goofysmom99]

Jim_Iain, have you gotten your phone bill yet? I was surprised by my bill, which also has unlimited data (t-mobile). I paid roaming charges for onboard data usage. That was an unpleasant surprise. Now I go in through X's terminals which are just a bit faster than their wireless, wipe out everything extraneous in webmail, and then download w/X's wireless or my pda. And I turned off VM on my cell - big charges for checking VM. When we leave home now, we change the outgoing message on all the phones to please email us, not call or leave VM. I'm glad the minute rates onboard are going down. That'll be a help.

[judyfssw]

I have a question about the bridgecams. Since RCI will be providing the new internet service, does this mean that there will be no more bridgecams? I checked out the RCI bridgecam and there are only two. There are so many people who love watching them, I sure hope that they will be replaced.

[Jim_Iain]

Ruth and Mike - I am scared to look. My Blackberry is a company owned account for my company. I never really see the phone bill. At least no one has been yelling so far. I have unlimited data on Cingular - I wonder if all the e-mails streaming in were charged at a roaming rate.

 

Jim