Taking Laptop Computers

[mrs sc cruiser]

DOES ANYONE OUT THERE KNOW IF THERE IS A WAY TO LOCK YOUR LAPTOP UP IN YOUR CABIN WHEN GOING A SHORE? WE ARE WANTING

TO TAKE OUR LAPTOP WITH US ON THE CRUSIE TO EMAIL PICTURE

HOME WHILE ON THE CRUISE.:o WILL BE LEAVING ON A CRUISE 4-28-07

ON THE CARNAVAL GLORY.

[Cruisechic470]

We have taken our laptop on our cruises many times, including our cruise on the carnival glory. We didn't use it often, just to upload pictures. There was no way to lock it up. We just stored it under the bed and had no problem at all. i'm sure you won't either. Sorry if this doesn't help!!

[bobbycruiser]

worst case u can buy a cable lock. best buy has them for like 10-15 bucks. just a cable (like a bike lock) that u attach to the lap top and can lock it to just about anything stationary. hope that helps a little.

[pms4104]

On the rare occasions we've taken our laptop on a roadtrip ... when we leave the hotel room, we lock it up in one of our suitcases. Same thing for cameras and other electronics. Guessing cruising isn't much different.

[Texas_Diver]

We took our laptop on our last cruise because we wanted to download pictures from the camera to the computer and actually do some editing prior to getting home. (Otherwise it's a HUGE task when we really want to share our vacation pictures online!)

[Admiral Horatio Nelson]

We took our laptop on our last cruise because we wanted to download pictures from the camera to the computer and actually do some editing prior to getting home. (Otherwise it's a HUGE task when we really want to share our vacation pictures online!)

 

It's very unlikely a member of crew would go in to your cabin and steal anything. On most modern ships now they have electronic locks which can be read by computer to see whose key unlocked the door (up to the last 100 transactions). So your cabin steward would face losing his/her job and with most coming from countries where average wages are very low this doesn't make sense. I would say don't check any luggae that has these items inside, carry them on yourself.

 

I would say that making sure your door is secured when leaving your cabin is the most important thing, as an opportunist theft from the door being unsecured is the most likely. Just just walk away and listen for the door closing behind you, wait and try the handle every time you leave to make sure. I work onboard ships and this is my routine every day.

[Happy ks]

Before deciding on taking your laptop along just to email pics home, please check out the cost for this. You may find it too expensive, I've read they download really slow.

 

Of course I would write this, I'm a light packer who can find a good reason to leave almost everything at home.

[Admiral Horatio Nelson]

Before deciding on taking your laptop along just to email pics home, please check out the cost for this. You may find it too expensive, I've read they download really slow.

 

Of course I would write this, I'm a light packer who can find a good reason to leave almost everything at home.

 

I wouldn't take a long a laptop soley for this reason. Uploading images over the C-Band is a painful procedure. I would have my cards burned to CD via Photogs. IF I wanted to send images hme I would do that from a port somewhere where the connection is faster.

[dz63]

Admiral - what is a Photog?

[C-Ked]

Here's a dumb question -- would a laptop not fit in the cabin safe? I was planning on bringing my laptop just so we could download pictures off our cameras onto it (definitely not planning on using Wi-Fi or attempting to email pictures back home -- would take too long, and would cost a minor fortune in wireless internet minutes), and thought I could just leave the laptop in the safe when we're not in the cabin. Should I instead plan on bringing a laptop cable lock? Thanks!

[pms4104]

C-Ked ... My only experience is with HAL and, no, laptops won't fit in the in-cabin safe. You might consider the cable lock or, perhaps, concealing your equipment in a locking suitcase or under clothing in a drawer. I would think crew members, including cabin stewards, wouldn't want to be fired for stealing ... but taking some measures might give you greater peace of mind.

[the2006Junket]

Hi,

 

On our Celebrity cruise on the Millenium, we were able to fit the laptop in the in-room safe.

 

Good luck!

 

Lynne

[palofmine]

Im just bringing a bunch of mini dvds i bought at best buy. The dvds hold like 200 pictures eac as long as you size them to vga or jpg size.... the discs werent that much. I would not bring a laptop. I have a sidekick 3 I am taking and I can email a few pictures. They also have computer rooms on some ships so you can upload and send there,.

[madjohn]

Took my labtop last March on Dawn Princess to mexico rivera. Never thought about locking it up and actually left it out and running (this is what I do every place) all the time. Never had a problem and nobody touched it. Someone said that leaving door open is probably biggest risk. Dont think staff would take it. If they are prone to steal:mad: (and I am sure 99% are not:) ) they are going to go for cash and jewelry which is easy to hide and move. Will be going to hawaii in july and will take labtop with me for Pict download and editing, also to charge Ipod and to watch my own movies and play games.

[dz63]

Is it possible to get photos from SD card to CD without dragging our laptop along?

[DiannaInVA]

Is it possible to get photos from SD card to CD without dragging our laptop along?

 

From what I've heard (though someone who has used the service can confirm), you can get a CD made of the files on your SD card at the photo place on the ship...for $20 a CD. So if you want to do a daily back-up of your files (so you have two copies in case something happens to one), you will have to pay for it...

 

There are portable hard drives though--look for "Portable Multimedia drive". They are very small, and depending on the size, around $200 to $400. Again, not cheap, though this can be used for other things, which may make the cost worth it.

[C-Ked]

Im just bringing a bunch of mini dvds i bought at best buy. The dvds hold like 200 pictures eac as long as you size them to vga or jpg size.... the discs werent that much. I would not bring a laptop. I have a sidekick 3 I am taking and I can email a few pictures. They also have computer rooms on some ships so you can upload and send there,.

 

 

Ah, but that's the kicker -- I design coffee table flushmount albums with our vacation pictures, and sizing the pictures down to fit more on a disc would make for crappy prints.

 

Plus, is it possible to use USB ports on shipboard computers? I read somewhere that you don't have access to USB ports (for camera cables) in the computer rooms on board... Maybe this is just a Princess thing? And would these public computers have DVD writing capability?

 

And emailing myself the pictures is also a non-starter for me -- internet access is really expensive on the cruise ships, and I hear the connection is thready, at best, which means that it would take a really long (and therefore expensive!) time to upload and email picture files...

 

All of this to say -- I personally think there are too many uncertainties involved in relying on the ship's computer facilities to save and send my precious, precious pictures. :o So lug my laptop on vacation I must...

[Grannycb]

We always take our laptop on cruises and have never locked it up or hidden it away. I do put it back into its case so its out of the way for room cleaning. The computer and all the files are password protected.

 

We compose emails in MS Word before connecting to the internet. It takes no time to do a copy and paste into our email accounts - then hit the send button. We don’t send pictures - that takes too long with slow connections on ships. One thing that saves time is a MyFamily account. One post covers the whole family - a real time saver.

 

We also load photos onto the computer and burn a CD every day. It gives a little more insurance that a hard drive crash won't wipe out all the vacation photos.

[dz63]

Thanks for your responses. I like the idea of burning photos to a CD for back-up too, but I really, really, really don't want to lug our laptop on board. $20/CD at the photo shop on board! Boy, they really get you coming and going don't they. A Kingston 1GB SD card is on sale right now at Amazon for $12. What about just picking up 3-4 SD cards and using a different one each day? Put it in the safe at the end of the day.

 

Anybody else out there got some good tips or ideas. I am all "ears"!

 

dz63

[llbiopoet]

Alternatively, if you have an iPod with enough capacity, there is a $30 attachment you can buy that allows your digital camera to talk to your iPod and load the pics there.

[mconthehighseas]

We use our laptops for journalling, for e-mail, for catching up on the news - in other words, not just photos. We have always left ours in the open in the cabin.

 

I have a lightweight one, and it could have fit in a safe on some of the ships, but there is no way my husband's would have fit in any of the safes we have had.

 

If you are worried about leaving your laptop out, bury it in your dirty laundry or find a similar type of place to leave it. Just be sure to hide the cords too.

[wtevrfltsurbt]

Alternatively, if you have an iPod with enough capacity, there is a $30 attachment you can buy that allows your digital camera to talk to your iPod and load the pics there.

Ok

talk to me about this attachment-whats it called? Can I then transfer them from the ipod to my PC?

Thanks!

[Lollygal]

A Kingston 1GB SD card is on sale right now at Amazon for $12. What about just picking up 3-4 SD cards and using a different one each day?

How many pictures do you intend to take? Even if you use your cameras highest resolution you can probably still fit a good 1000+ pictures on a 1 gig card. Are you also going to be taking short videos as well? Or is this all to avoid accidentally deleting photos?

 

I spent a LOT of time in the internet cafe on my cruise and merely logging in, going to Yahoo and logging into my e-mail account was a 2 minute process and multi-tasking with multiple windows isn't much of an option either.

[llbiopoet]

Ok

talk to me about this attachment-whats it called? Can I then transfer them from the ipod to my PC?

Thanks!

 

Do a Google search for "iPod to digital camera adapter"....you'll get lots of hits. I found one on eBay for $15. I'm actually still waiting for mine to show up, but yes, supposedly, you can transfer the pics off your iPod onto your PC when you get home. Pretty nifty, huh? :D

[C-Ked]

How many pictures do you intend to take? Even if you use your cameras highest resolution you can probably still fit a good 1000+ pictures on a 1 gig card.

 

Actually, that's only true if you've got a 2-3MP camera, and you're saving images at low quality. With a 6MP camera, set to save at standard or higher quality, you can only fit about 300 images on a 1GB card. Check out this link for a fairly representative chart of memory card storage capabilities:

 

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1056193

 

Hope this helps others who are exploring image storage options!