WiFi Access Cost

[Lil Davy]

What does RCI charge for WiFi access? We're leaving our 4 month old at home and I'm wondering if it would be beneficial (cost wise) to Skype (webcam) over Wifi instead of calling on our cell phones.

[compuryan]

Unfortunately I don't know the current exact prices but I believe the best package you can get with RCI is $0.35/minute with their largest package (150 internet minutes). I could be wrong, this is just from memory.

 

On another note, I wouldn't count on being able to use live webcam or voice communication of any sort on a cruise ship connection as they are typically dial-up speed (or worse :().

[Lil Davy]

That was going to be my next question (how fast is the connection) - oh well,, I guess I'll leave the laptop at home then

[KeywestK]

That was going to be my next question (how fast is the connection) - oh well,, I guess I'll leave the laptop at home then

 

One other option you could consider is to take your laptop/netbook with you and find an Starbucks-type of cafe in port to Skype back home. The ship connections are painfully slow, but there is high-speed internet access in most ports.

[madforcruising]

Internet cost is $0.55 / minute, regardless of using WiFi or their computers.

 

Prepaid packages can be purchased at

 

$28 for 60 minutes

$38 for 90 minutes

$55 for 150 minutes

 

As mentioned the connection speed is slow and service not reliable to be always available.

 

The regular Skype ports are blocked, but of course there´s ways around this, however you are on a shared bandwidth and using Skype or similar services will make connections much worse for all others.