Cruise Talk: Internet Cafe

Cruise Talk

Cruise News

Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular discussion forum dedicated to cruising. Stop by Cruise Talk anytime to post a message or find out what your fellow passengers and industry insiders are saying about a particular ship, cruise line or destination.

>>> Reader Reviews
>>> CruisePage.com Photo Gallery
>>> Join Our Cruise Club.

Latest News...Norwegian Cruise Line today celebrates the arrival of Norwegian Aqua to her new homeport of Miami, kicking off her winter season of Caribbean cruises with calls to the Company's quintessential private island, Great Stirrup Cay. Following her first season of Bermuda sailings from New York City, Norwegian Aqua will offer guests an opportunity to embark on a variety of fun-in-the-sun cruises to the Caribbean...

Latest News... Princess Cruises celebrates the maiden voyage of its newest Sphere-Class ship, Star Princess, which is departing Barcelona on an 11-day Inaugural Western Mediterranean voyage. Continuing the brand's tradition of innovation, elegance, and warm service that connects guests to the world and to one another, the gleaming Star Princess now sails as the 17th jewel of the Princess fleet...

Latest News...Royal Caribbean is introducing the family time of a lifetime on Legend of the Seas* with more adventure than ever before. The boldest vacation to visit the world's top destinations in Europe and the Southern Caribbean, Legend will deliver a lineup of unrivaled experiences, including thrills and chill, the most dining at sea with 28 options, all-new nightlife and entertainment,..

More Cruise News...

my profile | register | search | faq | forum home

»	Cruise Talk » Cruise Ships » Internet Cafe

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

Author

Topic: Internet Cafe

K&K
First Class Passenger
Member # 1040

posted 02-22-2000 01:21 PM

Seems as though all of the cruise lines have internet access onboard. We just had to send an e-mail to our daughter and tell of the great sun and fun we were having. Just to send a simple quick note was $12.95 on the Norweigen Wind. It was $5.95 a minuete time started when you enter your password. We wonder if the price is the same on other ships. Can't imagine what Joe's bill was on the Volendam.

Posts: 446 | From: Sandpoint,Idaho,USA | Registered: Jan 2000 | IP: Logged

joe at travelpage
Administrator
Member # 622

posted 02-22-2000 02:08 PM

Actually, it was more like $.75 per minute (that's 75 cents a minute) on the Volendam. As I said in some of my reports, I still think the system has a ways to go (...it's very slow and you have to use their "dumbed down" interface - no direct browser access) but in general it worked fine.

NCL uses the same company (Digital Seas) as HAL and the August '99 promotional info said the price on the NCL ships would be about the same. When was your cruise?

It cost at least $100,000 to set up an Internet Cafe on the ships and I suspect that Digital Seas is simply "renting space" on the ship and has to make the money back from passenger usage. The facility on the Volendam was staffed by Digital Seas people not HAL employees.

Anyone else used one of the Cafe's on another ship? How much did you pay?

Joe at TravelPage.com

Posts: 29976 | From: Great Falls, Virginia | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

Bobby G
First Class Passenger
Member # 49

posted 02-22-2000 02:36 PM

Joe,

I was on the NCL Majesty 2 weeks ago and I had to try it out. Not bad if you want to send a short note if you can access your home server. After being unable to access my home server, I went ahead and paid the extra $5.95 to use their server. I also received an email which was $0.75 a minute for a 5 minute minimum.
The operator did refund me $5.00 because I spent a long time and was unable to access my server.
If you just want to surf, you probably need a timer because seems they have a very fast clock.
Overall it was worth it and the price is in line with most other things on a cruise ship.

Posts: 36 | From: SC | Registered: Feb 99 | IP: Logged

K&K
First Class Passenger
Member # 1040

posted 02-22-2000 03:42 PM

Joe; We just returned 02-12-00 sailing. The cafe manager or "computer expert" was not around several times I thought he worked for the cruise line but maybe not. It was kind of unique. As bobby G. said if you could get to your own server it was cheaper we could not. Seemed AOL users had an easier time. I saw or heard of no one on our ship paying less than $5.95 per minute

Posts: 446 | From: Sandpoint,Idaho,USA | Registered: Jan 2000 | IP: Logged

DianaD
First Class Passenger
Member # 1010

posted 02-22-2000 04:10 PM

On the Voyager of the Seas it was 50c a minute. We used it a few times tocontact our business. Our server is internet direct and we had no problem at all getting on to the EMail. When we logged off it automatically told us how much we had spent. To check our EMail usually cost us about $1.50 to $2.00. Our daughter went into ICQ to contact a friend who managed to get her brother to come on line and that took a little longer as she was chatting, the total bill $8.00.
Obviously the Voyager is much more user friendly.
In fact my husband, the real computer user around here was very impressed.

Posts: 308 | From: Whitby, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jan 2000 | IP: Logged

joe at travelpage
Administrator
Member # 622

posted 02-22-2000 04:53 PM

RCI uses a different company for their Internet Cafes. They use ATCOM/INFO which is a wholly owned subsidiary of CAIS Internet.

Joe at TravelPage.com

Posts: 29976 | From: Great Falls, Virginia | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

Debi
First Class Passenger
Member # 936

posted 02-24-2000 11:52 AM

As Diana said, Voyager was 50c per minute with no minimum. But the computers had been programmed not to have any edit functions, so you couldn't copy and paste and would therefore spend more time online. I didn't appreciate this when I had a message I wanted to post to several different message boards and couldn't just paste it to each one, or when I wanted to send similar but not identical email messages to different people.

Just one more example of the daily nickel-and-diming that dampens the atmosphere of this ship.

Posts: 52 | From: Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged

K&K
First Class Passenger
Member # 1040

posted 02-24-2000 12:03 PM

I could be wrong but it seemed that most of the money went to computer time and not internet connection. It seemed that it did not connect until you hit send. The time started at your password while you composed your note ended after it finnished sending and then printed your time connected (which was about 10-12 seconds) and your cost which was $12.00-$14.00 Is this the way it was on the Voyager.

Posts: 446 | From: Sandpoint,Idaho,USA | Registered: Jan 2000 | IP: Logged

Debi
First Class Passenger
Member # 936

posted 02-24-2000 03:46 PM

Yes, K+K, that's the way it worked. Though I got on line immediately and accessed my yahoo account so I wouldn't have to pay the extra email charge. The time charged is from when you put your room key in and sign on until you sign out. I would definitely recommend getting free email from yahoo, etc before going to an internet cafe so you can just go to yahoo.com and access your email from there. And before you leave home, you can probably set your usual account to forward to your yahoo account.

Posts: 52 | From: Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged

All times are ET (US)

Ultimate Bulletin Board^TM 6.1.0.3

VACATION & CRUISE SPECIALS

Check out these great deals from CruisePage.com

Royal Caribbean - Bahamas Getaway from $129 per person

Description: Experience the beautiful ports of Nassau and Royal Caribbean's private island - CocoCay on a 3-night Weekend Getaway to the Bahamas. Absorb everything island life has to offer as you snorkel with the stingrays, parasail above the serene blue waters and walk the endless white sand beaches. From Miami.

Carnival - 4-Day Bahamas from $229 per person

Description: Enjoy a wonderful 3 Day cruise to the fun-loving playground of Nassau, Bahamas. Discover Nassau, the capital city as well as the cultural, commercial and financial heart of the Bahamas. Meet the Atlantic Southern Stingrays, the guardians of Blackbeard's treasure.

NCL - Bermuda - 7 Day from $499 per person

Description: What a charming little chain of islands. Walk on pink sand beaches. Swim and snorkel in turquoise seas. Take in the historical sights. They're stoically British and very quaint. Or explore the coral reefs. You can get to them by boat or propelled by fins. You pick. Freestyle Cruising doesn't tell you where to go or what to do. Sure, you can plan ahead, or decide once onboard. After all, it's your vacation. There are no deadlines or must do's.

Holland America - Eastern Caribbean from From $599 per person

Description: White sand, black sand, talcum soft or shell strewn, the beaches of the Eastern Caribbean invite you to swim, snorkel or simply relax. For shoppers, there's duty-free St. Thomas, the Straw Market in Nassau, French perfume and Dutch chocolates on St. Maarten. For history buffs, the fascinating fusion of Caribbean, Latin and European cultures. For everyone, a day spent on HAL's award winning private island Half Moon Cay.

Celebrity - 7-Night Western Mediterranean from $549 per person

Description: For centuries people have traveled to Europe to see magnificent ruins, art treasures and natural wonders. And the best way to do so is by cruise ship. Think of it - you pack and unpack only once. No wasted time searching for hotels and negotiating train stations. Instead, you arrive at romantic ports of call relaxed, refreshed and ready to take on the world.

Holland America - Alaska from From $499 per person

Description: Sail between Vancouver and Seward, departing Sundays on the ms Statendam or ms Volendam and enjoy towering mountains, actively calving glaciers and pristine wildlife habitat. Glacier Bay and College Fjord offer two completely different glacier-viewing experiences.

More Vacation & Cruise Specials...