Carnival Internet
 

I know I'm not the first to bring up the subject, but it really frosts me about how much Carnival charges for the internet. Now they have WiFi on most of the ships, and they have a $10 daily fee for a WiFi card...AND they still charge their outrageous prices per minute. If it wasn't that my upcoming cruise is my third in the last few years, all on Carnival, I'd guess this is how they hope to squeeze out the last few bucks from us cruisers. It's not a show stopper, but it is a major irritation.

Isn't it amazing how we used to be able to cruise without an internet connection :wink:

For my part, I have to have internet access to keep track of business e-mails since I run my own my business from home and cannot let my clientele go.

Green_rd, You're so right, BUT, times have changed, and it is so nice to be able to keep in touch with the world, that we're addicted. My understanding is that it is fairly inexpensive to establish a wireless network - look at all the airports that have them, hotels, and even most Starbucks...it just seems Carnival claims to be so progressive in the cruise industry...this doesn't bear that out. Do all the cruise lines change for this?

How much is it? I'll be going on my cruise in a few weeks....

You're right about in being inexpensive to run a wireless network. My house is a wi-fi hot spot because we have wireless routers. It's all included in on my cable bill but I think it equals out to be about $10/month.

$55 for 100 minutes or $100 for 240 minutes (using their internet cafe on board) plus $10 a day if you want a WiFi card and use your own laptop...I'm sure they change you an arm and a leg if you want to borrow one of their few laptops.

I believe the packages are $55 for the smaller package and $100 for the larger. A card is $10. There are also laptop rentals available. Also, you have the option of a per minute rate. No matter whether you get the package(non-upgradable) or the per-minute, an one time account activation fee of approximately $3 or $4 applies.

I think laptop rental is $10 or $20/day.

In ports, look around for crew members. They will carry a laptop to their favorite hotspot to stay in touch with home. If you don't want to pay cruise ship prices, follow their example.
But, I also agree that we have become too dependent on staying in touch. Even business stuff can be put on hold for a week by leaving an automatic
"I'm out of the office until ...." message.
The only time we have used the internet was when we had a desperately dying pet and needed to give permission for treatment for neighbors who were taking care of her. Anything else gets put on hold. That is what vacation are for. And, we run a business from home too.
Marty

Keep in mind that when you are at sea you are not using the "traditional" wifi or wireless signal we enjoy at home or in a city.
The signal is via satellite, hence the expense.

If you can wait til you reach a port, you can use your own personal device using the "local" access, usual charges apply.

The flier from the ship regarding connecting at sea can be seen at

[/url]http://www.cruisemates.com/gallery/view.php?id=5011[url]


Phil & Liz

I don't disagree that we don't need the internet to enjoy our vacation. But, things like confirming airl line reservations, keeping in touch with family and neighbors, and emergencies make the internet invaluable. On our last cruise, our traveling companions had a wild fire in the area of their home in southern Ca ...they broke down and paid Carnivals price to keep in touch with neighbors to be sure they weren't homeless. Carnival has Bow to Stern WiFi...seems to me that offering this for free would be an incentive that would attract many. I know I prefer a hotel with free internet over one without. I think Carnival is missing out on a feature that would attract more cruisers.

Again, the access is via satellite. Not cheap. You cannot compare land based net access to at sea access.

Phil & Liz

Dont get me started--- but thankfully things worked out---I just wanted to print out a boarding pass for Southwest airlines and got a quote from the person who was "managing" the internet cafe----saying that it would cost about $7.50 to sign on and print out the passes-----printing cost extra-- 50 cents a page --I think---well with my luck--everything froze up---nothing happened and I didnt log out ?----trying to get help was a joke---but the same guy that gave me the quote-- reversed most of the charges--- they had reached almost 30.00 for the short time I was trying to get help---and I wasn't alone either------something about rebooting ?????
Cheers
April
I think the cost of not doing one of the packages was around 75 cents a minute----

Just finished 49 days and if you need to use the internet use those on the ship because the sign on and logoff much quicker than your laptop and most of the problems noticed seemed to come from those with laptops . Because of the expense wait until you get to a port where it is much cheaper.

I watch the capers for one of their specials. I was able to buy a $45 package for 60 minutes and got 60 minutes free. On the first sea day they would match the packages, so it ended up working for me. I have a wifi card in my laptop so didnt need to rent one from them. I could only get one bar on my laptop in the internet cafe. On the fantasy they said they did not have stern to bow wifi, however i could get 4 bars in my room. I mainly used it to communicate with my parents, to make sure things were okay. With my own laptop i could compose while offline then copy and paste, into the webmail so it all worked out fine. Not sure if I'm taking my laptop on the next cruise. It is heavy so if i do bring it, I am getting something with wheels to carry it in. We cruise in hurricane season when it is cheaper so i like to be able to get online and check the weather when needed too since you dont always get the best info from the crew.

Remember that a ship is built out of steel not 2x4 and dry wall. So establishing a good wifi network on board. And as Phil&Liz points out the internet connect ion is via Satellite and everyone is sharing that link - along with cell phone users.

This may close out this thread. My computer buddy says that it would be no problem for them to establish the WiFi. It would only cost normally something like $4 a meg, and carnival is probably getting a much better deal per meg. Plus their shipboard systems communicate back home so all they need is additional bandwith to support the customers. He says that while it would be easy, the pricing is to keep the usage down, if you had 1500 people using the Internet on-board it would need a s**tload of capacity. I guess if we need to get on, we'll either wait for port, or pay Carnival prices.

That doesn't change the fact that it is via satellite. You might want to tell your computer buddy that there aren't a lot of cell towers in the ocean.
LOL The ships have their own, but you cannot compare the technology to land based. Not the sme at all.
Marty