Vacation Tech Notes

Jun 21, 2010 by Spencer

Lindsay has been posting photos from each of day of our cruise so I thought I would write about a little bit different aspect of cruising.  First off we love cruising because everything is done for us.  Our bed was made at least 2 times a day (we took afternoon naps), bathroom cleaned, all meals prepared and tables cleared, entertainment options a staircase away.  We also get to see other countries and work a nice tan.  Another side effect of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean is the lack of internet.  While the ship had WiFi, it is slower than your average cable modem and at 75¢ per minute we typically pass on the WiFi.  We could actually relax without having to check the latest box scores, email, and facebook status every 5 minutes.

We actually found free WiFi at the beach in Costa Maya Mexico. It was great to get a quick internet fix after 5 days of isolation. Then it was great to leave it at the beach in Mexico so we could enjoy the rest of our vacation.

Even though there is a lack if tech on a ship I’m a tech guys so here are a few things I learned that I think would be helpful if you are going cruising anytime soon.

Buy an internet package on the first day (if you left your kids at home)

While we did not do this I think we will next time.  You can get 48 minutes for $29, yeah not a killer rate but better than the per minute rate.  Lindsay and I decided that we would do this so we could tell whoever is watching our kids that we would check our email everyday before noon.  This way they could email us each day or every couple of days with updates and questions on the kids. Honestly this is mainly for us, after a few days you start to miss the little rascals, so we could know what’s going on back home.  Forty-eight minutes over 7 days is just under 7 minutes a day.  This will still keep you from spending much time on the internet and you really need at least 5 minutes to check email because it is a very slow connection. Spending half an hour online during a seven day cruise seems reasonable for any crucial communication.

Stay in touch on the Social Network

Carnival has an “on ship” social network on their fun ships called Funville. For the first few days I didn’t even bother to check it out but after our walkie talkies didn’t seem to be working a stroke of genius hit me, use Funville. In our group of 6 we had at least 4 smartphones with Wi-Fi.  Even though we could not use our phones to make phone calls (at least not a reasonable rates) we were still carrying around cell phones to listen to music while laying out, taking pictures, for an alarm clock, etc. So why not use them to  keep in touch of our group.  If you decide to do this make sure to turn your phone to Airplane mode, then turn on WiFi. If you don’t use Airplane mode you may be in for an unpleasant surprise on your phone bill when you get home.

Open your web browser on your phone and Carnival automatically directs you to a page to sign in for internet use or Funville. Funville does not require any minutes mentioned above, it is completely free. Funville works like other social networks such as FaceBook. I did run into an issue when signing up, the popup windows didn’t like my cell phone so I had to complete the registration from my MacBook Pro (you could use any of the Fun Hub computers on the ship if you don’t bring your own). Once registered you can add friends and also make all your content viewable by everyone or just friends. After you have everyone in your group registered and added as a friend just start adding status updates. It is easy to view your updates and your friends’ updates.  This is a great way to keep track of were everyone is and what they are doing.

We did not use this since I didn’t think of it until we were halfway through our cruise but I can see it being useful on future cruises. Of course it will only work if you have a mobile WiFi device like a cell phone, iPod touch or iPad. And if people don’t give status updates then it is completely useless. On the flip side if you can remember to update Facebook every 15 minutes then it shouldn’t be a problem to update Funville when arriving at different destinations on the ship. Plus it will help with the Facebook withdrawal you will have starting around day 4.

While a good vacation gets you away from the every day grind, including time spent on the internet, using it in the right way can help make your vacation even better. Even without the internet or Funville I highly recommend taking a cruise for your next vacation!