The Burning Question ?

I was having a chat with one of my passengers who has just come back of her cruise and the 1^st thing she said to me was how extortionate the charges were on board for Wi-Fi. You pay all that money for your cruise and then to keep in touch with family and friends you end up having ridiculous charges added to your bill at the end of your cruise.

It’s crazy, why is it if you’re at home you can just link up to your Wi-Fi without any issues /charges and most hotels have an area where you can link up to their Wi-Fi for free.

So my burning question is: Why is it so expensive?

Well me being nosy I had to go and find out the reason why ships charge so much and after doing some surfing on the internet I have found out the reason why.

Would you believe that there is only one company that supplies Wi-Fi  to all ships. The company is based in Miami which is called MTN and all communications on any ship goes through them via satellite links. This is a massive company that provides communications services on a global basis- and I’m not surprised they are massive when they are charging through the roof for the service they provide to ships and passengers are having to pay though the nose.

So basically because there is only one company that supplies this service to the ships they can charge whatever they want and this is the reason why passengers get stung in the tail for charges. My thoughts are they have you hook, line, and sinkered.

So here are a few tips on getting round all the charges.

1. Avoid uploading photos, however, if you can’t resist and want to share photographs, save copies of the photos, upload and resize them, as the smaller ones upload more quickly.
2. Read and write all of your e-mails off-line. Only log in to the network to send and receive, and make sure you log-off properly, otherwise the system may not realise that you have disconnected and continue to bill you.
3. Try avoid using the ship’s e-mail system – some cruise liners can usually charge up to $4,00 per e-mail .
4. When at sea, your smartphone isn’t a good Internet alternative. It will need to connect to the satellite Internet access system of the ship, which you will be also charged extra for phone calls. To be honest it would be better to  leave smartphones switched off while at sea, so that you don’t return home with a huge bill.
5. Do not use SMS on your cell phone to send and receive messages unless you know the rates or have a special plan.
6. While in ports of call, you may consider using alternatives to Wi-Fi on cruise ships. Save money by checking e-mails only while at a pier. Look for Internet cafés – you can find online a list of Internet cafés before you leave home.
7. Use a wireless Internet card when you’re at a port .
8. Purchase a plan and turn your smartphone into Wi-Fi hotspot in port.
9. Disable your voice mail before you leave. If you receive a call and think you can save money by routing to voice mail, think again. You will be charged for a call.

I really do think that cruise liners need to sort this out, it’s not fair that passengers get stung with such high charges, and this company MTN that supplies the service need to be stop being so dam greedy and ease off with their charges.

My thoughts what are yours ? Have you been stung with a massive bill at the end of your cruise ?