You've Got Sea-Mail
Think a honeymoon cruise or romantic getaway on the high seas is a perfect chance to get away from it all? Think again.
Renaissance Cruises, which transports travelers to dream locations all over the world on elegant ocean liners, is in the process of installing Internet cafes so that wired passengers will no longer feel adrift.
| Note: Renaissance Cruises ceased operations on September 25, 2001. Many other passenger ships today offer Internet cafes and in-room Internet access. |
In addition to having to make the difficult choice of whether to spend time onboard working out, soaking in the spa's bubbly thalassotherapy pool, gambling in the casino, dining in a choice of restaurants, or just watching the waves from your private veranda, the Internet beckons.
Surf's Up
The Internet Cafe on R2 (above), the first Renaissance ship to feature this facility, is operated by Digital Seas (which also provides services to other cruise lines). In keeping with Renaissance's "English gentleman's library" decor -- handsome Oriental carpets and polished dark wood -- this cafe is a handsome room to hunker down in.
The wood-paneled cafe features six work stations, each equipped with a flat Mermaid Ventura monitor and computer configured and built by Digital Seas. T-1 access to the Internet is provided via satellite. And the cost to go online is far less expensive than making a $9.50-a-minute, ship-to-shore phone call:
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Basic rate: $1 per minute ($5 minimum) includes use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint |
| Additional services (on top of $5 minimum): |
| Cruise email: $3.95 |
| VideoMail: $4.95 for a 20-second video created with a Logitech Web cam. Can be sent as an email attachment readable by PCs (.exe document). |
The Man Behind the Monitor
Have a hard enough time logging onto AOL from home? No problem. As long as you remember your AOL password, Albert Rodriguez, 58, Digital Sea's patient and good-natured Internet Cafe manager aboard the R2, will help you get connected. (Users who maintain Web email accounts with About.com, Hotmail, Yahoo, and other portals will also find access simple.)
The cafe is open 24 hours, and attended by Rodriguez 7 hours on port days and 10 hours on sea days with morning, afternoon, and evening hours. And for those who don't yet have their sea legs when it comes to computers and the Net, Rodriguez teaches a free course on every cruise to acquaint passengers with the facility.
On an average day, some 100 passengers use the cafe. "The main reason," says Rodriguez, "is that it helps them to eliminate the feeling of being cut off the world. They love the idea of communicating with their families and checking stock portfolios. They even trade, and can check the results of their favorite team."
Or perhaps book their next cruise vacation online....
MORE INFORMATION
Internet Cafe photos appear courtesy of Linda Coffman
R2 photo appears courtesy of the author
