My TA told me that I should not bring my laptop with me. I was going to use it for the purpose of downloading pictures as I make them. She said that 1st it will be too hot to withstand all the heat, and I will have no where to lock it up once I get on the ship. Mind you it's not a very expensive laptop so it is not real durable. It is a HP that was less than $200.00 during Walmart after Thanksgiving sale. What do you think???

I am sure your TA is just being cautious and looking out for your best interests, but
I always carry my laptop with me and have never had an issue with transporting or leaving it in my cabin.
Nancy

The heat should not be an issue. If it is, the processor will shut down long before you get any real damage. So if you take it and you are out on deck with it sitting in the sun (why you would do this I don't know) you may see it "freeze up" or get the "blue screen of death". If you do, turn it off, take it back to the cabin and let it cool down before turning it back on.

The bigger question is were you planning on using the wireless LAN access to download the pictures to the internet? Or just pulling them off your camera with it? If the former, I would caution you on the costs for internet access on the ship. If you want it to just manage you pictures, then knock yourself out.

personally I just bring extra "digital film" (i.e. memory cards) for my cameras. Having my laptop with me is too much like work. And its hard to type with a boat drink in each hand

I bring a laptop with me. I don't understand the comment about heat. It isn't as though you are going to the Mojave Desert for a week. It is cooler on a ship in the Caribbean than it is in most of the U.S. today.

As for the safe storage - well, most cabins don't have safe storage for anything really. The safes are about big enough to hold passports, jewelry and money. I have to leave my cameras out too. I've never felt that anything would be stolen.

Now that I'm done discrediting what your TA told you .......let me say that I do as Jim C does and just bring enough memory cards with me to get through the cruise. For me this is 4GB of storage for my SLR, and a couple of 1GB SD cards for the snapshot cameras. Even with highest resolution, this is enough for over a thousand photos.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave56:
I bring a laptop with me. I don't understand the comment about heat. It isn't as though you are going to the Mojave Desert for a week. It is cooler on a ship in the Caribbean than it is in most of the U.S. today.

As for the safe storage - well, most cabins don't have safe storage for anything really. The safes are about big enough to hold passports, jewelry and money. I have to leave my cameras out too. I've never felt that anything would be stolen.

Now that I'm done discrediting what your TA told you .......let me say that I do as Jim C does and just bring enough memory cards with me to get through the cruise. For me this is 4GB of storage for my SLR, and a couple of 1GB SD cards for the snapshot cameras. Even with highest resolution, this is enough for over a thousand photos.

Thanks to everyone for you answers I really want to take my laptop I just thought it would be cool to download pictures as you make them while still on the cruise, maybe I am just being a little bit over excessive because this is my first cruise and I just don't know what to expect and probably WILL not need a laptop just enough memory on my camera and I will be just as happy???? !!!! I am so confused of what to do

Take your lap top !
First, the heat is NOT a danger, particularly because your cabin is air conditioned.
Secondly, it's good to save your precious photos on a hard drive in case of "accident" to your card - or even simply filling up your card.
Thirdly, if you use e-mail, it is good to be able to download your messages to "outlook" programme on your lap-top. If you don't do it, you will have hundreds of messages accumulating on your web server (and perhaps blocking your reception).
However, a caution. Internet services can cost a fortune. Oceania charges $1 a minute. If you use 30 minutes a day, it will cost you close to $500 for a two-week cruise. Other lines may be more reasonable, including the use of local services when in port.

Nita-

Take the laptop if you want to. But, you'll most likely end up never turning it on. You will be so busy having fun that you won't have time to download pictures.

Dave brings his because he has some strange affliction that makes him wake up before dawn. So he has plenty of time to use it.

You'll probably way over pack for your first cruise anyway. So what's one more bag?

quote:

Originally posted by Jim C.:
Dave brings his because he has some strange affliction that makes him wake up before dawn.

Ho Ho Ho! You very funny man!

Actually I take a laptop so I can provide my daily cruise updates! I also like being able to download my e-mail in those early hours when I am looking for the sunrise while sipping my coffee.

BTW - Jim knows this. He is just messing with me.

I have taken my expensive Mac laptop and left it out in the room for the cruise with no problems.

The rooms have AC so there is no heat issue.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry in Miami:
I have taken my expensive Mac laptop and left it out in the room for the cruise with no problems.

The rooms have AC so there is no heat issue.

Hi Larry,

I use a Mac too. On my last cruise - in June - I took my MacBook Pro and had no problems. In fact, it appears I had better wi-fi than those with Windows laptops.

Take your laptop. I lost my camera a few years ago with all of my pictures. No I download them each day. It is fun for my wife and I enjoy looking at them each night.

Ok.. one more point on this and I am done.

If you decide to bring the laptop, be sure to bring a power strip (one of those mutli-outlet strips) since the cabins typically only have one power outlet and you will most likely need more if you bring the computer - one to charge/run the laptop, one to charge a video camera, etc ... Or bring one of those extension cords with the multi-outlet on the end. If you are bringing the laptop, you most likely have the computer bag and that makes a perfect carrying case for the power strip. (I'm not sure if the cabin outlet has a 3rd "ground" hole or not, so you might want to bring a 3 to 2 prong adpater too.

And yes Dave.. I was just messing with you- I did enjoy your daily Freedom reports and you do have good reason to bring a laptop. But you could have just as easily used the "internet cafe's" computers. Hmmm... Do they charge the same for just the Wi-Fi access as they do to use their computers? Never thought of asking that question.

Jim

Hi Jim,

My internet account on the Freedom included using either wi-fi with my laptop or going to the internet cafe and using their desktop machines. In fact, I had to set up the account on the desktop and then go to my laptop to complete it.

I liked being able to sit poolside and type up my daily report and then send it along to this website. Lots of people on the Freedom complained about slow internet, but mine was always reasonably fast and I had a strong wi-fi signal everywhere I went. On the last day I did have to use the internet cafe to check-in for our flights and print the boarding passes. Now that service WAS glacially slow! Maybe this is where all the complaints came from. I actually didn't see too many people with laptops.

quote:

I actually didn't see too many people with laptops.

Dave, of course not - just the hardcore workaholics like you!

I created a little stir one morning when I booted my Mac into Windows XP mode and then rebooted into Mac OS X. Some people at a nearby table had apparently been watching me and were amazed that Apple runs XP.

I've taken my laptop on almost every cruise I've been on, and have yet to have even the slightest trouble.

Like most people have mentioned, I mainly use it to download my photos from my camera at the end of everyday. That way in case I lose my camera, I'll have all the photos, and also leaves me plenty of room for the next days photos. I'm an avid photographer so I take tons of photos on cruises. Having a laptop also allows you to sort thru and delete the photos you don't want so you don't have so many vacation photos at the end of your trip.

I've many times left my laptop on (locked out of Windows) in my state room and no one has ever messed with it. Heat or cold, it's not an issue. Laptops are X-ray machine friendly, and you have full control of it from the time you get on the airplane at home, till the time you get on the cruise ship in port.

I also find that theres times on every cruise where you find yourself bored in your cabin with nothing to do. Having your laptop with maybe a couple DVD movies or some games loaded on it will help pass tha time as well.

Same here, we brought our lap top on our last cruise and it really helped a lot coz we have over 600 pictures, and the heat wasn't an issue since our cabin was airconditioned.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave56:

quote:

Originally posted by Larry in Miami:
I have taken my expensive Mac laptop and left it out in the room for the cruise with no problems.

The rooms have AC so there is no heat issue.

Hi Larry,

I use a Mac too. On my last cruise - in June - I took my MacBook Pro and had no problems. In fact, it appears I had better wi-fi than those with Windows laptops.

It does seem to have a better connection. In fact the guy in charge of the internet cafe told me that the Mac would work better.

we took ours with us for the same reason. the rooms are air conditioned and even if you take it out of the room with you as long as you do not get water or sand in it you will be fine. now there is the concern that you cannot lock it up in your room, but you can hide it well i'm sure

If you use your laptop for work, don't take it. You gotta make your vacation a vacation. If you also use your laptop to be entertained, consider taking it, but given that there'll be quite a lot to see and do on the cruise, you might reconsider.

Whatever you do, just have fun!