Mixed signals on ship-to-shore communications

Whether you are cruising in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, connection is only a few computer, or cell phone, clicks away.

News from home and today's sports scores never are far away on a vacation cruise, unlike the days in decades past when passengers might rush ashore in a foreign port to find an old newspaper for delayed accounts of tragedies and ballgames.

Whether you are cruising in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, connection is only a few computer, or cell phone, clicks away.

Or so they say.

Many cruise passengers expect the same level of cell phone and Internet service aboard ship as they get at home. Don't count on it. You may get a good connection or a quick response while you are at sea. But you may not.

When a ship is close to the antennae on land or beneath a telecommunications satellite, signals can be strong. Otherwise, connections often fade in and out -- just as you're finishing a long e-mail.

Connections are improving. Most of the newer cruise ships are wired and ready for Internet and cell phone use -- at a price.

Services and prices vary by cruise line and by ship. For instance, the entire fleets of Carnival and Celebrity are wired for cell phones, but none of the ships in the Princess fleet is. - Read More