Ship to Shore --and Much More

Forget that message-in-a-bottle stuff. Ship-to-shore communication via the Internet is expanding, with Royal Caribbean last week making its first voyage into the cyber-world. A look at who has what:

* Royal Caribbean International debuted its new Sovereign of the Seas, which sails between Miami and the Bahamas, with 12 PCs. The cost is 99 cents per minute. For $4.95, guests can send a “virtual postcard” to folks back home: A camera on the terminal takes the user’s picture and places it on a shipboard or port-of-call background. The line’s 3,114-passenger Voyager of the Seas, to debut Nov. 21 as the world’s largest cruise ship, will also have Internet access. The line plans to expand “Royal Caribbean Online” to all its ships by March 2000.

* Norwegian Cruise Line last month installed an “Internet Cafe” with nine terminals in the coffee bar on its new Norwegian Sky ship. Passengers can also plug in their laptops in their rooms. Either way, the cost is 33 cents per minute. The line plans to eventually extend Internet access to all its ships.

* Holland America is “about to embark on the 21st century via the Volendam,” said spokesman Erik Elvejord. The ship, to debut Nov. 12, will have the line’s first Internet center for passengers, dubbed “The Web Site.” The line plans to retrofit all its ships with Internet access next year.

* Princess Cruises installed its first Web access in September 1997, on the Sun Princess, and four of its nine ships now have it.

* Seabourn and Cunard lines have e-mail but no Internet access for passengers. Six ships, including the Queen Elizabeth 2, have business centers with e-mail; on two others, you must go through the radio room. Both lines are “looking at” adding Internet access, a spokesman said.

* Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest, doesn’t have regular Internet or e-mail access for guests, although in an emergency, e-mail can be sent via the purser’s office. But the line is “actively looking” at providing access within the next year, said spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz.

* Crystal Cruises says it was the first line to offer guest e-mail, in January 1997. But Internet access won’t happen until next year.