Travelers can now stay connected in air, at sea

Business men and women like to stay "connected" electronically when away from their offices. They extensively em-ploy laptop computers, personal digital assistants, pagers and cell phones to do so.

The ability to connect worldwide is developing rapidly, too, so that businesspeople can keep in touch on both business trips and on vacations, wherever they may travel. Hotel chains provide Internet ports in at least some of their rooms, and they provide computers in business centers.

There are cybercafs in cites large and small worldwide. Cell phones will now work almost anywhere if properly equipped with international circuitry. Airlines offer satellite computer connections, usually only in business and first- class cabins.

Now, welcome to the "cybersea." From e-mail to stock quotes to video postcards, the World Wide Web is now riding the waves.

Earlier this month we cruised on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's The Adventurer of the Seas. She calls her Internet facility RC.com, and we found it full of teenagers in swim suits or tuxedo-clad passengers checking stock quotes, de-pending on the time of day, but we seldom found it empty.

There were 18 terminals of the latest style available with instant satellite Internet connection for all Internet services. The connection was only of moderate speed we would estimate to be about the equivalent of a 48,000-baud modem and a charge of 50 cents per minute was charged, starting at the time the Internet browser opened.

Most e-mail services were represented, as well as most major Internet services. Laser printers were connected for passenger convenience at no extra charge.

In addition to the computer center, passengers with laptop computers on board were able to connect to the Internet by way of computer ports in their staterooms. This was a continuous connection, and an additional stateroom charge was levied for this service.

Additionally, there was satellite phone service with direct dialing in all staterooms, an expensive but effective mode of communication.

Since the cruise industry's first Inter-net caf-at-sea made its debut in August 1999 on Norwegian Cruise Line's Nor-wegian Sky, most cruise ships now have the capability of keeping travelers in touch with their private world by way of the Internet.

That means that the list of places traveler can go to truly "get away" is getting smaller.

So, as you plan your next cruise, you could tell your office, your family members and your friends that they can reach you anytime by e-mail on board your cruise ship. Or you could choose not to tell them this at all.

BonVoyage.com!

(Linda and Dr. Don Overend are principals in The Travel Group, a full-service travel agency formed by the merger of Ozark World Travel, Con-sulting Travel and Thomas Travel.)