Globe and Mail. Friday, May 25, 2001 Riding the e-waves Wallace Immen Can you really do business as usual while at sea? "Internet at sea has a way to go. But it will be better once more applications are written," says Brad Tully, president of Mississauga-based cruise-travel agency The Cruise Professionals Ltd. Mr. Tully's job keeps him at sea for as much as a month at a time. He uses e-mail regularly and finds it invaluable. He also can update his company's Web site while at sea, but he finds that the cost of accessing the Internet onboard can add up quickly on a long cruise. "I find Crystal's $1.25 (U.S.) per minute fee is steep when I am planning to spend one to two hours updating my search listings or Web-site design," Mr. Tully says. But he has found other options that cut costs. On most days, ships visit ports with Internet cafés that have lower fees than what ships or hotels charge, and generally offer faster connection speeds, Mr. Tully says. "I carry a disk with my necessary files. Installed, I can then update my site as I would like at a cost of $5 to $12 per hour." One program that Mr. Tully recommends is GoToMyPc.com, available through Expertcity.com of Santa Barbara, Calif. It allows control of a home or office computer from a browser. This provides speedy access to e-mail accounts and other password-protected files from any place in the world.   Back         Top of Page

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