Many of the newer ships do have a business center complete with computers connected to the Internet. Some charge as little at $16 an hour for computer time and you can get your e-mail using Microsoft HotMail or Yahoo Mail. Check with your cruise line for availability of these services.

If you have a laptop onboard, you can make a ship-to-shore call to dial into your Internet provider, but at $8 to $10 per minute it can get very expensive.