In Nice, we used to go to the McDonald's next door to our hotel for decent beer and free Internet.

The best deal for Internet on the ships is on Princess if you're Platinum or higher. On a 7-night cruise, you get $100 (250 minutes) of free usage. The connection speed is slow, as everyone points out, but if you do enough work off-line and limit your usage (after all, you're supposed to be on vacation), it's plenty. And getting to Platinum is easy since you only need five cruises and all cruises count - even those one-night cruises between Vancouver and Seattle.