These days, connectivity rules the waves. Getting away from it all has been relegated to Alaskan ice fishing expeditions. Carnival, of course, isn't alone in pushing for wireless and Internet access. Cruise lines are acutely conscious that many passengers come up the gangway armed with cellphones, BlackBerrys, laptops, and often lengthy to-do lists. The masters of at-sea leisure are now catering to those passengers for whom work and leisure go hand in hand. Ships of every stripe have been improving connectivity, driven in part by the cold, hard reality that if they don't do it, a competitor will. In December, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. added cellphone service to several of its Royal Car­ibbean and Celebrity ships, and last fall it upgraded Internet bandwidth for its entire Royal Caribbean fleet. Also in December, Princess Cruises rolled out Wi-Fi service across its entire fleet. Radisson Seven Seas Cruises even installed desktop computers in 26 of the high-end luxury suites on its newly commissioned Voyager.

"In today's world, people want to stay connected, and we have to stay up with the trends," says Lania Rittenhouse, vice president of hotel operations for Norwegian Cruise Line, the first North American cruise operator to roll out Wi-Fi to its entire fleet.

The technology at work is easily adapted for ships, with upgraded satellite services offering lightning-fast connections.

A 2.4-meter antenna, stabilized to compensate for the pitch and roll of a ship, provides a pipeline of voice and data access to dozens of people at any one time. That access is dispensed to passengers via antennas strategically located around each hot spot. "It allows cruise lines to run the business of a resort at sea," says Brad Briggs, senior vice president with Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN), one of the biggest players in offshore communications. "Guests at these very plush floating resorts want the same amenities as they'd get at a land resort."