DO you go off the grid?

I do, DW doesn't especially with the social plan. Regarding the HUB app, it is a nice tool but we found out on the Glory that the FunTimes posted in the app isn't necessarily the one they publish onboard, our meet and greet wasn't in the app but it was in the paper copy.

Great info there, looks like we will have to look at the funtimes daily, and make sure it matches the Hub app.

From our first cruise (Honeymoon in 2005) and onward my wife and I stay connected only to each other. After sail away we head to our cabin, power our phones down and in the safe they go until we return to Debark. It is such an amazing break from "real life" and we look forward to it very much. Anyone else completely shut off "real life" when you cruise?

We do the exact same thing. I have no desire to be married to my device while on a cruise and I find it very refreshing to only have my SeaPass card (or whatever CCL calls it) in my pocket. I feel no need to Facebook or any other "look at me" type social media when I'm on a cruise.

I don't care if others want to carry theirs around. It makes sense that people use their devices as a camera and/or the on-board app. I just wish they would refrain from using them in the shows. It's so annoying to be behind someone like that.

I don't use my cell on the ship. Not for pictures, not for the Hub app, nothing. I bring it out in port to connect to the internet and check in with people/make calls/etc. But if we are at sea the phone is in the safe.

We cruise to disconnect but I keep my phone for HUB, taking pictures, etc. We buy the social media plan but don't really get on FB onboard, it's just a means to message our kids back home. If they are with us, we dont buy it.

From our first cruise (Honeymoon in 2005) and onward my wife and I stay connected only to each other. After sail away we head to our cabin, power our phones down and in the safe they go until we return to Debark. It is such an amazing break from "real life" and we look forward to it very much. Anyone else completely shut off "real life" when you cruise?

We like the HUB app and photos with one phone. We do not sign up for social media package.

On a cruise to Alaska, we called the kids from port only to find the call had been routed through the ship and we were billed at that high rate. The phone company reversed the charge after we explained to them.

DH and DS power off and into the safe the phones go, I am the only one that keeps phone out to use the hub app for funtimes (and on port days I leave the phone in safe as well, we use an old school thing called a watch, a reg watch), menus etc, also will use for pix as well once in a while. Other than that we dont watch TV on vaca and stay off the grid, we communicate just fine with each other throughout the cruise. We laugh at all the people with their noses in their phones all cruise or on their tablets, why go on vaca if you are so concerned with what is going on with everyone at home? It is called vaca for a reason and it is definitely that for us!!! :D

While our phones go into airplane mode (use for camera & hub app), my tablet is also in airplane mode & I use my kindle app for reading -- so just because someone is using their tablet doesn't mean that they're "connected." :)

In the "old days" I carried a watch, a camera, and a map. Today I carry my iPhone, which is a multi of all things a traveler needs.

 

The ships would have a newspaper out each day for reading the news. Today, my iPhone does that.

 

My point is, I do use my phone on the cruise, and in port, and I am still disconnected from work, and everyday life. That doesn't mean for me that I need to be in the 18 century and turn it off. It's a tool, in my pocket that I need to use.

This pretty much sums it up for me. I will use the "tools" on my phone (music, camera, Kindle app...etc) while staying disconnected from every day life. It's just easier for me to stick my phone in my pocket with everything I need vs carrying around a bag containing a camera, a book, a music player...etc...

While our phones go into airplane mode (use for camera & hub app), my tablet is also in airplane mode & I use my kindle app for reading -- so just because someone is using their tablet doesn't mean that they're "connected." :)

True, I use my tablet to keep my notes for my CC review.

We do exactly the same thing. No need to use phones while at sea.

 

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I do the same thing but I will call home while in a US territory port such as San Juan and St Thomas just to quickly check on things. I also use my cell phone in airplane mode for photos but other than that I am off line. It is great to be offline on a cruise. It keeps you in vacation mode and is relaxing.

If necessary I may also use Carnival's cabin phone to call home while at sea. At $1.99 a minute, it is not too expensive.:cool:

Never take a laptop or tablet as we never go on line during a cruise. Only use our phones for pictures and if we have an at sea cell program for needed family communication.

In the earlier days of cruising there was no wifi so no internet and phone connections were only through the ship satellite connection. The nicest part of cruising then was there were no easy connections and getting away from it all meant getting away from it all.

Hence, "leaveitallbehind" - I cruise as my screen name suggests.

I don't use a cell phone...even in "real life." LOL:D:D

I thought I was the only one!:D:D:D

From our first cruise (Honeymoon in 2005) and onward my wife and I stay connected only to each other. After sail away we head to our cabin, power our phones down and in the safe they go until we return to Debark. It is such an amazing break from "real life" and we look forward to it very much. Anyone else completely shut off "real life" when you cruise?

This sounds heavenly. About the only time I do this is when I have hubby, sister, and my Dad and best friends at our house, I will actually "lose" my phone - which is a big deal to this former IT trainer and phone addict.

On the cruise I use it for pix and the hub. Although last time I got the social package so I could use Facebook messenger with my sister to check on her and my Dad and our old kitty cat. I do unplug from work and email. I usually get some texts from friends on land.

This might be thread drift. Feel free to ignore.

How many people recall . . .

• . . . when cruise ships did not provide internet access?
  
• . . . when cruise cabins did not have TVs?
  
• . . . when cruise cabins did not have telephones?
  

I don't use a cell phone...even in "real life." LOL:D:D

I don't either.

The phones are powered off and go in the safe. I prefer an actual a camera; have lots of problems taking pictures with my phone, which is probably just me. And it is hard to transfer pictures to the computer afterwards--again, for me.

My husband still uses a flip phone; I am not one to carry a phone around with me continuously even at home, so it's not great adjustment to put it away completely.

No....not at all. I cruise to take a break from the stressful thing in life such as work commitments. Staying semi connected to the world doesn't bring me stress, it brings enjoyment, so I have no reason to 'unplug'

This is me too. I'm not on my phone a significant time at all. I can still stay connected with friends and family. It doesn't make my vacation worse, contrary to popular opinion.

We sort of disconnect. Phones go in the safe. Tablets stay in airplane mode on board. But we still use them to read or play games on a sea day or (gasp) watch a movie if we're really bored. But no WiFi packages for us. We will occasionally bring one tablet ashore and check up on email and send/receive hangouts from the kids if there's a free WiFi spot.

Quite frankly, the Internet is horribly overpriced on board ship. I am on vacation, I can check my email and bank balances while in port. There are plenty of places that have free WiFi.

And, my smart phone is more than staying connected. It is my portable music player, my audiobook player, my Kindle, and my camera for taking pictures. Last August, it was absolutely cool to see how fast the ship was and where I was currently while I was in Alaska. It is my video player while flying across country, and it give me updates on where my gate is. The ship which I am on this fall is one of the three ships integrated with the Celebrity app. So, no, my phone will not be living on the ship's safe, although it will be in airplane mode with WiFi and location services enabled.

The phone goes into the safe in the cabin.

When I travel solo I will connect up on my tablet to let family know I am good, certainly not every day, other wise I am off the grid.

Work can wait.

It is nice!

Safe sailing!!

I use my phone as my library, and my camera. Sometimes I play music through it (using headphones). If you see me on board focused on my phone, I'm probably reading a book. When ashore, I use Google maps when wandering around on my own.

So, no, my phone is not stuck in the safe. And, no, I am not checking emails and social media.

The reason I love to cruise! I unplug! Maybe a couple pics on my phone because it is easier to carry than the camera I have, but that is it! Love it!!!!

I've never fully gone off the grid. In the years before the social media package I would be 90% off. I always chose 1-2 ports to check in via short call on my mom & then later mom and the kids.

Then the social media plan came to existence. My mother was in rehab recovering a broken knee cap. I didnt want to leave her. But it being the first cruise for my kids gifted by Santa she wouldnt hear of it. So we compromised. I could stay in touch with her via WhatsApp. Made for a much more pleasant cruise for me knowing she was okay. And she thoroughly enjoyed the live updates & photos of the grandkids.

I got the social media the following 3 cruises & already have it booked for the upcoming. Mom loves staying in touch & getting pics & videos of the grandkids living it up. Staying in touch with her is worth every penny.

I disconnect from work & bill paying & the news. The social media package allows me a balance. Block out the adulting but stay in touch with the loved ones who couldn't travel with us.

This might be thread drift.

I can still stay connected with friends and family. It doesn't make my vacation worse, contrary to popular opinion.

Read my signature!