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Happy2cruise
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As soon as your ship sails away, put it in airplane mode and keep it that way until the end. There is wifi on the ship which you can purchase ahead of time or depending on your status you may receive free minutes. When you go onshore, virtually every bar/restaurant will have free wifi if you purchase something. I tell people before I go if they need to reach me either email or on facebook. If you need help accessing on the ship, ask a fellow passenger or go to the internet library. It's easy once you get rolling.

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Thanks for all your replies, I appreciate it! So then how does the "Princess at Sea" app work then?

It isn't an app. It's an on board intranet. You just sign in to the Princess@Sea and it's there. There is no fee. Look here. https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/activities/princess-at-sea/

Regarding any internet service there is a fee. Depending on your ship you may have to purchase minutes or your ship may have PrincessCONNECT fast internet service with 3 levels of unlimited service. What is available for your ship will be shown in the cruise personlizer under onboard reservations.

On board cell service uses one of the Cellular @ Sea services. It is very expensive, something like $2.50/min plus whatever charges your carrier may impose. Turn your phone on airplane mode when you board.

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This is what Princess@Sea looks like. You can check dining times, order breakfast room service, buy an FCC/FCD (Future Cruise Deposit), check activities and entertainment, message other passengers (if you exchange the assigned passenger number), check your onboard folio, etc. You can also access the Internet for which there’s a charge. You can’t do that accidentally. 165d8df197c515eb8960b71c614e64d8.jpg

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It isn't an app. It's an on board intranet. You just sign in to the Princess@Sea and it's there. There is no fee.

 

Putting my phone in Airplane Mode, turns wifi off. I have purchased the "Medallionnet Premium Package 14-Day" for wife's phone and for mine.

Won't I need wifi to access the package I purchased? If I put phones in Airplane Mode, and wifi is turned off, how then do I access this purchased Medallionnet internet package with with no wifi? They are clearly advertising it as internet not intranet.

Internet Access - Purchase Pre-Cruise And Save!

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If you use the internet you will need to log on and it let's you know you are using the internet, how much you have left. I always double/triple check when I log off to make sure it logged me off, otherwise it will eat up my minutes.

 

I once logged in with my kindle to download a new book and THAT would not log off. I had to go get help from the Internet Cafe for help and they manually logged me off their system and scolded me. I now ensure I have all the books I need prior to leaving for the cruise :)

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Putting my phone in Airplane Mode, turns wifi off. I have purchased the "Medallionnet Premium Package 14-Day" for wife's phone and for mine.

Won't I need wifi to access the package I purchased? If I put phones in Airplane Mode, and wifi is turned off, how then do I access this purchased Medallionnet internet package with with no wifi? They are clearly advertising it as internet not intranet.

Internet Access - Purchase Pre-Cruise And Save!

 

You will need to use the ships Wifi to use Princess@sea

You can use wifi when in airplane mode.

Just be sure to log off the internet when you are done surfing the web. You can still remain on wifi for the Princess@sea information and as long as you are not on the internet you will be fine.

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Keep your smartphone in airplane mode with Wi-Fi turned on to access the princess@sea intranet site. I bought one day of internet access on the Grand when we were sailing home and it was so slow it was not worth it. I asked for it to be cancelled and they credited my account back.

 

If you want to be able to use your phone when on land (or close to land where you can get a signal from land) you need to talk to your provider to find out what they charge and what countries are or are not included, etc.

 

For instance, AT&T charges $10 per 24 hours in other countries to use your phone in the same way you do at home.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Just turn on Airplane mode, then turn WiFi back on. Easy.

 

That is by far the easiest method to use. Some will say to simply disable data but many don't know how to do that. Simply going into Airplane Mode and then turning WiFi back on does exactly the same thing and most folks can figure that out without any problem.

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Putting my phone in Airplane Mode, turns wifi off. I have purchased the "Medallionnet Premium Package 14-Day" for wife's phone and for mine.

 

Won't I need wifi to access the package I purchased? If I put phones in Airplane Mode, and wifi is turned off, how then do I access this purchased Medallionnet internet package with with no wifi? They are clearly advertising it as internet not intranet.

 

There are actually 2 steps required.

 

1) Put your phone in airplane mode.

2) Turn on wi-fi

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That is by far the easiest method to use. Some will say to simply disable data but many don't know how to do that. Simply going into Airplane Mode and then turning WiFi back on does exactly the same thing and most folks can figure that out without any problem.

 

Putting your phone in airplane mode disables cellular data, and cellular voice (including SMS).

 

Disabling data only disable cellular data. You can still possible receive voice calls and text messages.

Depending on your carrier, this may incur a charge.

 

Here is a really long post on the difference:

 

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/turning-off-all-cellular-data-vs-airplane-mode

 

 

 

The safest --- especially for kids who can't quite be trusted ... take out the sim card.

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Putting my phone in Airplane Mode, turns wifi off. I have purchased the "Medallionnet Premium Package 14-Day" for wife's phone and for mine.

 

Won't I need wifi to access the package I purchased? If I put phones in Airplane Mode, and wifi is turned off, how then do I access this purchased Medallionnet internet package with with no wifi? They are clearly advertising it as internet not intranet.

 

Internet Access - Purchase Pre-Cruise And Save!

 

As other folks have said, turning on Airplane Mode turns WiFi off too, but you

can then turn WiFi (only) back on.

 

You said that you had bought MedallionNet Premium. That probably gives you

another spiffy option. Check out "WiFi Calling" with your smartphone carrier.

 

There are "if"s and "but"s, but generally speaking, WiFi Calling routes incoming

and outgoing texts and voice calls for free via the ship's internet instead of for two

arms and a leg via the ship's cellphone tower.

 

WiFi Calling is so seamless, it's a good idea to reconfirm it's on to avoid poverty-

inducing charges if it accidentally gets turned off. :o

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Incidentally, Princess's onboard system is FAR superior to Disney's app. We recently went on Disney with grandkids. The Disney app worked on milady's Android phone, but isn't available for my Windows phone and did not work on either of our Android tablets. Princess, once again, just does it better!!

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As other folks have said, turning on Airplane Mode turns WiFi off too, but you

can then turn WiFi (only) back on.

 

You said that you had bought MedallionNet Premium. That probably gives you

another spiffy option. Check out "WiFi Calling" with your smartphone carrier.

 

There are "if"s and "but"s, but generally speaking, WiFi Calling routes incoming

and outgoing texts and voice calls for free via the ship's internet instead of for two

arms and a leg via the ship's cellphone tower.

 

WiFi Calling is so seamless, it's a good idea to reconfirm it's on to avoid poverty-

inducing charges if it accidentally gets turned off. :o

 

When you say, Check out "WiFi Calling" with your smartphone carrier, what do you mean exactly?

I always use either WhatsApp or Skype. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to text and telephone using one or both of these apps.

 

Thoughts?

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When you say, Check out "WiFi Calling" with your smartphone carrier, what do you mean exactly?

I always use either WhatsApp or Skype. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to text and telephone using one or both of these apps.

 

Thoughts?

 

Skype is video calls.

 

---

 

WiFi Calling and WhatsApp are texts and voice calls. WiFi Calling is built into

smartphones, including iPhones. WhatsApp is an app you download, and it

even comes in a flavor now for Android phones.

 

Both use your smartphone's wi-fi radio instead of its cellular radio for the "last

mile" to stay out of the clutches of the ship's piratical-rates cell tower.

 

WiFi Calling sends it's packets over the internet to your cellular carrier's UMA

port. Some carriers, notably the Aussies, don't have UMA ports so if you're

signed up with one of them, WiFi Calling won't work.

 

The WhatsApp app sends it's packets to Facebook, who likely data-mines

them before forwarding them: "If it's free online, you are the product".

I wouldn't touch WhatsApp with the proverbial eleven-foot Egyptian.

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