Beware Smart Phone Users

[judla]

If you have a Smart Phone from any carrier please contact them about charges while on the ship, or in a foreign country. They can run into the hundreds of dollars. I have Verizon and just went into their store and talked to them about usage and costs. They said because your phone is always downloading information, even though you have it turned off you will be charged for it. Things as simple as date, time, weather or longer things such as e-mail. They told me to turn the phone off and remove the battery as soon as the ship leaves an American port. If you go to an American territory (such as Puerto Rico) you can use it at no additional charge. My sister found a post by J & G posted on Jan 11, 2010 which goes into great detail about this. My advice is for you to check with your carrier first. I am by no means an expert in this, but also don't want a huge phone bill when I get home.

[Kellie Poodle]

I am surprised that Verizon did not tell you about their "Global email PDA" package.

 

It's $60 per month additional, but it supercedes your $30 per month smart phone charge and can be prorated.

 

There was a huge thread about it on the RCI boards. I just did it for a recent cruise.

[luv2camp04]

I am by no means an expert on Smart Phones as I just got my first one about a month ago (a Blackberry), but can't you just go into your settings and turn off the 3G, data and WiFi so that the phone does not have data capabilities? Then it is not downloading anything. Also, turn off any roaming capabilities. Then it is just a phone. I am just asking.

 

I will check with Verizon before we leave, but this seems easy enough.

[spny84]

I am by no means an expert on Smart Phones as I just got my first one about a month ago (a Blackberry), but can't you just go into your settings and turn off the 3G, data and WiFi so that the phone does not have data capabilities? Then it is not downloading anything. Also, turn off any roaming capabilities. Then it is just a phone. I am just asking.

 

I will check with Verizon before we leave, but this seems easy enough.

 

I have Sprint and this is similar to what we do. We just have to turn data roaming off (Palm Pixi/Pre) and our phone will no longer download email/etc. Can still receive text and calls. I even tested it one day at home to confirm all these things happen correctly.

 

Get whatever rules in writing so if the bill is super high you can argue back.

[kasijab]

Or you could always do as I do ...take out your sim and put it into a phone that just calls/texts for the time you are away. If you are not going to be using the data capability anyway it doesn't matter if the phone doesn't have it.

[klam_chowder]

With my iPhone, I turn off data roaming as soon as I'm about to board the ship. I've heard from reliable sources of someone who was in dock but on the ship and his phone was considered "roaming" even while in port. He was texting/talking/posting up a "wish you were here, we're about to leave the port" storm and had a might surprise when he returned after his cruise! :eek:

 

I recently learned on my Christmas trip to Costa Rica, that even if you turn data roaming off, if you can get a cell signal and someone calls you and leaves you just a voice message, it is still considered roaming even if you wait until you are back in the States to listen to the voicemail. I usually have a :confused: charge or two on my monthly statement but they're always less than $1 so I don't bother to find out why I was charged. However, when I returned from my Xmas trip, the charge was for $2.29 so I decided to call just for educational purposes. Turns out I was charged for a 20 sec voicemail. The AT&T rep kindly reversed the charge even tho I did not request it and now I know in the future to use the full-out "airplane mode". Hope this helps someone else. :rolleyes:

 

cheers,

:)

[judla]

Verizon did tell me about theirGlobal PDA program, also you can rent a flip phone from them. I just chose not to go that way. I still say check with your carrier first and they can give you their options available for your phone.

[geepmaley]

I have an iPhone and go to Europe three to five times a year. There is never a need to turn data roaming ON if you don't plan to use it. Mine has been OFF for the two years, even while in the US, I have owned the iPhone and it works fine in the US. Leaving it off all the time saves you the potential headache of a huge bill.

 

I will occasionally turn it on when I need to check email, but only then and only for a short period of time. Otherwise I use wifi. Wifi worldwide is available at little to no cost in coffee shops etc. So while in port if you REALLY need to check email find a free wifi hotspot (or an apple store). You can research them before you go and have agoto plan for each port otentially.

 

Chowder (love the name) Regarding the VM thing, did you call your VM number while you were in CR? I get VMs all the time in Europe and do not get charged for them (at least I don't think I do, now you have me wondering) but I do make an receive calls while there so my bill always goes up in those months.

 

At$t has a data roam package you can get if you really need something but I have never used it, so don't know if it is something you can turn on and off monthly.

[geepmaley]

Also (at least with AT&T) incoming SMS messages are posted against your SMS minutes, but outgoing are $0.50 per

[packedandready]

Only had my phone for a week so still learning...a samsung focus. Anyone know how to turn the data off on it?

[jstsig101]

i also learned this the hard way, got back and my bill was an extra $150- yikes! but, if you have an iphone, and have/use apps like clock/alarm, flashlight, even music then do this (staight from AT&T) turn of the roam, data, wifi too which really doesnt matter if you pick up wifi if you cant log in to a user account. if you really want to be safe, turn it airplane mode too.

just in case: for iphone people

1-settings app-tap

2-scroll down to general-tap

3-network-tap

4-slide "enable 3g", "cellular data", and "data roaming" to the left so it says "off"

the best way to keep your phone from searching and asking to join wifi networks is to use airplane mode.

hope this helps and don't for get to reverse all of these on the way home.

cheers!

[seasearider]

If you have a Smart Phone from any carrier please contact them about charges while on the ship, or in a foreign country. They can run into the hundreds of dollars. I have Verizon and just went into their store and talked to them about usage and costs. They said because your phone is always downloading information, even though you have it turned off you will be charged for it. Things as simple as date, time, weather or longer things such as e-mail. They told me to turn the phone off and remove the battery as soon as the ship leaves an American port. If you go to an American territory (such as Puerto Rico) you can use it at no additional charge. My sister found a post by J & G posted on Jan 11, 2010 which goes into great detail about this. My advice is for you to check with your carrier first. I am by no means an expert in this, but also don't want a huge phone bill when I get home.

 

Total nonsense. We've cruise many times with our Verizon smart phones and never incurred a charge for our phone being off or on all over the Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada, as long as we didn't make a call.

[rlsii488]

Verizon did tell me about theirGlobal PDA program, also you can rent a flip phone from them. I just chose not to go that way. I still say check with your carrier first and they can give you their options available for your phone.

 

 

We are cruising on the Constellation in March. I called Verizon a couple of weeks ago and asked these same questions. Take advantage of their Global program. The good news is, you don't have to "rent" the flip phone. They mail it to you approximately a week before you depart and you can keep it for 30 days. As long as they receive it within those 30 days, there is absolutely no charge. Another good reason for this flip phone, I was told that the smartphones will not work in SOME of the southern caribbean ports. We are going on our honeymoon and, as scary as it is, are leaving our 2 teenage daughters home (with a "sitter"), but if they need to get hold of us, I don't want to be in a port where we may not get service! Any yes, I understand that they can get hold of us via the ship, but why make things complicated and more of a hassle!

[Lsimon]

Total nonsense. We've cruise many times with our Verizon smart phones and never incurred a charge for our phone being off or on all over the Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada, as long as we didn't make a call.

 

I don't know what kind of "smart phone" you have as the term is used broadly. There are some models that automatically use DATA features, and not voice or text messaging, to fetch data all the time. I'm mostly familiar with my iPhone which periodically checks for incoming emails. I also know other iPhone users who have different apps, including news services, social networking apps, and other services which periodically connect to the internet on their own to update data. On domestic land where basic service plans include virutally unlimited data usage this isn't' a problem. But at sea, and internationally if one doesn't have an option international data plan, the cost for this automatic data access via the internet is very high and to avoid this the data roaming feature must be shut off. By turning Data Roming to off you are telling your phone not to transmit DATA unless you are in your wireless provider's normal service area.

 

It could be that while your type of phone has access to some such services that it is of a type that doesn't automatically fetch this data and/or has already been set not to do so. It could also be that your account is not enabled for international roaming at all on the Verizon System.

[DeltaOne]

just in case: for iphone people

1-settings app-tap

2-scroll down to general-tap

3-network-tap

4-slide "enable 3g", "cellular data", and "data roaming" to the left so it says "off"

 

No need to turn off individual services as in step 4 above. Simply put the iPhone in Airplane Mode. Airplane Mode turns off all five radios (EDGE, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS). The default for data roaming is OFF, so no need to change this.

 

The great thing is, even in Airplane Mode, you can turn WiFi back on. Then take advantage of low-cost or free WiFi to check your email, use Skype, whatever. (I wouldn't expect Skype to work on the ship, but it'll work in port on a conventional Internet connection.)

[jstsig101]

the purpose of showing all available modes and being able to shut off is because, in the event you need to make a call from a port, when you turn on your phone, take off "airplane mode" it will start to download data etc....some folks out there maybe enticed when they see a wifi symbol from a "free" pirate wifi and unknowingly divulge info, say check bank accts etc... that is why its good to know how to do each individual portion.

[Orator]

I have a new Samsung phone and was somewhat alarmed by the content of this thread so I called Verizon Wireless.They said that when power is off,it is off.To be safe I could set it in Airplane Mode.They noted that I called about a possible problem and said that if I found a charge it would be cancelled. Going on a cruise later this week so I'll let you know what I've experienced. Found this thread helpful.

[klam_chowder]

Chowder (love the name) Regarding the VM thing, did you call your VM number while you were in CR? I get VMs all the time in Europe and do not get charged for them (at least I don't think I do, now you have me wondering) but I do make an receive calls while there so my bill always goes up in those months.

 

At$t has a data roam package you can get if you really need something but I have never used it, so don't know if it is something you can turn on and off monthly.

 

Nope, I did not use my phone at all, including VM or even visual VM. My family was aware that I was travelling and knew to e-mail if something came up. I had wi-fi at all the places I stayed.

 

ATT isn't my fave but I have to admit that I do like how they lay out their services and you can choose a la carte for pretty much any service. Actually, you don't even have to take it for the full month and the cost will be prorated (as long as you haven't exceeded the allowance for the pro-rated time). For example, 200 texts for 1 month. If you cancel after 2 weeks, you'd only be allowed to do so without penalty if you texted 100 or less times. I also like that you can do it right from the website very easily and the plans are all laid out so I can see options that I might not even know exist. I prefer doing it on their website rather than going thru a phone agent.

 

cheers,

:)

[bighairtexan]

Total nonsense. We've cruise many times with our Verizon smart phones and never incurred a charge for our phone being off or on all over the Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada, as long as we didn't make a call.

 

I had just gotten a Droid2 the day before a cruise. Turned the phone OFF at the button on top which I thought meant the phone was OFF (silly me). I wound up w/ an extra $130 or so on my bill. My son the IT guy (he has the Droid X) then told me I had to disable wifi, etc in my settings as well as make sure GPS/Navigation is turned off. I had no idea and no I didn't read the fine print nor did I read the booklet that came w/ it, as I had just gotten the phone less than 24 hours before we set sail. Next time I'll disable EVERYTHING, take out the battery and sim card and put them in a lead lined vault. Hope that works!:eek:

[seasearider]

I don't know what kind of "smart phone" you have as the term is used broadly. There are some models that automatically use DATA features, and not voice or text messaging, to fetch data all the time. I'm mostly familiar with my iPhone which periodically checks for incoming emails. I also know other iPhone users who have different apps, including news services, social networking apps, and other services which periodically connect to the internet on their own to update data. On domestic land where basic service plans include virutally unlimited data usage this isn't' a problem. But at sea, and internationally if one doesn't have an option international data plan, the cost for this automatic data access via the internet is very high and to avoid this the data roaming feature must be shut off. By turning Data Roming to off you are telling your phone not to transmit DATA unless you are in your wireless provider's normal service area.

 

It could be that while your type of phone has access to some such services that it is of a type that doesn't automatically fetch this data and/or has already been set not to do so. It could also be that your account is not enabled for international roaming at all on the Verizon System.

 

Per the op's post " even though you have it turned off you will be charged for it."

 

Are you telling me this statement is true?

[Kellie Poodle]

Only had my phone for a week so still learning...a samsung focus. Anyone know how to turn the data off on it?

 

airplane mode

[scf1270]

Another vote for Airplane Mode.

 

We only had it on 3G mode when in port to keep track of our group through texting.

 

While in Airplane Mode you can use it has an alarm clock, listen to music, books, play games, etc.

[TNVolTD]

Per the op's post " even though you have it turned off you will be charged for it."

 

Are you telling me this statement is true?

 

The problem is that many people do not understand that many of today's smart phones never really turn OFF. Rather, the "power" button often just turns off the screen but the phone is often still on and may be receiving or looking for data. As others have mentioned, the best way to stop this is to put your phone in airplane mode.

[goofysmom99]

Or you could always do as I do ...take out your sim and put it into a phone that just calls/texts for the time you are away. If you are not going to be using the data capability anyway it doesn't matter if the phone doesn't have it.

 

I'm the organizer of a tour bus from Rome to Civitavecchia this year and I was wondering how to easily have "just a phone" in case someone is going to be late or cancel. I bought a simple phone at t-mobile last year to use temporarily after my smartphone was stolen (in Lowe's, grrrrr). Thanks for this suggestion! (Added benefit is I won't obsess about it being stolen either.);)

[bighairtexan]

Per the op's post " even though you have it turned off you will be charged for it."

 

Are you telling me this statement is true?

 

I'm telling you it's true as I turned my phone off w/ the on/off button, put the phone in the safe where it remained for the entire cruise.

 

"The problem is that many people do not understand that many of today's smart phones never really turn OFF. Rather, the "power" button often just turns off the screen but the phone is often still on and may be receiving or looking for data. As others have mentioned, the best way to stop this is to put your phone in airplane mode."

 

TNVolTD, I'm assuming that info was in the instructions that came w/ the phone, but I didn't read it. I wish this thread had started a few months ago. Your answer could have saved me a bunch of money.... and you explained it simply and understandably.