Warning!!! AT&T and cruising

[Voldy]

You just need to do your homework on how your phone works before your cruise. (Not directed at OP, who obviously tried to do her homework.)

 

DH and I both have iphones and needed to be able to stay in touch with the kids at home while we were on our cruise. We turned off data roaming, turned off all push notifications, and set our email to fetch manually and we had NO data charges.

 

We kept our phones in airplane mode most of the time, but took them out of airplane mode several times a day, sometimes for an hour or more, to send and receive texts from the kids.

 

Our phone bill was about $15 higher than normal from the texts. Much more cost effective than paying for internet on the ship to check email.

 

(And yes, we needed our phones. It was a rare trip without the kids, and it would not have been a relaxing vacation if we had not been able to check in on them.)

[kenish]

All great info, a few comments. FYI, I'm pretty tech-savvy engineer and have traveled extensively internationally. From post #68 back on Page 4:

 

My "normal" data usage per month is 60MB (going back a year). Other than that week for this month, I've used 55MB. Yet for some reason, I used 209MB for that 5 days? Does that sound "off" to anybody else?

 

- Your phone carrier "pushes" data to your handset, (just like Microsoft or Apple push updates to your home PC). It includes updates to the software in the phone, virus protection, updates to the directory of cell towers, etc. What may have happened is AT&T sent updates. Normally this does not show on your bill, but since the data was carried by Cellular at Sea it was billable and showed up as unusually high MB. Just a theory, and glad they reversed the 180MB difference.

 

- Verizon will rent customers a phone for about $25/month that's set up for the country(s) you will visit. They overnight it and even include return packaging/postage. It's called the "Occasional Traveler Program"

 

- A quad-band GSM phone (e.g. iPhone) must be unlocked or "jailbreaked" to accept SIM cards from other sources. Important comment...doing this voids the phone's warranty.

 

- Alarm clock: Phones get the time off of the cell network. On a HAL cruise the time was way off aboard ship and in most Mexican ports. My phone set itself to the incorrect time. Making things worse, most phones no longer have a manual time setting option. That made my phone useless as an alarm clock. (Not an issue on our Alaska cruise).

 

HTH!!

[QVickiB]

Couldn't people with data plans just stick their chips into an older phone before boarding so they can still use phone service, alarm features, etc., if they want and then put the chip back into their smart phones after the cruise is over?

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

Yes, I got an Iphone one week before a 7 day cruise, and wasn't familiar with settings yet, so I took my SIM card out and put it in an AT&T GoPhone (prepaid phone) that we let my daughter use on occasion. That way I had phone contact when necessary, but didn't have to worry about data. (Then I found out that in San Juan and St. Thomas, I could have used my iPhone to my heart's content! LOL!)

I've since learned the settings on my iphone, and went on another cruise, and didn't incur one cent of data charges. (Now, the 20 texts back & forth to my husband is another story! LOL!)

[QVickiB]

Also, keep in mind there is a big difference between PHONE roaming and DATA roaming. I believe the OP racked up charges on Data. She said although she got Facebook notifications, etc, she didn't open them. That doesn't matter, the phone got them, and that is data usage. International data is crazy expensive. That is why on a smart phone if you turn off data, all you have to worry about is phone charges, which is the $2.49/min or $.50 per sent text (received texts are free for AT&T on the ship), so the only charges that you aren't in control of are people calling you.

[C&Dmich]

Interesting of all the replies that I read only one made any sense. That is the $10.00 Walmart clock!!

 

PEOPLE you are on a holiday!

 

In my experience of 30 years of travel domestic or international, both work and holiday, enroute or cruising, without a phone the world has never come to an end without a phone, and to date I have never missed any thing that important that I could not cover when I returned home or arrive at work overseas.

 

Family knew where I was and in the case of cruising what ship and where we were at a given day. Contact the line in case of emergency and they will notify you on board to contact home.

 

Geez, $4000 phone bill thats another whole cruise!! :)

 

C&Dmich

[QuentinH]

You don't have to. From what I was told, iPhones will work the same way my blackberry did. If you can find the "Mobile Network Options" tab on your phone, it should say "Data Services: While Roaming" and you can turn the feature off. I just didn't know until it was way too late. If you can't find it, give them a call from a land line phone and have them walk you through it.

 

I travel and actually live in Europe with my blackberry for extended periods of time. I also take cruises.

First off, AT&T is pretty good about backdating international packages to at least diminish the impact of what happened to you.

Go to the "wrench icon" on you blackberry and you will see usually 3 options: One of the is for Mobile network - it should say ATT and if you want to use your phone out of the USA - leave that set to AT&T. Next is the data - turn this off (even if you choose to get an international data plan) You will have an option as turn off while roaming (Your smart phone is actually stupid and it will mistake this setting so don't trust it)

Global roaming texts for a small monthly fee lets you have 50 text messages in and out free of charge with this option (get rid of all your friends who think LOL is a valuable text for your 50 text count) If you have family/friend - pick one to text with news while you are away and have THEM forward your text to others you want to receive it DO NOT use the cc for the text because that then counts as two texts not one. Likewise, have that person receive texts from others and include the news in 1 big text to you.

ATT now has a "Cruise package" valid for 14 days and you might want to look into that. Cellular at sea is different than when you are in a port where it would be international roaming. (Contrary to what I have seen posted here, cellular at sea has to be turn off within a certain distance from a port so when you are in port, there is no way you will pick up cellular at sea - it will be the carrier of the port you are in)

I pre-pay a small international data package from ATT for accidental access. when I turn my phone on, I immediately check to see that data is still off (it usually stays off until you turn it on, but why take the chance) This way once every few days, I turn data on and it receives a bunch - I then turn it off and open it at my leisure so I am not accessing data to read it.

 

Stop all website that send you junk (facebook is a big one) and notifications from you computer to your phone and as someone said- turn off all "push" notifications. You can use you phone and have it for emergencies, and not break the bank. If you call ATT they will tell you how much data you access a month on your phone so you can make a decision whether you want to pre pay for some international data just in case.

 

Hope this helps

[PhxRain]

The president of my company racked up a $2500 phone bill (on AT&T) while out of the country. It was all due to data usage on his iPhone. He did not turn off the sync/data function and since he is the president he gets a LOT of e-mails. He thought nothing of it until our HR rep got a call from AT&T about the bill that was being run up.

 

When the wife and I were in Italy I popped my SIM card into a cheap pay as you go phone (we are on T-Mobile) that was not capable of doing anything but making calls and texting. We called T-Mobile before we left to inquire about using our phones out of the country and were told to make sure to turn off all data access on the phone to avoid the ridiculous charges.

 

That is exactly what we are looking into for our trip to Europe in a couple months. I asked Tracfone and they said they don't have international plans BUT I did find a place on the internet that rents International cell phones. They are prepaid and you only use what you need, when you need it. That will keep us in touch with our kids & my Mom over the 2 weeks that we are gone. Also gives us the ability to reach each other while in port if we get seperated, or to call the bank if our accounts are blocked because the bank didn't put in the notes that we called to say we will be in such-n-such country on these dates. :rolleyes: I can SEE that happening! I can! And then of course - in case of emergency. They'll only be used while in ports though. Don't need it while on the ship. And it keeps us from making any costly mistakes with the Hubbies new EVO. He's not familiar enough with it yet to make sure ALL the stuff he has on it is turned off, he's got like 3-4 e-mails hooked to it and it's his work phone, so I am happy it is staying home! :D

 

When I called Sprint to ask them about how to do all this, he asked why. I said because I don't want to come home with a $1000+ bill waiting for me! He said, "Yeah, we've been having a lot of customers calling who are having that exact problem." eek!

[cortneyward]

Got the bill today, it was $1200. After several (7) calls, it's down to $400 and I'm paying it. I have refrained from giving my personal opinion because I just wanted to try to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. But I will say that after speaking to over 20 people and getting just that many different answers, it obviously pays to double check if something just doesn't seem right. I'm not happy about the $400 because they even admit they made alot of mistakes and gave me misinformation but at least it's something I can pay and not hurt my credit again. When I cruise again I think I'll consider the option of taking the battery out

[cawagner]

Leave your phones at home or locked up somewhere on shore--you are on vacation! As for meeting up with people--set up a time and place...you are sleeping in the same place you will find each other eventually :p

 

Easy to say.....but often it's just not that easy. There are MANY valid reasons for needing to have contact with those at who are at home :rolleyes:.

 

:eek: $4,000 YIKES....I am for leaving the phone at home, hubby and I we both have smartphones with AT&T and are leaving them at home and have left them at home on previous cruises just for that reason...and, if we absolutely need to call home to check on anything we will use the ship to shore...you may say that is so expensive, but sure beats any "surprise" cell bills and IMO your on vacation, I can't see why you would need to be constantly calling back home...oh, my what did "everyone" do before cell phones :rolleyes:

 

JMO

[5waldos]

I was just discussing what to do with our iPhones with my DH for our upcoming cruise. So, I guess we should just turn the phone completely off as soon as we get in our cabins and leave them off? Will turning it off and leaving it off until we get back into Mobile prevent the extra charges? I wanted to be able to use it for an alarm clock, but now I'm afraid to even turn it on.

 

From the horror stories I have read- leave it off and buy a cheap alarm clock and bring it with. I tried to use my watch but it is atomic and somehow went completely nutsy as we cruised down the Baja. So don't count on them either.

[Akgoalie7]

Take/settle for the $120 and RUN!

 

Consider yourself lucky.

[mikefox2hotmail.com]

Airplane-mode

[TexCorey]

Okay if you have an iPhone here's what you do to avoid the bills

 

Settings > phone > data roaming OFF!

 

Settings > Airplane Mode ON!

 

If you want to use the onboard Wifi, then with airplane mode on just slide the wifi button back to on. The phone portion will stay off.

[welovetotravel]

My husband and I both have iPhones. We took them with us to Jamaica and Spain recently. We took out the sim card before leaving US Soil so there was no chance of any charges. We were however still able to use our apps (without internet) and wi-fi service. We did not try to use for texting or phone call use. No additional charges from ATT were incurred!

[bar1068]

YIKES!!! So much confusion and mis-information over something, relatively simple....

 

For us...1 visit to Carnival and ATT websites to get info on use of cell phones on cruises. 1 call to ATT rep, who explained international packages for use at ports if desired, rate was pro-rated for partial month. Eastern carib cruise informed of course when in San Juan and USVI, normal domestic rates applied.

 

3 Cruises..2 iPhones...ZERO unexpected charges. Data roaming turned off, used phone to send txt msgs with expected charges. No fuss no muss.

 

Question though. When someone asks something like the OP did, why do some "answer" with..."leave cell phone home" or "turn off at start of cruise" or "turn off...leave in safe" or "you're on vacation, no calls are that important" etc..etc..etc...

[cruzcraver4life]

Defenitely a cheap alarm clock would be better than dealing with the hassle of any of these horrific cell phone stories. Also makes me glad that I still haven't succumbed to the idea that I gotta have the "new and cool phone". A plain old regular cell phone for a trip like that might be worth it to hold on to just so that you can have that peace of mind if there is some sort of emergency and you need it real quick. I am glad I read this though because I would never have known; now I learned something new to share w/ others. Good thread. Happy sailing to all the lucky vacationers!!!! Wish I were able to go NOW!!!!

[kingoftheicedragons]

That really is unfortunate that AT&T didn't explain the data charge to you. I use T-Mobile, and do not have a smart phone, but I do have a phone that has data/internet on it. They told me that it would be expensive for data (twice, on two separate calls), so I made sure I was completely disconnected from things like email alerts. I wasn't sure if getting those would count against me, but I wasn't going to take the chance.

[southerngirl07]

:eek::eek::eek: holy smoke!!

 

Luckily, I don't have data set up on my AT&T phone because in Dec I left my phone on and was charged $75 roaming charges.

 

it must be nice to almost cruise every four months.:D:D

[kbmeow]

You need to turn of the push notifications on all smart phones. Also put it in airplane mode. If you need to use it. Seeing the emails mean your phone was going to the internet to get the mail. It didn't matter if you opened them. Also I bet being in the safe made it harder to connect and it took a while to get the messages. Most phones go to the internet at least every half hour to get mail etc.

[kbmeow]

I use Sprint and will be taking the battery out of my Blackberry, locking it in the safe and leaving it there! I may take it out in Mexico if I decied to take the International roaming plan. Its $4.99 plus $1.29 cents per mintue to call back to the states. But then again, I can also just find a calling station in Mexico and call home cheaper! Come to think of it....Blackberry stays in the safe - NO BATTERY - till I dock back in Galveston!

 

One question though...when we first board the ship and before it leaves port and we use the phone are we using our own networks or are we using the ships network? I was going to call my daughter once we boarded to let her to talk to her child one last time before we set sail.

 

 

Make sure your phone will work In Mexico. Sprint is CDMA and is not a international phone.

[SpiderSilva]

MindTheGap is exactly right. I have had an iPhone since they came out in 2007 and have cruised at least 4 times with my iPhone. You just need to ensure you turn off all data access to the phone...then it will work like a normal phone if you want to make a call. I would recommend for the kids...leave the phones in the car at the port or at home. Text messages will still go thru and it is not $.50 per text. That charge is from ATT...they forget to metion that Cellular at Sea will also charge a fee to ATT on top of the $.50 they quoted you. Your cell phone will clearly state "Cellular at Sea" so you will be able to tell when you have a cell site in port that you can use. Once again, for the kids, leave them at home unless you want the $1500 phone bill again. That is what we do with our 20 year old DD...we tell her too bad, we pay the bill.

 

Cellular at Sea charges for phone calls, not texts. I have an iPhone through AT&T and when using it for texts on cruises, it's .15 to receive and .50 to send. I put the phone in airplane mode, take it out of airplane to receive a text from family, send a text, then it goes back in airplane mode until the next day. I've never been charged more than the .15 & .50 cents per text.

[nsiordia]

I haven't read all the posts - way too many so I'm sorry if this has already been said but ATT has a cruise package

 

http://www.cellularatsea.com/press/att_cruiseship_passport_flyer_1210.htm

[kujobie]

I haven't read all the posts - way too many so I'm sorry if this has already been said but ATT has a cruise package

 

http://www.cellularatsea.com/press/att_cruiseship_passport_flyer_1210.htm

 

ATT's cruise package is to switch to Verizon..

[SkaterJasp]

What I do with my iPhone is turn it to Airplane mode first and than turn on Wifi. Wifi have nothing to do with the cellphone company. It is simply a way to connect to the internet via a wifi hot spot / ship's wireless internet network. There are also various free wifi hot spots in various ports. By having it in Airplane mode, I avoid all the international roaming / data charges... however, with Wifi on, I'm still able to do everything EXCEPT for making / receiving calls, checking voice mail, and sending/receiving text messages.

[nytraveller53]

Good thing I have Verizon Wireless! You can ask them to automatically block any texts/calls/data when I'm away so that I can't make mistakes like that!:eek::p