Probably a stupid question about Cell Phone at Sea

[JEM4205]

I am confused, but like a wise man one said, the only stupid question, is the one you don’t ask.

I have procured a Verizon phone and have gone through the steps required to enable international roaming as instructed by the princess web site.

I plan to use this phone as an avenue to receive emergency messages from family while on a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess. The phone will be turned on most of the time.

Now the question, Will I be charged roaming if the phone is not used? Or as I thought, the charges only apply when I make or receive a call. Any clarification on this subject would be much appreciated.

[ChrisB123]

I have the same question ( only different ). :D

I'll be on the West Coast cruise in Sept and seeing as all the ports are rather close to home, will there be additional charges for using the phone on the ship?

[robsaw]

I've carried a cell phone with me on several cruises - there are no charges unless you actually use the phone (e.g. make or receive a call, text or multimedia message, or use mobile data services). Depending on your exact plan, there will be extra charges in addition to your regular plan charges for roaming using the ship cell services - these are generally higher than rates when roaming ashore, so be careful. Princess cannot tell you what those extra charges will be, only your service provider can tell you that.

[willysgrandma]

Leave the phone off if you will not be using it. Verizon told me if anyone called me and the phone was on, I would be charged roaming charges for incoming or outgoing calls. They told me if I kept it off, then no fees. And I forgot one day I had turned it on, someone called and left me a voice mail and I sure was charged the roaming fee!

 

Call Verizon - they'll tell you if you will or won't be charged.

[oskidunker]

Since that is the purpose for which he upgraded the phone?

[Pam in CA]

It depends on the type of phone. If it's a smart phone, you need to either enable international data or turn off all push notifications and other means of data downloads. When a smartphone is turned on, all those apps search for new data and download it. This is where you can get into big trouble with unexpected charges.

[J&KCruisers]

If you have a smart phone, listen to Pam and turn off all the applications or you WILL be charged.

 

On our November cruise, I left the phone on after our day in Puerto Vallarta. For every e-mail and roam, I was hit with a charge. The cost overnight was about $12, not a big deal, but still a reminder to turn the thing off.

 

I am amazed to see people on the ship sending text and e-mails. Just turn the thing off and check in the ports. In a real emergency, have the family back home call the ship. It is expensive, but probably less than the roaming you might be hit with.

 

You are on vacation, "escape" from the technology for a couple days!

 

Happy Cruising:D:D

[shorefolks]

I am confused, but like a wise man one said, the only stupid question, is the one you don’t ask.

I have procured a Verizon phone and have gone through the steps required to enable international roaming as instructed by the princess web site.

I plan to use this phone as an avenue to receive emergency messages from family while on a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess. The phone will be turned on most of the time.

Now the question, Will I be charged roaming if the phone is not used? Or as I thought, the charges only apply when I make or receive a call. Any clarification on this subject would be much appreciated.

You need to distinguish between charges for calls as opposed to charges for data. When we travel internationally, we initiate a Verizon global data roaming plan which costs us about $1 more per day. The plan can be turned off and on to coincide with the dates of your trip, and thus it is prorated. Without such a plan, you will be charged for data roaming if your smartphone is turned on. This plan enables us to check (clean out) our e-mail daily and avoid a pile of hundreds of e-mails waiting for us back home. Meanwhile, with Verizon, data on board the ship is strictly a free pass-through. We are not charged for any e-mails or browsing.

 

With voice calls, the ship is probably the most expensive place you will visit (something like $2.79 per minute, I recall). Text messages, however, are at a trivial cost. For purposes of emergency contact, therefore, tell your at-home correspondents to simply text you with important news. You can then decide when to call them back and, cost-wise more importantly, from where.

[KruzPrincess]

When I got on my last cruise (Celebrity), I got a text message from Verizon telling me the cost of calls and texts. I don't recall the price of calls, but a text was 50 cents each. One day, I sent a text message to a couple friends just for the fun of it. Otherwise, I just left my phone off and checked for important texts each day. Like the previous post, I'd tell people to text you if something important happens and then you can choose to make a call if you want.

[Pam in CA]

Generally, texts are free to receive which is why they are a good option for an emergency contact. It's $.50 to send a text. But do turn on or opt for international data roaming no matter what. It'll be money well spent. Using your cell phone to make a call while at sea, using the ship's cell tower, will cost you $2.49/minute plus any international roaming or usage charge. It'll be billed to your cell phone provider, not to your onboard account, so there will be no way to track it other than through your provider. If you have AT&T, you can't access your usage if you've made a change to your plan so it's a Catch 22.

[gmros]

I travel internationally quite often and always have my cellphone on (also on the cruise I've been on). But I make sure that data roaming is off. If you have an iphone or android, you can turn off data roaming in Settings.

 

Before I leave, I change my voicemail greeting to say that I am away and unable to answer my calls. But if urgent, to text me. It's cheaper with texts. With AT&T, you don't get charged roaming for incoming texts. I think Verizon charges you $0.05 for incoming texts which is not bad. Here's the link for Verizon rates on cruise ships... http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Cruise_Ships/index.html.

 

From experience, when I get incoming calls, but do not answer it, I don't get charged for it. Make sure to ask Verizon about what willysgrandma said regarding getting charged for an incoming call without even answering it. Coz I never got charged for incoming calls that I haven't answered with AT&T and T-Mobile, unless of course I called to retrieve my voicemail.

[JEM4205]

Thank you so much for the info. I knew the answer would be found due to the great amount of experiance on this forum. I was confused because of other posts telling of $2000 roaming charges posted to others accounts. I guess maybe they unknowingly Butt Dialed. :)

[ChrisB123]

Ok, I understand the roaming charges for international calls, but what about (somewhat) local calls? I will be on a west coast cruise and for most of the time, within a couple of hundred miles from home. What about that? :confused: Would I still be charged for using the ships tower?

[Jacqueline]

It also is an idea to use the free wifi avaiable in many ports to catch up on emails, etc. Of course there is an app for that. I believe it is called Free Wifi finder..

It never hurts to look at the FAQs on your carriers website.

[jsiegel]

Ok, I understand the roaming charges for international calls, but what about (somewhat) local calls? I will be on a west coast cruise and for most of the time, within a couple of hundred miles from home. What about that? :confused: Would I still be charged for using the ships tower?

 

You might. Your phone will tell you if you are connecting to a land-based signal or the ship's. If I remember correctly, before you connect to the ship's signal, you get a text message warning you of the possibility of extra charges.

 

Jackie

[caber]

I receive a text on my cellphone when we reach a new provider, telling me the charges. At sea it is a maritime network. It is more expensive.

 

I leave on my phone but have my voicemail discontinued when I am on the cruise. If someone wants me and I don`t answer, they can still send a text.

 

Unless it is an emergency I only use text and picture messaging to keep in touch.

[JEM4205]

I am sure learning alot about cell phone at sea and by some of the replys this subject is of interest to others as well, thanks a bunch!

[gmros]

Ok, I understand the roaming charges for international calls, but what about (somewhat) local calls? I will be on a west coast cruise and for most of the time, within a couple of hundred miles from home. What about that? :confused: Would I still be charged for using the ships tower?

 

Unfortunately the local cell towers' signals don't reach that far out to sea :(, and definitely not a hundred miles out or so.

 

I also thought we would be close enough to shore to get local/national coverage when we cruised from NYC to Port Canaveral, but I was wrong. About 30mins to an hour after the ship left, my phone switched to the ship's cell signal. I'm not sure about the West Coast, but I'm assuming it's similar. You will see it on your phone whether it's using your mobile provider's signal or the ship's.

[Treven]

Last year I kept my cell phone on while leaving FLL, I simply wanted to see how long I'd still get a signal. It lasted about 15 minutes (I didn't sign up for international roaming).

With my Blackberry I don't intend leaving the phone on at all on my next cruise. I live alone with no family local, so there's no one that would be calling me nor would I be calling anyone.