cell phone and texting on the ship

[mostofus]

I understand that use of cell phones while cruising is very expensive. I will advise everyone in our group to turn their phones off while cruising. The question I have, is when on embarking day will we need to turn them off? Is is when we get on the ship? Or later in the day when we are getting ready to sail? Or can we assume that if we don't have "bars" coverage that that is the time to turn them off? For the record, mine will be turned off when we enter the port, I am on vacation for heavens sake and don't need to be contacted! But for our teenagers, I want to make sure they turn them off at the right time, I don't need any surprise charges!

 

Thanks for the advice! We cruise in 22 days!

[Raven Days]

You can use your phone up till sail away. After that I would be leary of having it pop up as roming. I used mine on the last cruise and I racked up a huge bill! $17....:D I made 2 calls from my phone while at sea and 2 from Mexico and recieved about 4 or 5 text messages while at sea. I was very careful and very frugal with my talk time. When I wasnt on the phone (Blackberry), it was in the safe, battery removed.

[golfadj]

We shut ours off when we get a couple of miles off shore and put them in safe until the morning we get back to port.

[serene56]

But for our teenagers, I want to make sure they turn them off at the right time, I don't need any surprise charges!!

 

for teens- turn them off as soon as you get on the ship and put them in the safe.

 

On the ship you will get charges using the ships towers.

50 cents to send a text and those teens sure can text

[cruise_pirate]

We use ours until sail away then power them off and lock em up. Never had a problem. We send picture texts and last minute goodbyes. Smart phones on even when in ports of call if networks are not shut down can down load texts and emails ect and you may get a surprise on your next phone bill!

 

Off subject a little I did call my wife (Girl friend then) From Nassau. I thought heck it is only 90 miles from florida how much can that be?? I now know it is $5.00 a minute though sprint:rolleyes: 10 minute call was $50.00 but at that time it was well worth it!

[*Mach*]

I understand that use of cell phones while cruising is very expensive. I will advise everyone in our group to turn their phones off while cruising. The question I have, is when on embarking day will we need to turn them off? Is is when we get on the ship? Or later in the day when we are getting ready to sail? Or can we assume that if we don't have "bars" coverage that that is the time to turn them off? For the record, mine will be turned off when we enter the port, I am on vacation for heavens sake and don't need to be contacted! But for our teenagers, I want to make sure they turn them off at the right time, I don't need any surprise charges!

 

Thanks for the advice! We cruise in 22 days!

 

 

I turn my phone off about an hour after we set sail... sometimes longer depending on the port. The cell service on Carnival ships is provided by Cellular At Sea and your phone will roam to their facility. Prior to that you'll still be able to get coverage, if you had it when you boarded, for some time. When you lose coverage from your provider your phone will switch over to the ship's system and will display something like 'Roaming: Cellular At Sea.' That's a REAL good time to shut it off!!!

:)

You can find carrier specific information here:

http://www.cellularatsea.com/guest_services.htm

[mostofus]

Thanks for all the replies. Since we plan to board if possible by 12 pm or so, I will make sure that he uses it while we are still docked, but as soon as we set sail, we will turn off all phones until we return!

[serene56]

Thanks for all the replies. Since we plan to board if possible by 12 pm or so, I will make sure that he uses it while we are still docked, but as soon as we set sail, we will turn off all phones until we return!

 

 

just tell him if he sees a message (cellar at sea) turn it off immediatly

[erby2283]

[quote name=

http://www.cellularatsea.com/guest_services.htm

 

So if I have Verizon and I am in St. Kitts, it's $1.99 per minute and .50 for texts sent and .05 for texts received? Then do you pay a roaming fee on top of that or is this it?

[golfadj]

So if I have Verizon and I am in St. Kitts, it's $1.99 per minute and .50 for texts sent and .05 for texts received? Then do you pay a roaming fee on top of that or is this it?

 

They have a lot of different plans. Would suggest you contact Verizon about your specific plan before you get a very unwelcome surprise.

[chipmaster]

YMMV, base stations range is very limited, it is why they call it "cell." I'm surprised of the people that go for the "hour" rule. The range of the wireless stations are measured in thousand of meters not miles :D

 

You should be more than good up to including departure, but I'd not leave a phone one once you are out of "port" On the ocean there ain't no cells ;)

[alleauna]

We called Sprint this week while trying to decide on the best (& cheapest) way to stay in touch with our children while we are away in January.

 

The representative told us to call 888-226-7212 the week before our cruise to request "International Enabler." He said that there will be no data when we get outside of the US. The following charges will apply:

 

On the ship (Fantasy):

Calls - $2.99/minute

Texts - $0.50 for each text sent; $0.15 for each text received

 

While in Nassau/Freeport:

Calls - $2.29/minute

Texts - $0.50 for each text sent; $0.05 for each text received

[DEL67]

We use ours until sail away then power them off and lock em up. Never had a problem. We send picture texts and last minute goodbyes. Smart phones on even when in ports of call if networks are not shut down can down load texts and emails ect and you may get a surprise on your next phone bill!

 

Off subject a little I did call my wife (Girl friend then) From Nassau. I thought heck it is only 90 miles from florida how much can that be?? I now know it is $5.00 a minute though sprint:rolleyes: 10 minute call was $50.00 but at that time it was well worth it!

 

If you have a Smart phone. turning off your data downloads is extemely important if you do not want thousands of dollars of charges. Talk to your carrier, but when we went to Europe, we were advised to not only to turn off data, but also to put our phones on airplane mode.

[cruise_pirate]

If you have a Smart phone. turning off your data downloads is extemely important if you do not want thousands of dollars of charges. Talk to your carrier, but when we went to Europe, we were advised to not only to turn off data, but also to put our phones on airplane mode.

 

Yep I am pretty much a pro at what to shut off. I live three blocks from the Canadian border. Each time I go over I shut down everything that can charge me. Airpalne mode is best, if something happens that I HAVE to call I have that option. Once you leave the country, it can be scary having a network on a phone!:eek:

[carhopsrock]

I have Verizon and the last two times I cruised I paid the .50 and .05 to send and receive texts. My bill wasnt too bad. This last time I also paid about $30 for roaming. I have a basic phone and only used it for the texting. No idea why the charges were different this time, but I just paid them since I knew I ran a risk of having extra charges.

[cruznlobo]

Port Of Miami...One person starboard, one on port side.

One got roaming charges in port...the other did not.

[Almost Packed]

I called my carrier (T Mobile) and they actually turned off my web for me so not to rack up charges for that and i also made them aware we would be traveling. they gave me exact amount as to how much to receive and sent text messages etc. was. it was a better deal to do it off the ship...NOT just in port. now i have a new cell with different features. i will call them again to verify and perhaps disable the web features while traveling if needed.

 

i suggest you call your carrier and find out exactly how much and if on/off the ship or just in port matters.

[alleauna]

Just got off the phone with a Sprint tech again. Paranoid that we are going to incur extra charges as we have smart phones with a lot of background things running (Google calendar, Gmail, Facebook, etc.).

 

He said to go to > Settings > Wireless & Network > Mobile Network > Data Roaming Guard. Turn Data Roaming Guard ON.

 

Also, from > Settings > Wireless & Network > Mobile Network... Uncheck both the 3G Data AND the Data Roaming boxes.

 

If we are on the ship and we get a popup that says something about data roaming charges may apply, we are supposed to X out...do not accept.

 

We will not be charged for phone calls we do not answer nor voicemails we do not check.

 

Most importantly, call your provider! Sprint has been very helpful!

[harv1631]

I'm not sure where you are traveling too but if you go to San Juan or St. Thomas you can use them there since it is a US territory and they will work the same as home. At least this was the case with AT&T. My two teenagers did a great job last year and we had no surprise charges.