Verizon wireless

[setsail]

I was wondering about the Alaska cruise ports. Would my basic Verizon plan cover the ports between Seward and Vancouver? I know that "at sea" is different.

 

The coverage map has the details....http://www.verizonwireless.com/wireless-coverage-area-map.shtml

[megr1125]

Hmmmmm is right. According to their rates list, you should have been charged. I know I wasn't charged the last time we were in St Thomas but that was a few years ago when it was free. I know other carriers don't charge, looks like you got lucky.:)

 

shhh..don't tell...

[CrusieToy]

I will want to call home and check with my family a couple of times while I am away.

 

Anyone know what type of plans available.

 

Call Verizon -not a simple answer and "depends"

[PCWalton1]

What do I do? Turn it off and lock it in the safe.

 

A cruise is one of the very very rare times that I do not have to be tethered to the miserable device.

 

Just be aware, one time I accidentally left the phone on for about 2 hours and got dinged with over $80 in data charges.

Great advice to the OP who specifically said they plan to call home serveral times. :rolleyes:

[kyriecat]

Verizon doesn't really offer any discounted calling plans for international use. It seems to be pay by the minute based on where you are. If the phone is CDMA mode only (not global) then it won't get a signal in places that use GSM mode only (St. Lucia & St. Martin for example).

 

I have a Droid 3 (3G global edition) phone with Verizon. I didn't have any "surprise" charges on my Adventure cruise in Feb/Mar. My dad was in the hospital so I needed to be reachable "just in case." I let friends/family know that I would be away so they wouldn't call just to talk and I didn't answer the phone for unknown numbers. Some people have reported that they were billed at roaming rates when people left voicemails, but that wasn't the case for me.

 

I bought a $30 (50MB) global data package for the time that I would be away so I could download my email as needed without incurring roaming fees in case I couldn't get wifi. I was able to use the data package on the ship (extremely SLOW) and in ports (usually much better).

 

I did not put my phone in airplane mode on the ship or in port because it will not accept calls or texts when it is in airplane mode. I don't know anything about iPhones, but on Droids, "airplane mode" disables all cellular, wireless, and bluetooth capabilities. I wanted to be able to receive phone calls or texts if I was needed. I turned off my data instead when I didn't want to use it.

 

I made sure that my Network Mode was set to global so I could receive phone calls in non-CDMA areas. CDMA mode is my default, but when we went to areas that are covered by GSM carriers, my phone would automatically search for GSM providers when CDMA providers were not available. I was always available for phone calls if I was needed. Fortunately I wasn't.

 

To turn off data on a Droid 3 (also works for RAZR), go to SETTINGS, then DATA MANAGER, then DATA DELIVERY. On the DATA DELIVERY screen, make sure the check boxes next to DATA ROAMING and DATA ENABLED are greyed out (unchecked). This will prevent the phone from automatically downloading data. It can still be used for phone calls and text messaging but will not automatically download any data updates.

 

When I wanted to check my email or other data application via my phone when free wifi wasn't available, I turned on the DATA ROAMING and DATA ENABLED, went to my email application and refreshed my inbox so it would download my new emails then turned off the data again. I only used about 5MB of data during the week that I was away. I didn't play on Facebook, Cruise Critic, or any other online site while I was using my global data.

 

When I returned, I called Verizon and had the global data plan removed. They pro-rated it for the 10 days that I was gone so I was only charged around $12 for time that I had it active.

 

My normal text plan did not cover texting in the Caribbean, other than San Juan. It was $0.05 for each text received and $0.50 for each text sent. I learned to turn off the text notification at night because my phone would pick up every passing island and I'd get a free-text notification from Verizon that I was now using XXX cellular service.

 

I made several calls from San Juan and they were all covered under my normal billing plan as domestic calls. It was the same with texting and data. St. Croix cost $1.99/minute for phone calls but the data was domestic as part of my normal billing plan so it did not count towards the global data allowance. I didn't understand why data was domestic but calls and texts were global. That is what the rep told me before I left and that is how it showed up on my bill.

[lgonquin]

Turn it off and put it in the safe. You're on vacation. The world will be there when you get back.:D

 

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

[Mach1]

So you have used the global plan?? And it really does mean you can call from the islands?

I could not believe it when they told me San Juan and St Thomas are no longer in the plan. I even called twice more to ask.

 

I have used it and it was super easy - that was a couple years ago. From what other posters have said verizon has changed a few things. I still think it is worth it if you plan to contact home. But do check with verizion

[Mach1]

Verizon doesn't really offer any discounted calling plans for international use. It seems to be pay by the minute based on where you are. If the phone is CDMA mode only (not global) then it won't get a signal in places that use GSM mode only (St. Lucia & St. Martin for example).

 

I have a Droid 3 (3G global edition) phone with Verizon. I didn't have any "surprise" charges on my Adventure cruise in Feb/Mar. My dad was in the hospital so I needed to be reachable "just in case." I let friends/family know that I would be away so they wouldn't call just to talk and I didn't answer the phone for unknown numbers. Some people have reported that they were billed at roaming rates when people left voicemails, but that wasn't the case for me.

 

I bought a $30 (50MB) global data package for the time that I would be away so I could download my email as needed without incurring roaming fees in case I couldn't get wifi. I was able to use the data package on the ship (extremely SLOW) and in ports (usually much better).

 

I did not put my phone in airplane mode on the ship or in port because it will not accept calls or texts when it is in airplane mode. I don't know anything about iPhones, but on Droids, "airplane mode" disables all cellular, wireless, and bluetooth capabilities. I wanted to be able to receive phone calls or texts if I was needed. I turned off my data instead when I didn't want to use it.

 

I made sure that my Network Mode was set to global so I could receive phone calls in non-CDMA areas. CDMA mode is my default, but when we went to areas that are covered by GSM carriers, my phone would automatically search for GSM providers when CDMA providers were not available. I was always available for phone calls if I was needed. Fortunately I wasn't.

 

To turn off data on a Droid 3 (also works for RAZR), go to SETTINGS, then DATA MANAGER, then DATA DELIVERY. On the DATA DELIVERY screen, make sure the check boxes next to DATA ROAMING and DATA ENABLED are greyed out (unchecked). This will prevent the phone from automatically downloading data. It can still be used for phone calls and text messaging but will not automatically download any data updates.

 

When I wanted to check my email or other data application via my phone when free wifi wasn't available, I turned on the DATA ROAMING and DATA ENABLED, went to my email application and refreshed my inbox so it would download my new emails then turned off the data again. I only used about 5MB of data during the week that I was away. I didn't play on Facebook, Cruise Critic, or any other online site while I was using my global data.

 

When I returned, I called Verizon and had the global data plan removed. They pro-rated it for the 10 days that I was gone so I was only charged around $12 for time that I had it active.

 

My normal text plan did not cover texting in the Caribbean, other than San Juan. It was $0.05 for each text received and $0.50 for each text sent. I learned to turn off the text notification at night because my phone would pick up every passing island and I'd get a free-text notification from Verizon that I was now using XXX cellular service.

 

I made several calls from San Juan and they were all covered under my normal billing plan as domestic calls. It was the same with texting and data. St. Croix cost $1.99/minute for phone calls but the data was domestic as part of my normal billing plan so it did not count towards the global data allowance. I didn't understand why data was domestic but calls and texts were global. That is what the rep told me before I left and that is how it showed up on my bill.

 

Thanks for the details, sounds like the plan has changed from when I used it, I will check with verizon on the plan. I'm sure it will change again before we cruise in April '13.

[bibbysnow]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Sometimes it is better to hear this from their customers than Verizon themselves.

[Miss Vickie]

So you have used the global plan?? And it really does mean you can call from the islands?

I could not believe it when they told me San Juan and St Thomas are no longer in the plan. I even called twice more to ask.

 

Call 611 from your phone, or 800-922-0204, which gets you to the same place as 911. Calling the international plan folks does not get you accurate info on San Juan. San Juan is absolutely part of the plan, and has been since we started cruising in 1999 - I call home from San Juan virtually every year. And St. Thomas has always been roaming.

 

I went through all of this extensively with Verizon when we cruised in January. The Global plan is $4.95/mo just for access - not needed for San Juan. Then, you pay the international per minute rate on each of the islands. The ship cell tower is $2.49/minute and does not require the global plan. They are supposed to turn off the ship tower in port but it does not always happen - you have to look at your cell and make sure it doesn't say roaming. My son once called me from Alaska (he was an RCL employee on Serenade). He was on shore, and assumed he was connected with a shore-side tower. They hadn't turned off the ship tower, boy was that an expensive call! By the same token, I called in from San Juan in January as we were pulling out of port. They didn't turn on the ship tower until after we left the harbor, I was able to talk on shore-side towers until just past El Moro.

 

Text rates have been presented appropriately in previous posts.

 

Data: There is no unlimited global plan anymore. There are global plans based on mb usage, and an overage rate. They will prorate those plans. However, they used to also prorate your normal data plan when you put on the global plan; they no longer do that. You maintain your normal plan and then have the global plan on top of that. They credit the data to the appropriate plan based on where you are when you use the data (i.e., in San Juan it gets credited against your normal plan, St. Maarten the global plan).

 

Bottom line, in January I turned my iPhone off and put it in my safe once we left San Juan. We used e-mail on board to communicate, but we had 60 minutes free each week on our B2B.

[kyriecat]

You do not have to pay the $4.95 for the global value plan to get international access. The $4.95 fee gets you discounted rates in SOME (not all) countries. Most of the Caribbean islands do not get a discounted rate so it's a waste of money for the Caribbean or Mexico. I did not purchase the value plan before my trip and I had no problems with calling or receiving calls on any of the islands where we stopped (St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Maarten/St. Martin). You have to activate international dialing prior to travel if you have not already done so but you do not have to purchase the value plan. It's also a good idea to dial *228 to update coverage before leaving.

 

Here is a comparison of Verizon's standard and global value plan prices per minute: PRICING It also gives a breakdown of whether countries have CDMA or GSM service. Puerto Rico shows that it is $.69/minute but that is misleading. The San Juan area is included in the national calling plan. There are some areas shown on the coverage map that are roaming. Those are the areas that would be charged at the $.69/minute rate.

[alphadog]

Just got off the phone with Verizon rep and he was pretty confused but they do sell data plans; 50megs for $30, 150megs for $75 and so on.

 

Jamaica is $1.99/minute voice and Mexico $.99/minute.

 

I would imagine that on board ship you are paying the $2.49/minute but I'm unclear how data is charged. Would that be related to the data package you purchase from Verizon or do you only pay for airtime.

[kyriecat]

If you buy a global data package, any data that you download while on the ship will be charged as part of that package. If you do not have a global data package, data downloaded on the ship is charged at $5.12/MB.

 

I bought the $30 global data package. I didn't use it to download much while onboard. I had my laptop but there were a few times the onboard WIFI service was not working so I checked email via my Droid. It was a slow connection but it eventually worked. At least I wasn't charged by the minute like the WIFI! When I got my bill last month, the data amount that I used onboard was included as part of my global data package and said something about "cruiseship" in the details.

[kyriecat]

I got an email from Verizon that they have revised their global data packages. They now only offer one package - $25 for 100 MB.

[Eng23]

What do I do? Turn it off and lock it in the safe.

 

A cruise is one of the very very rare times that I do not have to be tethered to the miserable device.

 

Just be aware, one time I accidentally left the phone on for about 2 hours and got dinged with over $80 in data charges.

This is what I do too. Who wants to be bothered while on vacation? :)

[Miss Vickie]

You do not have to pay the $4.95 for the global value plan to get international access. The $4.95 fee gets you discounted rates in SOME (not all) countries. Most of the Caribbean islands do not get a discounted rate so it's a waste of money for the Caribbean or Mexico. I did not purchase the value plan before my trip and I had no problems with calling or receiving calls on any of the islands where we stopped (St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Maarten/St. Martin). You have to activate international dialing prior to travel if you have not already done so but you do not have to purchase the value plan. It's also a good idea to dial *228 to update coverage before leaving.

 

 

That's good to know. I actually didn't use my phone from anywhere other than San Juan, so it didn't mattery anyway. The Verizon customer service folks said that for the iPhone it would be $4.95/mo just to activate the SIM. Next January I may have to try to make a call just to test!

 

I always dial *228 to update programming before we travel - even if it's domestic travel.

[kyriecat]

jlmolner - I'm not sure if you got bad information from customer service (:rolleyes: Verizon is about as bad as RC when it comes to phone reps) or if iPhone SIM cards are different than Droid cards. They shouldn't be but I'm not very familiar with iPhone. Both my phone and hubby's are Droids. I didn't have to pay anything to activate my SIM card - just called global support and gave them the ID #.

 

I did not pay for the $4.95 international dialing plan and my phone was definitely working on my Feb. cruise. I had to use it in Barbados to call a guide who didn't show up and my sis forgot I was away and called me.

[jefarl]

If you buy a global data package, any data that you download while on the ship will be charged as part of that package. If you do not have a global data package, data downloaded on the ship is charged at $5.12/MB.

 

I bought the $30 global data package. I didn't use it to download much while onboard. I had my laptop but there were a few times the onboard WIFI service was not working so I checked email via my Droid. It was a slow connection but it eventually worked. At least I wasn't charged by the minute like the WIFI! When I got my bill last month, the data amount that I used onboard was included as part of my global data package and said something about "cruiseship" in the details.

 

what to understand the following: If I have the Global Plan (yes $25/100mb is the current offering), and I turn on my data manager on ship in the middle of the ocean, will I get my data directly OR do I still need to have the ship's wireless internet minute plan?, thus a double cost?

 

I know on shore, I can get the data, ie my emails, and it will go to the Global Data allowance i have.

 

ALSO- I have the droid 3 phone but not sure how to turn off all the backround apps that get automatic downloads/updates so that when i turn on my data reception i don't get hit with hugh amounts of MB's...