i Phones and Face time

[pjbmontana]

We will be going on the Journey departing on October 26th. We have recently changed from a dumb phone to an iphone 4s smart phone, in fact it's probably smarter then I am.

 

I was wondering given the slow speed of the internet on the ship if anyone has tried to use iPhone's 'Face Time' app to communicate with family back in the US? If it would works it would really be a nice way to keep friends and family in touch with us. I know it will work from internet cafes, hotels, etc that have wifi connections but I am not sure about the ship and given the time difference between Greece and the west coast of the US it could be better timed from the ship.

 

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[corpkid]

From what I have read you need to maintain about 150 to 200kps to keep it from getting choppy. I would think the connection could maintain that, but if it's busy it could start dragging. If you have the minutes I suppose it's certainly worth a try! Just don't count on it?! :)

[TerryAndDoug]

Unfortunately, Facetime won't work with the satellite service on the ship. Don't expect to be able to do much online through the ship's service as it's very slow and frequently goes down. We found it was much less frustrating to spend a few minutes using WiFi in port for keeping in touch.

 

Doug

[kathy9]

Before bring your smart phone on a cruise or out of the US make sure you read about data roaming charges.Do a goggle search..... many people have returned home from a trip to a very large bill. I only use my phone while off the ship where free WiFi is available.

Kathy

[Keith1010]

While on another ship, I did use Facetime on a cruise earlier this year and like all cruise lines it required internet connectivity via satellite. It worked most of the time.

 

Keith

[pjbmontana]

Thanks everybody for your help. As I suspected due to the slow internet conectivity I won't depend on Face Time while on the ship.

[Andy]

Thanks everybody for your help. As I suspected due to the slow internet conectivity I won't depend on Face Time while on the ship.

 

Hi Pjbmontana,

 

I think that's the best way to approach it. We've had similar discussions on the Celebrity forum. The consensus is, that Face Time will not work. I cant see how it would work with any regularity, due to the bandwith it requires. If it does ? Consider it a bonus :)

 

I hope this helps. Enjoy your Cruise !

[greeneg]

One suggestion that I do is to pre-purchase a sim card for my older Motorola Razor V3 which works just fine in Europe ( and just about anywhere else). I use that as much as is practical when traveling as that's a lot cheaper than using roaming charges. Check and see if you have an older phone ( many people do) and see if it can be used like that.

[Grandma Gilly]

Last year on Quest I mamanged several times to Skype home even though they say that VOIP is not supported.

[richandi]

We were on the quest when it caught fire and once power was restored, they opened up wifi to all. Many people used Skype successfully and we used our iPad for face time without any problem. I guess it might have just been lucky but it sure was a welcome occrurence whilst stranded in the middle of the sulu sea.