Texting and Voice Roaming

[roger001]

Recently, reference using a smart phone on the ship for texting, this situation was considered.

 

To use texting while on an NCL ship (Verizon, .05c per text received, .50c per text sent) your phone must be in "voice on while roaming" mode for the texts to transmit and be received (texts use the voice feature to function). With your phone in the "voice on while roaming" mode, if you receive a phone call but do not answer it, however the caller leaves a voice mail, will you be charged the $2.50 per minute rate for that call and voice mail? The following is Verizon's answer.

 

" I appreciate you taking the time to make sure you know what to expect on your bill after using your phone on the ship. My name is Andy, and I'm happy to help you with this.

 

As long as you don't answer the phone, and do not check your voicemail, you won't be charged the per minute rate. The only way you are charged is if you are actually on the phone, and that includes checking your voicemail. Otherwise, if you aren't on the phone, and the timer isn't counting, you won't be charged!

 

Roger, thank you for taking the time to contact us, and I'm glad I could clarify how billing works for those calls.

 

Have an excellent trip, and thank you so much for choosing Verizon Wireless! "

 

Sincerely,

 

Andy

 

 

Verizon Wireless

[Richpontone]

So I don't accidentally use it to receive a call or text message and incur the highway robbery cost of using the ship's rates. I usually get a hundred minute Internet package and spend say ten minutes or so per day in retrieving and sending emails in a seven day cruise. Most of my friends and coworkers know that I am out of touch so they won't call me.

[SeaShark]

I don't think that Andy is giving you can accurate answer. FIrstly, he is only talking about the Cell Phone Provider's charge...there will also be a charge for using the Ship's cell tower. Additionally, even if your phone simply rings when roaming Internationally, you will be charged for the call...I can verify that by personal experience.

[CapeCodCruiser]

I don't think that Andy is giving you can accurate answer. FIrstly, he is only talking about the Cell Phone Provider's charge...there will also be a charge for using the Ship's cell tower. Additionally, even if your phone simply rings when roaming Internationally, you will be charged for the call...I can verify that by personal experience.

 

I know for a fact there is NO separate charge from "the ship's tower" with Verizon. I have used my phone - on purpose - many times from the cruise ship. The ONLY charges are from Verizon.

 

I can also say that Andy's response is correct - there is NO charge for an unanswered phone call - your charges will not begin until you hit send or answer a call.

 

I carry my phone on every cruise - turned on - I call Verizon ahead of time and add the int'l data plan for the time I will be gone. The data portion while at sea is almost non-existent but calls & texts work fine. My data generally updates when we hit a port - I also carry my phone (which is a global model) with me in port as I do not like being without a phone for emergencies. I have never come home to a HUGE phone bill like people say. The global data is $25/100 MB per month - just for my phone I have never used more than the 100 MB.

[terrydtx]

I know for a fact there is NO separate charge from "the ship's tower" with Verizon. I have used my phone - on purpose - many times from the cruise ship. The ONLY charges are from Verizon.

 

I can also say that Andy's response is correct - there is NO charge for an unanswered phone call - your charges will not begin until you hit send or answer a call.

 

I use ATT and their policy is the same as Verizon. I take my cell all the time on cruises and do not answer any call from someone I do not know. I leave a message on my voicemail that I am on a cruise and if the call is an emergency to send me a text. There are no charges from Cellular at Sea (the cell provider of NCL ships) if you do not answer any incoming call. With the new reduced cost per minute rate on NCL for ship phones it is now cheaper to call my voice mail from the ship too.

[roger001]

The only part of the question of which I wasn't sure was the voice mail issue. I have had calls to my phone while on a cruise ship before. I didn't answer them and there was no charge for them by Verizon. I had not had one go to voice mail before, so was unsure of that. I'm going to go with Andy's answer on that, no charge if not listened to. While on a cruise ship, all charges for cell phone use come only from your provider, not NCL. The only thing NCL will charge you for is if you elect buy some of their Wi-Fi time. So, leaving voice on while roaming in order to text will not cost you anything for calls received that are left unanswered, voice mail or not.

[CapeCodCruiser]

The only part of the question of which I wasn't sure was the voice mail issue. I have had calls to my phone while on a cruise ship before. I didn't answer them and there was no charge for them by Verizon. I had not had one go to voice mail before, so was unsure of that. I'm going to go with Andy's answer on that, no charge if not listened to. While on a cruise ship, all charges for cell phone use come only from your provider, not NCL. The only thing NCL will charge you for is if you elect buy some of their Wi-Fi time. So, leaving voice on while roaming in order to text will not cost you anything for calls received that are left unanswered, voice mail or not.

 

You got it Roger!

 

There is a lot of mis-information on these boards about cell phones - it makes me crazy!:eek:

[lovnlifeonboard]

Just spent 23 minutes on the phone with At&T rep trying to get a clear answer about using my phone during next week's cruise. Normally, I couldn't care less, but we're sailing on Sunday and my SIL is scheduled for C-section on Monday. While I was listening to the At&T rep struggle to find an answer, I was searching CC and found this. After the amount of time I waited and the uncertainty in his delivery, I will definitely go with the answers provided here even though they are in direct contrast to his. Thanks!

[carollovestrains2]

Not sure what I may have or have not done properly on a recent cruise on NCL Star from NOLA. I was texting at lunch before leaving the port, when my screen went black. I thought I had lost battery power, but after charging in my room, I still was not able to turn the phone on or take pictures with it.

On Sunday, arrival back to port NOLA,my phone returned to normal with messages completed that I had started the week before. It is an android model that I received for Christmas to send/receive texts from family.

I really didn't miss it after the first few days, but I did expect it to work in ports like Cozumel.

Everyone enjoy their cruises!

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

I know for a fact there is NO separate charge from "the ship's tower" with Verizon. I have used my phone - on purpose - many times from the cruise ship. The ONLY charges are from Verizon.

 

I can also say that Andy's response is correct - there is NO charge for an unanswered phone call - your charges will not begin until you hit send or answer a call.

 

I carry my phone on every cruise - turned on - I call Verizon ahead of time and add the int'l data plan for the time I will be gone. The data portion while at sea is almost non-existent but calls & texts work fine. My data generally updates when we hit a port - I also carry my phone (which is a global model) with me in port as I do not like being without a phone for emergencies. I have never come home to a HUGE phone bill like people say. The global data is $25/100 MB per month - just for my phone I have never used more than the 100 MB.

 

I agree and I also have Verizon.

[cloudydrms]

I've got Verizon Wireless for cell coverage. So, I call Verizon and add an international plan for one month at $25. Then, assuming I don't answer a phone call, the only charges are going to be 50 cents or 5 cents for sending or receiving texts. Is that right? BTW, $25 is a little hefty. I may have to consider that. Great for emergencies, but not such a great price just to have the convenience of texting someone who is also on the boat. And is that $25 international charge per phone? That would really be steep. Are there any per minute charges from NCL for accessing texts?

 

Cindy

[CapeCodCruiser]

I've got Verizon Wireless for cell coverage. So, I call Verizon and add an international plan for one month at $25. Then, assuming I don't answer a phone call, the only charges are going to be 50 cents or 5 cents for sending or receiving texts. Is that right? BTW, $25 is a little hefty. I may have to consider that. Great for emergencies, but not such a great price just to have the convenience of texting someone who is also on the boat. And is that $25 international charge per phone? That would really be steep. Are there any per minute charges from NCL for accessing texts?

 

Cindy

 

Hi Cindy

 

There is NO charge from Verizon to add international DIALING. The $25 plan you refer to is for DATA - $25/100MB of data - you do not need this to call - turn off data roaming on your phone.

 

Texting is .50 to send and .05 to receive

 

Calling is 2.49/minute

 

The above rates are while AT SEA

 

in port the rate are different - check here for rates in your ports - some ports may require a global capable phone.

 

There are no charges from NCL for using your cell phone on board

[roger001]

We cruised last week. I have Verizon and an iPhone 5. As we left Miami, I turned "data off". I left "voice on while roaming". We did receive one phone call while at sea, which I did not answer. The caller left a voice message which I did not access. I was not charged for either. We did send and receive texts (SMS capable only) at the .05c received rate and .50c sent rate. That was the charge that is now on my bill. For parts of some days however, texting was not available. For whatever reason, the ship did not have service available. With data off, I did not receive any downloads and therefore incur those very expensive charges. I did not buy the international data package.

[barbja99]

I know for a fact there is NO separate charge from "the ship's tower" with Verizon. I have used my phone - on purpose - many times from the cruise ship. The ONLY charges are from Verizon.

 

I can also say that Andy's response is correct - there is NO charge for an unanswered phone call - your charges will not begin until you hit send or answer a call.

 

I carry my phone on every cruise - turned on - I call Verizon ahead of time and add the int'l data plan for the time I will be gone. The data portion while at sea is almost non-existent but calls & texts work fine. My data generally updates when we hit a port - I also carry my phone (which is a global model) with me in port as I do not like being without a phone for emergencies. I have never come home to a HUGE phone bill like people say. The global data is $25/100 MB per month - just for my phone I have never used more than the 100 MB.

 

Does anyone have experience with what happens with AT&T international voice and data plans (fortunately unlimited). Can you use those without extra charges from the ship?

 

I was thinking of using iPhoneTrip for my ipad. I'm getting it for use in Canada, but you can also get one for use on cruise ships. I have no earthly idea how fast it would be. It uses the ships cell network directly instead of going through the wireless. There's a very slight chance of a very slight advantage since there's no multi-hop and no bottleneck at the wireless routers. It's MB based instead of minute based like the ships wireless.

[terrydtx]

I read on another thread that NCL now only charges $.99 a minute for the phones in your cabin, if this is the case, it would be much cheaper to return phone calls or check voice messages to your cell from the ship's phones. I checked with ATT and even with their international roaming plan I would still be charged $2.49 a minute through Cellular at Sea on NCL ships.

[Quincella]

I use ATT and their policy is the same as Verizon. I take my cell all the time on cruises and do not answer any call from someone I do not know. I leave a message on my voicemail that I am on a cruise and if the call is an emergency to send me a text. There are no charges from Cellular at Sea (the cell provider of NCL ships) if you do not answer any incoming call.

 

This has been my experience as well. AT&T is also my provider and I have an iPhone (not that that matters...just throwing it out there).

[roger001]

I read on another thread that NCL now only charges $.99 a minute for the phones in your cabin, if this is the case, it would be much cheaper to return phone calls or check voice messages to your cell from the ship's phones. I checked with ATT and even with their international roaming plan I would still be charged $2.49 a minute through Cellular at Sea on NCL ships.

 

Calls from you cabin phone on the ship are actually $1.99 a minute now. Much better though than the previous $7.95 and still better than the cellphone charge on the ship of $2.50 a minute.

[terrydtx]

Calls from you cabin phone on the ship are actually $1.99 a minute now. Much better though than the previous $7.95 and still better than the cellphone charge on the ship of $2.50 a minute.

 

Thank you for the correction on the price. I would guess NCL came down to the $1.99 to take business away from Cellular at Sea and it was a smart move on their part.