Keep daughters from texting?

[wahooslayer]

Travelling with our teenage daughters on Victory in June, one of which would think nothing of amassing 5,000 texts while at sea, regardless of cost. they are staying in their own stateroom. How is texting paid for? I was planning to attach a credit card to our S/S cards, but I'm not interested in an "oh, by the way" at the end of my cruise. I suppose the same problem exists with wifi usage. How do I protect myself?

[txstarla]

Confiscate their phones. Turn them off and put in the safe.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Confiscate their phones. Turn them off and put in the safe.

 

First post nails it

[missypriss19]

I am with the first response. If you cant trust them then take the phones away. Nothing like getting home and a week later being hit with a sky high cell bill.

[wahooslayer]

That won't be happening, I'm not going to start our cruise by taking their phones, I simply don't want to have the worry in the back of my mind the whole trip. I want to know how are texting and wifi paid for? Obviously, they have to know whose phone does the texting or surfing, so how is that established? Do they limit how much you can spend on these services, or is it, "sorry, you owe us $1.2 million, thanks"? I'd like to be able to say, "OK, Honey, you can spend 'x' for texts this trip, so govern yourself accordingly." Is this feasible?

[VancouverKory]

My favorite part of cruising is putting my phone away in the safe and not even looking at it for the week!! :D

 

 

 

Just purchase an Internet package they will have an allotted amount of Internet and just tell them to use Facebook messenger over wifi or if they have iPhones they can text via wifi

[n6uqqq]

Cellular at sea will cost 5 cents per received text and 50 cents per sent text so multiply what you think your daughter will use and it could very well be hundreds of dollars for her texting pleasure. The bill will show up on your regular cell bill so the sticker shock won't come until your statement after the cruise.

[choclitsnda]

You should find the answer to your question here...

 

http://www.carnival.com/core/faq.aspx?icid=CC_Footer_88#q-543643

 

Although, as the 1st poster responded.... The ONLY SURE Way to ensure that you do NOT have a high phone bill is to.... Turn Phone OFF & LOCK in SAFE.

[cruisinJenF]

Carnival won't be billing you. You will get charged from your cell phone provider for using Cellular at Sea. Nothing to do with Carnival. I can tell you with AT&T it's .50 to send and .15 to receive HOWEVER if they have iPhones or a phone that uses data you will also be charged for data.....A LOT! I have seen people come back and post about having a $1,000 phone bill even though they didn't make any calls. They just left their phones on and the data charges from using Cellular at Sea just kept going up and up. The phone was checking email etc etc and people calling and leaving messages. We power our phones off and put them in the safe until we are in port.

[billie5]

I hope you understood that just having the phone on, sitting in your safe never being used, can run up a bill (with your phone provider, not Carnival) in excess of $1000. I recall a recent thread where the bill was $1,200. And the phone company will not reduce the bill even when you explain you were sure the phone was off. IT ROAMS on its own. You need to put it in airplane mode or a "secure" off.

 

No one in their right mind leaves their phones on during a cruise, and most simply do not use them. This has nothing to do with restricting your daughters. It is just common sense.

 

Although I fully understand your being insulted by the growing a backbone comment - anyone would be - I am afraid your letter gives the impression of this really being true.

[e150club]

It might be cheaper to bring one friend each. My son missed his GF but no phone unless we were in a US port.

[D4]

It's a good thing you asked this question or you might have been blown away by your cellular bill.

 

Do they have iPod Touches? If so, you could explain the cellular phone costs, lock up their phones, buy internet packages, set limits on their S&S cards, and let them text on their iPod Touches (with a texting app.) The benefit is you'd have a maximum expenditure. The bad side is ship internet is not very fast and your one DD would probably blow through minutes very quickly, especially if she's checking often. They would also have to be sure to logoff every time they've logged onto the wi-fi to stop their wi-fi minute counter. I think some Carnival ships now sell an unlimited internet package --- that would be great combined with an iPod Touch.

 

On a side note, when my DDs have had their own cabin, I've gotten an extra key card so that I can always enter their cabin and they know it. We set up strict rules about not having anybody else in their cabin and keeping it very clean so they don't make extra work for the steward. They also know that if we're not pleased, one DD will move in with DH and I'll move in with the other DD.

[room010]

Tell the Princess that YOU are the Queen!

[earlethepearl]

With AT&T you can add an International text package that will cover texting when you are in port. But on the ship get ready for a big bill next month.

[Pookeybear1966]

Travelling with our teenage daughters on Victory in June, one of which would think nothing of amassing 5,000 texts while at sea, regardless of cost. they are staying in their own stateroom. How is texting paid for? I was planning to attach a credit card to our S/S cards, but I'm not interested in an "oh, by the way" at the end of my cruise. I suppose the same problem exists with wifi usage. How do I protect myself?

 

Leave the phone at home?

[irishnyc]

You may not be interested in an "oh by the way" at the end of your cruise, but it sounds like that's what will happen unless you take the phones away.

[girlscruise2011]

My kids turned 18 on our cruise in November and they know the rules on the ship. Cellphones OFF and locked in MY safe. Once we leave port, the cellphones are handed over. I pay enough for the cruise that they don't need to be hanging on their phones to talk or text to friends back home. Thats my rule and if they don't like it, they can pay the bill. Obviously they don't have an issue with it.

 

Honestly, the only way to stop a large cellphone bill is to shut off the phone and lock it up. There are enough activities on the ship to keep your child busy.

[MrPete]

Travelling with our teenage daughters on Victory in June, one of which would think nothing of amassing 5,000 texts while at sea, regardless of cost. they are staying in their own stateroom. How is texting paid for? I was planning to attach a credit card to our S/S cards, but I'm not interested in an "oh, by the way" at the end of my cruise. I suppose the same problem exists with wifi usage. How do I protect myself?

 

The answer seems so obvious. Take the phones away and leave them in the house.

 

And if they think nothing of something and do it anyway? Immediate attention is needed. Something was missed.

[pe4all]

My kids turned 18 on our cruise in November and they know the rules on the ship. Cellphones OFF and locked in MY safe. Once we leave port, the cellphones are handed over. I pay enough for the cruise that they don't need to be hanging on their phones to talk or text to friends back home. Thats my rule and if they don't like it, they can pay the bill. Obviously they don't have an issue with it.

 

Honestly, the only way to stop a large cellphone bill is to shut off the phone and lock it up. There are enough activities on the ship to keep your child busy.

This! My dd literally has the phone attached to her hand 24/7- except on our cruises. The phone goes in the safe. We buy a small internet package for her to facebook with. She spends about 5-10 min. on the computer each day - that is it. The rule was set when she was on her first cruise with us, and every one after that. (12 for her with us) She went on one cruise with her friends for college spring break, and used her phone "sparingly" - so she said. We received - or should I say - SHE was presented with the $400 phone bill when we received it. DD also says that she'd rather be without her phone, as she doesn't see what she is "missing" at home. It definitely gives us more enjoyable family time - we actually hear her speak, and see her eyes when she talks to us!!:p:D

[marylp]

Yup, alot of people wont find out that their phone bill will be bigger that the cruise ticket. Ask me how I know :(

[Seago2]

Don't let them text at sea unless you want a massive phone bill. If they are using the wifi only, they will need to purchase an Internet package.

 

If I were you, I would let them text only in port. Then call your provider and ask the cheapest way to do that. That way you can have family time (I know, I get it) for four days and they can text to their heart's content for three days (approx- I don't know what cruise you are on).

 

If you can allot a few grand for texting, by all means ignore what everyone is saying. If not, the simple truth is that you will need to take the phones away. I have five teenagers. One went to Toronto for a concert last month and onto only didn't shut it off, included me in a massive group text that went on all night about why it was canceled. He also used wifi all night. Total: $450. Now how am I going to get that back? Is he going to rake leaves from college? Don't be me. Take it away.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

How old are you daughters? Have them do research with your phone company to see what texting charges are on a ship and internationally. Ensure they understand that any charges accrued will be their responsibility. I assume that since you don't want to take their phones means that you trust them. Give them the option of keeping that trust or paying the bill. Once they do the research, they should be able to do basic math to figure out how much they would owe you. This way there will be no surprise when the bill comes and no "By the way" conversations at home.

[Jenna1983]

I'm going to say this because I'm the child of someone and have no children myself. I pay my own phone bill too. I came back with a $45 extra phone bill because I HAD to text about an issue back here. .50 a text at 160 characters is going to cost you a huge phone bill unless you put the phones away. Oh and data? You don't want to even gamble with that.

[WetToes]

How do I protect myself?

 

 

You got your answer ... several times. You just don't like it.

Good luck.

[~Jo~]

I also have 2 teenage daughters who often travel with us. They bring their phone, we put them in the safe. They love getting their phone back at the end of the cruise, they catch up with everyone and everything on the ride home. "They buy" a few minutes of Internet on the ship. You won't see anyone on board with a phone once the ship departs.

I was burnt once! 3 days, 2 nights in Canada and one daughter's phone bill was about $750.00. What a shock!

Good luck! I feel that if you pay the bill, you should control the use!! IMO

Jo