HellLawyer Posted December 11, 2013 #1 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Do you get cellphone service while on cruise? Do i need to get international plan? Will be on NCL Jewel going to jamaica, grand cayman and cozumel Mainly want to be able to check emails, facebook, twitter.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triptolemus Posted December 11, 2013 #2 Share Posted December 11, 2013 My god man... Are you serious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fam2cruise Posted December 11, 2013 #3 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Yes, but it is expensive as is the wifi. I suggest "unplugging" for a week...turn the phone off and lock it in the safe! Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luddite Posted December 11, 2013 #4 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Yes, it is available. If you have extra arms and legs, you can afford it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbritton81 Posted December 11, 2013 #5 Share Posted December 11, 2013 If you're really that hard up for cell service while on a cruise I suggest just waiting until in port and find places with free wifi. Many places have it nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinCan782 Posted December 11, 2013 #6 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Check with your cellphone service provider for rates, etc. Here is NCL's page about it... http://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-cellular-phone-service-texting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mking8288 Posted December 11, 2013 #7 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Depending on your home carrier & roaming plan - high latency & sub-DSL or dial-up speed, budget for an hourly charge of at least $30 an hour if you enrolled with your mobile operator based on MB data used/transferred - whereas ship's internet plan are billed by the minutes (and, generally to user's disadvantage) to maintain a "live" connection at all times - for "push" emails to work - when satellites are mostly in ranges. Yes, you will most definitely need an international plan and to enable roaming before embarkation. Of course, seeing your username - you can allocate & bill your clients' accounts for email, but FB & Twitter, I dunno ... :D There's probably about 99 prior threads about this for the past 24 months if you just search - been discussed over & over again. BTW, carry spare battery fully charged as it will be roaming regardless of your plan on "Celluar At Sea" and the battery won't last all day onboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger001 Posted December 11, 2013 #8 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Do you get cellphone service while on cruise? Do i need to get international plan? Will be on NCL Jewel going to jamaica, grand cayman and cozumel Mainly want to be able to check emails, facebook, twitter.... You can purchase slow wifi time on the ship and use your phone or use the ship's computers. However, do not have you phone "data on" or "data on while roaming". As others said, it will literally cost you a fortune. You can have "voice on while roaming" and be able to text, SMS only. It's probably for your company .05c for each received and .50c for each sent. Voice calls while on the ship are $2.50 a minute. However, you can use the ship's phone for only $1.95 a minute now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggertastic Posted December 11, 2013 #9 Share Posted December 11, 2013 what on earth did we do before we had cell phones - I know relax and enjoy the vacation I completely understand people need to use their phones - my DH tries to deal with work stuff but wait til you are on shore - unless you have as much money as the cruise to pay the bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGBNJ130 Posted December 11, 2013 #10 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Do you get cellphone service while on cruise? Do i need to get international plan? Will be on NCL Jewel going to jamaica, grand cayman and cozumel Mainly want to be able to check emails, facebook, twitter.... Of course it's available, even if you have an international roaming/data plan it's gonna cost ya almost as much as you paid for a single person to cruise. I got a emergency text in San Juan, PR from AT&T to call them immediately, WITH my international plans, and only turning the phone on for 10 minutes at each port to make a quick phone call home and immediately shut it off after the call, AT&T was going to charge me $878 + Tax to what would normally be a $118 a month cell phone bill...I'm still wondering how the hell that is possible, I had the phone OFF right after we got out of NY Harbor until we got to our 1st port in Bermuda and only turned on 10 minutes (if that) at each additional port to make that quick phone call I mentioned. I was wondering, if while I was in NYC if the phone somehow connected to something on the cruise ship, if that's even possible... I've got 11 days until I go on Breakaway, now I have an iPad Air, I'm hoping I can find an open wifi signal while on the ship from someone in NYC, I don't plan on paying NCL for wifi...One of our stops is FL after the first day and a half at sea, when I get well away from the ship, I will turn on the phone, then after that, Great Stirup Cay (no chance of a wifi connection), Nassau (hope to get a connection), and 2 days at sea.... I heard their are portable wifi things you can purchase, weather or not they would work out in the middle of the deep blue sea is a diff. story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luddite Posted December 11, 2013 #11 Share Posted December 11, 2013 what on earth did we do before we had cell phones - I know relax and enjoy the vacation I completely understand people need to use their phones - my DH tries to deal with work stuff but wait til you are on shore - unless you have as much money as the cruise to pay the bill We sent twelve guys to the moon. And brought them home alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkygirl Posted December 11, 2013 #12 Share Posted December 11, 2013 My god man... Are you serious? My exact thoughts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdmike Posted December 11, 2013 #13 Share Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) Check with your cellphone service provider for rates, etc. Here is NCL's page about it... http://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-cellular-phone-service-texting Best answer :) The short answer is that you CAN hook up to NCL's cellular service and pay international roaming rates through your carrier. These can be very, very expensive. They use a provider called CellAtSea, who I'm sure gets to share in the fees that your provider will slap on your bill. Here is information from Verizon. Cruise information is at the bottom of the page. http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global/plans-and-pricing.html You will pay $2.50 per minute for calls, and $.50 for each text message. What will kill you is data usage if you don't turn that off. You can pay $25 for a 100MB plan, OR you can roll the dice and pay $20 per MB without a plan. Remember, with smart phones, just updating an app can easily take half of that 100MB allowance. Without a "plan", that 50mb download could cost you $1,000 Like others, I turn off data roaming on my phone. I tend to leave my phone on in case of text or an emergency call, but no no no no data. Edited December 11, 2013 by sdmike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VideoTech Posted December 11, 2013 #14 Share Posted December 11, 2013 ......I've got 11 days until I go on Breakaway, now I have an iPad Air, I'm hoping I can find an open wifi signal while on the ship from someone in NYC, I don't plan on paying NCL for wifi... So you're saying you're hoping to ride free on somebody else's use of the ship's cell phone data? Hmmmm. Anyway, it's unlikely that anyone else on the ship will be broadcasting their wifi hotspot..and even if they are, unlikely that you can get near enough, with all the steel walls around you, to pick it up. One of our stops is FL after the first day and a half at sea, when I get well away from the ship, I will turn on the phone, then after that, Great Stirup Cay (no chance of a wifi connection), Nassau (hope to get a connection), and 2 days at sea.... The ship turns off its cell phone system when in port, so you don't have to worry about getting away from the ship. I heard their are portable wifi things you can purchase, weather or not they would work out in the middle of the deep blue sea is a diff. story... You're speaking of a "mifi" or wifi hot spot system. If you used one, you'd still have to hook it into the ship's internet and cell phone service, and pay for the data charges. The only advantage it might give you is to allow you to connect more than one device to your cell phone. But unless you secure it, some one nearby may ride free on your wifi signal..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_eunice1 Posted December 11, 2013 #15 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I used mine on a seven day cruise had to make some work calls came home to a $500 bill which I was expecting so make sure understand its gonna cost you if u don't need it turn it off and lock it in your safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelly11 Posted December 11, 2013 #16 Share Posted December 11, 2013 use the free wifi in port and put it away the rest of the time. you'll forget you have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGBNJ130 Posted December 13, 2013 #17 Share Posted December 13, 2013 So you're saying you're hoping to ride free on somebody else's use of the ship's cell phone data? Hmmmm. Anyway, it's unlikely that anyone else on the ship will be broadcasting their wifi hotspot..and even if they are, unlikely that you can get near enough, with all the steel walls around you, to pick it up. The ship turns off its cell phone system when in port, so you don't have to worry about getting away from the ship. You're speaking of a "mifi" or wifi hot spot system. If you used one, you'd still have to hook it into the ship's internet and cell phone service, and pay for the data charges. The only advantage it might give you is to allow you to connect more than one device to your cell phone. But unless you secure it, some one nearby may ride free on your wifi signal..... Nope, what i'm saying is there are lots of office buildings, hotels, stores, ect., in NYC, i'm hoping while we sail out of NYC on NY Harbor I can hook into someones wifi signal from land... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger001 Posted December 13, 2013 #18 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Nope, what i'm saying is there are lots of office buildings, hotels, stores, ect., in NYC, i'm hoping while we sail out of NYC on NY Harbor I can hook into someones wifi signal from land... If you're talking smartphone or ipad with data, then you will still have good domestic data connection, part of your data plan, until you are a short distance out to sea. You can watch you signal and see when it becomes unusable or goes to roaming. That is when you need to turn it off. Until then, you will still have your usual network connection and plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdmike Posted December 13, 2013 #19 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Wifi is only good for a few hundred feet. I guess you COULD find an open signal before you leave port, but it would have to be pretty darned close to you...probably someone on a mifi or similar on the ship. I was surprised at how long my ATT cellular signal lasted when we left Miami. Had to be the open water without obstructed views because I was a signal for at least 10 - 15 minutes after leaving. We were well out to sea before I lost it and turned off my device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quercus alba Posted December 13, 2013 #20 Share Posted December 13, 2013 We sent twelve guys to the moon. And brought them home alive. Twenty-one, actually. Though only 12 went down and walked there. (Hmm...have I actually "been to" an island if I don't get off the boat?") :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiGonJohn Posted December 13, 2013 #21 Share Posted December 13, 2013 if u don't need it turn it off and lock it in your safe I'd take the bloody battery out of it as well. Seems some folks here are talking about internet service, wifi, even though this thread was listed to be about actual cell service. Some mentioned the ships cell service system is turned off when in port. Is that an absolute fact and does it apply at port of calls, as well as embark and debark? I am on AT&T, so in Anchorage/Whittier, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchican, would normal AT&T Domestic Rates and Plans apply? I imagine on arrival in Vancouver, that would come under international calling, unless perhaps Canada is considered the same in the calling plans. My point is, I can do without cell service for times underway, and just check voicemail and make any return calls I might need to, when in a port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkygirl Posted December 13, 2013 #22 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I'd take the bloody battery out of it as well. Seems some folks here are talking about internet service, wifi, even though this thread was listed to be about actual cell service. Some mentioned the ships cell service system is turned off when in port. Is that an absolute fact and does it apply at port of calls, as well as embark and debark? I am on AT&T, so in Anchorage/Whittier, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchican, would normal AT&T Domestic Rates and Plans apply? I imagine on arrival in Vancouver, that would come under international calling, unless perhaps Canada is considered the same in the calling plans. My point is, I can do without cell service for times underway, and just check voicemail and make any return calls I might need to, when in a port. The OP is asking about cellular for Facebook, Twitter and e-mail all of which are data use age not strictly international calling cellular use. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristinemomof3 Posted December 13, 2013 #23 Share Posted December 13, 2013 We shut our phones off and didn't muss having them on at all. We are normally on ours all the time too. Enjoy your vacation!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RikkuCat Posted December 13, 2013 #24 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I like to unplug completely on a cruise, but there's nothing wrong with asking what to expect, particularly if you're new to cruising. I'm sure the OP is just wondering whether it will be possible to do a quick check of email, FB, etc during his/her downtime. If wifi on a cruise was free and reasonably fast, I would probably take a brief look at my email or FB when I was, say, waiting for my husband to wake up. No big deal that it's not - but if it was free, I'd prefer to do it on the ship than in port. I like exploring ports, so the advice to find wifi during port days would be a waste of time for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbritton81 Posted December 13, 2013 #25 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I'd take the bloody battery out of it as well. Seems some folks here are talking about internet service, wifi, even though this thread was listed to be about actual cell service. Some mentioned the ships cell service system is turned off when in port. Is that an absolute fact and does it apply at port of calls, as well as embark and debark? I am on AT&T, so in Anchorage/Whittier, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchican, would normal AT&T Domestic Rates and Plans apply? I imagine on arrival in Vancouver, that would come under international calling, unless perhaps Canada is considered the same in the calling plans. My point is, I can do without cell service for times underway, and just check voicemail and make any return calls I might need to, when in a port. Alaska is the US so yes your normal domestic plan would apply. AT&T considers any of the US territories as Domestic Coverage as well. So your normal plan applies to Puerto Rico and the USVI. So all data/cellular charges remain what you would normally pay. I'm sure Verizon and the others probably operate under the same parameters but I've had AT&T for as long as I can remember so I'm not sure there. Canada is most definitely not domestic and would need an international calling plan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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