Texting on the ship

[pugman1212]

Just wondering what it would cost to have wifi access on the breeze. I would like to iMessage my kids while we are away. But obviously we need internet to do so. Not going to be doing it a lot, but just to see how things are going at home.

[webzila]

Not sure how much WiFi costs since its different than texting.

SMS fees, data roaming, and international voice all vary by provider.

 

Who do you have?

 

I think Verizon is the best when it comes to options while cruising.

They have a $25 Global Data Feature which gives you 100MB allowance and is good on cruise ships. This is more than enough to send/receive email daily (without large attachments) and you can send / receive TXT messages via email as well (just need to know the SMS email address for the person you are trying to reach)

[irishnyc]

Not sure how much WiFi costs since its different than texting.

 

SMS fees, data roaming, and international voice all vary by provider.

 

 

 

Who do you have?

 

 

 

I think Verizon is the best when it comes to options while cruising.

 

They have a $25 Global Data Feature which gives you 100MB allowance and is good on cruise ships. This is more than enough to send/receive email daily (without large attachments) and you can send / receive TXT messages via email as well (just need to know the SMS email address for the person you are trying to reach)

 

 

iMessage works over wifi.

 

 

OP, I believe the cheapest wifi rate is about 75¢/minute, and is slow. You'd spend your money better calling home once a day for $1.99/minute from your cabin.

[MicksMom]

We turn off data & iMessage, with Verizon, texts are 50 cents to send & 5 cents to receive. We did have an issue with this at first, daughter at home had to turn off iMessage in order for us to receive her texts. We weren't receiving hers since we had data off.

[goldwinger88]

Every cruise I get the 120min package and every cruise I wind up giving up most of the minutes due to poor connections to the point of being frustrated. I may get one or 2 messages through during a 5 day cruise.

I am even considering getting a Satellite phone to be able to check on my small business back home.

I also have considered the $1.99 per min from the cabin, but most of the time, the handset cord is stretched out to the point the connector doesn't work half the time unless you hold it in place at the phone. You will see when you call Room Service or Guest Services.

 

On my wife's first cruise a few years ago, she called me collect form Belize. The 15 second phone call was $153.

 

Sat phone is looking better all the time....

[dbcruzin]

Just wondering what it would cost to have wifi access on the breeze. I would like to iMessage my kids while we are away. But obviously we need internet to do so. Not going to be doing it a lot, but just to see how things are going at home.

 

You can use the Carnival forums for free to communicate. They can be pulled up on the ships computers without an internet package...:cool:

[webzila]

We turn off data & iMessage, with Verizon, texts are 50 cents to send & 5 cents to receive. We did have an issue with this at first, daughter at home had to turn off iMessage in order for us to receive her texts. We weren't receiving hers since we had data off.

 

So with Verizon you could easily communicate by email (text) for just $25

(It actually turns out cheaper than that since the fee is prorated)

100 MB should last 7 days if you are just emailing.

 

With Verizon, the email format for sending to SMS is:

<phone#>@vtext.com

Then when the person replies to you it goes to your email so you are not paying any text messaging fees to send or receive.

[marshalltp]

Just wondering what it would cost to have wifi access on the breeze. I would like to iMessage my kids while we are away. But obviously we need internet to do so. Not going to be doing it a lot, but just to see how things are going at home.

 

Please also note to turn your apps. updates off. Some will automatically update if your phone is on and can easily eat up your 100mb in no time. you probably don''t want to send many pics in emails either. Your phone will use some date regardless of if you have data roaming turned off......weather updates, date and time etc...

[seashinesunshine]

Please also note to turn your apps. updates off. Some will automatically update if your phone is on and can easily eat up your 100mb in no time. you probably don''t want to send many pics in emails either. Your phone will use some date regardless of if you have data roaming turned off......weather updates, date and time etc...

 

Your post (signature at the bottom) freaked me out!! For a second I thought I had a bug crawling across my page! :eek::D

Anyway, the Verizon plan to texting on the ships is free, to have the access, once you sign up for the plan and the ship it just costs per text 5 cents to receive, 50 cents to send, 2.49 per minute for talking and I don't remember the date rates, I was just on the site 10 minutes ago looking at it. But if you actually want to use data, there might be better things. We used this last year with our kids and it ended up costing us about 8$ more on our bill. I just had to train the kids to not text back with "K" or whatever. They had to make their 5 cents count. :)

[HappyAboard]

http://www.shipcruise.org/carnival-cruise-wifi-internet-access-rates/

[thehip]

Phone stays locked in the safe for 7 days. Best seven days of the year. This is my week.

[pugman1212]

Enjoy your trip love the pride......

[maggy387]

How does a satellite phone work??

[kristy29]

Phone stays locked in the safe for 7 days. Best seven days of the year. This is my week.

 

Ditto!

 

However, if I was going and leaving my kids behind, I would want to know at least every couple of days that they were ok. I think using the Carnival forums for free is your best option!

[Nic6318]

Ditto!

 

However, if I was going and leaving my kids behind, I would want to know at least every couple of days that they were ok. I think using the Carnival forums for free is your best option!

 

 

I agree. This is a great idea that I hadn't considered before. What I usually do is find inexpensive or free internet access at our stops...as long as time permits.

 

Happy cruising

 

Ian

[matondo]

Call your cell phone carrier and they should give you all the information you need to make an informed decision. In November when I last cruised, they asked me the name of the ship and sent me an e-mail on what the charges would be. They also walked me though turning off my data so there would be no surprises. I sent and received text messages several times a day. It was not expensive.

[mompella]

I am still a little confused. We will be cruising with our girls. We all have i phones with Verizon. So we can use them on the ship to text or email each other? Just want to make sure I have it all figure out before we go. Thought about using walkie talkies also to find each other on the ship.

Edited January 26, 2014 by mompella

[pbsteve]

I am still a little confused. We will be cruising with our girls. We all have i phones with Verizon. So we can use them on the ship to text or email each other? Just want to make sure I have it all figure out before we go. Thought about using walkie talkies also to find each other on the ship.

 

You can, but it will cost 50 cents per message. Walkie talkies are better and will cost less than the texting.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[webzila]

I am still a little confused. We will be cruising with our girls. We all have i phones with Verizon. So we can use them on the ship to text or email each other? Just want to make sure I have it all figure out before we go. Thought about using walkie talkies also to find each other on the ship.

 

Communicating using phones on the ship will get expensive.

Walkie Talkies don't work very well. There is too much interference.

 

If you really want to use 2 Verizon phones to communicate on the ship you can do the following:

-Add the 100MB Global Data package to each line you want to use before you leave. The cost is $25 and is prorated based on how long you have it for.

-On the ship you can then use email to message each other (most other messaging apps don't work because the connection is just 1X)

-Remove the Global Data feature when you return

 

I wouldn't do this but its an option.

Like I said earlier, Verizon is really good when it comes to cruising since they have a global data feature which applies to cruise ships and it's relatively cheap. This is good if you need to check your email or stay in touch with someone on land...You can communicate via email (and text via email as well)

 

I just did this on the 5 day cruise last week.

I checked email a lot, also got on Facebook, Twitter, and browser.

All together I used 70MB out of 100MB allowance

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

You can use the Carnival forums for free to communicate. They can be pulled up on the ships computers without an internet package...:cool:

Can you unpack that for me step by step. I have no idea how that works.

Thank you.