What to do with cell phone when onboard?

[jeffdal]

As much as I hate having my phone around, I plan on putting it in airplane mode and using the clock, alarm, flashlight and camera.

[d9704011]

You could take out the SIM card (store it in a safe place). Your phone will still work on WiFi and as a camera, music device, etc....

[baronessk]

Ok before I start getting the replies about not needing the phone on, I cruise every year with my (now) 83 yr. old Mother over the Christmas holidays. Obviously, she wants to be able to call home to the US and speak to my siblings, nieces, nephews etc. on Christmas. In the past, I have ordered an AT&T plan for anywhere from $30 to $60 that allowed for some calls and texts from my iPhone. I printed out the whole step by step process from CC years ago, (data roaming off, etc.). Well today, AT&T told me that Princess has recently changed something and it would not work anymore??? I am confused. Because Princess recently added a feature, I cannot get a plan to use my phone, even from in port? Maybe I should buy a burner phone with an international plan that someone above suggested? I am NOT very techie, so I'd appreciate some guidance. I thought I had this down after all these years until I made that call today. And to be clear, I usually don't call from sea, I call when we are in port, BUT this year Dec. 25th is a sea day. Thanks!

[Colo Cruiser]

On the Regal in Oct it was the same as we have always experienced with our AT&T plan.

When connected to ships cell service when at sea.......

We always turn cell data off but we can still send and receive text and calls.

No charge for text received. .50 for text sent.

There are charges for calls made $2.49 per minute.

When at sea its a whole different ballgame then the phone company packages.

 

We have never experienced charges for voice mails left unless we attempt to retrieve them.

[Boytjie]

Everyine missed the most obvious answer, throw it overboard

 

And that is the most wrong answer: never throw anything overboard. :p

[joeyancho]

I leave it in my car in the car park. I hate that thing.

[Wehwalt]

I have T-Mobile international plan. It allows me cellular data in a lot of foreign countries. What I do (on my iPhone 5S) is in Settings, choose Cellular, then turn Data Roaming to OFF once we are too far from land to get a shoreside signal or if I'm going to be busy or asleep. They don't turn on the ship's cell network until we're out of range of shore, but I don't want to forget. A lot of the time I just turn it to airplane mode.

 

The cellular data isn't very fast, but it does for my purposes, including Google Maps, the greatest thing to have in an unfamiliar port.

 

I travel fairly wired, with a laptop, iPad mini, and iPhone. I find a use for all three.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Wehwalt

[beg3yrs]

Well today, AT&T told me that Princess has recently changed something and it would not work anymore??? I am confused. Because Princess recently added a feature, I cannot get a plan to use my phone, even from in port?

 

AT&T has never had a plan that reduces the rate on the Princess system. I certainly wish they did. Yes, you are confused and you probably got some bad information. This is not the forum for you to get your confusion reduced. Call AT&T (again) and get it figured out.

Edited December 2, 2014 by beg3yrs

[AZbeachboy]

We put them on airplane mode, turn them off, and put them in the safe. That's my favorite part of cruising that I am not ready to give up! On occasions, we will log in on the ships computers to check emails, but only rarely!

 

Exactly what we do. One time leaving Key West to harras my son for his birthday and tell him what he was missing. Of course that was before smart phones. I think that one weighed about two pounds,lol.

[donaldsc]

I put it in airplane mode so that it can not communicate w the outside world. However, there is no reason to put it in your safe unless you are afraid that it will be stolen which is highly unlikely.

 

In fact, I use mine as an alarm clock so it has to be out.

 

DON

[Treven]

I put mine in airplane mode as others, and I then toss it in my computer bag until my last morning, when I get it out. I'm not about to call anyone during my cruise, and no one is going to call me.

[sailinglisa]

Once I am out of the home port, my cell phone is turned off and put in the safe until the morning I leave the ship, when I turn it back on. I NEED to unplug on my vacations.

[Woobstr112G]

Once I am out of the home port, my cell phone is turned off and put in the safe until the morning I leave the ship, when I turn it back on. I NEED to unplug on my vacations.

 

 

You could always do this.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

Edited December 2, 2014 by Woobstr112G

[halpinsg]

Are your family members are connected to the web? Do you have a smart phone? You may want to think about using Skype. You can get an onboard internet package or just go to any Diamonds International for free WiFi. Skype has a talk only setting that won't be as finicky in low bandwidth situations. Either way, I hope you both have a wonderful Christmas cruise.

 

Sent from my DROID4

[atmx093]

Are your family members are connected to the web? Do you have a smart phone? You may want to think about using Skype. You can get an onboard internet package or just go to any Diamonds International for free WiFi. Skype has a talk only setting that won't be as finicky in low bandwidth situations. Either way, I hope you both have a wonderful Christmas cruise.

 

Sent from my DROID4

 

Apple devices also have the same feature where you can do Facetime with audio only to save on bandwidth. Go into the Facetime app and you should see that you have video and audio tabs. Video can work when you're in a major city where the internet is speedier, but for anywhere else, stick to audio and you'll be much better off.

 

Sorry if this has already been mentioned.

[paul929207]

Our cells are turned off and put into our cabin safe. They come out the next to the last day to re-charge if needed

[billco]

I have T-Mobile international plan. It allows me cellular data in a lot of foreign countries. What I do (on my iPhone 5S) is in Settings, choose Cellular, then turn Data Roaming to OFF once we are too far from land to get a shoreside signal or if I'm going to be busy or asleep. They don't turn on the ship's cell network until we're out of range of shore, but I don't want to forget. A lot of the time I just turn it to airplane mode.

 

The cellular data isn't very fast, but it does for my purposes, including Google Maps, the greatest thing to have in an unfamiliar port.

 

I travel fairly wired, with a laptop, iPad mini, and iPhone. I find a use for all three.

I also have T-Mobile and learned a few lessons the hard way on my recent transatlantic cruise on the Emerald Princess. At each port (Vigo, Lisbon, etc.) I would get a text from T-Mobile welcoming me to that country and telling me I had free internet, text, and e-mail. I got a little careless and forgot to turn cellular data off after leaving one of the ports. I was lucky in that it only cost about $12.00 in extra data charge. Could have been much much more. Where I also got dinged was when I was watching the the 49ers on our way to Bermuda and was texting to my son. I found out later that outgoing texts were $.50/text. Again, I was fortunate we didn't do a lot of that. T-Mobile's plan is still a good deal and I just need to be more careful on our transatlantic next Spring on the Emerald. The T-Mobile reps did agree with me that they could be more clear about fees, but were otherwise unsympathetic. Edited December 2, 2014 by billco

[Wehwalt]

I also have T-Mobile and learned a few lessons the hard way on my recent transatlantic cruise on the Emerald Princess. At each port (Vigo, Lisbon, etc.) I would get a text from T-Mobile welcoming me to that country and telling me I had free internet, text, and e-mail. I got a little careless and forgot to turn cellular data off after leaving one of the ports. I was lucky in that it only cost about $12.00 in extra data charge. Could have been much much more. Where I also got dinged was when I was watching the the 49ers on our way to Bermuda and was texting to my son. I found out later that outgoing texts were $.50/text. Again, I was fortunate we didn't do a lot of that. T-Mobile's plan is still a good deal and I just need to be more careful on our transatlantic next Spring on the Emerald. The T-Mobile reps did agree with me that they could be more clear about fees, but were otherwise unsympathetic.

 

Same thing happened to me, but it was about $40. I just chalked it up to experience and learned to be more careful.

 

I do wish the other carriers had that plan. T-Mobile has poor reception in my neighborhood.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Wehwalt

[billco]

Same thing happened to me, but it was about $40. I just chalked it up to experience and learned to be more careful.

 

I do wish the other carriers had that plan. T-Mobile has poor reception in my neighborhood.

T-Mobile gave me a free router, the Asus AC-1900, which is rated the best router on the market and is set up for wi-fi calls, to address the issue of low cellular strength. I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile after I got dinged for overage charges when I turned my iPhone on following a cruise and it downloaded some updates. T-Mobile just slows down the speed when you go over the limit. T-Mobile also has unlimited music streaming that doesn't count against the limit. T-Mobile seems to set the bar that the other carriers play catch up to.

[PescadoAmarillo]

 

You could always do this.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

Oh, I have. :(

[FritzG]

If I locked mine in the safe I'd be without my camera, clock, night light, flashlight, timer for laundry day, and calculator just to name a few.

 

I put it in airplane mode, turn off cellular data and bluetooth, and I've never had a problem with unexpected charges.

[sailinglisa]

 

You could always do this.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

 

Yep, I could, but I'm still paying for the dang thing! :D

[donaldsc]

Just remember that in airplane mode it will not automatically update your time zone.

 

At least w my phone, it is easy to do a manual time set so this is not a problem. I do agree that if you do not reset the time, you could miss something.

 

DON