Cell Service In Port on Embarkation Day

[ACeruland]

We're going on our first cruise in a couple of weeks (Celebrity Reflection, Nov 21-28), and I'm wondering if we'll be able to use our cell phone data on board the ship while it's still in port on the 21st without incurring roaming charges.

 

Not a matter of life and death, but we'd like to be able to watch at least part of the Ohio State v. Michigan State game that day...:)

[kenevenpar]

We did in NJ a couple of weeks ago, no problem. Don't forget to turn it to airplane mode when the ship departs.

[ACeruland]

We did in NJ a couple of weeks ago, no problem. Don't forget to turn it to airplane mode when the ship departs.

 

Great. Thanks!

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

The ship's cell phone service is not available until the ship is in international waters. While in port you will be using local services. And you will be much happier watching the game using an LTE stream than the slower ship data.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[wendychloecruiser]

Is it televised? If not in your cabin then possibly in the sports bar?

[cybx]

Just make sure your roaming data is turned off. There are horror stories of cruise lines accidentally leaving their cell towers on while in port and people rack up a $3k roaming data bill.

[dodger1964]

..

 

Not a matter of life and death, but we'd like to be able to watch at least part of the Ohio State v. Michigan State game that day...:)

 

 

Why would you want to start your vacation watching MSU beat up on OSU?:rolleyes:

 

Have a great trip!

 

Go Hawks!

[ACeruland]

Just make sure your roaming data is turned off. There are horror stories of cruise lines accidentally leaving their cell towers on while in port and people rack up a $3k roaming data bill.

 

Yikes. Thanks for the tip!

[cle-guy]

You can get service from land for a while after the ship departs, I feel like 2-3 miles from shore you still get land service, even approaching islands. So depending on itinerary, you may find you have land service for a long part of your journey.

[pkandra]

Also, depending on your cell carrier and itinerary, you may be able to get service on the islands you visit. We have Verizon, and for $10 a day eachwhile in St.Kitts and St.Maarten, we can use our existing phone plan with no other charges for calling, texting or data.

[az_tchr]

We had cell service for over 3 hours the last time we departed Bayonne. Should not have a problem.

[cb at sea]

Same here....really, until you're out of sight of land....then the phone gets turned off, and into the safe it goes!

[Eliz]

Putting the phone in Airplane Mode and turning it off. Is this all that needs to be done to prevent roaming charges? I'm planning to put the phone in the safe when we sail next Saturday and not look at it until we return on 12/5. Obviously, I'm not very tech savvy!

 

Elizabeth

[POA1]

Putting the phone in Airplane Mode and turning it off. Is this all that needs to be done to prevent roaming charges? I'm planning to put the phone in the safe when we sail next Saturday and not look at it until we return on 12/5. Obviously, I'm not very tech savvy!

 

Elizabeth

 

Most phones have the ability to turn off data roaming, preventing the phone from connecting to any network other than your carrier.

 

On the iPhone, it's Settings > Cellular > Data Roaming (Turn the slider to Off.)

 

For Android it's:

 

1. Open the Settings app.
   
2. In the Wireless & Networks section, touch the More item.
   
3. Choose Mobile Networks. On some Android phones, you may have to choose Battery & Data Manager and then Data Delivery.
   
4. Remove the check mark by the Data Roaming option.
   

 

You can do basically the same thing with Voice & Text messages if you want. This will allow you to use your phone for photos, as an alarm clock or to play any offline games you might have.

 

Some carriers, most notably T-Mobile will give you free data & text messaging in most ports and calls at $0.20/minute. Check with your carrier and learn where your settings are while you're still at home.