$5.99 Phone Charges

[barbidoll]

So I bought internet minutes for our transatlantic on the CB thinking that I would make Wi-Fi calls to check in on my elderly family members.

 

What did I learn the hard way?? That each time I unsuccessfully attempted to log on and connect to Princess, I was charged $5.99.

 

Since logging in each time usually took a few tries, I racked up at lease 15 of these charges. Needless to say, T-Mobile claimed that though these charges showed up on my statement, that the charges were actually for an overseas connection (even tho I didn't even connect) and that they couldn't reverse the charges.

 

Oh, well. That's one mistake I won't be making again.

 

Cruise on!!

 

Barbara

[Loonbeam]

That doesn't make a lot of sense, unless your phone was attempting to connect to the princess network via cell data, which shouldn't happen unless your settings are off (having wi-fi disabled might cause the exact effect you describe as it will try to connect to the ship server via cell data, which will a> not work and b> incur roaming data charges).

 

Assuming your phone actually connected to the ship wifi to log in, t-mobile or the at sea cell carrier (which is overseas) is not involved at all.

[notentirelynormal]

That's okay. I was talking to a lady on our cruise this past week. She said she had called her daughter several times from the ship. I mentioned that it might be costly. She patiently explained to me that she had bought the extended program through her phone company (Telus in Vancouver) that gave her extra minutes, texts and roving fees. I tried to explain to her that when she was calling from the ship she was using the satellite system of the ship itself and not towers for a phone company. She again explained to me, more slowly this time, that she bought the extended plan through her phone company. After the forth time I told her about the satellites on the ship I gave up. I decided it would be easier for her to figure it out on her own when she got her phone bill.

 

I guess it is a learning curve. She saw another couple using their IPAD, paying for the ship's internet service. Same thing, right?

[Earplug]

With Verizon I can get 100 minutes voice, 100 text messages & 100mb of Data for $40.

 

So, Yes you can get an extended plan form the wireless carriers that work on the ships and use their satellite connection.

[moki'smommy]

It sounds like you were connecting to "Cellular at Sea" or a similar service. I won't pretend to understand the whys, but that's the only thing I know with this sort of charge.

[Pam in CA]

If you make a WiFi call, you need to be connected only to the WiFi. To do this, you leave Airport mode on and turn on WiFi. Otherwise, when you try to make a call, your phone will automatically connect to the ship's cellular service. This is a charge separate from your cellular plan. T-Mobile was correct... you weren't using WiFi.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Airplane Mode is a cruiser's best friend! [emoji106] Upon sail away, immediately put your phone into Airplane Mode, and use Wi-fi only. It's too bad Princess doesn't put out a blurb about this in the Patter on Embarkation Day. I thankfully learned it on here years ago.

[pompeii]

With Verizon I can get 100 minutes voice, 100 text messages & 100mb of Data for $40.

 

So, Yes you can get an extended plan form the wireless carriers that work on the ships and use their satellite connection.

 

Yes, we did this on our Europe cruise in September. Our son at college was having a little bit of a "crisis" which resulted in quite a few calls back and forth, but there were no extra charges on our cell phone bill. We had added the $40 international plan to our lines for the month, then cancelled it when we got home. Normally we don't bother with this since we just wait until we're on land to make calls, but this time we were gone for a month so it turned out to be a good idea.

[Grego]

Yes, we did this on our Europe cruise in September. Our son at college was having a little bit of a "crisis" which resulted in quite a few calls back and forth, but there were no extra charges on our cell phone bill. We had added the $40 international plan to our lines for the month, then cancelled it when we got home. Normally we don't bother with this since we just wait until we're on land to make calls, but this time we were gone for a month so it turned out to be a good idea.

 

Very good information here coupled with Pam's practice of turning Airplane mode on and enabling WiFi.

[cherylandtk]

Just wanted to add that with T-mobile (which both OP and I have) you can only use wifi calling in places where T-mobile allows it. if you turn on Airplane mode and then turn on wifi, you can use wifi calling but the phone will only be active IF you are in a place where TMobile allows wifi calling. I can wifi call from my home, but when on a cruise ship or when we were in South Africa and on wifi, the phone was not active, we would have to turn on cell service to make a call, and thus we were not using wifi calling.