Teen excess phone charges whilst travelling

[Newby58]

We leave on Monday for far North Queensland cruise. I have a 16y/o daughter who is obsessed with data use and being able to communicate with her friends. My DH and I decided not to get her ship wifi for family time and to encourage actually meeting new people (the teen club).

She has unlimited free msgs on her 6S Telstra enabled mobile.

How can I ensure we don't get an astronomical phone bill?

How wil we know if she has usual coverage or roaming rates?

Sorry, a bit ignorant on this subject.

[pattle66]

One way to ensure you don't get an astronomical bill is not to take the phone :eek:

 

Given your ports are all in Australia she could use her phone in port like she normally would. She will loose signal out at sea and as you leave port you can switch it to airplane mode.

[Newby58]

Lol pattle66. There is no way she won't take the phone. A fate worse than death [emoji6]

 

 

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[Newby58]

Thanks

 

 

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[Brisbane41]

Take the phone off her for the cruise and give her nothing. Our generation survived without constant use of mobile communication technology and many of us can lock the phone away on a ship and not use it. She has to learn to separate herself from her phone at some point.

 

I never got my first mobile until I had a job where I could pay for it myself. You will be doing her a favour by taking it off her. She might actually enjoy the holiday more and do things she would not have done with her head buried in a phone screen.

 

Its like weening a baby off a dummy. It is a task that has to be done and must be done. Psychologists believe that younger generations will soon have disorders if they cannot separate themselves from technology.

Edited February 6, 2016 by Brisbane41

[Newby58]

Of course I agree. It's not that simple.

 

 

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[Newby58]

Do you have a teen?

 

 

 

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Edited February 6, 2016 by Newby58

[Newby58]

My daughter has a great job.

 

 

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[Obilix]

Take the phone off her for the cruise and give her nothing. Our generation survived without constant use of mobile communication technology and many of us can lock the phone away on a ship and not use it. She has to learn to separate herself from her phone at some point.

 

I never got my first mobile until I had a job where I could pay for it myself. You will be doing her a favour by taking it off her. She might actually enjoy the holiday more and do things she would not have done with her head buried in a phone screen.

 

Its like weening a baby off a dummy. It is a task that has to be done and must be done. Psychologists believe that younger generations will soon have disorders if they cannot separate themselves from technology.

 

You had job and bought phone?

 

Loooxury.

 

When I were lad we lived in shoe box at bottom of cesspit. No phone at all.

 

We DREAMED of havin' job and phone.

 

I once worked two years wid no pay at jam factory for 2 empty tins.

 

Brootther stole string from butcher just so we could complete link up.

 

Worked better than Turnbull's NBN though ...

[cruisine21]

Can you get her a prepaid sim so you don't get any data roaming charges? Maybe a Global Roaming Sim.

[Newby58]

Not sure what to don't

 

 

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[cruisine21]

You could even buy her a cheap prepaid phone just for the cruise. I've had 3 teenager girls and there is no way I would have let any of them take a phone on a plan on a cruise.

[Womble99]

We told our teen the phone stays home, surprisingly it really didn't bother him much once we were underway.

[pattle66]

When we go overseas we buy a prepaid sim. You can pick them up for $2 at Safeway or Woolworths.

 

Would she agree to putting the phone in the safe when leaving each port with it switched off or in airport mode? Can you ask the provider to put a cap on the plan for the time you are away? If it exceeds the included data then it is disabled. Might be worth asking...

[Sparky74]

...Would she agree to putting the phone in the safe when leaving each port with it switched off or in airport mode?...

 

This was going to be my suggestion, also. Far be it from me to give parenting advice. :eek:

 

You know your daughter and hopefully you are able to communicate and set boundaries with her. Aren't those teen years fun! :rolleyes:

 

But certainly, limiting phone use to when in port is how I handle my own phone usage when on a cruise. :cool:

[MommaBear55]

We leave on Monday for far North Queensland cruise. I have a 16y/o daughter who is obsessed with data use and being able to communicate with her friends. My DH and I decided not to get her ship wifi for family time and to encourage actually meeting new people (the teen club).

She has unlimited free msgs on her 6S Telstra enabled mobile.

How can I ensure we don't get an astronomical phone bill?

How wil we know if she has usual coverage or roaming rates?

Sorry, a bit ignorant on this subject.

 

Have you asked your phone carrier what is covered and what is not? And how much any additional calls would be? Or if they have extra coverage that your teen could pay for for the period of time you will be gone? Maybe your daughter could be the one to call to find out that info. What we found difficult was getting our teens to really understand how many minutes or numbers of texts they were actually using. They were shocked to look at the bill and realize how much they were talking/texting.

[Esilef]

I would buy her a cheap phone at Coles. Then a prepaid sim. These cheap phones don't use hidden data ie apps which stream data in the back ground. She also won't be able to send photo to all her friends. You just really don't know what towers phones are connecting to. Maritime data is very expensive.

 

I'm on radiance of the seas ATM but got the Internet package so that I could skype my ex husband daily (legal requirement not mine). This has been expensive but worked well.

[Russell21]

Exert a bit of, obviously lacking, parental discipline, and tell her either leave it home or she pays the bill.

[stingau]

Your biggest problem will be while you are in an Aust port all will be as normal, as soon as you get off shore, and it isn't very far offshore either your phone automatically switches over to the ships satellite mobile phone service which is xpensive and you will not know that it has happened so ensure that international roaming is disabled. Either do this yourself or better still call your carrier to switch it permanently.

 

Best thing to do is to speak with your carrier, they can advise the best way to go. Prepaid sims are good, we always get them when we travel, we have sims for the UK, USA, Mexico,Carribean, NZ, and FIJI. The down side is giving everyone your temporary number.

[celle]

Lol pattle66. There is no way she won't take the phone. A fate worse than death [emoji6]

 

 

Hmmmm. Who is the parent here? And who is paying for her cruise?

[zoncom]

Kids at that age do not believe there could be Thousands dollars of phone bills.It has been acknowledged here on several posts. They also do not have funds to pay bill. So take the phone, hide it at home or in safe somewhere.Tell her she can buy her own internet package with her $$. Also address that same problem can occur with cabin phone.

[wagtail_syd]

Wow, so much judgement! Our kids don't live in the same world we grew up in and unfortunately a lot of them are addicted to social media/constant connectedness. I know a lot of us as adults probably also spend more time than we really we should online too. For us it is so much easier to control the urge though, don't you think?

 

Sounds like just telling your child you are taking their phone off them for the cruise will just result in everyone having a horrible cruise. Not really that great an option.

 

You should be able to turn off international roaming on her phone. I've done it by just googling "How to turn of international roaming on [phone model]" when I've gone overseas before. Maybe also call your provider to make sure this will be enough. You better also explain to her why you are doing this and what the charges will be like if she decides to try and turn it back on. Good luck! Very glad my kids are still tweens. We have all this to come.

[aussielozzie18]

The OP is asking for constructive advice not a parenting lecture.

 

The problem here (apart from the phone addiction:)) is the short notice.

 

The best option would have been to give her a pre-paid phone. If you had more time (where she could get used to the idea of new, inferior phone), I would have suggested you give her the ultimation of a pre-paid phone or no phone at all. But doing this at last minute would be same as taking the phone off her and resulting in a sulky teen all cruise and that is no fun for anyone.

 

So, you need to go the other option which is contact your data provider. Either contact them or go in store today and get them to turn it off for you. Or do you have a family member (in their 20s/30s) or family friend who is phone savvy and can come over today and turn off the data roaming for you

and explain the consequences to your daughter of running up a huge bill?

 

fyi, I have two teens. One is like your daughter and is on prepaid. My other teen is far more responsible and is on a plan. He turned his data roaming off and only used his phone in port. We have cruised overseas and he had done a school tour overseas and we have never been charged one extra cent.

[lagoon380]

You should just explain the cost of using her phone while on the ship, give her the option of turning off international roaming or using a prepaid sim.

She has a job, so can pay the bill if need be.

I try to let my kids make the decisions and then live by the consequences that way they learn to make informed choices and I don't have to hear the whinging.

Also look at what options her phone company has for international roaming as others have suggested.

It's fun raising teenagers:rolleyes:

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Can you just say to her that the phone doesn't work on the ship as there are no towers nearby and that she will have to keep it in the safe (along with yours) whilst you are on the ship but say when you are in port she is more than welcome to use it. This is assuming that you will be in Australian ports. Overseas, that's a different matter entirely!

 

Most teenagers will agree to something if you explain the reasons behind the decisions. They know how technology works, they are more savvy than us.

 

I think you might be surprised at how she takes it.