Cell phones

[thall1719]

Is putting a cell phone in airplane mode good enough or should they be off completely...kids will probably want to use camera function and maybe play some games that are installed on their phone....

 

Thanks

[Schoifmom]

Is putting a cell phone in airplane mode good enough or should they be off completely...kids will probably want to use camera function and maybe play some games that are installed on their phone....

 

Thanks

 

If your phone is in airplane mode, you will not be able to make/receive calls, send/receive texts, or use your carrier's data plan. If you goal is avoid charges, then, yes, airplane mode should work. That's what we always do. DH connected to the ship's wifi on the last cruise while in airplane mode and had no issues.

[originalgeek]

While on-board:

airplane mode and wifi off (which will happen anyway when you put in airplane mode but it's possible to turn wifi back on while in airplane mode) is fine. As long as the games don't require an internet connection (I crushed candy every night before going to sleep lol) they will work fine and you won't be charged

 

I took around 500 pictures on my phone (and another 500 on my point and shoot). When I got back home it spent a good amount of time backing up all the pics I took but I have unlimited data so no biggie.

 

While on land if your provider has a traveling plan you can turn airplane mode off but if you have a plan that hits you hard for cellular data you might want to avoid that. Sometimes ports will have free wifi hotspots and (sometimes they have paid hotspots so check them carefully before accepting any connections)

Edited August 3, 2016 by originalgeek

[youagain]

I have found after 3 cruises you really do not need your phone. It was nice to not see as many people not looking where they were going because they are looking at their phones. Enjoy your cruise. Put your phone in the safe on airplane mode and look up and talk to people and see the sites. My husband is on call when he is at home so it was nice NOT to hear the **** phone ringing. It is a vacation and some of us want to escape our world for awhile and enjoy not being tied to the phone. Just my opinion........

[kctwinmommy]

Yes... that's what I do when we're cruising. I'm not really using it for anything. But, I like to know what time it is and I don't always see a clock around. And yes, I sometimes play my solitaire game if I'm just laying around.

[Harrald]

Airplane mode is fine. If you don't want it for the camera or music, just lock it in the safe. It's the first thing my wife and I do when we get to our cabin. After a few hours we don't even think about them.

[originalgeek]

I have found after nearly 30 years on the internet (when my son was in Jr High in the late 80s we set up and ran a Color64 BBS with 2 phone lines on his Commodore 64 with a 300baud modem.) that no matter what question you ask someone will be willing to come along and specifically not answer your question but tell you how wrong you are for asking it and let you know what you actually should be doing in their opinion.

 

Feel free to ignore them. ;)

[Micahs Grandad]

Airplane mode is fine. If you don't want it for the camera or music, just lock it in the safe. It's the first thing my wife and I do when we get to our cabin. After a few hours we don't even think about them.

 

Your choice but I carry mine all day in airplane mode as I have a neat walking app that counts steps and have my camera at same time.

 

Also on excursions if we go somewhere with free wifi have added bonus.

[asalligo]

I have found after 3 cruises you really do not need your phone. It was nice to not see as many people not looking where they were going because they are looking at their phones. Enjoy your cruise. Put your phone in the safe on airplane mode and look up and talk to people and see the sites. My husband is on call when he is at home so it was nice NOT to hear the **** phone ringing. It is a vacation and some of us want to escape our world for awhile and enjoy not being tied to the phone. Just my opinion........

 

In my case, my phone is my camera, so I like to carry it, but I put it in Airplane mode as soon as I step on the ship.

[LMBB]

I use my phone to listen to audiobooks while cruising, and airplane mode works great for that.

 

I have T-mobile and can use my phone in most international locations for free, so I normally turn my phone back on in ports so I can check in with family at home (solo cruiser). If you do that, just be careful because the time will automatically update to local time and it may cause a discrepancy between your phone and ship time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[originalgeek]

I use my phone to listen to audiobooks while cruising, and airplane mode works great for that.

 

I have T-mobile and can use my phone in most international locations for free, so I normally turn my phone back on in ports so I can check in with family at home (solo cruiser). If you do that, just be careful because the time will automatically update to local time and it may cause a discrepancy between your phone and ship time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

We do too and good thing we did as in one port half-way through the cruise we got notification from our bank of fraudulent activity on one of our debit cards (not anything from the cruise as we didn't use that account for the cruise - they were spending in our home town but we had notified our bank we were to be on a cruise so they knew it was probably not us). We were able to contact the bank right there in port and get the account closed and the charges removed and had stress-free rest of the cruise. :)

 

I got consistently decent 3g speeds while in ports and T-Mobile didn't charge us a penny extra.

[gremlinbangles]

I also use my phone to track steps and to take pictures. Airplane mode works fine.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[bar1068]

With a few "adjustments" for data roaming and call forwarding, we leave our phones on, onboard and in port. Send the occasional "wish you were here" txt msg back home...or when we go in separate directions on the ship, we'll catch up via txt. We've also received a couple of messages about questionable activity on one of our accounts. Good to be able to squelch it right away.

[NewAddict]

I have found after 3 cruises you really do not need your phone. It was nice to not see as many people not looking where they were going because they are looking at their phones. Enjoy your cruise. Put your phone in the safe on airplane mode and look up and talk to people and see the sites. My husband is on call when he is at home so it was nice NOT to hear the **** phone ringing. It is a vacation and some of us want to escape our world for awhile and enjoy not being tied to the phone. Just my opinion........

 

Yeah, but that sounds like nothing related to what the OP is talking about.

"kids will probably want to use camera function and maybe play some games that are installed on their phone...."

 

As mentioned, yes, airplane mode would work.

[LMBB]

We do too and good thing we did as in one port half-way through the cruise we got notification from our bank of fraudulent activity on one of our debit cards (not anything from the cruise as we didn't use that account for the cruise - they were spending in our home town but we had notified our bank we were to be on a cruise so they knew it was probably not us). We were able to contact the bank right there in port and get the account closed and the charges removed and had stress-free rest of the cruise. :)

 

 

 

I got consistently decent 3g speeds while in ports and T-Mobile didn't charge us a penny extra.

 

 

 

Yep, this was a major draw for me to T-Mo. I travel internationally frequently for work and pleasure and it has always worked flawlessly and without hassle.

 

...Except when I missed my snorkeling excursion because I didn't realize the port and ship were in different time zones [emoji15]... Will not be making that mistake again!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[louanne93]

I have found after nearly 30 years on the internet (when my son was in Jr High in the late 80s we set up and ran a Color64 BBS with 2 phone lines on his Commodore 64 with a 300baud modem.) that no matter what question you ask someone will be willing to come along and specifically not answer your question but tell you how wrong you are for asking it and let you know what you actually should be doing in their opinion.

 

Feel free to ignore them. ;)

 

OMG!!! I nearly spit out my tea, I was laughing so hard! You ROCK!!

[Sabalon]

Airplane mode turns off all the radios (Cellular, Wifi and Bluetooth) at once.

 

You can (at least on the iPhone) then turn on Wifi or Bluetooth individually, leaving cellular off. That way if you use the Carnival Hub app for FunTimes (if on your ship) or wireless headphones, you can enable them individually while the cellular radio stays on Airplane (aka off) mode.

 

Chances are if they're like mine, the kids know more about this and will be glad to show you the options :)

[Retired_to_Cruise]

Yes... that's what I do when we're cruising. I'm not really using it for anything. But, I like to know what time it is and I don't always see a clock around. And yes, I sometimes play my solitaire game if I'm just laying around.

 

Be careful with the time thing. Your phone will change time when you cross into a different time zone. However, ship's time is the standard and it DOES NOT CHANGE. People have gotten burned with excursions and/or getting back to the ship on time, among other things, for living by their phone time.

[ourcruiseyears]

I have found after nearly 30 years on the internet (when my son was in Jr High in the late 80s we set up and ran a Color64 BBS with 2 phone lines on his Commodore 64 with a 300baud modem.) that no matter what question you ask someone will be willing to come along and specifically not answer your question but tell you how wrong you are for asking it and let you know what you actually should be doing in their opinion.

 

Feel free to ignore them. ;)

 

Omg, the first thing I thought was, "You must be my age?!" :D (And you have my same philosophy on this matter! ;) ) As one original geek to another...one of my claims to fame is having used Google long before any of my family/friends discovered it! :D

[Sabalon]

Be careful with the time thing. Your phone will change time when you cross into a different time zone. However, ship's time is the standard and it DOES NOT CHANGE. People have gotten burned with excursions and/or getting back to the ship on time, among other things, for living by their phone time.

 

This is something you can fix before you leave the home port - at least on my iPhone you go to the settings,general and date&time and turn off the Set Automatically toggle.

 

In fact, to find exactly where the setting was for above, I just noticed mine was still set off from our trip.

[ourcruiseyears]

I have T-mobile and can use my phone in most international locations for free, so I normally turn my phone back on in ports so I can check in with family at home (solo cruiser). If you do that, just be careful because the time will automatically update to local time and it may cause a discrepancy between your phone and ship time.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this heads-up. We also will have free usage in our ports of call & I did not realize this. Adding more to my notes now! Thanks again!

[LMBB]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this heads-up. We also will have free usage in our ports of call & I did not realize this. Adding more to my notes now! Thanks again!

 

 

 

Happy to help!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[crooooze]

I have found after nearly 30 years on the internet (when my son was in Jr High in the late 80s we set up and ran a Color64 BBS with 2 phone lines on his Commodore 64 with a 300baud modem.) that no matter what question you ask someone will be willing to come along and specifically not answer your question but tell you how wrong you are for asking it and let you know what you actually should be doing in their opinion.

 

 

 

Feel free to ignore them. ;)

 

 

Commodore 64?

 

Way back when I was your age, we ran the BBS with a Commodore VIC20 and a 110 baud VIC modem...

 

... and people answered questions the same way :-)

[firemanbobswife]

I have found after nearly 30 years on the internet (when my son was in Jr High in the late 80s we set up and ran a Color64 BBS with 2 phone lines on his Commodore 64 with a 300baud modem.) that no matter what question you ask someone will be willing to come along and specifically not answer your question but tell you how wrong you are for asking it and let you know what you actually should be doing in their opinion.

 

 

 

Feel free to ignore them. ;)

 

 

Aahhhhh, yes. The good old Commodore 64. Best damn computer ever made. I may or may not know someone who still has one. [emoji6]