Cruising and Iphone settings

[cruza]

Hi all!

I started a thread back in 2013 about data settings and an Iphone and it wound up to be a wealth of information.

Basically, shut off your "data roaming" to avoid any surprises on your bill when you got home.

 

My last cruise I had an Iphone 5 and now I have an Iphone 6.

I don't remember if there was a setting for "Internationl CDMA"

By default, this is on.

What is this exactly? From what I am finding on the internet, it has to do with voice calls? But it also says to turn it off if you experience poor messaging or data performance.

Should it be on or off? If off, does it affect my ability to have calls/texts.

I will have unlimited Wi-Fi on board and with data roaming off know I wont incur any charges while on Bermuda, but this setting has me confused.

Any help out there from a techie?

 

My DW has Verizon phone and we turned off Data Roaming off. Voice roaming was on. We had no extra charges.

 

FYI last year she purchased Verizon's $40 international passport plan which consists of 100 minutes and 100 messages which worked perfectly on Summit.

Unfortunately Verizon rep told her Verizon changed it this year and she can't it on cruise ships anymore, land calls only.

Edited October 30, 2016 by cruza

[DFRO1908]

So I just making sure I am reading the replies correctly.

I have an Iphone 6 plus(I believe), I don't see the WiFi calling option in my settings, but I do see the airplane mode. So while I'm cruising to the Bahamas next week I just need to place my phone to airplane mode and make sure my wifi is turned on...... I will be able to listen to music, watch movies, blah blah blah and will not have to pay extra to Sprint.

[absolutboy20]

 

Airplane mode shuts off everything, but still allows connection to Wi-Fi.

 

I am not looking to do this, I still want to have call ability and texting.

 

Data roaming is all I need to do, but I am not sure what CDMA is.

 

 

 

This isn't correct. If you turn on Airplane mode it will automatically turn off cell service as well as wifi capability. You manually have to go back in and turn on wifi. The reasoning is that airplane mode is factoring in all devices that produce wireless signal have to be turned off during landing and takeoff for possible interference with aircraft instruments. You can turn on wifi while still in airplane mode (disabling cell provider connection but allowing wifi connection) so that you can connect to airline connections wifi inflight including Gogo.

 

CDMA is the technology that Verizon/Sprint uses as their cell service. GSM is what T-Mobile/AT&T use, and what most of Europe and the majority of world use. This made data roaming with a CDMA/Verizon phones difficult as they needed to make their own infrastructure from the ground up in these countries rather than piggybacking off of the specific nations carriers. Now newer iPhones can carry both GSM/CDMA technology which allows all carriers to make agreements so that their customers can use their phones worldwide regardless of GSM/CDMA issues.

 

I do know newer Verizon phones now have both. Easiest way to tell is whether your phone has a SIM card slot on your Verizon phone. As I don't use Verizon as my carrier, I don't know the specifics of their data roaming. But if you have a international data roaming package you just need to concern yourself with turning "data roaming" on and off in the specific areas you are covered. For example, AT&T specifically outlines which countries are included with their data roaming package, but if you are too far off the coast and can't get land based coverage, the Cellular at Sea service by Celebrity is not covered.

 

The easiest rule of thumb, turn data roaming on when you get to a port in the countries you know you have coverage per your international data roaming contract with your wireless carrier, and make sure you turn it off when you get to the ship before it leaves port and there is no land based cell services where it switches to Cellular at Sea.

Edited October 30, 2016 by absolutboy20

[absolutboy20]

So I just making sure I am reading the replies correctly.

 

I have an Iphone 6 plus(I believe), I don't see the WiFi calling option in my settings, but I do see the airplane mode. So while I'm cruising to the Bahamas next week I just need to place my phone to airplane mode and make sure my wifi is turned on...... I will be able to listen to music, watch movies, blah blah blah and will not have to pay extra to Sprint.

 

 

Apologies on my previous response as I didn't know it was two months old.

 

As far as the question above the wifi calling is in your Settings=>Phone and you should be able to see wifi calling as an availability depending upon your carrier.

 

So the question is if you stream all of your music and movies and you are looking to use Celebrity's ship wifi as your internet provider yes this will work, although streaming movies even with the faster wifi service on board isn't that ideal for movies.

Edited October 30, 2016 by absolutboy20

[DFRO1908]

Apologies on my previous response as I didn't know it was two months old.

 

As far as the question above the wifi calling is in your Settings=>Phone and you should be able to see wifi calling as an availability depending upon your carrier.

 

So the question is if you stream all of your music and movies and you are looking to use Celebrity's ship wifi as your internet provider yes this will work, although streaming movies even with the faster wifi service on board isn't that ideal for movies.

 

So after I sent this reply, I was wondering if this included the unlimited internet package that you pay for on the cruise. I didn't recall anyone talking about the internet package, so I assumed this was the way to be able to use your wifi ( on your phone) onboard and NOT have to pay a penny.....I'm guessing this is not the case.

[Charles4515]

So I just making sure I am reading the replies correctly.

 

I have an Iphone 6 plus(I believe), I don't see the WiFi calling option in my settings, but I do see the airplane mode. So while I'm cruising to the Bahamas next week I just need to place my phone to airplane mode and make sure my wifi is turned on...... I will be able to listen to music, watch movies, blah blah blah and will not have to pay extra to Sprint.

 

 

 

You have to turn WiFi Calling on. It is in your settings under Phone. Putting your Phone in Airplane mode and WiFi on is not enough. You have to enable WiFi Calling.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Charles4515]

So after I sent this reply, I was wondering if this included the unlimited internet package that you pay for on the cruise. I didn't recall anyone talking about the internet package, so I assumed this was the way to be able to use your wifi ( on your phone) onboard and NOT have to pay a penny.....I'm guessing this is not the case.

 

 

 

Well yes you need a WiFi connection. Having the unlimited internet package is the best scenario.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DFRO1908]

Will I at least be able to Facetime. I remember being able to do this while I was in Italy....or is it different when you are on a cruise.

[absolutboy20]

Will I at least be able to Facetime. I remember being able to do this while I was in Italy....or is it different when you are on a cruise.

 

 

 

FaceTime requires an internet connection whether it be using a data package provided by your cell phone provider or a outside wifi connection.

 

When you were in Italy, you were most likely connecting to a hotel, restaurant, or tourist attractions wifi which I assume may have have been free.

 

On a cruise, the ship uses satellite based technology as land based cell reception is not available after a few miles out to sea. This makes it much more expensive to operate as well as the connection being much slower.

 

If your looking for free wifi and you don't have a package on the ship, your best bet is to go to a cafe once on shore as many places will have free wifi. Some ports have free wifi in the cruise terminals.

Edited October 30, 2016 by absolutboy20

[Wiltonian]

Just to flag that most posts here assume a US-supplied mobile phone package. In Europe, thanks to the EU, there are international roaming agreements which, for example, let me use data (internet) connections over mobile phone networks in most European countries for exactly the same (or only a slightly higher) rate as I pay for such access in the UK. So, last month in Italy, on my PAYG with Three, I paid 1p/Mb, just like I do in Britain.

 

On the ship, away from shore is, of course, a different matter.

 

Stuart

Edited October 30, 2016 by Wiltonian

[Champagne Cruiser]

Thanks! Your post was very helpful! I have Verizon Wireless and never knew I had this capability. I just successfully set this up with my Iphone. This will be very helpful to use with the ship's internet on my upcoming cruise.

 

How did you set this up on your iPhone?

[Jeremiah1212]

How did you set this up on your iPhone?

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203032

 

It's really easy to do. It may take a while to activate though. Once it's activated you can test it by putting your phone into airplane mode at home and making/receiving a call. It should be no different than a call over a cell connection.

 

For the less tech savvy people, if you have Wifi on the ship or in port, Facebook's phone feature works quite well too. I find the audio quality is a better using than than Wifi calling at times.

[Jim_Iain]

Can someone help me with a "charging" question? I kmow power on board will be 110v so no issue here. We will be in UK for pre cruise. Many small appliances will take 110 and 230v. What about an I phone5 and 6. Can I charge direct from 230v with just an adapter or do I need to take the convertor?

 

The IPhone power block is dual currency. Look on the bottom between the two prongs and it will tell you the Voltage Capabilities. You will probably need a magnifying glass. It is always wise to check any appliance before plugging into 220/230.

 

If it is dual current all you will need is a adapter to change from the 2 prong to the British 3 prong. You will not need a Power Transformer.

[Jim_Iain]

I don't know about Verizon, but t-mobile allows calling on wifi, so setting my phone into airplane mode & connecting to wifi my phone works just like it would if I was on the t-mobile network.

 

And the good thing with TMobile is that when on land you can get international data (slow speed) for free in 120 countries. While not great speed it is good enough to meet your basic needs.

[oroszdb]

So I just making sure I am reading the replies correctly.

 

I have an Iphone 6 plus(I believe), I don't see the WiFi calling option in my settings, but I do see the airplane mode. So while I'm cruising to the Bahamas next week I just need to place my phone to airplane mode and make sure my wifi is turned on...... I will be able to listen to music, watch movies, blah blah blah and will not have to pay extra to Sprint.

 

 

Wifi calling is called "enhanced calling" by apple - make sure you have this activated in settings then even if you're in airplane mode with wifi turned on your calls will work (can't tell you the number of times my phone rings on airplanes.....yes I do hit ignore but I have colleagues that actually answer the calls without issues)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[oroszdb]

CDMA is the technology that Verizon/Sprint uses as their cell service. GSM is what T-Mobile/AT&T use, and what most of Europe and the majority of world use. This made data roaming with a CDMA/Verizon phones difficult as they needed to make their own infrastructure from the ground up in these countries rather than piggybacking off of the specific nations carriers. Now newer iPhones can carry both GSM/CDMA technology which allows all carriers to make agreements so that their customers can use their phones worldwide regardless of GSM/CDMA issues.

 

I do know newer Verizon phones now have both. Easiest way to tell is whether your phone has a SIM card slot on your Verizon phone. As I don't use Verizon as my carrier, I don't know the specifics of their data roaming. But if you have a international data roaming package you just need to concern yourself with turning "data roaming" on and off in the specific areas you are covered. For example, AT&T specifically outlines which countries are included with their data roaming package, but if you are too far off the coast and can't get land based coverage, the Cellular at Sea service by Celebrity is not covered.

 

The easiest rule of thumb, turn data roaming on when you get to a port in the countries you know you have coverage per your international data roaming contract with your wireless carrier, and make sure you turn it off when you get to the ship before it leaves port and there is no land based cell services where it switches to Cellular at Sea.

 

 

FYI any Verizon phone with LTE won't have any issues roaming globally

 

As a ps the owner of all of the stock in "cellular at sea" is ATT

 

 

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[Charles4515]

Wifi calling is called "enhanced calling" by apple - make sure you have this activated in settings then even if you're in airplane mode with wifi turned on your calls will work (can't tell you the number of times my phone rings on airplanes.....yes I do hit ignore but I have colleagues that actually answer the calls without issues)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

It is called WiFi Calling by Apple. It does have to be activated in advance. Your carrier has to support it too. All the majors in the USA do, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. For iPhones an iPhone 6 or later on the four but some of the carriers might support iPhone SE or 5S. Check with your carrier if you have one of those. Also some Android phones now support WiFi calling. Check with your carrier.

 

 

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[LisaAtlCruiser]

I actually switched to T-Mobile for the free text and data in most countries. Love it!

 

And of course that impacts my iPhone settings.

 

 

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[north29]

On our fall trip to Greece and the Rhapsody , I signed up for Verizon's $40 plan for 100 talk minutes and some data and text. I had just used this for South Africa. Anyway, I keep getting a message that my Travel Pass was activated or used up of the day. I get home and see a unusual bill. I logged on to my account and my international travel plan was TRAVEL PASS. I DID NOT sign up for it as I had used with success, the 100 minute plan in South Africa. Also I ask for only one month of this plan, was monthly. Good news after a stop at a Verizon company store, it was handled nicely giving me credit for the Automatic logons that I NEVER USED. I was impressed with the service. It could have been my fault, but as ex/retired iT/technology guy it would have been unusual.