HELP! Contacting a Passenger

[MsMot]

Good Afternoon. We sail in a few days so I contacted Carnival for a telephone number to leave home in the event of an emergency. As luck would have it, in the past week there are some health issues that we'll be concerned about. Well I learned that the caller would need to call the 800 number, provide our booking number and Carnival would then send an email to the ship for us to call home. That seems soooo antiquated! Any experiences with this process? Is there a long delay?

 

If I purchase the premium WIFI package, is it possible that my cell phone would work?

[ray98]

It will be timely. You will be on a cruise ship anyway, seconds won't count.

[nwcruiselover]

No, your cell phone won't work for calls with the ship's wifi. If you make or receive a phone call it will be through the ship's cell tower and very costly. You could text though. I have Verizon and it costs $.50 to send a text and $.05 to receive one while on the ship. So your family could text you in an emergency and you could then call them from the phone in your cabin. Last time I was on Carnival the rate was $.99 a minute to call from the ship, which isn't too bad if there's an emergency.

[ourcruiseyears]

Here's Carnival's link on Cellular Phone Service.

 

We used to always lock our cell phones in the safe but we now keep them out for a variety of uses. We contacted our service provider (Sprint) & they walked us through the rates for our upcoming Bahamas cruise. Here are my notes, though yours may be different depending on service provider, ship, itinerary, cell phone, etc.

 

Sprint Carnival Cruise Ship Roaming Rates

• Voice $2.99/minute. Dial 1 + area code & number.
  
• Text $0.50/recipient; rec’d $0.15/msg. Text 1 + area code & number.
  
• Data $12/MB. (Equals about 2 minutes! KEEP DATA TURNED OFF!)

 

Sprint Global Roaming

Nassau & Half Moon Cay:

• Talk $0.20/minute.
  
• Unlimited text.
  
• Free data up to 2G speeds.
  

Edited September 20, 2016 by ourcruiseyears

[SadieN]

Could get the Social Media plan. IIRC it's $5/day.

[shof515]

Could get the Social Media plan. IIRC it's $5/day.

 

and use something like Whats App, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangout to communicate. dont use you the phone in your room or your cellular data plan.

[RjayB]

Last week on Conquest the cabin phone was 1.99/minute, which most likely is cheaper than using Cellular-at-Sea. We had over $120 in phone charges, but it was worth it due to our situation.

[MsMot]

and use something like Whats App, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangout to communicate. dont use you the phone in your room or your cellular data plan.

 

I guess I should have been more transparent. One of the illnesses is my cat. We have had to run him to the emergency vet twice, including last night. I didn't mention that because I know most people would not understand my feelings about my cat. Aside of my furbaby, my brother isn't in the best of health.

 

I will be boarding him at Petsmart Pet Hotel and they'll only make actual telephone calls. My brother/neighbor will text us if need be.

[RuthlessBoss]

I guess I should have been more transparent. One of the illnesses is my cat. We have had to run him to the emergency vet twice, including last night. I didn't mention that because I know most people would not understand my feelings about my cat. Aside of my furbaby, my brother isn't in the best of health.

 

I will be boarding him at Petsmart Pet Hotel and they'll only make actual telephone calls. My brother/neighbor will text us if need be.

 

Furbabies do count:)

[Debra Lynn]

Aw.....I understand completely..... my kitties are my babies!! I love them with all my heart. Hope you baby is going to be ok...

[SnowshoeCat]

I returned a day early from a trip to be with my cat (had to pay an airline change fee!), so many of us will understand. I wish your little guy the best (and your brother, too ;) )

Edited September 20, 2016 by SnowshoeCat

[firemanbobswife]

I guess I should have been more transparent. One of the illnesses is my cat. We have had to run him to the emergency vet twice, including last night. I didn't mention that because I know most people would not understand my feelings about my cat. Aside of my furbaby, my brother isn't in the best of health.

 

I will be boarding him at Petsmart Pet Hotel and they'll only make actual telephone calls. My brother/neighbor will text us if need be.

 

I love animals. Sometimes more than people. Maybe see if he can board at a Vet instead. That way if something happens, he can get the care he needs. PetSmart boarding might not be the best idea if he's having issues.

[Carnival_Brides]

Good Afternoon. We sail in a few days so I contacted Carnival for a telephone number to leave home in the event of an emergency. As luck would have it, in the past week there are some health issues that we'll be concerned about. Well I learned that the caller would need to call the 800 number, provide our booking number and Carnival would then send an email to the ship for us to call home. That seems soooo antiquated! Any experiences with this process? Is there a long delay?

 

If I purchase the premium WIFI package, is it possible that my cell phone would work?

 

It seems antiquated, but it's much better than the old system that cost $10 per MINUTE once a number was dialed. It cost my SiL $60 to call and leave us a voicemail and tell us our dog was dying.

 

The new system seems to work and CCL has been known to allow free calls for actual emergencies.

[Drose716]

As previously suggested, I also recommend the social media package. You can then use Facebook Messager or What's App to text & stay in touch. It's $5/day. I did this on my last cruise as my mother was recovering from a knee surgery still & I wanted to be able to stay in touch & check up on her. Worked like a charm. If you need to call the room does have a phone, but it's not cheap. It'll do for an emergency though.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152/kw/Internet

[deedle7544]

Your family and friends only need the name of the ship. I had to call a co worker to let her know of an unexpected death, as we did not want her to learn of it on her phone, or social media when she turned here phone on. I called the 800#, explained the situation and they connected me directly with the ship. They paged her and her husband and I spoke directly to them. There were 2 people from the ship who I spoke to first that were there to assist.

Edited September 21, 2016 by deedle7544

[pirate4me2]

I guess I should have been more transparent. One of the illnesses is my cat. We have had to run him to the emergency vet twice, including last night. I didn't mention that because I know most people would not understand my feelings about my cat. Aside of my furbaby, my brother isn't in the best of health.

 

I will be boarding him at Petsmart Pet Hotel and they'll only make actual telephone calls. My brother/neighbor will text us if need be.

I hope your furbaby is ok! I had a pet emergency on my cruise in March and luckily I had the social plan, and my petsitter was able to FB message me. I've never had to do an actual phone call. I always worry about my critters while I'm away.

 

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[easyboy]

and use something like Whats App, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangout to communicate. dont use you the phone in your room or your cellular data plan.

I second this advice.

[Herfnerd]

If I purchase the premium WIFI package, is it possible that my cell phone would work?

 

 

OP brings up a good point. Cost aside, just wonder if it's possible to use a cellphone as s many providers and phones can now make calls thru wifi when there is no cellular service

 

 

 

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[Cruise-Crazy]

No, your cell phone won't work for calls with the ship's wifi. If you make or receive a phone call it will be through the ship's cell tower and very costly. You could text though. I have Verizon and it costs $.50 to send a text and $.05 to receive one while on the ship. So your family could text you in an emergency and you could then call them from the phone in your cabin. Last time I was on Carnival the rate was $.99 a minute to call from the ship, which isn't too bad if there's an emergency.

 

If you have a phone that supports WiFi calling through your carrier it will work on the ship's WiFi.

 

I have AT&T and have used this on two cruises. It does not sound great but it did work.

[Vonchillis]

We have used FB Messenger while on the ship and did video chat that didn't work too well with the video but you could hear them just fine. Just a little lag in the conversation every now and then. We used it to keep in touch with the kids while away. They are all adults but it was kind of fun with pictures back and forth. They felt like they were there with us the whole time.

 

 

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[Cushing985]

We had a rescued Greyhound so I totally get your concern. Several years ago my wife and I went on a Hawaiian cruise (15 days). We boarded our guy at the same rescue place where we got him as they knew him and he knew them. On our third day of the cruise he was found passed away in the morning (he died in his sleep...he was 12 years old). The agency contacted our son (he was the emergency contact). He and our daughter went back and forth if they should let us know and in the end they decided to attempt to contact us (correct decision at least for us). He knew what ship we were on (the Spirit) but that was about it. He called Carnival in Miami (I think he just used the Customer Service number) and asked them how could he contact us to let us know our dog had died. While he was on the line they called the ship and the ship, in turn, called us in our stateroom. Our son was on the other end and he let us know what was going on. We were on the phone with him for about 20 minutes when we lost the connection so I called Guest Services onboard and they reconnected us.

 

All of this was without cost! For those who think Carnival is a faceless, uncaring corporation who just want to make a buck keep in mind humans work there and they have the same feelings as the rest of us.

Edited September 21, 2016 by Cushing985

[h_blond2]

If you have Facebook, you can always purchase the $5 per day social internet package. If people need to get a hold of you, they can send you a message on Facebook.