Cell Service?

[Sarnano]

Departing 12/13 on the Viking Eir. Rhine River. Got very confusing directions from Sprint regarding cell service. Basically warned us of "thousands of dollars" in fees if we didn't have our phones set to Airplane Mode "within 50' of the ship". Can someone explain better?

[BaumD]

Not sure about European River Cruises, but traditional ocean cruise ships have their own cellular system (many use a system called "Cellular at Sea"). If your on a regular cruise out in the ocean, you can rack up serious data charges thru this system, hence, the warning about Airplane mode. Cruise ships shut down their system when in port so the local cell system can be used. Don't know if Viking has a cell system on their ships. If not, you will connect to the local cell system. You should check with your carrier to see what the costs will be.

[JVilleGal]

Do Not use your Cell phone for any internet searches. Turn roaming off and yes Airplane mode . You do not want your phone trying to constantly try to update while in Europe. That Data will cost you BIG bucks!

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

Did you hear about the guy who down loaded a Disney movie to entertain his nephew while at a resort in Mexico? He got a $30,000 phone bill :( this happened 5ish years ago.

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

PS we sailed Avalon Amsterdam to Budapest. The Castle stretch on the Rhine was gorgeous! Used my Wifi only iPad onboard the boat. So I never had to worry about accidentally running up my cell bill or doing something stupid.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Did you hear about the guy who down loaded a Disney movie to entertain his nephew while at a resort in Mexico? He got a $30,000 phone bill :( this happened 5ish years ago.

 

 

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With that amount, maybe it was just the movie that he acknowledged accessing the ship's network. He might have forgotten logging off and turning off his data roaming and was continually logged on for the duration of the cruise.

 

 

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Edited November 22, 2016 by easyboy

[Capt_BJ]

Sounds like the SPRINT rep is talking about standard ocean going cruise ship stuff where the horror stories abound ... and some ARE true.

 

Viking Eir is a "longship" is it not .....

 

On our trip on the Danube on a longship the ship did NOT have on board cellular service that links to the ship satellite service that is now on most OCEAN going cruiseships. This is because the river cruises are within range of land based cellular service for most of their route. They DO have satellite based phone service from the phones in the cabin if needed and this is $$, but your cell will NOT connect to this as they do not have that technology on a longship ... they "do not need it". They have FREE WiFi via this satellite service but the service is not very fast and is spotty (when you go under bridges the signal is lost ....)

 

from the Viking River FAQ page:

 

All our ships offer complimentary Wi-Fi or Internet access; this varies depending on your ship and the region you visit. You may use your personal device or one of the ship’s computers in our Internet Café area. Our connections rely on a cellular or satellite terminal—the best possible solution for river cruising. Due to the nature of data bandwidth and latency, as well as potential interruptions in satellite signals based on terrain and weather, you may experience slower online connections than you are accustomed to at home.

 

We hope you will understand that we will do our very best to provide you with an enjoyable online experience, and remember you will likely be able to access standard Wi-Fi and data roaming services on shore in most towns and cities you visit.

 

 

SOOOO what you want to do is talk to SPRINT again but just skip the fact that you will be on a river cruise and ask about adding international access on your cell phone because you are going to EU. I have Verizon and we checked the countries I was visiting and they could verify if service was available and at what cost. I added international access to my phone for around $30 for the month (pro rated) - SPRINT pricing may vary - we had full phone/text/data access when available which was most of the time. I even had service while on the train from Nuremberg to Hamburg! We generally kept the phone in airplane mode for piece of mind but connected at least twice a day to get e-mail and texts and made several calls ... when using the free wifi we send many pictures as e-mail attachments. SOMETIMES they took a long time to get out because of a weak signal, but cost us ZIP.

 

(My observation was that T-Mobile is the BIG DOG in Germany, Poland and Austria and we had a signal 95% of the time. Since I had international access via Ver' I connected seamlessly and it was just like being at home. My Ver' plan DID have minute/text#/data limits so I was very cautious to not go over my limits but sent a BUNCH of e-mails thru the free WiFi available on the boat. Knowing how to control what you are connected to and how your stuff is being sent/rec'd helps A LOT. For example, when doing e-mail, phone is in airplane mode with WiFi turned on .... so only the 'free' path is open. CORNfused? Find a teenager to explain/demonstrate!)

Edited November 22, 2016 by Capt_BJ

[Capt_BJ]

btw ... your question concerns a river cruise, which are often different in the details from ocean cruises .... and have their own forum/area .....

[2theship]

You might want to look at mobal.com. It's a UK based company but you buy your cell phone for a small fee. Then you pay for your calls as you go on a very reasonable basis. The number is yours for life and all you do is pay for the calls when you travel. The per minute charge is higher when you're on a cruise ship but I imagine that from a river boat you would just be using the cell towers on land.

 

They also offer a smart phone but it's more complicated - you buy a data package for the length of your stay - so I suggest you look at their website. Even going to Europe once it a while, it's been a value for us.

[Donray]

Look at Googles phone service.

 

https://fi.google.com/about/?gclid=CNywo46uv9ACFYQkgQodLkgKaQ&u=0

 

$20 a month and the same cost in 174 countries.

 

Data $10 a gigabyte.

[reedl]

I second Google's Fi service. I used it on my recent Caribbean cruise, and unless we were out at sea, it worked as advertised.

 

I would imagine on a river cruise, it would work well.

[JVilleGal]

I second Google's Fi service. I used it on my recent Caribbean cruise, and unless we were out at sea, it worked as advertised.

 

 

 

I would imagine on a river cruise, it would work well.

 

 

And you can ??? Use these services with a "locked" iPhone that has ATT service????? Never heard of being able to do that.

 

 

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Or are you talking about buying a local phone and using this service.

Edited November 26, 2016 by JVilleGal

[slidergirl]

And you can ??? Use these services with a "locked" iPhone that has ATT service????? Never heard of being able to do that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Or are you talking about buying a local phone and using this service.

 

You can't do anything with a "locked" anyPhone on Any network. You're bound to that network until the powers that be will let you unlock. That is true for any time you want to change to a different carrier SIM, not just that Google fi. Why I bought my iPhone outright - it came unlocked from T-Mo.

As far as the Google fi - from what I can see, it is only supported on Google's Pixel phone and some Nexus phones. BUT, there are a few articles out there where people Frankensteined it onto their iPhones.

Edited November 26, 2016 by slidergirl

[JVilleGal]

And you can ??? Use these services with a "locked" iPhone that has ATT service????? Never heard of being able to do that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Or are you talking about buying a local phone and using this service.

 

 

 

You can't do anything with a "locked" anyPhone on Any network. You're bound to that network until the powers that be will let you unlock. That is true for any time you want to change to a different carrier SIM, not just that Google fi. Why I bought my iPhone outright - it came unlocked from T-Mo.

As far as the Google fi - from what I can see, it is only supported on Google's Pixel phone and some Nexus phones. BUT, there are a few articles out there where people Frankensteined it onto their iPhones.

 

 

That is exactly what I thought. But anyone reading this post who is not tech or cell savy would think you can actually use your tethered ATT iPhone (insert any providers name) and get some app and use their cell phone in Europe like you can at home.

 

Extremely misleading and could cause someone or your Grandparents to have a cell phone bill in the $100's of dollars or more.

 

So I have an ATT iPhone 7Plus and didn't even know I could buy it "unlocked" much less what that would let me do. I bought it outright and I do know you can't just change the Sim Card on an iPhone. I suspect others like me need less technical advice that suits our reality of iPhones tied to a provider.

 

For us, turn off Roaming to stop Data Charges and the phones constant attempts to update the many apps on your phone (means Data charges) Put phone in Airplane Mode. Buy an International pkg at home before leaving (cancel it when you get home) add a unlimited text pkg for Europe (disable once home).

 

So some travelers need Cell Phones Overseas for Dummies.... glad you younger folks are so clever! There never seems to be a Teenager around when I need one :)

 

Ok rant over!

 

 

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Edited November 26, 2016 by JVilleGal

[slidergirl]

That is exactly what I thought. But anyone reading this post who is not tech or cell savy would think you can actually use your tethered ATT iPhone (insert any providers name) and get some app and use their cell phone in Europe like you can at home.

 

Extremely misleading and could cause someone or your Grandparents to have a cell phone bill in the $100's of dollars or more.

 

So I have an ATT iPhone 7Plus and didn't even know I could buy it "unlocked" much less what that would let me do. I bought it outright and I do know you can't just change the Sim Card on an iPhone. I suspect others like me need less technical advice that suits our reality of iPhones tied to a provider.

 

For us, turn off Roaming to stop Data Charges and the phones constant attempts to update the many apps on your phone (means Data charges) Put phone in Airplane Mode. Buy an International pkg at home before leaving (cancel it when you get home) add a unlimited text pkg for Europe (disable once home).

 

So some travelers need Cell Phones Overseas for Dummies.... glad you younger folks are so clever! There never seems to be a Teenager around when I need one :)

 

Ok rant over!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I'm over 60, so definitely not "younger". I just got my first smartphone, my SE, in June!!! I was a bit not correct on my iPhone - I was able to get it unlocked immediately by T-Mo - I've had an account for 10+ years and am not on contract. Now, you can buy your phone directly from Apple and it comes unlocked if you select the "SIM-Free" model. Then you can take it to your provider and buy the SIM. Now, this doesn't work with Sprint - you MUST buy a Sprint-compatible phone still...

[JVilleGal]

I may be wrong but I would venture a guess that most folks are clueless like me or know just enough to not repeat a $800 mistake involving DATA charges :(

 

 

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[slidergirl]

I may be wrong but I would venture a guess that most folks are clueless like me or know just enough to not repeat a $800 mistake involving DATA charges :(

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Being able to swap out SIM cards was a very good thing to be able to do before T-Mo and others started offering data at no extra charge and $.20/min calls internationally. I would do this with my iPad (had this before a smart phone) - I bought an ATT network-ready model from the Apple Store, but didn't sign up for ATT. Took it to Italy, but a SIM at the TIM store so I would have cell service. Came home, popped out the TIM SIM and went to the ATT store and signed up for minimal service. Popped in that SIM. Went back to Italy, took out ATT SIM, bought another TIM SIM - at that time, paying 30EU for TIM service was a good thing - wifi service at all the hotels I stayed at was atrocious plus I could sit down and use my tablet anywhere I wanted with cell service, AND used it as my GPS when I was driving. you just have to write down the information for that SIM from your phone so you can put it back in again.