Creating a hotspot on my phone and Sprint on Breakaway

[PippenBooBoo]

Hi! My daughter is now coming with me on my april trip but the time off school means she will need to do school work while on the ship. She uses an app to keep up with her assignments that require wifi etc so my question is:

I have an iPhone and sprint is our carrier so I can create a hotspot. Using their global roaming plan can she get the wifi from me? I know it's just 2g (free) but I can buy 3G for WAY less than NCLs wifi packages. Would this work?

PS- I tried calling sprint but every time I call I get a person that doesn't speak English well so It's not very helpful.

 

 

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[lmm1967]

You won't be close to towers in the middle of the ocean - no reception, no internet, no wifi hotspot.

 

 

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[PippenBooBoo]

So the hotspot is useless with cellar data?

 

 

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[lmm1967]

If you have no service there is no cellular data.

 

 

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[PippenBooBoo]

I just assumed there would be reception with Sprints global roaming deal. So that's not necessarily the case?

 

 

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[pieshops]

at sea the only thing you will connect to is the ships internet and be charged as such, at port it is different but make sure you are hooked to non ship internet while in port

[PippenBooBoo]

So won't be able to use my phone at all at sea? Not even to text? Sprints website is very misleading if this is true. I plugged NCLs Breakaway on their global roaming page and it says that text and 2g data was available free. Voice $.20 per minute. So I assumed there would be reception.

 

 

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[dexddd]

You are getting a bunch of mis-information.

 

Your phone has the ability to connect to the BA's cellular at sea (or whatever it is called) tower. I've used Verizon on NCL ships (POA doesn't have a cell tower) with my iphone and have enabled hot spot on the phone to pair with a computer. The BA was o.k. when we went in 2015. Spirit was pretty good as well Dec. 2015. Gem 2016 was horrible and would not be reliable.

[dexddd]

So won't be able to use my phone at all at sea? Not even to text? Sprints website is very misleading if this is true. I plugged NCLs Breakaway on their global roaming page and it says that text and 2g data was available free. Voice $.20 per minute. So I assumed there would be reception.

 

 

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Yes, you can text. You will be charged by Sprint for whatever their rates are. I have Verizon and they used to have packages of so many talk, text, and data but they did away with that recently so all is price per usage.

[PippenBooBoo]

UGH!

So I CAN create a hotspot on my phone using my phones cellular data provided by Sprints global roaming and my daughter can tap her iPad into it? You've done this?

 

 

 

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[lmm1967]

You're not really connecting directly to your carrier. You are connecting to the ship - which then uplinks via satellite then cross connected via another third party to your carrier - this, as it appears to me, may cause you to incur international roaming charges.

 

 

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[dexddd]

UGH!

So I CAN create a hotspot on my phone using my phones cellular data provided by Sprints global roaming and my daughter can tap her iPad into it? You've done this?

 

 

 

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Yes, I've done it with Iphone and I have the hot spot as part of my package - not sure how Sprint works. Be aware though that either ship's wi-fi or cellular can be spotty. At home you may be used to no disconnects but don't be surprised if you get disconnected at sea.

 

 

I've also used a Verizon jetpack on ships - that typically works better than trying to pair with phone for whatever reason.

[dexddd]

You're not really connecting directly to your carrier. You are connecting to the ship - which then uplinks via satellite then cross connected via another third party to your carrier - this, as it appears to me, may cause you to incur international roaming charges.

 

 

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So we go from no cellular tower to connect with at sea to now you are connecting to the ship?

 

 

From our experience there are no "international roaming charges" but that is with Verizon.

[lmm1967]

So we go from no cellular tower to connect with at sea to now you are connecting to the ship?

 

 

From our experience there are no "international roaming charges" but that is with Verizon.

 

 

 

Sorry I responded at all or tried to clarify.

 

Enjoy your day

 

 

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[PippenBooBoo]

So we go from no cellular tower to connect with at sea to now you are connecting to the ship?

 

 

From our experience there are no "international roaming charges" but that is with Verizon.

 

Thank you so much for your input.

 

According to sprint 2g is free but really slow. I can buy a package through them to upgrade to 3G/500mb. I forget how much this costs but it is way less than what NCL charges.

I prefer to have a plan in place before I vacation to eases my anxiety but this looks like a case of "I'll find out when I get there".

 

Side note- I'm not really sure why people on these boards answer questions that they don't have first hand knowledge of. I see it a lot here. It's very frustrating for the OP.

 

 

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[xriva]

I have Sprint and I have used Global Roaming, but only while in port. On the ship, I just use the ship's WiFi and turn my cellular off to avoid roaming. In port, it works fairly well, depending on the country's local carrier and coverage. I have used data and text, and have not been charged.

 

My experience with Sprint is that the coverage chart by country is accurate but I never searched for a ship. The ship WiFi is decent but can be slow if there are a lot of people connecting - but cellular and WiFi traffic will use the same satellite link to get to a station on land (I think).

 

 

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[Crusin6]

My suggestion is to

 

A. Take the free wifi if that is offered to you as a perk and then pay the difference on the ship to increase it to unlimited if you think you need it

 

B. If free wifi isn't offered then buy what you think you need from the ship. You can always increase it if needed

 

C. Only use a wifi only iPad or laptop for this and just forget about using your phone unless you want hundreds of dollars in data charges

 

D. Use the free wifi in the ports but as posted make sure you aren't picking up the ships signal

 

 

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[Crusin6]

Thank you so much for your input.

 

According to sprint 2g is free but really slow. I can buy a package through them to upgrade to 3G/500mb. I forget how much this costs but it is way less than what NCL charges.

I prefer to have a plan in place before I vacation to eases my anxiety but this looks like a case of "I'll find out when I get there".

 

Side note- I'm not really sure why people on these boards answer questions that they don't have first hand knowledge of. I see it a lot here. It's very frustrating for the OP.

 

 

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I will give you some advice here....

 

Do not use any device that can work via wifi AND data

 

 

Use a wifi on,y device so you know you won't be getting a massive data bill

 

 

I purchased my wifi iPad mini specifically for my Jan 2015 cruise

 

Best money ever spent

 

 

Borrow one if you must and just pay for ships wifi

 

 

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[cb at sea]

As said, if there are no "towers", then there's no reception. Pretty sure when they say "global", they mean on land that has towers!

[Marine Mom]

So won't be able to use my phone at all at sea? Not even to text? Sprints website is very misleading if this is true. I plugged NCLs Breakaway on their global roaming page and it says that text and 2g data was available free. Voice $.20 per minute. So I assumed there would be reception.

 

 

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I have sprint and last year on both the Breakaway and the Dawn I was able to text another Iphone (IMessage) alot and it cost me nothing. I couldn't text to a phone other than the iphone as the text's wouldn't go through.

[nolatravelgirl]

I just reviewed the Sprint FAQ on Global Roaming and did not see where the Breakaway is included on the free Global Roaming.

 

https://www.sprint.com/landings/international-value-roaming/index.html?ECID=vanity:globalroaming

 

about half way down you can see what destinations are included

 

 

Sprint Global Roaming Included Destinations:

Afghanistan

Aland Islands

Albania

Alderney

Andorra

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Aruba

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Azores

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Bermuda

Bolivia

Bonaire

Brazil

British Virgin Islands

Bulgaria

Cambodia

Canada

Canary Islands

Cayman Islands

Chile

Colombia

Congo, Dem. Rep. of

Costa Rica

Croatia

Curacao

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Easter Island

Ecuador

El Salvador

England

Estonia

Faroe Islands

Fiji

Finland

France

French Guiana

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Gibraltar

Greece

Greenland

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Guam

Guatemala

Guernsey

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Isle of Man

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jersey

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Laos

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macau

Macedonia

Madeira

Malaysia

Malta Republic

Marie Galante

Martinique

Mayotte

Mexico

Montenegro

Montserrat

Myanmar

Nauru

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Nigeria

Northern Ireland

Northern Mariana Islands

Norway

Palestinian Territories

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Pakistan

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Reunion

Romania

Russia

Rwanda

St. Barthelemy

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Martin

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Saipan

Samoa

San Marino

Sark

Scotland

Senegal

Serbia

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sri Lanka

Suriname

Svalbard

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Turkey

Turks and Caicos Islands

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

Uruguay

Vanuatu

Vatican City

Venezuela

Wales

[Loonbeam]

Okay.. To clarify..

 

Sprint Global Roaming (and similar packages on other lines) ONLY applies when connecting to a Sprint or partner network overseas). Cruise ships are not part of this system. Some carriers may offer a cruise ship package, I do not think Sprint is one.

 

Any device, phone or otherwise, connected to the ship's cell at sea system will incur charges from that system which will be passed on to your carrier and to you. These will be expensive..

 

Sample rates - $.50 to send a text, $.02 per kb of data sent or received (to put that in perspective, a song downloaded is about 3MB which could be about $40.00. Voice $2.50 for minute. This is for an AT+T user on Celebrity, NCL or RCCL as of 2015 (I didn't search that hard).

 

As far as hotspots, some devices do not have the ability to connect to non-network providers. Phones generally will, but note that when devices connect over wifi they often automatically download system and app updates, which will suck even more data.

 

Rule of thumb, when on a cruise ship at sea, turn ALL cellular data OFF unless its an emergency.

[MaryZ]

Hi! My daughter is now coming with me on my april trip but the time off school means she will need to do school work while on the ship. She uses an app to keep up with her assignments that require wifi etc so my question is:

I have an iPhone and sprint is our carrier so I can create a hotspot. Using their global roaming plan can she get the wifi from me? I know it's just 2g (free) but I can buy 3G for WAY less than NCLs wifi packages. Would this work?

PS- I tried calling sprint but every time I call I get a person that doesn't speak English well so It's not very helpful.

 

 

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Not while the ship is out of range of cell service, like at sea. We lose cell service a few miles out of nyc. In port you will be able to.

We have both Sprint and Verizon. Just pay for the wifi on the ship, have your child sign in to check her app and then sign out to do the work. Or just check the app on port days

[StolidCruiser]

 

Side note- I'm not really sure why people on these boards answer questions that they don't have first hand knowledge of. I see it a lot here. It's very frustrating for the OP.

 

 

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Many have given you answers based on first-hand knowledge.

 

I wouldnt expect more when you dismiss answers when they arent the ones you like (or comprehend).

[dberryman18]

Sprint charged us $600 to send 3 pictures. Don't believe what they tell you.

 

 

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