billco Posted September 16, 2017 #226 Share Posted September 16, 2017 221 posts that could have been avoided if the OP had just turned off the phone and left it off. DON This thread may have been an education for some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billco Posted September 16, 2017 #227 Share Posted September 16, 2017 that also provides free unlimited text and data in over 140 countries and calls for $.20 a minute back to the US, Canada and Mexico from those 140 countries Sprint has the same feature. We switched to Sprint from T-Mobile last year under a program that charges us 1/2 of what we were paying for 18 months. (50% off T-Mobile Simple Plan 2GB Per Line Data Plan. Includes Unlimited Anytime Minutes, Unlimited Text and 2GB of Per Line Data all while on the Sprint Network. 50% Off Data and Access Charges until 5/31/2018. No additional discounts apply.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockdoctor Posted September 16, 2017 #228 Share Posted September 16, 2017 In defense of the OP, I have seen the provider of cell service inexplicable go from ATT to Cellular at Sea and back in seconds while around ports. My fix was to always hold my iPhone vertically so I can see the provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRAYTech Posted September 16, 2017 #229 Share Posted September 16, 2017 In defense of the OP, I have seen the provider of cell service inexplicable go from ATT to Cellular at Sea and back in seconds while around ports. My fix was to always hold my iPhone vertically so I can see the provider. Can you clarify "Around Ports"? Was that coming in or with the lines tied to the dock? Coming in I have seen it switch but never when fully docked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvillemiss Posted September 16, 2017 #230 Share Posted September 16, 2017 If there was indeed a screw up, which can happen, the internet manager should be able to make the adjustment. We have had issues once in a while and it has always been handled. I worked in IT and just write it off to human error. Which, if you drill down deep enough it always is, and, I don''t mean user error. IT makes plenty of mistakes. I often put text in red, bold, and italic to denote the part of the quote to which I a responding. There is noting condescending about it. The poster was simply explaining the convention to you. No need to get snarky with him. He was honestly attempting to explain something to you that you seemed not to understand. EDIT: Sorry OP. I missed the earlier post where you said you get it and it wasn't the colors but the content. My bad. Most all of the time, it is safe to use your cell phone while on the ship in port. But not always... We were once sailing through Gov't Cut in Miami talking to our son. We ended the call before we were out of the Cut. To our great surprise, when we got our AT&T bill, we had a charge for over $100 for that call which switched to Princess' satellite even while still in the port. AT&T reversed the charges "as a courtesy". Princess does not sail through Government Cut or from Miami. :o Warning- this post will be in blue, because it reminds me of the open sea! ;p We love Princess and are on her two more times next year and have NEVER felt "bothered" by our wait staff. We interpret their suggestions as helpful suggestions to enhance or meal. We appreciate them offering the perfect after dinner drink, etc. We can accept or decline. The crew members are serving us to make a living and performing their duties. I appreciate their efforts! We do not view them as "flim flam" salespeople. Cruising and vacationing is a frame of mind- I have the freedom to say "No, thank you" to any staff member and continue to enjoy my cruise. Yes, there are ships/ cruise lines we do not care for but we have found a lovely cruise line home with Princess and one other. And we ALWAYS turn our phone off when on the ship. We have never been charged when in port, however, I will admit that this has been a very informative thread and we will continue to be cautious on our future cruises. Happy Sailing to All!!! Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampiress Posted September 16, 2017 #231 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Can you clarify "Around Ports"? Was that coming in or with the lines tied to the dock? Coming in I have seen it switch but never when fully docked. around ports, as you cruise in. i' have woken up as we were sailing in, turned on my phone and connected to land based towers. generally with in site of land i've been able to connect to land towers. mine has never connected to the ship's towers because i have data roaming off. i also have t-mobile, and i have data and cell in mexico included with my plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonbeam Posted September 16, 2017 #232 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Makes sense, the ship towers technically do not have to be turned off until the gangway is down so the phone will go to strongest signal. This would not be for an extended period of time and not likely to run up a bill like OP got. around ports, as you cruise in. i' have woken up as we were sailing in, turned on my phone and connected to land based towers. generally with in site of land i've been able to connect to land towers. mine has never connected to the ship's towers because i have data roaming off. i also have t-mobile, and i have data and cell in mexico included with my plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted September 16, 2017 #233 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Makes sense, the ship towers technically do not have to be turned off until the gangway is down so the phone will go to strongest signal. This would not be for an extended period of time and not likely to run up a bill like OP got. Has nothing to do with the gangway. Supposed to be off long before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles4515 Posted September 16, 2017 #234 Share Posted September 16, 2017 (edited) Has nothing to do with the gangway.Supposed to be off long before that. They have to be miles out to sea. I believe the distance is 12 miles out from land to have the ships cell service on. Edited September 17, 2017 by Charles4515 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablo222 Posted September 17, 2017 #235 Share Posted September 17, 2017 221 posts that could have been avoided if the OP had just turned off the phone and left it off. How nice that so many posters could pile on. Not everyone knows everything before their first cruise. There are posts here every day that demonstrate that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsqrl Posted September 17, 2017 #236 Share Posted September 17, 2017 . . . T-Mobile has a 55+ unlimited voice, text and data plan available right now for $60 per couple ($55 for one) that also provides . . . . Wow, that's some breathtaking discrimination against single people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PescadoAmarillo Posted September 17, 2017 #237 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Wow, that's some breathtaking discrimination against single people. But perfect for a single person with a tablet. A couple with one cellular tablet is out of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsqrl Posted September 17, 2017 #238 Share Posted September 17, 2017 But perfect for a single person with a tablet. A couple with one cellular tablet is out of luck. Wait, what? You lost me. Which is easy to do if we're talking about electronics. I'm still working on mastering my flip phone . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PescadoAmarillo Posted September 17, 2017 #239 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Wait, what? You lost me. Which is easy to do if we're talking about electronics. I'm still working on mastering my flip phone . . . Not sure I could use one of those anymore either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZbeachboy Posted September 17, 2017 #240 Share Posted September 17, 2017 I think there are a few points that have been made her that will be especially helpful for new cruises. 1) You learned to get a package from the cruise lines. There is no free internet for anyone unless you buy it or it comes with a special you purchased. 2. Just because you think you can get it free without buying it because you see it is available (which I happened to think the OP did) It is not and that will catch up with you. 3. You can do without the internet while your on vacation. If you must be on internet wait till port and go to an internet café. It is much cheaper. The only problem is in some ports English is not the language of the web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted September 17, 2017 #241 Share Posted September 17, 2017 You can do without the internet while your on vacation. Maybe you can, I can't: a) Communication with vendors for private tours b) Paying bills that need to be paid during the cruise c) Notification from credit card bank that card has been frozen because of a suspicious charge (that I made) in a foreign country, even after telling bank in advance the card would be used by me in that country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablo222 Posted September 17, 2017 #242 Share Posted September 17, 2017 I recently took a Northern European cruise with Princess and they basically robbed us. They internet package was expensive and slowed. You basically spent 5 minutes of your allotted time to get to a website. When we were docked they took over the LTE and charged $9 per giga byte. Usually without an international it is $.98 so basically 9 times more than the regular price. By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill. Just really disappointed with Princess and I will never cruise with them. Sent from my iPhone using Forums For the next person: this info from cruise critic might be helpful: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1752 https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=45 And a lot less abusive than the posts here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billco Posted September 17, 2017 #243 Share Posted September 17, 2017 I think there are a few points that have been made her that will be especially helpful for new cruises. 1) You learned to get a package from the cruise lines. There is no free internet for anyone unless you buy it or it comes with a special you purchased. 2. Just because you think you can get it free without buying it because you see it is available (which I happened to think the OP did) It is not and that will catch up with you. 3. You can do without the internet while your on vacation. If you must be on internet wait till port and go to an internet café. It is much cheaper. The only problem is in some ports English is not the language of the web. In reading this thread I haven’t seen an emphasis on any of the above points. I think the most helpful points would be: 1: Take time prior to a cruise to learn basic operation of your device in regards to WiFi, cellular, and internet and the differences between each. 2: Read your carriers instructions on international use. 3: If purchasing an internet package read the cruise lines instructions particularly on how to log on, log off, and keep track of your minutes. 4: If things go horribly wrong, don’t come whining on CC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRAYTech Posted September 17, 2017 #244 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Wait, what? You lost me. Which is easy to do if we're talking about electronics. I'm still working on mastering my flip phone . . . Open/close, Open/close....Texting on a flip phone does take some mastering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PescadoAmarillo Posted September 17, 2017 #245 Share Posted September 17, 2017 You can do without the internet while your on vacation. Not if you cruise for 3, 4, 5 months at a time as we do. Frankly, I can't do without it for even a week, nor do I want to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles4515 Posted September 17, 2017 #246 Share Posted September 17, 2017 I think there are a few points that have been made her that will be especially helpful for new cruises. 1) You learned to get a package from the cruise lines. There is no free internet for anyone unless you buy it or it comes with a special you purchased. 2. Just because you think you can get it free without buying it because you see it is available (which I happened to think the OP did) It is not and that will catch up with you. 3. You can do without the internet while your on vacation. If you must be on internet wait till port and go to an internet café. It is much cheaper. The only problem is in some ports English is not the language of the web. On your point 1, if you have cruised on Princess a certain number of times you do get some free internet without buying it. I had 150 minutes free a few weeks ago. I only used 90 minutes of it because I have worked out doing things offine and quickly logging on and off on Princess slow internet. On your point 3, some can do without internet on vacation, some can not do without it, and some like me don't want to do without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles4515 Posted September 17, 2017 #247 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Maybe you can, I can't:a) Communication with vendors for private tours b) Paying bills that need to be paid during the cruise c) Notification from credit card bank that card has been frozen because of a suspicious charge (that I made) in a foreign country, even after telling bank in advance the card would be used by me in that country. A couple of weeks ago I decided on the spur of the moment to do the London Eye. Since I had the International Day Pass I did it on my phone instead of standing in the queue. That saved time and was a discount. Did have snafu as American Express which does not do travel notifications declined it and sent an email asking if it was me. So being connected I was able to reply and get the hold released. If I had went to the ticket window and didn't have cell service I would not have been able to use that card. Then in Belgium using a Barclay Mastercard that I had like you did put in the Travel Notification in advance, it was declined. I had to call them on my cell to unfreeze the card. I mentioned this in another thread, having the day passes in London saved me money as I used Uber there a few times. Uber fares were less than the London taxi rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZbeachboy Posted September 17, 2017 #248 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Not if you cruise for 3, 4, 5 months at a time as we do. Frankly, I can't do without it for even a week, nor do I want to try. That is not a vacation, that long is a job, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonbeam Posted September 17, 2017 #249 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Actually asked about that once. It's SUPPOSED to be turned off when land towers are in range (2 miles give or take), but it HAS to be turned off when either docked or in the port area - depending on the port (has to do with signal interferences rules in that country). Many ships will do it earlier because its one less thing to worry about, but you cannot depend on it being off until totally docked. Interesting note - the older systems are effectively picocells, so as long as the land tower is fairly close to the port the land tower will be grabbed due to strongest signal. However, as ships upgrade to the newer high speed systems, the repeater on board is more powerful as well and thus you may see this happen more. Has nothing to do with the gangway.Supposed to be off long before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles4515 Posted September 17, 2017 #250 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Actually asked about that once. It's SUPPOSED to be turned off when land towers are in range (2 miles give or take), but it HAS to be turned off when either docked or in the port area - depending on the port (has to do with signal interferences rules in that country). Many ships will do it earlier because its one less thing to worry about, but you cannot depend on it being off until totally docked. I looked it up. Don't rely on what someone told you. It has to be off at 12 nautical miles except in the European Union where it has to be off at 2 nautical miles. It can't be on otherwise. It will go off before the ship is docked. Either 12 miles out or 2 miles in most of Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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