International phone plan

[buffett336]

Does the international phone plan work on the ship? I have Verizon through work and was told to use my phone like I'm at home because of the plan we have.

Also can I make my phone a "hotspot" for others to use that are around us?

[thinfool]

Does the international phone plan work on the ship? I have Verizon through work and was told to use my phone like I'm at home because of the plan we have.

Also can I make my phone a "hotspot" for others to use that are around us?

 

No, your onship calls will be in the neighborhood of $2.49/min. Your plan should work when you are off the ship at a port stop.

 

Same answer for the hotstpot featture.

 

Many folks have had success with using the wifi calling feature onboard the ship. Tho this does require purchase of an internet package.

[sid_9169]

I found this on the Carnival website...

CELLULAR PHONE SERVICE

 

Carnival Cruise Lines, through agreement with Wireless Maritime Services, offers an advanced roaming network on board Carnival Cruise Lines ships, allowing you to make and receive calls while at sea using your own mobile phone and telephone number. International roaming charges will be conveniently billed to you by your home mobile carrier. Please contact your mobile carrier for specific rate information.

Stay Connected While At Sea On Your Cruise!

WMS offers an advanced roaming network onboard cruise ships allowing you to use your phone just like you do at home. Service for voice calls, texting (SMS) and data is available onboard while the ship is at sea. Once the WMS network is switched on, while roaming on our cruise ships, you will see a distinct display on your handset that differs from your home carrier. Depending on the make and model of your phone, the handset will read Nor 18, cellular@sea or 901 18.

As a reminder, international roaming charges apply and will be billed by your home carrier and not by WMS.

How It Works

Due to regulations, the WMSatSea network only works when the ship is at sea at least 12 nautical miles from shore (2 nautical miles in the European Union). When the ship is sailing on international waters, you will be able to use the WMS network for incoming and outgoing calls, SMS, and Data services (email and web surfing). Once in port, you can connect to local roaming networks as permitted by your home carrier.

Service Requirements

The WMSatSea mobile network is accessible by most mobile phones, supporting both GSM and CDMA technologies. You must have service with one of the nearly 400 carriers worldwide that have a roaming agreement with WMS. Some prepaid phone plans by some carriers are not currently supported. Please check with your mobile telephone service provider for details.

Charges, Billing, and Customer Service

Rates for roaming on ships are determined by your home carrier. Please note that calls to 800, 888, 866, and 877 numbers are not toll free. You will be billed by your home carrier for your international roaming usage on your regular mobile phone bill. Typically charges will appear on the next monthly bill, but depending on your carrier it may occasionally take up to 60 days for charges to appear on your phone bill. Please note that most cell phone carriers do not allow their unlimited rate plans to apply to cellular calls, texts or data used while onboard ships. Please contact your own carrier to confirm this and your specific pricing details.

Explanation of Rates and Charges

Service is provided by Wireless Maritime Services. Use of the WMS services requires compatible wireless phone and qualified wireless service with a home carrier provider that has a roaming agreement with WMS. Your home network will determine the international roaming rates you pay for usage.

WMS provides CDMA, GSM voice and DATA services. Other service features may not be available. Voice usage is measured during the time you are connected to your system, which is approximately from the time you press the button that initiates or answers the call until approximately the time the first party terminates the call. Voice usage for each call is billed in full minute increments with partial minutes rounded up to the next full minute. Data usage for each billing record will be rounded up to the next kilobyte and a cost will be associated with each billing record and rounded to the nearest cent.

Availability, timeliness and reliability of service are subject to radio transmission limitation caused by system capacity, system repairs and modifications, your equipment, signal strength, weather and other conditions. You will only be able to call and text message to certain countries. Other restrictions and limitations apply for service.

SERVICES PROVIDED

Voice

USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean: Dial +, the country code and the full number; Verizon Wireless/Sprint users dial 011, the country code and the full number. Other Countries: Dial 011, the country code, city code and local number.

Text Messaging (SMS)

Text messaging service is available on most compatible devices, depending on your wireless serviceprovider. Address your text message to your North American number with 1 + area code and number.

Data

If your home carrier supports GPRS, EDGE or EVDO data service, you can check email, surf the web and share photos while traveling just as you would at home.

Voicemail

Most users will be able to check their messages by pressing and holding the 1 key. Please note that some home carriers charge for messages deposited to and retrieved from voicemail while a customer is roaming. Please contact your home carrier customer service with any questions about using your voicemail.

 

[lizardhowson]

Long story short - if you make cell phone calls on the ship, you will incur mammoth charges from both your carrier and from Carnival (which will be added by your carrier to your cell phone bill)

 

The reason - no cell phones towers in the ocean.

[thesmiths]

I travel Intl a lot and just sailed the Southern.

I have Verizon and I call then for the $10.00 per day plan ( 24 hours).

So on the Southern it was $40.00 additional dollars.

Unlimited use in port.

 

Don't use the phone at sea only for taking pics.