Riviera cruise from Rome to Barcelona

[GeezerCouple]

On 9/27/2018 at 9:40 AM, Flatbush Flyer said:

OP: there is no "speed" difference between the basic and "paid" internet. Rather, the paid one removes the block on streaming video et al.

Also, folks should know that, if you have the right service provider at home (e.g., AT&T), "wifi calling" (to/from the US at no cost) can be done with the basic internet service.

 

How would this work, if one does indeed have AT&T at home?

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

How would this work, if one does indeed have AT&T at home?

 

Many thanks!

 

GC

Looking to make/receive AT&T voice calls while on an O ship?

 

On an iPhone of recent vintage (we have 7+ Running iOS 10.3), go to "Settings," "Phone," "WiFi Calling" and turn it "On"

At the top of the home screen (my pic below says "AT&T M-Cell"), look for that top bar network designation to change to "AT&T WiFi"

and display several bars of service. Of course, you must have an active Oceania internet account session running and it only works for calls to/from the US. But, you do not have to turn on Cellular Roaming (which is what you're trying to avoid) since everything is working over the internet

Note that, while wifi calling works on O ships (whenever I've tried it), it may not function on other cruise lines. 

Also note that, if you don't have an appropriate wifi connection (on land or on sea), wifi calling will not work.

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Looking to make/receive AT&T voice calls while on an O ship?

 

On an iPhone of recent vintage (we have 7+ Running iOS 10.3), go to "Settings," "Phone," "WiFi Calling" and turn it "On"

At the top of the home screen (my pic below says "AT&T M-Cell"), look for that top bar network designation to change to "AT&T WiFi"

and display several bars of service. Of course, you must have an active Oceania internet account session running and it only works for calls to/from the US. But, you do not have to turn on Cellular Roaming (which is what you're trying to avoid) since everything is working over the internet

Note that, while wifi calling works on O ships (whenever I've tried it), it may not function on other cruise lines. 

Also note that, if you don't have an appropriate wifi connection (on land or on sea), wifi calling will not work.

 

Thanks so much.

DH "does" the iPhone set ups, so I'll ask him to look into this.

But we both have "recent" model iPhones, so it seems it should work!

(Well, I *now* have a recent iPhone.  My beloved but ancient BlackBerry finally conked out a few months ago.  I seriously miss the mini-but-real Keyboard, but I'm slowly getting used to my replacement iPhone.  Anyway, DH surprised me with one in a lovely pale/dusty pink color, so "what's not to like" about it, right?  )

 

Is this just (or somewhat?) like using home WiFi rather than the AT&T connection directly?

 

This would be pretty amazing to have, NOT that I'm eager to spend my cruising time talking on my iPhone...!

 

Thanks!

 

GC

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

19 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Thanks so much.

DH "does" the iPhone set ups, so I'll ask him to look into this.

But we both have "recent" model iPhones, so it seems it should work!

(Well, I *now* have a recent iPhone.  My beloved but ancient BlackBerry finally conked out a few months ago.  I seriously miss the mini-but-real Keyboard, but I'm slowly getting used to my replacement iPhone.  Anyway, DH surprised me with one in a lovely pale/dusty pink color, so "what's not to like" about it, right?  )

 

Is this just (or somewhat?) like using home WiFi rather than the AT&T connection directly?

 

This would be pretty amazing to have, NOT that I'm eager to spend my cruising time talking on my iPhone...!

 

Thanks!

 

GC

 

 

You can use "wifi calling" at home rather than using your "cellular voice" minutes. But, depending on your internet provider, you need to weigh the balance of what are your "allowances" in each arena vs your usage.

Note in my picture that my network says "AT&T microcell." It is a mini cell tower provided by AT&T since we are in a tough cell service area on the north shore of SF Bay. It uses a combo of internet and satellite to provide cellular voice/text/data. Many folks who have needed to use "microcell" have now moved to "wifi calling." We're just purposefully slow in deciding to "fix what ain't broke." But, on the ship, we do use wifi calling.

On land, depending on where we're headed and for how long, we may get an AT&T international roaming "passport" (either daily or monthly) for voice/data/text. What we don't do is sign in to any "free wifi." Watch the NBC News Rossen Report on cruise port and resort wifi hacking and you'll see why.