AT&T International Plan Cruise Package - Anybody used it?

[awreaper]

I have an upcoming 7 day cruise and because of my work I need to available in case needed.  Before the "turn off the phone" replies start coming in, it is part of my job and personally I hate cell phones and would love to lock it in the room safe for 7 days but that is not possible.  Hopefully I won't get a call but I have to be available.  With that said has anyone used this package before?  Any hidden costs or fees?

 

https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/cruise-packages.html

[dcipjr]

What about the ship's Wi-Fi? Maybe it's good enough for Wi-Fi calling? Can anyone report?

[rtkenmore]

4 minutes ago, awreaper said:

I have an upcoming 7 day cruise and because of my work I need to available in case needed.  Before the "turn off the phone" replies start coming in, it is part of my job and personally I hate cell phones and would love to lock it in the room safe for 7 days but that is not possible.  Hopefully I won't get a call but I have to be available.  With that said has anyone used this package before?  Any hidden costs or fees?

 

https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/cruise-packages.html

 

Good to know... I think this is fairly new for coverage on NCL ships.  I've had AT&T for years and have always just done the international day passes because there was nothing optional for on board the ships through AT&T.

 

$100 for 200mb of data & calls is horrible though...

[Sweetnspicy]

I don't have any experience with it but I have an AT&T store next door to where I work. I would love to get this for my next cruise to keep in contact with my house sitter. Its the only thing that causes me anxiety. See if you can get your company to pay for the extra cost since they are making you have access to your phone!

[mdsgu]

The AT&T package is good, but it only works IN PORT.  It does NOT cover calls made or received when you are at sea.  You have to keep that in mind.

[dcipjr]

15 minutes ago, mdsgu said:

The AT&T package is good, but it only works IN PORT.  It does NOT cover calls made or received when you are at sea.  You have to keep that in mind.

 

I don't think that's true. It says at the bottom of the link that OP posted that it's for specific cruise ships and cruise lines, and "designed for use onboard cruise ships while at sea" -- so it would presumably not cover calls when a ship is in port and the cell phone towers are not active. Another consideration to keep in mind!

[rtkenmore]

13 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

 

I don't think that's true. It says at the bottom of the link that OP posted that it's for specific cruise ships and cruise lines, and "designed for use onboard cruise ships while at sea" -- so it would presumably not cover calls when a ship is in port and the cell phone towers are not active. Another consideration to keep in mind!

 

No, it also includes cell phone usage while in select ports as well.

 

"Save with affordable cruise packages for talk, text, and data usage. Your package INCLUDES usage on land in Mexico, Canada, and select Caribbean islands at no additional charge."

[javelina03]

On 11/13/2018 at 9:31 AM, dcipjr said:

What about the ship's Wi-Fi? Maybe it's good enough for Wi-Fi calling? Can anyone report?

Was on Breakaway last week and for the most part it worked well. Had the Unlimited Premium plan.

[Weluv2fish]

it works while in Port.  10.00 per day per phone

. we used it last year and will use next week on our 11 day in the south Caribbean

    

[senseib]

51 minutes ago, Weluv2fish said:

it works while in Port.  10.00 per day per phone

. we used it last year and will use next week on our 11 day in the south Caribbean

    

Not in every port.  Here's the list of ships and ports where it works. https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/cruise-ship-list.html

[Weluv2fish]

Last time in December on Epic. It worked on all ports 

even one that was not on list 

[Weluv2fish]

However while on Epic I could not use it

 

looks like On Dawn we can.  Wooohoo

 

 

hery I’m happy no matter 

 

I have the free Wi-Fi package and the phone call package we got for free on board 

[rtkenmore]

I think some of you are confusing packages...  AT&T has a cruise ship package now that includes NCL ships.  They are discussed in the link at the top but they do not allow any additional data above what is included in the package (200mb).

 

The $10/day package that someone has mentioned is the International Day Pass.  It does NOT work on the cruise ship and will charge you international roaming if you attempt to use your data or phone while on the cruise ship.  The International Day Pass is good in port only for a 24 hour period and uses your existing plan data.

 

It's great if you can time it right and want to save a little bit of money.  Anytime you have back to back port days, just start a new "pass" around noon and then you have until noon the following day in a different port to use the same pass.  Essentially, this lets you use one pass for every other day for the most part...  And is a lot cheaper than the cruise package from AT&T or the cruise ship internet if you only want it while in port to begin with.

[Weluv2fish]

Yes we do the international day pass 

it worked well 

 

I will have to find out about ATT

cruise ship package 

do I need to call ATT 

 

i have the Wi-Fi on ship package 

[senseib]

AT&T has three cruise ship plans that can be used on eligible ships and in eligible ports.   1) A calling and texting plan:  $50 for 30 days gives you 50 minutes talk time and unlimited send texts,  2) a calling, data and texting plan:  $100 for 30 days gives you 200MB data, unlimited talk and unlimited send text, and 3) a $3.00 per minute plan.  In the ports not covered by the cruise plans you need to get one of their international plans.  The International Day Pass is great at $10 per day, charged only when you use your device in a covered country.  

 

The NCL Internet packages are data plans not calling plans.  Not sure if NCL permits wifi assisted calling on their plans.

[Weluv2fish]

Thank you for simplifying and posting 

 

We appreciate you 🙂

[Nola26]

So, so far no posts by anyone that has used the AT&T onboarding plan. I am considering it for my Christmas cruise.

 

I have used the $10/day pass and thought it was awesome to use my phone pretty much like I would at home.

 

Thanks for the noon to noon  option (or any two day 24hr window). That can work for Roatan and Grand Cayman.

[senseib]

I used it on a RC cruise in the Caribbean and it was fine.  The quality of the service depends on the ship's equipment and atmospheric conditions, not the carrier.

[llrcno0210]

I called AT&T yesterday and added the $50 plan for my cruise on the Breakaway leaving in 2 days. 

I mainly need to be able to text with my office. I figure if something comes up, I can get a WiFi NCL package otherwise there’s WiFi at some places on shore where I can check email, etc. 

 

Edited to add I initially went to the AT&T store and the guy helping me had no idea what I was talking about. He told (very condescendingly) that such a thing doesn’t exist because there’s no cell towers in the middle of the gulf. I pulled up their website and showed him and he was like ohhh...uhhhh...I don’t know anything about this. He called his manager over and he said this is not something they can do in the store. You HAVE to call. 

Edited November 16, 2018 by llrcno0210

[rtkenmore]

1 hour ago, llrcno0210 said:

I called AT&T yesterday and added the $50 plan for my cruise on the Breakaway leaving in 2 days. 

I mainly need to be able to text with my office. I figure if something comes up, I can get a WiFi NCL package otherwise there’s WiFi at some places on shore where I can check email, etc. 

 

Edited to add I initially went to the AT&T store and the guy helping me had no idea what I was talking about. He told (very condescendingly) that such a thing doesn’t exist because there’s no cell towers in the middle of the gulf. I pulled up their website and showed him and he was like ohhh...uhhhh...I don’t know anything about this. He called his manager over and he said this is not something they can do in the store. You HAVE to call. 

 

Someone I work with is on the Breakaway as well.  It's a great itinerary!  The Starbucks in port at Cozumel has free wifi with any purchase.  Palmeras (just down the main road to the north) has wifi if you go for lunch as well.

 

The believe the port area in Costa Maya has free wifi and a bunch of the restaurants in the little village have wifi if you stop and have lunch or a drink with them.

 

I honestly don't recall if Harvest Caye had wifi or not (I don't think it did) and since you aren't really "on land" in a port, I don't recall there being cell phone service either.

 

It's been so long since we were in Belize City, no suggestions for there.

[rtkenmore]

10 hours ago, Nola26 said:

So, so far no posts by anyone that has used the AT&T onboarding plan. I am considering it for my Christmas cruise.

 

I have used the $10/day pass and thought it was awesome to use my phone pretty much like I would at home.

 

Thanks for the noon to noon  option (or any two day 24hr window). That can work for Roatan and Grand Cayman.

 

Yep, I figured out the trick for the back to back ports on the last cruise by accident.  We went on an early excursion and I didn't get my phone out to do anything "on line" until around 11 or 12 that day.  The next morning in the next port, I got it out expecting to see the notification about staring a "new" day pass but didn't...  You just have to be care not to keep using after the end of the 24 hours if you want to pull off the every other day method.  It's a good way to stay connected just enough to keep email caught up and send a few messages/etc. if you need to and not wind up with an arm and a leg in charges.

[berry15]

I just returned from a 14 day cruise aboard NCL and called AT&T prior to leaving.  I placed the new cruise package on for $100 so I could call home as we had many sea days.  When trying to use my phone I received the message that if I wanted to use the service I needed to contact AT&T.  Needless to say, it was useless to me.  When returning home, I called and they refunded the fee to me which was fine but did not relieve that fact that I could not use the phone.  

 

I also have the International Day Pass Service active on my phone which I think is better.  The advice to start it later in the day when at a port so that you can use it the next day in another port is very wise.  

 

 

[LinnieRed]

Fyi: we are on an at&t family plan and have FREE text, talk and data in the US, Mexico and Canada. We had to call to have it added,  it it cost ZERO! We travel frequently between these 3 countries and it’s been just great. And did I mention, it’s FREE? Just call and they will add.  

[Stace894]

Also be careful when you are In port but still on the ship. We did the day plan and it worked fine be we had to be about 50 yds away from the ship for it to kick in.  We noticed the problem the first day about 1 hr after we docked.  Called ATT on the phone immediately and was on with them for an hour.  Although multiple people before the cruise assured me that as long as we were docked, I could use on the ship.. .that was not the case and we had a high bill. Took 2 months fighting it but they finally dropped the extra charges.  After that first day only used when we were on land but was really nice to have at the beach.

 

[gootie]

cruising soon and this thread has been informative. Comments about needing to be actually on the land to use day pass especially helpful. Has anyone seen different coverage when in port?