Just making sure.....

[RoperDK]

Leaving on the Breeze in a couple of weeks.  We will dock in San Juan and St. Thomas. Our cell service includes those areas in our plan (Verizon). Duh, they are part of the United States. What I want to verify is that while the ship is DOCKED that they turn off the ship's towers and that we can guarantee to connect to free service.  We did that years ago during a Hawaiian cruise.  Also, how do you tell if you are connected to Verizon towers or the ship's towers?  We never have the opportunity to "see" what that looks like. I've heard several people talk about getting local cell service while off shore.  I've never been exactly sure how to verify that.

 

Thanks in advance! 

[shof515]

due to various laws, all ships turn off their cellular towers when docked at port

 

To make sure you are connected to a Verizon tower, you phone will say Verizon on it. usually on the top left corner or somewhere else depending on your call. If you see something else, like Cellular@Sea or some other name, you should get an automatically text message telling you are roaming and what the roaming rates is.

Like right now, my phone shows Verizon on the top left to show it is connected to Verizon.

[cherylandtk]

Your phones will show the name of the carrier, usually in the top corner.  At sea it may be cell at Sea or MTsomething.  On shore it will list a local provider, such as ATT, Verizon, or Orange.  You can verify the names of the local providers by looking to see who the major carriers are online.

 

Yes they do turn the towers off on the ship, usually as they approach within two miles of the port.  But they can forget, so look at your phone and verify the provider name before calling. And do set your phones to not do auto updates or other heavy data automatically.  Save that for a high speed Wi-Fi connection in port or when you get back home.

[jmcathome]

Check Verizon plane for free phone service. My verizon service text are free in both , phone is free in San Juan not in St Thomas

[Cafedumonde]

24 minutes ago, jmcathome said:

Check Verizon plane for free phone service. My verizon service text are free in both , phone is free in San Juan not in St Thomas

Thanks for this information.  I would have assumed that st. Thomas was free so good to know.

[RoperDK]

Thanks everyone.  I verified that both San Juan and St. Thomas were included in my talk, text, and data plan.  We have Travel Pass which is only $5 a day when in Mexico and Canada.  Most other countries are included at $10 a day. With 2 "free" days, I don't think we'll need Travel Pass this time. I usually have my phone in airplane mode while on the ship. Is this why I can't "see" what the cell service provider is?  If I turn off mobile data and then turn off airplane mode, will I be able to see the service provider without getting a big hit with data?   

[Butterbean1000]

I make phone calls and texts from both those place without a problem or charges.  I have AT&T.

[d-train]

You could also just turn off the phone’s roaming capability to be sure you stay on your network, right?  I have mine set as a rule, and had no issues in San Juan last summer. 

[hard_eight]

Just a warning, my Verizon phone hasn't worked any of the 3 times we've been in San Juan. Neither did any of my kids. My Wife's AT&T phone was fine.

[Purvis1231]

Ships maybe required to turn off Cellular at Sea while in ports, at least on one occasion several years ago on Holland America in Alaska, the ship did not turn it off. I noticed it right before I began making calling. I called customer service and soon it was shut down so I could make my calls.