Need help - ran up a big cell phone bill but had Net package

[The Fun Researcher]

53 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I believe Verizon has eliminated cellular data capability while at sea.

 

Sure enough.(see my screen grab from Verizon).   It’s only while at sea,  but that makes sense because when you are in port you are using that ports cellular service.   I’m not sure why you would buy this $20 monthly plan for a cruise ship when it doesn’t work while at sea. When in Port they shut off the cruise ships cellular services  so I’m not sure when this service would even be usable?   I wonder how they are able to disable cellular data connectivity to the ships cellular service while at sea?

 

Dan

 

 

 

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by The Fun Researcher

[Clarea]

14 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 ... I wonder how they are able to disable cellular data connectivity to the ships cellular service while at sea?

 

 

I think Verizon simply does not handle cellular data from the Cellular At Sea service. 

[Cutigerlady]

I had this happen to me on a Disney cruise with AT&T.  When we got back on land, my phone had been suspended.  I called AT&T and found out the only way to prevent the international charges was airplane mode. I thought turning cellular off was enough.

 

They offered to allow me to switch my phone plan and have it re-priced to lower the bill.  Since my billing window was almost up, they told me to wait for it to get priced out and then they would call me back to work it out.  I got very lucky and my phone was part of my company's billing plan and it had international calling included.  So my $900 estimated bill turned out to be about $10 more than normal!  AT&T called me back after the bill was available and told me they were waiving the $10 charge because I had been a customer for 10 years.  I would see what options they give you, because apparently this happens all of the time.  

 

 

[EDiamond22]

1 hour ago, scottbee said:

 

Not quite.  Airplane mode also turns off all other radio transmission/receiving, so it also disables Bluetooth and GPS (and it's possible you still want those).  Just turn off 'data roaming'.

 

 

 

you can definitely use Bluetooth when in airplane mode, just fyi.  

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, scottbee said:

 

Not quite.  Airplane mode also turns off all other radio transmission/receiving, so it also disables Bluetooth and GPS (and it's possible you still want those).  Just turn off 'data roaming'.

 

 

 

 

On my phone Airplane Mode does not turn off bluetooth or GPS. It also does not turn off WIFi. Airplane mode used to turn off WiFi but with the latest version of IOS  you have to actually turn off WiFi or bluetooth to turn them off. All Airplane mode does now is turn off the cellular connection. Airplane mode never turned off GPS.

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I think Verizon simply does not handle cellular data from the Cellular At Sea service. 

 

In my opinion the cruise lines should turn off Cellular at Sea completely.  Or at least the data connection. It is not needed anymore with WiFi calling and less expensive international roaming at ports.. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Charles4515

[kag19]

We learned the valuable $300 lesson of airplane mode after a trip to Mexico one year.  My husband thought he was on the resort WiFi but was in fact in some dead zones so it kept searching for cell service.  Now we always remind each other as soon as we get on ship or leave to go out of the country to put our phones in airplane mode.

[Clarea]

36 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

In my opinion the cruise lines should turn off Cellular at Sea completely.  Or at least the data connection. It is not needed anymore with WiFi calling and less expensive international roaming at ports.. 

 

I expect that the cruise line gets some sort of a kickback.

[klfrodo]

Note to self:

If not smarter than my smart phone, leave phone at home.

[broberts]

3 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

Many good responses here. The one I haven't read is to simply remove your SIM card. Then you are absolutely assured that your phone will only be functioning on the WiFi and not accessing any cell towers.

 

Does this not disable Wi-Fi calling and eliminate any locally stored contacts?

 

42 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

On my phone Airplane Mode does not turn off bluetooth or GPS. It also does not turn off WIFi. Airplane mode used to turn off WiFi but with the latest version of IOS  you have to actually turn off WiFi or bluetooth to turn them off. All Airplane mode does now is turn off the cellular connection. Airplane mode never turned off GPS.

 

Interesting. It seems that there are enough variations to suggest that we should periodically verify the actual functioning on our personal devices.

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, broberts said:

 

Does this not disable Wi-Fi calling and eliminate any locally stored contacts?...

 

Depending on the phone, contacts can be stored locally on the phone.

[broberts]

2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Depending on the phone, contacts can be stored locally on the phone.

 

Not on the SIM?

[Hogbay]

52 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

In my opinion the cruise lines should turn off Cellular at Sea completely.  Or at least the data connection. It is not needed anymore with WiFi calling and less expensive international roaming at ports.. 

So who should pay for the satellite  they did not put it up their for free and want to make a profit too .

 

https://globalcomsatphone.com/costs/

[broberts]

23 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

So who should pay for the satellite  they did not put it up their for free and want to make a profit too .

 

https://globalcomsatphone.com/costs/

 

The enterprises that seek to profit from the satellite should be paying. Not former customers.

[Hogbay]

3 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

The enterprises that seek to profit from the satellite should be paying. Not former customers.

Were do you think WIFI comes via 

[broberts]

28 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

Were do you think WIFI comes via 

 

Exactly. Those that use the satellites for internet transmissions should be paying for them. If cellular at sea is turned off, there will still be satellite customers.

 

But the suggestion to disable cellular at sea is not a good one. While most US carriers offer Wi-Fi calling, not every passenger will be using one of these carriers.

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, broberts said:

 

Not on the SIM?

 

On phones that I've had, I could choose phone or SIM for contact storage.

[bobmacliberty]

OP... If you have an iPhone (Android probably has something similar), then WiFi Assist is your likely culprit.  As others have noted, it allows apps to switch to Cellular when your WiFi signal is weak.  I have this turned off all the time.  More info, including how to turn this off, here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205296

 

I frequently needed to log back in to the ship's WiFi during my last cruise.  Doesn't seem to stay "permanently" connected, so WiFi assist would have tried to kick in with cellular data (unless in airplane mode).

 

When I travel internationally, I'm nervous that I will somehow turn off airplane mode accidentally.  I typically go into Settings > Cellular and turn off cellular data instead.

[Anita Latte]

1 hour ago, broberts said:

 

Not on the SIM?

 

When we switched out our SIM cards, our phones were exactly as they were previously, just new access. In fact, unless we went through the whole set up with the phone, the phone itself still thought it's phone number was the US SIM card number (in the about this phone area of settings). 

[Hogbay]

The carrier , your phone company is responsible for all charges including cellular at sea , they will never switch it off at sea🙂

http://www.cellularatsea.com/faqs.html

[rjp111838]

had the same problem a couple of years ago on celebrity off iceland. sprint, my carrier suspended my account after we ran it up to  $500. when i called them on my return they waived the charges since i was a long time customer. now i understand why the crew rushes ashore waving their cell phones

 

[Charles4515]

37 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

On phones that I've had, I could choose phone or SIM for contact storage.

 

Some phones store contacts on a SIM card, iPhones do not. I still would not remove the SIM card unless I was inserting another SIM. It is easier to put the phone in Airplane mode than to remove the case and then the SIM card. Also I don't have an earing.......

 

 In any case that would not work because I don't have a physical SIM card in my phone to remove. So can anyone guess how that can be? 

[blackshirt]

5 hours ago, scottbee said:

 

Not quite.  Airplane mode also turns off all other radio transmission/receiving, so it also disables Bluetooth and GPS (and it's possible you still want those).  Just turn off 'data roaming'.

 

Not necessarily and depends on your phone and software version. Airplane mode used to turn all radios off on my iPhone even though I could independently turn WiFi and Bluetooth back on but now it only turns cellular off. I’m not sure which iOS version changed that but it did. The WiFi and Bluetooth switches are now separate and unaffected by turning airplane mode on.

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, broberts said:

 

Interesting. It seems that there are enough variations to suggest that we should periodically verify the actual functioning on our personal devices.

 

I believe the change makes sense as it is no longer required to turn off WiFi on airplanes, only cellular. I agree there are many variations and all should verify the actual functioning of the phone they own. Also verify WiFi calling before the cruise as some updates have required re enabling it. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Charles4515

[Cruiser_1977]

For those with an iPhone:

Airplane mode is in Settings - 

Turn off Cellular Roaming - In "Settings" - then "Cellular"