Cell phones and cruising q?

[*Miss G*]

55 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

Question: Exactly when does a phone "transfer" from a ship's cell system (the $$$ one) to a shore cell system? We're on a trip starting this weekend Canada/new England out of New York, and I'll be trying a US travel Sim Card (T-Mobile) instead of Bell's Roaming (half the cost and much greater data allowance)

 

When we cruise, on the ship the phone is in airplane mode and we use wifi. When the ship docks and we disembark, at what point would it be OK to turn off airplane mode to ensure we connect to the shore-based T-Mobile network and not to the ship's network. I'd obviously like to ensure I never accidentally connect to the ship's cell system

 

T-Mobile and the cruise lines use Cellular at Sea  It would be T-Mobile which sets the costs; not the ship.  Cellular at Sea just provides the means.

 

I use Verizon.  When we dock I turn off airplane mode to see if 4G/5G/LTE appears.  (3G in Alaska.) If it still says Cellular at Sea, or something other than LTE/3/4/5G, then I know it’s not back to land-based service and I turn airplane mode back on until Cellular at Sea disconnects.  For a quick check like that it’s highly unlikely you will incur charges unless you actually use the phone.  One time we were hours at sea on the St Lawrence before I recalled I hadn’t turned my phone to airplane mode.  Luckily it was overnight so no calls or texts were received, so no charges.

 

The other day we were almost at the dock so I turned airplane mode off long enough to get this message showing the costs if I use the service.  Turned it back on until we’d docked and land-based service was back.

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by *Miss G*

[Fouremco]

12 hours ago, lx200gps said:

Question: Exactly when does a phone "transfer" from a ship's cell system (the $$$ one) to a shore cell system? We're on a trip starting this weekend Canada/new England out of New York, and I'll be trying a US travel Sim Card (T-Mobile) instead of Bell's Roaming (half the cost and much greater data allowance)

 

When we cruise, on the ship the phone is in airplane mode and we use wifi. When the ship docks and we disembark, at what point would it be OK to turn off airplane mode to ensure we connect to the shore-based T-Mobile network and not to the ship's network. I'd obviously like to ensure I never accidentally connect to the ship's cell system

I don't think that there's an exact point that can identified. By way of comparison, I've spent a fair bit of time boating in the Brockville area on the St. Lawrence, and some days my phone picks up US cell towers and some days it keeps to Canadian towers, even in the same location. On cruise ships, I've forgotten to switch to airplane mode and have remained connected to a shore tower up to a couple of miles out of port. So determining an exact point of transfer is pretty difficult and would vary from port to port and the location of the cell towers ashore.

 

Unless you are in a great hurry to place a call, just wait until you are in port. That way you'll know for sure that you'll be ok.