How do I avoid roaming charges but still be able to use email and texts?

[mkerner]

I have an iPhone.  I want to be able to get and receive emails and texts.  What are the best settings to use to avoid roaming data charges?  Thanks!

[OneSixtyToOne]

10 minutes ago, mkerner said:

I have an iPhone.  I want to be able to get and receive emails and texts.  What are the best settings to use to avoid roaming data charges?  Thanks!

Put your phone in airplane mode and only use Wi-Fi. 

[TayanaLorna]

11 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Put your phone in airplane mode and only use Wi-Fi. 

Exactly.  We did this from home just to test what we could do.  We got our email through WiFi, could use our Internet bookmarks for weather, FB, CC etc but did not get texts because they are cellular.  Some people say they get their texts but our cellular plan does not do WiFi texts.  Instead we would use What'sApp or Messenger to communinicate with people back home or friends on board.  

[rizello]

it really depends on which service provider you have. We have TMobile so our plan allows texts and data.  When we had ATT, we only used wi fi and turned off cellular for the entire trip ,including roaming. We used Whatsapp for communicating with folks back home and FaceTime if we needed to call (which we didn't)

 

 

[Vineyard View]

44 minutes ago, rizello said:

it really depends on which service provider you have. We have TMobile so our plan allows texts and data.  When we had ATT, we only used wi fi and turned off cellular for the entire trip ,including roaming. We used Whatsapp for communicating with folks back home and FaceTime if we needed to call (which we didn't)

 

 

Thank you for this clarification. Where we live a lot of people we know are ATT and use WhatsApp all the time internationally. So this really helps me to put it all together. 

[The Other Tom]

Put your phone in airplane mode.  This automatically tuns off wifi but you can (and should) go into your settings and turn it back on.  Then you can use the ships wifi or whatever wifi is available for your email/texts.  Note that most public wifi is not secure so I would be cautious about emailing sensitive information.  

Alternatively, most carriers have an international plan that gives you the same voice/data limits you have at home.  For Verizon, it's $10 per day for every day that you use it. So it you only use it, say, on Monday, then your total bill is $10 even though it's activated for the time you are abroad. 

Edited September 7, 2022 by The Other Tom

[lz7rdgjh]

AT&T also offers the $10/day international deal.  But we used the airplane mode method on the Viking West Indies cruise and the Viking Sea Wi-Fi was totally adequate for average needs.  With this method, you can call anywhere as if you are in the US including other travelers on the ship.  We tried it and there was no charge.  But consider that if you call the local restaurant that you can see from the ship in a non-US port, it could be an international call.  Not real sure about this.  We did not try that.

[Jim Avery]

Just make sure your phone never "attaches" to the ship's cellular service.

[SailorPaulH]

7 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Just make sure your phone never "attaches" to the ship's cellular service.

How far from the ship do you think you need to be for this not to be a possibility? For example, if you are in a port and you may want to access a local cellular service.

[lz7rdgjh]

I believe attaching to the ship's cellular service and attaching to the wi-fi service is two different things.  I don't remember having the ability to attach to the 'cellular service' on our recent West Indies cruise.  We attached only to the wi-fi service, and all was well.  I'm not sure the ship even has a cellular service.  They actually do have a satellite service that can be accessed from your cabin phone - but not your cell phone - for about $2/minute.

[Houston Roadrunner]

I have an IPhone and was able to send and receive text messages in wifi mode.  My ATT service allows my phone to switch automatically to wifi when cellular service is not available or poor.

[CruiserFromMaine]

I know T-Mobile has good international plans but I don’t believe that includes cruise ships. You should double check or just put your phone in airplane mode as others recommended. 

[mkerner]

Thanks to all for the input.  What T-Moble tokd me was when on the ship to turn celluar data and roaming off and just use the ship's wireless service.  When on land to turn data on, but leave roaming off.  

[hqarangrsl]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:34 AM, CruiserFromMaine said:

I know T-Mobile has good international plans but I don’t believe that includes cruise ships. You should double check or just put your phone in airplane mode as others recommended. 

T Mobile does not include cruise ships.  My husband switched airplane mode off accidently last month on a cruise when he was using wifi to surf and a moment  later got a text about connecting to the ship (not Viking) cellular.  He asked me what that meant - I immediately turned his airplane mode back on.  For that minute and a half or so the charge was $8.00.  

[LindaS272]

We have T-Mobile—55+ plan with One World international or some such. Never had a problem on cruise ships the last three+ years—never charged for anything accidentally. Once  in the North Atlantic I remember receiving a notice about satellite or cruise cellular not being covered but it just appeared to block coverage. (I don’t know how these things work 🤷‍♀️). But never charged for anything other than the few calls we have made. Most texts are free now where we travel internationally. I also don’t put our phones into airplane mode once off the airplane. I do make sure to connect all our devices up to the ship’s wi-if when on the ship.

[NavyCruiser]

A "Train" engineer once told me that "Airplane" mode doesn't work on "Cruise Ships"...  😁

[lz7rdgjh]

Viking offers free Wi-Fi, and AT&T allows Wi-Fi calling.  On our previous Viking cruise, we had airplane mode on for the duration of the trip including excursions and at sea.  We were able to talk, text, and use data the entire time on our phones and PC when we were on the ship with not a single charge although responses were delayed sometimes.   We were in a travel group, and we could communicate with each other via cell phone, and we could make and receive calls to the US for no charge.  Audio quality was normal.  All this was when we were in range of the ship's Wi-Fi.

 

I believe airplane mode turns off roaming, data usage, and maybe some other stuff, but that is the key to managing international fees without an international calling plan.

 

John

[FlyerTalker]

Simple explanation:

 

"Airplane" mode turns off the cellular telephone transmitter/receiver in the phone.  This is distinct from the "wifi" transmitter/receiver.  On some phones, switching to "Airplane" turns off the wifi, but you can then turn the wifi on separately, without re-engaging the cellular network.  (You have TWO transmitter/reciever circuits in your phone)

 

Neither of which is "the internet", which is the connection AFTER you leave the server that your device is connected to, be it by cellular signal or wifi signal.

[longterm]

On 9/5/2022 at 8:03 PM, mkerner said:

I have an iPhone.  I want to be able to get and receive emails and texts.  What are the best settings to use to avoid roaming data charges?  Thanks!

iPhones have a small chip called a SIM that holds all the information that the provider uses for billing. Without a SIM, you can't make calls. If you look on the lower right edge of your iPhone you'll see the outline of the SIM tray.

 

iPhone 14 doesn't have a physical SIM; it uses an eSIM. On my iPhone 14 Pro I see the SIM tray, but I'm assuming there's no SIM card in there.

There are now digital equivalents of SIM cards, called eSIMs, which are the digital equivalent of the little SIM cards previously used. You can use an eSIM with an iPhone, while keeping your account with your US carrier. When you sign up with an eSIM, you can select the country in which you'll use it.

I use a company called Airolo, but there are lots of them. Do a search in the iPhone App Store, and you'll find quite a few companies. Rates are low, and it's the best and easiest way to use your phone overseas without roaming charges.

To convert your phone to use an eSim, do this:

Go to SETTINGS>CELLULAR; tap SET UP CELLULAR or ADD eSIM, then choose the phone number with a physical SIM (your phone number). Tap CONVERT TO eSIM, then follow the onscreen instructions.

 

Then, whenever you travel overseas, use your eSIM instead of your physical SIM, and you'll pay low rates and have full use of your iPhone.

 

Here's Apple's information about using an eSIM while traveling out of the country:

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213448

Edited November 8, 2022 by longterm

[longterm]

On 9/8/2022 at 1:38 PM, Jim Avery said:

Just make sure your phone never "attaches" to the ship's cellular service.

Actually, a phone can't legally piggyback onto another cell service; it may be using the ship's wifi to make calls, but it's not actually routing through the ship's cell service, which I would guess is satellite-based so that it works when away from land. When you make a wifi-based call (using Viking's ship wifi, for example), your carrier typically treats the call just like any other international call, so you'll probably get charged for it.

 

On AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, when traveling abroad (or in international waters), calls to U.S. numbers can be made at no additional charge; calls to international numbers are billed based on your international roaming package. 

The best and least-expensive way to use an iPhone overseas is to use an eSim, which I explained earlier. I used to use AT&T's $10/day plan, which is automatic after the first use. If you send or receive a text, you get charged $10 for that day, after which you can make calls or send texts without any additional charge. If you do this 10 times in a cruise, you'll be charged an additional $100 for that month.

eSims are different; you can buy a package for a set # of days, and use your iPhone without restriction during that period. For example, Airolo has a package in Italy that provides 30 days of coverage while in Italy, with 3GB of data (which isn't much if you send/receive any large files like PDFs, or plan to watch any video), for only $7. That's an incredible bargain; the only thing one has to watch out for in this scenario is not to send/receive large files, and certainly not try to watch any streaming video, and NOT to make FaceTime calls. 

IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that texts are data-transfers; so, if you text a lot, you're transferring data back and forth, and if you do it enough, can easily eat up 3GB of data in 30 days. If you're texting photos, that 3GB limit gets eaten up even faster.

 

Airolo even has a better package; for $16 for 30 days in Italy, make unlimited calls, with 10GB of data transfer. This means you could make a few FaceTime calls if you wanted, and probably still stay under the 10GB threshold. Easier solution is just not to make FT calls while overseas though.

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by longterm

[miami mama]

Longterm, thanks for sharing the information on Airolo. I just looked at their website but still have a question. When on a cruise visiting multiple countries, is it possible to change the designated country in the app on a daily basis as the cruise ship moves to the next port? 

[longterm]

13 hours ago, miami mama said:

Longterm, thanks for sharing the information on Airolo. I just looked at their website but still have a question. When on a cruise visiting multiple countries, is it possible to change the designated country in the app on a daily basis as the cruise ship moves to the next port? 

Actually, what you'll want to do is buy a regional eSIM instead of for a single country. To do that, download the app onto your phone, then in the STORE, click the link at the top, to see Regional eSIMs. You can buy one for Europe, for example, that covers 39 countries; this covered the cruise we did recently that included Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece.

The package I bought the regional Europe package (39 countries) for 30 days, 10GB data, at $37. Our trip lasted 24 days total, so I paid $1.54 per day for full use of my cell phone. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by longterm

[miami mama]

The regional package will do very nicely for our cruise. I will be saving this thread to refer back to when we get closer to our cruise next year. Thanks for the info. I am used to paying the $10/day with ATT. Now $37 will be the bill. Will be able to buy a plan for both of our phones at that rate. 

[CurlerRob]

On 11/8/2022 at 9:48 AM, longterm said:

I use a company called Airolo, but there are lots of them.

 

@longterm, I just wanted to say thanks for posting the info on Airalo. I gave them a try on a Caribbean trip last week, as I wanted to experiment with an inexpensive locale and minimal stops.

 

There were a couple of minor glitches in the install instructions, but nothing serious. Once loaded and activated, their eSIM worked like a charm. Their reference materials are also excellent. This will save me a bundle on a longer Iceland / Norway trip next summer.

 

Gracias! 🍺🥌

[KBs mum]

We get data roaming for £2 and £1 per day, we are on different sim only contracts. 

We can switch them on and off as required. We plan to only use the £1 a day phone for calls and data.