Has anyone tried the AT&T sail and stay connected plan?

[Cherries Jubilee]

It’s $100 for a month of unlimited talk and text and you can make calls from the ship. I’m going to be on Anthem for 11 days next month and I really prefer to be able to check in at home once a day. This is quite a bit cheaper than the internet plans Royal offers.

 

Has anyone tried it? Were you able to make calls from the ship at sea without issues? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[graphicguy]

20 minutes ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

It’s $100 for a month of unlimited talk and text and you can make calls from the ship. I’m going to be on Anthem for 11 days next month and I really prefer to be able to check in at home once a day. This is quite a bit cheaper than the internet plans Royal offers.

 

Has anyone tried it? Were you able to make calls from the ship at sea without issues? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure how that would work?  Doest ATT pay the cruise lines to use their on board sat system for calls? Or, is that just the charge ATT would issue, and Royal would add an additional per minute charge?

 

If it's the former, $100 for a week's worth of "checking in" is still a chunk of change.  Might try WiFi calling, but WiFi service is usually spotty.  I think I read where there's a text plan.  That would probably work best if it's anywhere near reasonably priced.

 

Personally, I would give those who need to know the ship's phone number and tell them to only use it if there's an emergency (and ONLY if there's an emergency, as it's pricey to call the ship, which in turn will bill you for the service).  That's what I tell my family when I'm cruising.

 

I also tell them there isn't squat I can do about any issue back home while I'm in the middle of the water.  Even docked, there's nothing I could do as I'm at least a ½ continent away from home.

 

They'll need to be responsible and make their own decisions (by the way those are the exact words I use when instructing family).

 

I have MANY cruises under my belt giving them the same lecture.  Nothing has come up that either wasn't resolved or couldn't wait until I returned.  NEVER HAPPENED!

Edited December 26, 2022 by graphicguy

[Charles4515]

52 minutes ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

It’s $100 for a month of unlimited talk and text and you can make calls from the ship. I’m going to be on Anthem for 11 days next month and I really prefer to be able to check in at home once a day. This is quite a bit cheaper than the internet plans Royal offers.

 

Has anyone tried it? Were you able to make calls from the ship at sea without issues? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

If you don't need data then it might work for you. Checking home once a day. The included data is very limited and and if you go over could get large charges. It is good enough for callling once a day. The reason the Royal plans cost more is that they are internet plans, i.e. email, Facebook, web surfing.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Charles4515

[Charles4515]

36 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Not sure how that would work?  Doest ATT pay the cruise lines to use their on board sat system for calls? Or, is that just the charge ATT would issue, and Royal would add an additional per minute charge?

 

 

They use the satellite and an onboard microcell. Unlimited Talk and Text means exactly that.  Only a limited amout of data is included. Cellular at Sea has been on cruise ships for many years. The AT&T cruise package is using  Celluar at Sea. Celluar at Sea is owned bt AT&T. 

 

As for your lecture it really is not appropriate. It is not our buseness as to why OP wants to check in at home every day. You should not even have replied as you did not have a clue how the AT&T cruise package works.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Charles4515

[graphicguy]

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

 

They use the satellite and an onboard microcell. Unlimited Talk and Text means exactly that.  Only a limited amout of data is included. Cellular at Sea has been on cruise ships for many years. The AT&T cruise package is using  Celluar at Sea. Celluar at Sea is owned bt AT&T. 

 

As for your lecture it really is not appropriate. It is not our buseness as to why OP wants to check in at home every day. You should not even have replied as you did not have a clue how the AT&T cruise package works.

Thanks for the inappropriate lecture!

[Mikew0805]

1 hour ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

It’s $100 for a month of unlimited talk and text and you can make calls from the ship. I’m going to be on Anthem for 11 days next month and I really prefer to be able to check in at home once a day. This is quite a bit cheaper than the internet plans Royal offers.

 

Has anyone tried it? Were you able to make calls from the ship at sea without issues? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Have not tried that, but I use wifi calling on every cruise and rarely have an issue. That means of course you have to have the internet package, so you would need to weigh the costs out to see what works best for you.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Mikew0805

[lifes-a-beach]

I’ve used AT&T Wi-Fi calling on every Royal cruise since it became a thing.  Absolutely no problem as long as you have the service, which we always do.  Just make sure your phone is set up for it.

Edited December 26, 2022 by lifes-a-beach

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, lifes-a-beach said:

I’ve used AT&T Wi-Fi calling on every Royal cruise since it became a thing.  Absolutely no problem as long as you have the service, which we always do.  Just make sure your phone is set up for it.

They are not asking about AT&T Wifi calling. The AT&T cruise package is a cellular plan purchased from AT&T. It is not over WiFi. It does not require a Royal Caribbean  internet package. The connection is thru a microcell that connects to the satellite. Before the ships had WiFi I made some cell calls over the microcell. (Cellular at Sea) The quality was similar to WiFi calling. 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Charles4515

[GetToLivin]

Will chime in as a person who has actually used it, yes, it works. Great for texting and if you need to make a phone call (we own a business so contact with home-base is a must). Worth the $100 which is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

[Cherries Jubilee]

23 minutes ago, GetToLivin said:

Will chime in as a person who has actually used it, yes, it works. Great for texting and if you need to make a phone call (we own a business so contact with home-base is a must). Worth the $100 which is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Thank you so much! 
 

Thank you everyone for your advice. I don’t need data at all so I don’t really want to pay the extra $75 for the internet package. 
 

I really appreciate everyone’s help!

[Charles4515]

23 minutes ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

Thank you so much! 
 

Thank you everyone for your advice. I don’t need data at all so I don’t really want to pay the extra $75 for the internet package. 
 

I really appreciate everyone’s help!

I would suggest turning off data so you don't get any surprise charges. There are apps  your phone that might use data in the background or may send back analyitics to your cell carrier. 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Charles4515

[lifes-a-beach]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

They are not asking about AT&T Wifi calling. The AT&T cruise package is a cellular plan purchased from AT&T. It is not over WiFi. It does not require a Royal Caribbean  internet package. The connection is thru a microcell that connects to the satellite. Before the ships had WiFi I made some cell calls over the microcell. (Cellular at Sea) The quality was similar to WiFi calling. 

Gotcha, thanks.  I guess we always use the Internet package so I can connect remotely to work if I need to.  Company pays for it so it’s what works for us.  

[Ashland]

We've also used the AT&T cruise plan...although years ago and even then it worked fine.

We now purchase the Voom internet and put our iPhone on airplane mode and use WiFi calling.

[LB_NJ]

4 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

Will chime in as a person who has actually used it, yes, it works. Great for texting and if you need to make a phone call (we own a business so contact with home-base is a must). Worth the $100 which is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

We will be on Enchantment for a 15  day TA.  Would the quality answer be any different for Enchantment vs. Anthem?

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

We will be on Enchantment for a 15  day TA.  Would the quality answer be any different for Enchantment vs. Anthem?

Unlikely, the equipment is probably similar but reception within the ship could vary wildly. Unlike on land where the hand off between cell towers is pretty good when you move, around the ship that may not be the case. 

[Ktimberlake]

Just don't do it!  Vey specific way to use the plan and if you are to close to shore, you will be billed.  Fortunately, I also had International day pass, so it was was $10.00 a day, instead of roaming, but the $100.00 a month plan plus 128 day cruise....my bill was insane.  Ask your friends use WhatsApp or another similar app and pay for the unlimited package on the ship.  I paid for unlimited internet package plus AT&T package.  Just stick with ship Wi-Fi.  

[parrotfeathers]

Delete

Edited May 15, 2023 by parrotfeathers

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, Ktimberlake said:

Just don't do it! 

Welcome to CC.

[Cigar King]

23 hours ago, Ktimberlake said:

Just don't do it! 

You realize that your responded to a post 3 months *after* the OP finished their cruise.  

[Threedrones]

On 5/16/2023 at 10:52 AM, Cigar King said:

You realize that your responded to a post 3 months *after* the OP finished their cruise.  

But it still helps future cruisers.

[vp1313]

Me packing for the 73 day cruise.  LOL