Texting to other passengers onboard

[Roccaforte]

We have iPhones 13 with Xfinity service.  How do we communicate with each other without charges?  I usually put my phone in airplane mode and lock it in the safe but being in touch would be so much more convenient.  I think this topic has been covered but I’m not the most computer savvy person.

Any ideas?  Thanks!

[mrlevin]

Airpllane mode, connect both devices to wifi; enable wifi calling on both phones.  Extremely easy.

[flossie009]

As above but use WhatsApp

[douginct]

1 hour ago, mrlevin said:

Airpllane mode, connect both devices to wifi; enable wifi calling on both phones.  Extremely easy.

Yeah - fine when wifi works. Our Xmas cruise on Splendor had abysmal wifi - super slow or nonexistent. Several times we were not able to text to our friends on board.

[mrlevin]

9 minutes ago, douginct said:

Yeah - fine when wifi works. Our Xmas cruise on Splendor had abysmal wifi - super slow or nonexistent. Several times we were not able to text to our friends on board.

We were on same cruise; yes sometimes texting didn't work but they eventually went through EXCEPT texts with photos; this was the first time that I have not been able to text photos to anyone on or off the ship.  Only negative on my end of cruise comment card was about "abysmal" internet.  

 

You need to turn off sound as phone calls also come through; not good to talk on phone in lounge or restaurants.  

[papaflamingo]

21 hours ago, flossie009 said:

As above but use WhatsApp

If you are connected to the internet and in WiFi Calling mode then there is no need for WhatsApp.  Regular texting will work just fine. 

Edited January 14, 2023 by papaflamingo

[flossie009]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

If you are connected to the internet and in WiFi Calling mode then there is no need for WhatsApp.  Regular texting will work just fine. 

UK mobile service providers only provide for Wi-Fi calling within the UK; hence my tip to use WhatsApp when cruising if regular texting does not work with mobile data roaming turned off.

Worked a treat for Christmas & New Year messages to friends & family while on Splendor recently 🙂 (Honestly, we really were not just trying to remind those in cooler climes that we were travelling through a sunny Panama Canal on Christmas Day 😉 😎)

Edited January 14, 2023 by flossie009

[papaflamingo]

21 hours ago, flossie009 said:

UK mobile service providers only provide for Wi-Fi calling within the UK

Didn't know that.  Explains why or British friends use WhatsApp.  Thanks for the info.

[loriva]

On 1/13/2023 at 8:59 AM, mrlevin said:

Airpllane mode, connect both devices to wifi; enable wifi calling on both phones.  Extremely easy.

 

Clarification question, please.

 

Doesn't texting use cellular data, not internet (Wi-Fi).  I can use iMessage (blue bubble) to chat with other iPhone users but cannot text DH's Android phone (green bubble) without triggering a change from my cellular provider (ATT).

 

I realize OP asked specifically about iPhones, so perhaps the Wi-Fi calling usage applies only to iPhones and iMessaging?

[mrlevin]

4 minutes ago, loriva said:

 

Clarification question, please.

 

Doesn't texting use cellular data, not internet (Wi-Fi).  I can use iMessage (blue bubble) to chat with other iPhone users but cannot text DH's Android phone (green bubble) without triggering a change from my cellular provider (ATT).

 

I realize OP asked specifically about iPhones, so perhaps the Wi-Fi calling usage applies only to iPhones and iMessaging?

WiFi calling (US providers only apparently) totally replaces cellular network.  To avoid charges, you need to be in airplane mode.  Wife's iPad is not cellular equipped and she is able to text just as if on a phone with wifi calling.  WiFi calling is why you see (and hear) folks all over the ship FaceTiming with kids at home; definitely annoying.  

[loriva]

13 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

WiFi calling (US providers only apparently) totally replaces cellular network.  To avoid charges, you need to be in airplane mode.  Wife's iPad is not cellular equipped and she is able to text just as if on a phone with wifi calling.  WiFi calling is why you see (and hear) folks all over the ship FaceTiming with kids at home; definitely annoying.  

 

iPads and FaceTime are both Apple products.  I'm still thinking the Wi-Fi calling solution--iMessaging instead of texting--only works with Apple products, not Android, Google, or other products.

 

That said, having Airplane mode and Wi-Fi calling on should prevent one from inadvertently using cellular data (texting) on ANY phone.  So, a good policy overall, as you suggest.

[papaflamingo]

21 hours ago, loriva said:

 

iPads and FaceTime are both Apple products.  I'm still thinking the Wi-Fi calling solution--iMessaging instead of texting--only works with Apple products, not Android, Google, or other products.

 

That said, having Airplane mode and Wi-Fi calling on should prevent one from inadvertently using cellular data (texting) on ANY phone.  So, a good policy overall, as you suggest.

I'm an iPhone guy, but if you put your android in WiFi calling mode, use Airplane mode to stay off the Cell tower, join the WiFi, I believe your android will enter WiFi Calling and you can use all your functions just as if you are in your house. We have very poor cell coverage at our house so we use WiFi calling all the time.  It's seamless and you can only tell if you look at the "carrier" that you phone is connected to. In our case it will say "ATT" if on a cell tower or "ATT WiFi" if on WiFi calling. I believe it's the same for any android. You just need to activate the service which is free. 

[-Lew-]

I would caution anyone considering the use of Wi-Fi calling while outside the USA to set it up before you leave for your travels.  Some report being unable to setup Wi-Fi calling while in Europe or at sea.

 

In response to some comments above...iMessage, texts, WhatsApp, Signal, and others work with Wi-Fi or cellular connections.  Wi-Fi calling is for voice only and has no bearing on these apps.

[marciefree]

I am an Android user and my husband is an Iphone user.  We were on the Splendor for the 16 night Christmas on the Canal cruise.  We were easily able to text each other with our phones in airplane mode and set to the ship's wifi.  You should enable wifi calling on both phones if you want to make or receive calls.  As an aside, the wifi was hit or miss.  Some days it was great ( I was able to participate in a Zoom meeting and Facetime with our grandchildren on our balcony) and other days we could barely send a text between us.  

[douginct]

14 hours ago, marciefree said:

I am an Android user and my husband is an Iphone user.  We were on the Splendor for the 16 night Christmas on the Canal cruise.  We were easily able to text each other with our phones in airplane mode and set to the ship's wifi.  You should enable wifi calling on both phones if you want to make or receive calls.  As an aside, the wifi was hit or miss.  Some days it was great ( I was able to participate in a Zoom meeting and Facetime with our grandchildren on our balcony) and other days we could barely send a text between us.  

I was on that cruise and my experience was much worse than yours. Even wandering around the ship, I often had no ability to send simple texts to our friends on board or to our family at home. And photos almost never went through. I found the whole thing very frustrating and certainly not a Regent "luxury" experience!

[Pcardad]

If you use Whatsapp messages tend to go through better than with normal texting...

[daetchief]

We are a strange lot.  We are either sitting home with our High Speed Internet - posting how we are longing to be on our next cruise.  Or, we are finally onboard our favorite Regent ship - Complaining we don't have High Speed Internet.  😄   

I hope there aren't any guests who gleefully smile on disembarkation day "I'm so happy that I'll finally be able to watch MLB.com, YouTube or post my [whole] photo album to Cruise Critic!"  

[Current Op Status: 356MB Down, 26MB up; Sitting at my desk at WORK, eating a microwave meal with still water.]  I'll trade you 300MB of throughput for a Pool Grill cheeseburger and a Stella!

Edited January 18, 2023 by daetchief

[Pam]

I also agree with the WhatsApp being faster than the ship's internet; I was on an Azamara cruise in the area of Brussels, Copenhagen, etc., and the internet was abysmal; the WhatsApp worked perfectly.

[marciefree]

9 hours ago, douginct said:

I was on that cruise and my experience was much worse than yours. Even wandering around the ship, I often had no ability to send simple texts to our friends on board or to our family at home. And photos almost never went through. I found the whole thing very frustrating and certainly not a Regent "luxury" experience!

It was hit or miss.  Luckily for me (as I did have to work some on the cruise) we had relatively good luck.  Pictures though....sometimes took days to "send".

 

[Pcardad]

4 hours ago, daetchief said:

We are a strange lot.  We are either sitting home with our High Speed Internet - posting how we are longing to be on our next cruise.  Or, we are finally onboard our favorite Regent ship - Complaining we don't have High Speed Internet.  😄   

I hope there aren't any guests who gleefully smile on disembarkation day "I'm so happy that I'll finally be able to watch MLB.com, YouTube or post my [whole] photo album to Cruise Critic!"  

[Current Op Status: 356MB Down, 26MB up; Sitting at my desk at WORK, eating a microwave meal with still water.]  I'll trade you 300MB of throughput for a Pool Grill cheeseburger and a Stella!

I would absolutely give up a day on board for permanent 300MB D/L speeds with no latency and no disconnects...I am in the middle of the country right now with DSL.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

 

On 1/14/2023 at 8:22 AM, papaflamingo said:

If you are connected to the internet and in WiFi Calling mode then there is no need for WhatsApp.  Regular texting will work just fine. 

I checked on my Android phone (on a Canadian network albeit I'm physically in the States right now), and there is no Wifi Calling option in settings.  Guess it's a network-provider option that my provider just doesn't offer.

 

15 hours ago, Pam said:

I also agree with the WhatsApp being faster than the ship's internet; I was on an Azamara cruise in the area of Brussels, Copenhagen, etc., and the internet was abysmal; the WhatsApp worked perfectly.

Funny since WhatsApp uses the internet, right?

 

All this being said, if I have to text my husband onboard, I can just send him a text message.  So what if it costs $1.50 per end?  Not a big deal. (Ah, just checked, we have free text messaging in the Caribbean per our travel package to the States, so no prob.!)

Edited January 19, 2023 by Wendy The Wanderer

[SusieQft]

18 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I checked on my Android phone (on a Canadian network albeit I'm physically in the States right now), and there is no Wifi Calling option in settings.  Guess it's a network-provider option that my provider just doesn't offer.

 

Funny since WhatsApp uses the internet, right?

 

All this being said, if I have to text my husband onboard, I can just send him a text message.  So what if it costs $1.50 per end?  Not a big deal. (Ah, just checked, we have free text messaging in the Caribbean per our travel package to the States, so no prob.!)

Wendy, the "free text messaging" might be (IMO probably is) just for the Caribbean islands, not on a cruise ship.  You might want to check that out before counting on that price, since the cost on board the ship is probably much higher.  I know that is the case for my US based T-Mobile account.

 

Also, do you have fairly new phones?  You could well be right about no wifi calling because your provider does not offer it, but if your phones are older maybe they don't support that functionality.  That is another thing you could check out with your provider.

[flossie009]

Another thing to check when experiencing internet problems on board is whether you are still logged in.

Sounds simple but a number of times during our recent Splendor cruise we found that our devices showed connected to "Splendor Wi-Fi" but we had actually been logged out of our account. Once we typed in "login.com" and went through a couple of check pages we were back on line.

 

[-Lew-]

If you're not sure whether your cell provider will charge for calls and/or texts, your best bet is WhatsApp.  Best to install the app and set it up before you leave home as you will need to confirm your account using your cell number.  Also, be sure those you might want to contact back home have WhatsApp installed on their phone.

[-Lew-]

We're currently onboard the Splendor and find the internet speed quite reasonable for our needs.  It's far from the 1Gbps service we have at home, but usable...no worse than any other cruise line.

 

I've made two Wi-Fi calls on my iPhone 14 Pro while at sea and found quality to be excellent...no difference from a cell call in the US.  Texting, without resorting to WhatsApp, should work well also.