Wifi Phonecalls

[roadster08]

Phone calls used to be really expensive on cruise ships.

Has anybody recently tried doing free phone calls from the ship via Wi-Fi? How about just regular service through your normal carrier when in Port on the ship? 

[azbirdmom]

Yes, I have Wi-Fi calling as part of my plan and we have been able to make phone calls in airplane mode using the ship's Wi-Fi.  And yes you can make calls in port but you need to check your mobile carrier to see what they charge.  Pretty sure our plan with T-Mobile has a charge of $0.25 a minute in most international locations so we just text for free.

[L454S]

We leave our Iphones on Wi/Fi calling enabled all the time.

 

When we get on a ship, we just turn on airplane mode.

[PescadoAmarillo]

What’s App has been working for us even when T-Mobile WiFi calling gets buggy. Hour long phone conversations that never get dropped. 

[DUTRAVEL]

Wi-Fi calling on my iPhone worked fine last month on Royal Princess.

[fpsphil]

Wifi calling works fine on all the ships we've been on since the restart

[MissP22]

The WhatsApp works well even when the internet signal is bad, which is most of the time

 

[CruisingWalter]

On 2/17/2023 at 4:16 PM, roadster08 said:

Phone calls used to be really expensive on cruise ships.

Has anybody recently tried doing free phone calls from the ship via Wi-Fi? How about just regular service through your normal carrier when in Port on the ship? 

 

I've found the WiFi calling on a ship to be very hit or miss. Some cruise lines seem to block it altogether. But using services like WhatsApp, Google Meet audio and the like do seem to work when the internet is strong enough.

 

For cell use in the port check your carrier. We have T-Mobile with free data in over 150 countries so we can use our data plan most anywhere. For calls it's 25 cents per minute. 

[twopizz]

14 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

I've found the WiFi calling on a ship to be very hit or miss. Some cruise lines seem to block it altogether. But using services like WhatsApp, Google Meet audio and the like do seem to work when the internet is strong enough.

 

For cell use in the port check your carrier. We have T-Mobile with free data in over 150 countries so we can use our data plan most anywhere. For calls it's 25 cents per minute. 

When in port can you use your T-Mobile free data for WhatsApp calls? Thank you.

[lbfluffy]

We have t mobile. We were able to do wi fi calling. 

[MissP22]

5 hours ago, lbfluffy said:

We have t mobile. We were able to do wi fi calling. 

It does work unless the internet speed is terrible. Try it early in the morning or late at night. 

[CruisingWalter]

9 hours ago, twopizz said:

When in port can you use your T-Mobile free data for WhatsApp calls? Thank you.

 

We're not on WiFi in port, we're on the cellular network so honestly not sure. I've never used WhatsApp via cellular and not sure if we can to be honest.

[PescadoAmarillo]

12 hours ago, twopizz said:

When in port can you use your T-Mobile free data for WhatsApp calls? Thank you.

We’ve done this from Australia, but it’s been three years ago or so.  Just make sure you’re placing the call through the app and not simply dialing out like a regular phone call. 

[beg3yrs]

On 2/21/2023 at 2:08 AM, MissP22 said:

The WhatsApp works well even when the internet signal is bad, which is most of the time

 

A big clue to how well WhatsApp works is that's the crew's go-to app.