Wifi, date cell phones

[coolio111]

Does anyone use their cell phone plan on the ship instead of getting the ship's wifi?

 

What plana and company are you with?

I will be traveling out of Galveston for my cruise. Thanks

 

 

 

[1025cruise]

It will be very expensive to use your cell plan on the ship. 

[cruiseguy1016]

I do it both ways. I use Verizon and they have an international plan for $10/day. You are only charged on the days that you use it. I also use the ship's WiFi (not the ship's cellular service) to make WiFi calls.

[Ourusualbeach]

7 hours ago, coolio111 said:

Does anyone use their cell phone plan on the ship instead of getting the ship's wifi?

 

What plana and company are you with?

I will be traveling out of Galveston for my cruise. Thanks

 

 

 

Depending on you plsn/carrier it works in port buyt not at sea. 

[Fouremco]

12 hours ago, coolio111 said:

Does anyone use their cell phone plan on the ship instead of getting the ship's wifi?

 

What plana and company are you with?

I will be traveling out of Galveston for my cruise. Thanks

 

 

 

No matter what your carrier and plan, if you place a call while at sea, your call will be routed through the ship's cellular system and it will cost you an arm and a leg. If you are buying a wifi package, then make wifi calls.

 

If you wait until you are in port, then there are a few more options. First of all, in most ports you'll find places that have either free or inexpensive wifi. We've used them on numerous occasions. Secondly, Rogers, Bell and other Canadian carriers have roaming plans. With Rogers, it's $12 per day in the US, or $15 per day elsewhere internationally. That's not inexpensive if you are calling from numerous locations on a Caribbean cruise.

 

A third option is to look for a SIM card. This is one of several related threads on the Canadian Cruisers board:

 

 

[smokeybandit]

Never use cellular while at sea

[smokeybandit]

13 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

I do it both ways. I use Verizon and they have an international plan for $10/day. You are only charged on the days that you use it. I also use the ship's WiFi (not the ship's cellular service) to make WiFi calls.

That plan is only for foreign countries,  not while at sea

[BirdTravels]

20 hours ago, coolio111 said:

Does anyone use their cell phone plan on the ship instead of getting the ship's wifi?

 

What plana and company are you with?

I will be traveling out of Galveston for my cruise. Thanks

 

 

 

AT&T recently upped their data on their plan. For $100 you get unlimited calls, text and 1GB of data. You can blow through 1 GB really quickly, then incur hundreds of dollars in overage charges. 

[BirdTravels]

7 hours ago, Fouremco said:

No matter what your carrier and plan, if you place a call while at sea, your call will be routed through the ship's cellular system and it will cost you an arm and a leg. If you are buying a wifi package, then make wifi calls.

 

The cost of calls is determined by your carrier not the ship. With a cruise ship plan, you can make as many calls as you want with better quality and reliability than Wi-Fi calling (sometimes the deciding factor if you need to make a lot of business calls).

[cruiseguy1016]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

That plan is only for foreign countries,  not while at sea

 

Correct. I knew that, I just didn't think to mention it in my post.

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The cost of calls is determined by your carrier not the ship.

Exactly. I never suggested otherwise.

[markf]

When you buy Wi-Fi , for one device, is it one device at a time?

if you have a phone a lap top, can you use one at a time or do you need to buy for 2 devices?

 

[cruiseguy1016]

51 minutes ago, markf said:

When you buy Wi-Fi , for one device, is it one device at a time?

if you have a phone a lap top, can you use one at a time or do you need to buy for 2 devices?

 

 

Yes, one device at a time. You can share the login information with as many people as you would like but only one device can log in at a time.

Edited September 4, 2023 by cruiseguy1016

[markf]

Thanks 

[boscobeans]

With iPhone 10 we use Voom and can do everything just about as if we were home. 

Spectrum wireless.

[markf]

Can you use what’s app, without buying a Wi-Fi package?

[jwlane]

26 minutes ago, markf said:

Can you use what’s app, without buying a Wi-Fi package?

No, if you want to avoid cell/data-at-sea charges.

Edited September 4, 2023 by jwlane

[KroozNut]

On 9/1/2023 at 1:12 PM, cruiseguy1016 said:

I do it both ways. I use Verizon and they have an international plan for $10/day. You are only charged on the days that you use it. I also use the ship's WiFi (not the ship's cellular service) to make WiFi calls.

We have that same plan, Verizon's 'TravelPass'.. But isn't that basically for when you go ashore in a foreign country, and not necessarily for onboard use?

[Biker19]

On 9/2/2023 at 7:54 AM, BirdTravels said:

With a cruise ship plan, you can make as many calls as you want with better quality and reliability than Wi-Fi calling

I wouldn’t assume the better part. 

[smokeybandit]

On 9/2/2023 at 3:54 AM, BirdTravels said:

The cost of calls is determined by your carrier not the ship. With a cruise ship plan, you can make as many calls as you want with better quality and reliability than Wi-Fi calling (sometimes the deciding factor if you need to make a lot of business calls).

But with a cruise ship plan, you'll zip through the included data in no time at all. And disruptions to cell signal will exist on a ship as much as disruptions to internet signals.

Edited September 5, 2023 by smokeybandit