Phoning and texting on Hawaii cruise

[RAS4331]

I will be taking an 18 day cruise from San Diego to Hawaii.  Can anyone who has sailed to Hawaii give me any info on whether I’ll be able to text my family, or to receive calls or texts while at sea? My children are grown, so I don’t need constant access, but it would be nice to be able to check in once or twice during the multiple sea days. I have T-Mobile.  I’ll have the internet package as part of the have-it-all.  Thank you for any advice to this not-so-tech-savvy lady! 😊

[Spudd]

Use an app like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger and you can text without cellphone reception. Both parties need to have the app installed.

[Mary229]

If you have an iPhone you can FaceTime and iMessage any other iPhone user while on WiFi

 

of course when you are in port you will have normal coverage 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Mary229

[FOPMan]

You will likely need to upgrade to premium wifi to use FaceTime effectively I'm nkt aure how successful you will be with Whatspp without premium, either..

[crystalspin]

42 minutes ago, RAS4331 said:

whether I’ll be able to text my family, or to receive calls or texts while at sea? My children are grown, so I don’t need constant access, but it would be nice to be able to check in once or twice during the multiple sea days. I have T-Mobile.  I’ll have the internet package as part of the have-it-all.

While at sea, put your phone in airline mode and log on to the ship's StarLink wifi. You can use the following "apps":

I don't know what all logos mean! I use FaceBook messaging with my family when cruising, and stay on top of my web-based (yahoo) e-mail so it's not so overwhelming when I get back fully online.

 

On or very near shore in Hawaii, T-mobile should work as at home. Remember to take phone out of air-mode (and put it back for sea-days). 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by crystalspin

[Toad]

Just so I understand this, if the iPhone is in airplane mode you can make a call simply by using the ships star link and FaceTime calling? This would be cool.  Is it clear, or does it come and go?  Does Zuiderdam have Starlink? 

[0106]

@Toad I had no problems sending iMessages during my transatlantic on the Rotterdam in October.  FaceTime worked intermittently.  My phone was in airplane mode and I had the Surf package.

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, Toad said:

Does Zuiderdam have Starlink? 

When is your cruise? All of the HAL fleet will have Starlink by the end of 2023. I've lost track of which hasn't got it yet. I can't answer about iPhone at all.

[Big Dawg CC]

2 hours ago, FOPMan said:

You will likely need to upgrade to premium wifi to use FaceTime effectively I'm nkt aure how successful you will be with Whatspp without premium, either..

Face Time worked just fine for me on the regular plan on this Fall's transatlantic on the Oosterdam.

[Toad]

40 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

When is your cruise? All of the HAL fleet will have Starlink by the end of 2023. I've lost track of which hasn't got it yet. I can't answer about iPhone at all.

July 2024, so I’m guessing that means I will at least be able to send messages, but maybe not call.

[crystalspin]

45 minutes ago, Toad said:

July 2024, so I’m guessing that means I will at least be able to send messages, but maybe not call.

Haha, I'm on that cruise! You can upgrade at any time, with the amount lessening as the days go by. 

[drowelf]

4 hours ago, RAS4331 said:

I will be taking an 18 day cruise from San Diego to Hawaii.  Can anyone who has sailed to Hawaii give me any info on whether I’ll be able to text my family, or to receive calls or texts while at sea? My children are grown, so I don’t need constant access, but it would be nice to be able to check in once or twice during the multiple sea days. I have T-Mobile.  I’ll have the internet package as part of the have-it-all.  Thank you for any advice to this not-so-tech-savvy lady! 😊

We have T-Mobile too and I've had no problems with texts/emails while connected to the ship WiFi all over the world, from the Artic to Antarctic Circles (with a plan) of course. WiFi-Calling generally works, but video calls are more problematic. It all depends on how busy the sliver of the satellite bandwidth that the passengers get is. During the day voice calls can be tough, forget video, after midnight, you will have a better chance, but I would not count on video working seamlessly (no buffering, glitches or dropped connections) at anytime. 

[POA1]

2 hours ago, Toad said:

July 2024, so I’m guessing that means I will at least be able to send messages, but maybe not call.

If your phone supports calling over WiFi, you should be able to both call and text. T-Mobile supports it on most recent phones.

[alwaysfrantic]

With WiFi package, keep phone in airplane mode when at sea, enable WiFi calling and you use the phone normally for texts and email. The basic package likely won’t have a strong enough signal to Face time but testing and emails will be just fine 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

What did we do before there was cell phones.???

[Mary229]

20 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

What did we do before there was cell phones.???

We paid the cruise lines exorbitant fees to take an important phone call. 

[kirkc]

Just off the Rotterdam on Sunday. Used both FaceTime and WhatsApp with 100% reliability. You can thank Starlink. Neptune concierge told me that since it went online they have gone, just in Neptune Suites, from 3 or 4 complaints about internet connectivity daily to about one per cruise.

[I like vacation]

WhatsApp worked fine while cruising Antarctica.

[RuthC]

9 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

What did we do before there was cell phones.???

 

8 hours ago, Mary229 said:

We paid the cruise lines exorbitant fees to take an important phone call. 

And before the ships introduced phones to the cabins, we only made a call in an extreme emergency. We did it by going to the radio room, where they placed the call for us. 

We spent most all day, every day, not thinking about the outside world at all! We totally decompressed with no outside distractions. There were no TVs, phones, or Internet to connect us to the rest of civilization. 

It was wonderful! 

[Mary229]

18 minutes ago, RuthC said:

 

And before the ships introduced phones to the cabins, we only made a call in an extreme emergency. We did it by going to the radio room, where they placed the call for us. 

We spent most all day, every day, not thinking about the outside world at all! We totally decompressed with no outside distractions. There were no TVs, phones, or Internet to connect us to the rest of civilization. 

It was wonderful! 

I understand but I do have an elderly, frail parent whom I like to keep in touch. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Mary229

[oakridger]

5 hours ago, RuthC said:

There were no TVs, phones, or Internet to connect us to the rest of civilization. 

 

My favorite part was NO NEWS channels!  I'm pretty good about not turning on the TV on cruises, but my last one a year ago I spent way too much time surfing online.  Kind of like right now!!  🙄

 

~Nancy