Cell phone needed?

[whynotme]

     How essential is a cell phone on the ship?      Can a tecnophobe function and participate without being wired,or wireless? 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Not essential.   You can still function

[jljcruise]

24 minutes ago, whynotme said:

     How essential is a cell phone on the ship?      Can a tecnophobe function and participate without being wired,or wireless? 

Not essential or needed at all. The daily schedule will be delivered to your room in paper format. The menus for everywhere and dining hours are on your TV. Your room card key can be scanned for tours. Your bill can be accessed on your TV. 

[Haljo1935]

And you can print boarding passes rather than accessing on your phone.

[alwaysfrantic]

In the fall I did not get paper excursion tickets.  They were only in the app. 

[Mary229]

40 minutes ago, alwaysfrantic said:

In the fall I did not get paper excursion tickets.  They were only in the app. 

Second this.  Without the app you will need to go down to the shore excursions desk and take notes on when and where to meet and to keep up with any changes. You can use your keycard to join the excursions but there will be no paper notice.  
 

I met a gentleman last week who kept missing his excursions and losing his money because of  this 

 

if you have a tablet or laptop you can keep track and use your keycard as a pass 

Edited February 3 by Mary229

[auntmeg]

Not "essential". But definitely very helpful to have a smartphone while on your cruise.

[Mosaic]

...And to communicate with the outside world, if needed.

[REOVA]

I take a lot of photos with my phone. Also use it for reminders of ship events (NavApp) but main use is photos. And we also use it to keep in touch with Family back home. We are usually sailing longer itineraries though. If you are doing a 7 day or don't need contact with Family, you can get by without it on the ship. 

[horseymike]

Convenient at times , yes.

Essential , no.

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, alwaysfrantic said:

In the fall I did not get paper excursion tickets.  They were only in the app. 

 

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Second this.  Without the app you will need to go down to the shore excursions desk and take notes on when and where to meet and to keep up with any changes. You can use your keycard to join the excursions but there will be no paper notice.  

if you have a tablet or laptop you can keep track and use your keycard as a pass 

Correct no paper excursion tickets, but your key card can be scanned. 

 

The last 2 cruises (NS Nov-Dec & K'dam Dec-Jan) the Excursions channel on stateroom TV has a When/Where to meet your Excursion page. It listed each excursion by start time then what time to meet and where to meet. Very handy new feature. 

 

I, too, use my phone for taking pictures, CC Live posting, maps getting around port and work calls, but if I wanted to disconnect, I could use my camera, post & call from computer and use paper maps thus making  my phone a non-essential (like I did pre-Covid). Especially since paper menus & Daily schedule are readily available again.

[Hlitner]

As a general rule, a cell phone has become extremely vital to anyone in "travel mode" whether it be just flying from point a to point b, taking a cruise, etc.  While it is usually possible to manage without a working smart phone, it is becoming increasingly difficult and will often leave the person, without a smartphone, at a huge disadvantage.  I could list dozens of situations where a working smartphone becomes necessary to avoid travel delays (sometimes measured in days), dealing with rental car companies, hotels, etc.  In fact we now know of one hotel chain (there may be more) that gives a room discount simply because a person has a smartphone that can be used as a digital key.  

 

On our recent Westerdam cruise (42 days) our phone and the HAL app saved us hours or standing in line at Guest Relations.  HAL kept making constant accounting mistakes (overcharging us on a near daily basis) and we had to deal with Guest Relations to get each and every overcharge corrected (we are talking about hundreds of dollars).  The first time it happened we waited in line (at Guest Relations) for about 30 minutes and than spent another 15 minutes at the counter.  When we kept getting more errors we simply sent Guest Relations a message, through the app, which took us less than 30 seconds.  On some cruise lines, the phone apps are used to make/change restaurant reservations, book excursions, or even order room service!  Princess has a medallion system where you can order drinks or food, delivered to wherever you are on the ship (such as in a deck chair)...but it can ONLY be done on a smartphone.  These are just simple examples but trust me that having (and knowing how to use) a smartphone can save you hours or even days when flights are delayed, cancelled, etc.  

 

Hank

[julia]

What Hank said... ⬆️

 

I simply cannot comprehend not having a basic cell phone in this day and age. Those who refuse to have one really don't grasp the many ways it would be helpful, and not just in travel.

[OlsSalt]

I used an iPad, but mainly to check the Lido menus for lunch. We too are technophobes.

 

DH used the cruise time to force himself to learn how to use his iPhone, but came away still trying to figure out why the time waste involved in using one was worth having one. So we are true 21st Century luddites.   You are not alone.

 

I tried to use the same time figuring out my -Pad  and ended up with the same conclusion. Rather sit on the deck with a real book, than hunched over the iPad's tiny keyboard and staying "online" while I ignore everything around me. Bah.

[jljcruise]

7 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Second this.  Without the app you will need to go down to the shore excursions desk and take notes on when and where to meet and to keep up with any changes. 

They fixed this. On our October cruise, this info was on the stateroom tv.

[daisy-mae]

1 hour ago, julia said:

What Hank said... ⬆️

 

I simply cannot comprehend not having a basic cell phone in this day and age. Those who refuse to have one really don't grasp the many ways it would be helpful, and not just in travel.

My partner and I both travel with our cell phones. However, due to very high data rates when out of the country, we ensure that the phones are in airplane mode as soon as we cross the border; most of the time they remain in the cabin's safe and we use our iPads as they are not data enabled and operate on wifi only.

[FlaMariner]

Here is a cut/paste from a previous post......

 

You are fine without it....IMO.

 

Here is what we use it for (sometimes) and what is the alternative:

 

boarding pass at embarkation ......print it instead

ordering at dive in & NY pizza......order at the counter and get pager for when ready

daily schedule......paper schedule delivered to your room

communicate with guest services......visit guest services

use text feature to tell Her Majesty that I am at the bar.......leave paper note in room

Menu at MDR......view it on TV

onboard account (I think it is on there)......view it on TV

[RuthC]

There is no absolute need for a smart phone. Everything and anything an app provides can be had by some other method. 

If you do want to use the HAL Navigator for some reason, or use the Internet, there are real computers---with screens you can read!---on the ships. It costs the same to use them as it does to access the Internet via a phone. 

If, like me, you don't have a smart phone, see no reason to spend the money for one, and to pay for the monthly plan, you can still get along fine on your cruise. 

[syesmar]

This Thread also has some opinions on this topic. 

 

[USN59-79]

Interesting to read @Hlitner comment about the overcharges on the Westerdam.  I was on the same 42 day cruise and spent a couple of hours at the front desk dealing with overcharges.  They still owed me more than $300 when I left the ship in Seattle, but I decided to not waste more time pursuing it.

On a pre-covid Westerdam cruise they had an instructor giving courses on how to use a phone instead of a camera and how to use the phone's software to enhance your pictures.  Probably the most useful course I have had on a ship; much more useful than the old Microsoft courses.

Ray

[Hlitner]

The situation with overcharges on HAL, goes back a very long time (perhaps more than a decade).  The issue, for us, is not as much about an accounting error but the fact (and it is a fact) that multiple errors (often for similar reasons) can occur again and again and again.  Calling it to the attention of Guest Services simply gets a message sent to the appropriate department (i.e. beverage, PG, etc) and eventually it does get fixed.  But each and every overcharge becomes a separate issue.  In our case, there the first few times the Guest Services folks would follow up with a courtesy phone call saying the overcharge and been corrected.  But after it happened (many times) Guest Services stopped calling or even acknowledging our messages, but simply corrected the overcharge.  After several weeks I mentioned to Guest Services that perhaps we could "help" by meeting with the Hotel/General Manager...but as you can imagine despite 3 requests for a meeting none were even acknowledged.  

 

Why?  They obviously have a serious accounting issue onboard HAL ships, are well aware there is a problem. and simply refuse to discuss it with customers (even those of us who are 5*).  They fix the errors that are caught by the passengers, and likely keep all the overage from the many errors not noticed by passengers.  Others (not me) have actually speculated that the errors seem to be deliberate and could generate a lot of extra revenue when one considers the number of passengers and ships.  We are not that cynical...but one must admit that problems that exist over many years, and are not corrected, could be construed as deliberate malfeasance.  I would imagine if the accounting errors were in favor of the passenger the company would move heaven, earth, and the sea to fix the internal problem.  Our most common overcharge was for drinks that were slightly in excess of the drink package.  So, for example, a Cosmopolitan costs $1 over the Signature Beverage Package limit and should be charged $1.18.  But, in many cases the entire drink charge (not just the overage) would be charged to the account.  Day after day...even after it was pointed out to the bar tenders, bar manager, Guest Services, etc.  The other issue has to do with free meals in the alternative restaurant (such as for 4-5* or HIA) that somehow get charged at the full price (when it should be zero).

 

 

Hank

[dockman]

7 hours ago, julia said:

What Hank said... ⬆️

 

I simply cannot comprehend not having a basic cell phone in this day and age. Those who refuse to have one really don't grasp the many ways it would be helpful, and not just in travel.

Yes corrrect: 

 

BUT there are also advantages to NOT being tethered to a phone and getting adicted to them like millions upon millions of people who can't go one minute without looking at them.  I sometimes feel sorry for kids who are so addicted to them that they miss being a kid , riding bikes, playing ball and other games, etc because they cannot stop fooling with the phone....and yes I am one of the addicted.

Maybe some do grasp it and still don't want it?

[Roz]

These lyrics are as relevant today as they were in 1964:

 

"And you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone 

For the times they are a-changin' "

[Tradestock]

8 hours ago, julia said:

I simply cannot comprehend not having a basic cell phone in this day and age. Those who refuse to have one really don't grasp the many ways it would be helpful, and not just in travel.

My husband and I lived in a dead zone for decades.  Even with the advancement of the cell phone and coverage, cell service was not available to us.  We cannot comprehend how a luxury device that was marketed for safety is now indispensable to the masses.  Equally, we are dismayed that an Amish buggy moves faster and safer than a texting automobile driver. 😲

 

To answer the OP's question.. No, we do not need a cell phone on the ship. (or anywhere else for that matter.)    

[IAcruising]

Yeah, as usual, the thread goes sideways.

 

The answer in 2024 is, what are you talking about? No smartphone? What does that even mean?

 

 

 

Edited February 4 by IAcruising