Turn AT&T to airplane bEFORE entering ship

[oatbagg1]

We got hit with $200 international charges thru AT&T even though we were in port docked in Miami.  Then they cut off our phones. Apparently T-mobile & What’s App are ok….. we finally got the WIFi package to communicate with family at home but it’s just another money grab. 20 cruises we never experienced not texting or calling in a Us port.  Never. 

[PTC DAWG]

4 minutes ago, oatbagg1 said:

We got hit with $200 international charges thru AT&T even though we were in port docked in Miami.  Then they cut off our phones. Apparently T-mobile & What’s App are ok….. we finally got the WIFi package to communicate with family at home but it’s just another money grab. 20 cruises we never experienced not texting or calling in a Us port.  Never. 

I've never had issues in any US port with my AT&T...this is on various lines, including many on Celebrity...something went wrong for sure..sounds like a one off to me.  Surprised AT&T wouldn't help solve this billing issue...

[Georgia_Peaches]

Is this a new thing?  DH has AT&T and I have Verizon.  Neither of us have even been charged while on the ship in a US port.

[CruisinShips]

Interesting.  I have always had AT&T and have never been charged for usage while in Miami or Fort Lauderdale aboard the ship on over a dozen cruises I have been on.  Including my most recent one in February (Port Everglades).  

 

I wonder how ATT would know you're even on a ship while docked....

[m8zenblue]

Ditto !

I have AT&T for many years on many cruises at different ports.

I always turn to Airplane Mode before ship leaves and never ever had any issues.

[Charles4515]

17 minutes ago, oatbagg1 said:

We got hit with $200 international charges thru AT&T even though we were in port docked in Miami.  Then they cut off our phones. Apparently T-mobile & What’s App are ok….. we finally got the WIFi package to communicate with family at home but it’s just another money grab. 20 cruises we never experienced not texting or calling in a Us port.  Never. 

It would illegal for you to get international charges while docked in Miami. Someone must have forgot to turn the phone to airplane mode before the ship reached 12 miles out of Miami. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

It's possible OP forgot to turn his phone to APM once the ship left the port.  I've done that before and once I was far enough out, I received a text from Verizon asking me if I wanted to sign up for an international plan....thus, reminding me to switch to airplane mode.

[leaveitallbehind]

I'm certain I am in the minority, but you can add me to the list of outliers who will not use AT&T.  As mentioned on another similar thread we used to use AT&T while at sea for a number of years with good success.  They are also our cell phone carrier.  But in recent years something changed and they were a complete nightmare with incorrect charges and poor functionality.  Their customer service while on board to correct these issues was essentially useless with often conflicting settings suggestions and we gave them up a few years ago.  We have since used the ship's wifi plan with wifi calling with great success and no issues.  Again, just our experience and yours may vary, but IMO never again. 

Edited April 5 by leaveitallbehind

[Charles4515]

9 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

It's possible OP forgot to turn his phone to APM once the ship left the port.  I've done that before and once I was far enough out, I received a text from Verizon asking me if I wanted to sign up for an international plan....thus, reminding me to switch to airplane mode.

AT&T does the same. OP forgot to go to Airplane Mode after the ship left port. 

[PTC DAWG]

19 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

It would illegal for you to get international charges while docked in Miami. Someone must have forgot to turn the phone to airplane mode before the ship reached 12 miles out of Miami. 

I was thinking that myself, glad someone said it.  

[miched]

We have ATT.   I have permanently turned off roaming.  I live close to Canada and sometimes with roaming on we would pick up Canada and get hit with the bill.   
 

When we board the ship in FL we never had that problem with extra charges.   We would turn on air plane mode after we connect to the ships internet as we usually have the internet package.      It would be very easy to forget about doing that if we didn’t.    We will also remind each other for the same reason.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

[Charles4515]

3 minutes ago, miched said:

When we board the ship in FL we never had that problem with extra charges.   We would turn on air plane mode after we connect to the ships internet as we usually have the internet package.      It would be very easy to forget about doing that if we didn’t.    We will also remind each other for the same reason.  

I do the same now after a couple of close calls. Getting the text message alerted me and I realized that in the hoopla of sail away I could miss the text message. 

[gerelmx]

Maybe the OP was in an area of the ship where there was no signal from outside and contacted the ship's roaming system.

Edited April 5 by gerelmx

[Purplsmurf]

Definitely wouldn’t be charged while sitting at the port in the US. As others have said, OP must not have turned off airplane mode. 

[Liao]

1 hour ago, oatbagg1 said:

We got hit with $200 international charges thru AT&T even though we were in port docked in Miami.  Then they cut off our phones. Apparently T-mobile & What’s App are ok….. we finally got the WIFi package to communicate with family at home but it’s just another money grab. 20 cruises we never experienced not texting or calling in a Us port.  Never. 

Sounds like operator error to me.

[markeb]

10 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

Maybe the OP was in an area of the ship where there was no signal from outside and contacted the ship's roaming system.

It’s turned off in port. The WiFi is on, but not the cellular. 
 

I’ve had my iPhone come out of airplane mode on a restart. I noticed it immediately and didn’t get any charges. Not sure if that’s how it’s supposed to work (probably). 

[Charles4515]

23 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

Maybe the OP was in an area of the ship where there was no signal from outside and contacted the ship's roaming system.

Cellular at Sea is not turned on until 12 miles out to sea. It is off in port. 

[CruisinShips]

I was on the Eclipse last October on a coastal California itinerary.  The wifi in our cabin was pretty horrible, and I switched to my ATT cell service whenever we were docked (at a US port).  No international charges doing that either.

[nps001]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

It’s turned off in port. The WiFi is on, but not the cellular. 
 

I’ve had my iPhone come out of airplane mode on a restart. I noticed it immediately and didn’t get any charges. Not sure if that’s how it’s supposed to work (probably). 

I had the exact same thing happen to me.    Overnight my phone rebooted and somehow it went off APM.    I caught it quickly the next day but still resulted in a $40 charge on my T-mobile bill.

[prmssk]

2 hours ago, oatbagg1 said:

We got hit with $200 international charges thru AT&T even though we were in port docked in Miami.  Then they cut off our phones. Apparently T-mobile & What’s App are ok….. we finally got the WIFi package to communicate with family at home but it’s just another money grab. 20 cruises we never experienced not texting or calling in a Us port.  Never. 

While docked in Miami you would still be connected to US cell towers.  Any Cellular at Sea receptors on the ship do not get turned on until you are 12 miles out at sea (which would be the first opportunity to hit an "international" cell tower).

 

So something else happened here.  

[justcrusn]

It was likely data that caused the charges, lots of things run  “in the background “ and use data.

In settings, cellular, cellular data options - ALWAYS turn data roaming off.

You should leave it like that. Your phone will work great on your paid network and NOT switch to something else if it can’t connect to your carrier.

It is not the carrier’s fault you roamed and someone else gave you service

Edited April 5 by justcrusn
Misspell

[Oxo]

T-Mobile will send you a text if you don't turn on Airplane mode and try to call, text, etc., when not in U.S. 

Happy Cellphone & Cruising!

[oatbagg1]

4 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I've never had issues in any US port with my AT&T...this is on various lines, including many on Celebrity...something went wrong for sure..sounds like a one off to me.  Surprised AT&T wouldn't help solve this billing issue...

They were impossible to reach. Not until the 2nd day did a rep contact us. 

[oatbagg1]

4 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Is this a new thing?  DH has AT&T and I have Verizon.  Neither of us have even been charged while on the ship in a US port.

Last on Celebrity in Dec. No international charges ever before this cruise.

[oatbagg1]

4 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

It would illegal for you to get international charges while docked in Miami. Someone must have forgot to turn the phone to airplane mode before the ship reached 12 miles out of Miami. 

We always put on airplane mode when we start moving.  We got a text from AT&T. Although a passenger cautioned we may have been hacked via unsecured Celebrity WiFI