Keeping in touch with kids (who are on the ship)

[ChemistBabe]

My 12 year old has a great deal of freedom at home (and when we vacation).  I anticipate that I will allow him to roam the ship by himself a certain amount.   (He has never abused that privilege in the past, will often go swim in the hotel pool while we finish breakfast, etc.)

 

At home he wears an Apple watch so we can keep in touch.

Is using his Apple watch (and paying for him to have a data plan) our best choice to keep in touch with him while we are on the ship, or is there something I am missing.

 

Thanks!

[memoak]

5 minutes ago, ChemistBabe said:

My 12 year old has a great deal of freedom at home (and when we vacation).  I anticipate that I will allow him to roam the ship by himself a certain amount.   (He has never abused that privilege in the past, will often go swim in the hotel pool while we finish breakfast, etc.)

 

At home he wears an Apple watch so we can keep in touch.

Is using his Apple watch (and paying for him to have a data plan) our best choice to keep in touch with him while we are on the ship, or is there something I am missing.

 

Thanks!

Assuming everyone in your group has a medallion and the minor is listed as a travel companion then the locate function of the app will allow you to see where he is on board 

[karatemom2]

That will work best most likely.

 

One nice aspect of the Medallion Net, even if you don't have the internet plan is that you are able to locate members of your immediate traveling party via the app. It just helps you see where they are though, not actually communicate. So if you want to have that ability, you will definitely want to have the WiFi plan.

[ChemistBabe]

Thanks, I'd forgotten that the Medallion can help me find him.

 

Definitely want to be able to communicate also.  (Its like before he had his phone and we were relying on air tags.  I could see that he and his bike were at the basketball courts, but it didn't get him home for soccer practice any faster.)

 

Can I buy internet buy the gig, or just a package for him?  Since all he will be doing is texting, he won't use much data.

[karatemom2]

6 minutes ago, ChemistBabe said:

Thanks, I'd forgotten that the Medallion can help me find him.

 

Definitely want to be able to communicate also.  (Its like before he had his phone and we were relying on air tags.  I could see that he and his bike were at the basketball courts, but it didn't get him home for soccer practice any faster.)

 

Can I buy internet buy the gig, or just a package for him?  Since all he will be doing is texting, he won't use much data.

 

Only option available now is the package for the full length of cruise, or you can purchase by the day as you need it, but this is priced higher.

[Potstech]

You can purchase a 4 device plan that allows any 4 devices to connect and use the internet for the cruise. If you have a Premium plan it includes that plan.  Plus only has a 1 device plan.

[dweidensaul]

You should be able to message within the app as well (without purchasing Wi-Fi), except it won't provide push notifications.  A person would need to be check their messages to see who has reached out.

[jeromep]

Sounds to me like you are in the Apple iOS environment.  This should make things easier.  Apple watches aren't very useful unless they have an iPhone attached, so I presume he has an iPhone, too.  If you get a multi-device Internet plan, you can attach his phone to the plan and have it always connected.  You can then use iMessage to communicate with him; I presume your messages to and from your son are blue in iMessage, indicating that they are being sent through Apple's servers and not via telco SMS.  Now you can track his location in the Princess app via his Medallion, and you can communicate with him with push notifications alerting him to messages via iMessage.

 

Also, does your phone plan have Wi-Fi calling?  If so, turn it on for all the phones on your plan.  With Wi-Fi calling active, and your devices connected to ship's Wi-Fi and Internet, you can take calls that come in from anywhere, and you can also call him, if you need to.

 

Just make sure you put your phones in a modified airplane mode before getting back on board the ship.  You'll turn on airplane mode, which turns off all the wireless services on the phone.  Then you turn the Wi-Fi feature of the phone back on and connect to the ship's Wi-Fi and Internet.

 

On our last cruise I was actually able to call my wife on her iPhone on board when we were at sea since our plan includes Wi-Fi calling, and I was able to call home (parents who are looking in on the house and cat), and they could call us if necessary, and at no additional cost, besides the Internet package.  We had Premier, so we had more than enough ability to connect multiple devices and leave them connected.

 

Keep in mind that there is "cellular at sea" on board, and when the ship shoves away from the dock, that system will go on, and if your cellular antenna isn't turned off, the phone may connect to that service and you'll see some incredibly expensive charges on your cell phone bill, so making sure you are in airplane mode and then turn on Wi-Fi is essential to avoid unexpected expenses.

[ldubs]

I tHink I'm repeating.   I would get the data plan, then easy to stay in touch.  Use the Medallion location function as a backup.