How does my family contact us onboard?

[suzyed]

We're sailing tomorrow and our daughter is looking for a phone # to be able to contact us on the ship Just in Case?  Is it the regular Princess number that keeps us on hold all the time or some other number?

[chrysalis]

check the princess website....in the FAQs, I think that there is show how to contact while at sea

[WisCruiser2]

If your phone supports wi-fi calling, she can call you directly if you are connected to the internet. You can also use messenging apps (e.g., WhatsApp, Messenger) with her. If you don't use either options there is a number to contact the ship as mentioned above, it may be in your Travel Summary, too?

[mtnesterz]

The post after this has all the ships numbers. Just know it's $10/minute.

Edited June 7 by mtnesterz

[Torfamm]

If you’ll have no access to internet or cell phone service, you can find the numbers for individual ships here. 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/onboard-experience#keep-in-touch

[memoak]

2 hours ago, suzyed said:

We're sailing tomorrow and our daughter is looking for a phone # to be able to contact us on the ship Just in Case?  Is it the regular Princess number that keeps us on hold all the time or some other number?

We just email   You have to make sure she has a WiFi plan

[reedprincess]

Assuming you will not have WiFi Internet access aboard - she can call the emergency numbers in the post above 

 

If you will have WiFi Internet aboard - she can WhatsApp you, FB Messenger you, email you, WiFi call you, etc.  

[startedwithamouse]

WhatsApp

 

[capriccio]

If you have WiFi Calling and are considering getting the ship's WiFi plan (which is included with the Plus and Premier packages or can be purchased separately if you don't have a package), I can highly recommend it especially in case of an emergency.  We were on a 28 day cruise around Australia when we received a text first thing in the morning from our daughter, at least 12 time zones away.  She had been admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery with a complication so her overnight stay turned out to be 3 nights.  Once we all realized the texting worked so well, we used that to set up times for calling. Such immediate access was a relief, especially since it wasn't dependent upon a third party passing on the message nor did we incur any additional phone charges. 

[Kay S]

In the dark distant past before WiFi, we once got an emergency call from shore.  As I recall, the callers contacted Princess and they were directed to a special ship-specific number.  We were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at the time.  I don't remember being charged for the call (it was incoming.)

Edited June 7 by Kay S

[Paula_MacFan]

Not sure where you're sailing but we're on the Sapphire now. We've had cell service pretty much all week with no issues. (Also had signal for 8 days prior on land during our cruisetour, even in most remote locations). On sea days if we don't have cell signal we stay in touch with family at home using email or FB Messenger. The ship's wifi works very well. We consider wifi as peace of mind to stay in touch with elderly parents at home and other family members.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Kay S said:

In the dark distant past before WiFi, we once got an emergency call from shore.  As I recall, the callers contacted Princess and they were directed to a special ship-specific number.  We were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at the time.  I don't remember being charged for the call (it was incoming.)

The charge for the call would be for the number calling. Years ago we had a family emergency and lots of sea days so no way to call from ports using calling cards and we had to make numerous calls to the US. For some reason we never were billed when we asked they said they couldn’t find them. Hooray for Princess

[ecs66]

Sis and hubby were on Caribbean Princess last month, trans-Atlantic.  We all used WhatsApp to communicate with each other.  Amazingly clear calls and texts.  Wifi calling should be equally do-able.  Even though technology can make you tear your hair out at times, when it comes to cruising it has improved SO MUCH over the last five years.

[mahasamatman]

Google Voice is also wonderful for those who do not want to be under Meta's thumb.