Texting on board?

[Tattycoram]

For our upcoming TA, I was really looking forward to NOT having internet:  cut myself off from work and distractions.  I have reluctantly concluded I should stay in touch with my husband and son who'll be in France (joke!), and I might have a bit of fairly fun work to do too, and, of course, more fun with a gorgeous view.

 

My other concern is how my daughter and I will stay in touch with each other on the ship--you know, the usual coordination of "Cool thing happening!  Join me in the library!" etc.  Would we both need the plan? (Here in the States we have iPhones with ATT, if that matters.) 

[D&N]

15 minutes ago, Tattycoram said:

Would we both need the plan?

Yes.

You can run one plan with the other device linked by bluetooth/WiFi hotspot, but not if you're in different places.

 

Edit: And of course you'd need to text by WhatsApp or other message service. A phone text will be charged through the satellite system.

Edited June 16 by D&N

[Tattycoram]

Does both being on QM2 count as being in the same place?!  She's a big ship!

[rakkor]

Assuming you both don't want to pay for the internet package, you can text using the Maritime Network, but  that too is prohibitively expensive, your provider will let you know the cost once on board. I would revert to the pre mobile routines we always had, pre-arrange to meet at a certain time  in a mutual agreed location - Jane and myself tend to meet up in the Pavillion Pool as it's  a good place to chill, or the Carinthia Lounge when I've been to lectures or just doing my own thing.

[Pushpit]

There is a satellite provided Maritime cellphone signal in addition to Wifi, typically you pay a lot for that, though it depends on your cellphone provider. So realistically the always-on generation tend to buy the wifi package in order to keep Whatsapp (etc) running. 

 

I don't think it's that difficult to liaise, since after a few days you may well find a favourite bar / café spot, so if you decide roughly what you're going to be doing from the daily programme, e.g. over breakfast, then you'll either be at the event, or in the stateroom or in the preferred watering hole. It's a big ship, but it becomes intuitive what you you will be doing.

[david63]

2 minutes ago, Tattycoram said:

Does both being on QM2 count as being in the same place?!  She's a big ship!

No - you would both need to be within range of the hotspot.

[rakkor]

QM2 is big, but you tend to end up in the same places when wandering around, the advantage to its size is there are lots of out of the way places, like Deck 2 lower or the library where you can get away from people and get some peace and quiet

[Tattycoram]

Thank you, all!  I'm thinking one plan for me should be sufficient.

 

I do keep shocking my children with stories of how in the olden days my parents arranged to meet up with their wandering children at ski places or in cities:  Meet at the large pine tree at the base lodge at 4:05; be at the corner of Boylston and Clarendon by 5:30 and look for the car as I drive around the block depending on traffic; if you get lost, go back to the big flower arrangement in the lobby at the information desk.  I'm sure all of us over the age of 30--and I'm much older than 30!-- have similar tales to tell.

[exlondoner]

12 minutes ago, Tattycoram said:

Thank you, all!  I'm thinking one plan for me should be sufficient.

 

I do keep shocking my children with stories of how in the olden days my parents arranged to meet up with their wandering children at ski places or in cities:  Meet at the large pine tree at the base lodge at 4:05; be at the corner of Boylston and Clarendon by 5:30 and look for the car as I drive around the block depending on traffic; if you get lost, go back to the big flower arrangement in the lobby at the information desk.  I'm sure all of us over the age of 30--and I'm much older than 30!-- have similar tales to tell.

That’s what I do now. Is there another way?

[NE John]

1 hour ago, Tattycoram said:

For our upcoming TA, I was really looking forward to NOT having internet:  cut myself off from work and distractions.  I have reluctantly concluded I should stay in touch with my husband and son who'll be in France (joke!), and I might have a bit of fairly fun work to do too, and, of course, more fun with a gorgeous view.

 

My other concern is how my daughter and I will stay in touch with each other on the ship--you know, the usual coordination of "Cool thing happening!  Join me in the library!" etc.  Would we both need the plan? (Here in the States we have iPhones with ATT, if that matters.) 

Your bigger concern will be getting lost in the lower decks…and having fun doing so. 

[Pushpit]

Practically it's not that difficult. Consider deck 7 and decks 2 stroke 3. There is the library on 8, Commodore on deck 9.

 

On deck 7 if you decide on a preferred spot for Kings Court and Carinthia, these can be quickly spotted through the windows from the promenade deck. 

 

I refer to deck 2 stroke 3 since they are connected by the central atrium and by the split levels to the Britannia restaurant, Illuminations and the Royal Court. For the last two you could say "always deck 3 starboard" and then it's easy to find each other.

 

For decks 2 - 3, there are quite a few things there, but if you select one from the Golden Lion, Chart Room or Sir Samuels, then you will be able to find each other fairly easily. There is an area of Connexions where there are spare PCs, I never understood their popularity since it's like being at work in a basement (maybe it's the secret coffee machine). There's also the two corridors alongside Royal Court where games are played on one side and quiet seats on the other. But these are the "where else could she be?" areas.

 

So for all the size of the vessel, and excluding some niche spots like The Lookout, it should not be too problematic to find each other.

[TouchstoneFeste]

But the original question wasn't "How could we possibly find each other on this huge ship?" It was "How can we send a 'Come here right now!' message?"

[rakkor]

30 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

But the original question wasn't "How could we possibly find each other on this huge ship?" It was "How can we send a 'Come here right now!' message?"

 

Then all you can do is pay either for the WiFi package for both people and message each other or pay the exorbitant carrier charges for texts, both to send AND receive.

[jay1283]

I haven't tried it but I assume you can call the landline telephones in staterooms from those found in other locations such as corridors.

[david63]

2 hours ago, jay1283 said:

I haven't tried it but I assume you can call the landline telephones in staterooms from those found in other locations such as corridors.

But that would require knowing where the other party was.

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, D&N said:

Yes.

You can run one plan with the other device linked by bluetooth/WiFi hotspot, but not if you're in different places.

 

Edit: And of course you'd need to text by WhatsApp or other message service. A phone text will be charged through the satellite system.

 

Unless you know something that I don't,  I'm just a Grey Haired  Silicon Valley Teckno Nerd Haker.  

 

I don't believe you can setup a HotSpot using Wifi.   For some reason Apple only allows HotSpot using Cellular.    I've also tried on a Android and worked the same way.   You can however setup a hotspot over Wifi on a PC and both connect to it but won't help outside the room.

 

Give it a try -  Put your phone in Airplane mode -  Connect to WiFi  -  you will find Hotspot is Grayed Out and Off.  

[Kordy]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Unless you know something that I don't,  I'm just a Grey Haired  Silicon Valley Teckno Nerd Haker.  

 

I don't believe you can setup a HotSpot using Wifi.   For some reason Apple only allows HotSpot using Cellular.    I've also tried on a Android and worked the same way.   You can however setup a hotspot over Wifi on a PC and both connect to it but won't help outside the room.

 

Give it a try -  Put your phone in Airplane mode -  Connect to WiFi  -  you will find Hotspot is Grayed Out and Off.  

 

That is correct, iPhone (iOS) doesn't allow to create a hotspot, out of an existing Wifi connection, but only out of Cellular Data connection (4G or 5G).  Therefore, it's not possible to share your Internet package, with another person, on iPhone.

 

It is possible on some Androids, just not on all of them.  I believe the Samsung S2X series allow it, and maybe some Pixels, but most Android phones don't let you do it either. 

 

I wish that Cunard had a feature where it's possible to message someone, via their Internet portal (that you can access without a package, just by accessing the Wi-Fi).  I was on a Celebrity cruse last year and they had feature, where you could message someone just by knowing their name or their cabin number, without purchasing a package.

 

In fact, Cunard is behind other cruise lines in that they don't have an app !!! every other cruise company has an app, just not Cunard.  Even lower class companies like Norwegian or Carnival.

[D&N]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Unless you know something that I don't,  I'm just a Grey Haired  Silicon Valley Teckno Nerd Haker.  

 

I don't believe you can setup a HotSpot using Wifi.   For some reason Apple only allows HotSpot using Cellular.    I've also tried on a Android and worked the same way.   You can however setup a hotspot over Wifi on a PC and both connect to it but won't help outside the room.

 

Give it a try -  Put your phone in Airplane mode -  Connect to WiFi  -  you will find Hotspot is Grayed Out and Off.  

I knew it worked already having tested it to make sure the automatic FTP backup from my camera to phone to cloud would work without phone signal, but just did it again to be sure. It does run battery down quicker though, which might be down to file sizes being transferred.

 

I've never owned an apple product and never will unless they change their business model.

 

We're very happy with Moto Gs, currently 2020 and 2021 models.

[vieux_carre]

Cellular carriers differ with what they will and will not allow.  Additionally, there is the variable of if you have an eSIM or a physical SIM.

 

With the above caveats noted, I was able to do the following on my iPhone 14 Pro with an eSIM:

I didn’t put my phone in Airplane Mode.  Go into Settings, then Cellular.  Under my carrier name, I was able to toggle the first option “Turn on this line” to the off position.  This effectively disabled the cellular portion of my phone.  I was still able to then set up a hotspot and share my existing WiFi connection.

 

This may or may not work for you - I suspect that I have this ability since I am using an eSIM that can be switched off in software.  If your iPhone service is based on a physical SIM, try removing the SIM and see if you can set up a hotspot.  With the eSIM turned off or your physical SIM removed, you won’t incur any marine roaming charges.

 

I do realize that this scenario does not address the original question of being able to message shipwide, but does answer the recent point of setting up a WiFi hotspot from an iPhone to share the ship’s internet package with persons within range of your hotspot.

[Host Hattie]

I have an android phone and can share WiFi via Bluetooth. 

[TouchstoneFeste]

3 hours ago, vieux_carre said:

I do realize that this scenario does not address the original question of being able to message shipwide, but does answer the recent point of setting up a WiFi hotspot from an iPhone to share the ship’s internet package with persons within range of your hotspot.

When I repeated the original poster's question, I didn't mean to suggest this isn't a worthy topic as well. Just wanted to make sure it didn't get lost.

[Victoria2]

All this sounds terribly high tech.

 

We used to put messages in our cabin fan/letter slot out side our cabin door if communication was needed when apart. Not an immediate solution to 'come here quick', but it worked for us as nipping back every now and then to check wasn't onerous on QV but then there were very few 'come here quick' scenarios.

[D&N]

We don't have that problem anyway. We're always together. We just speak to each other.

[Victoria2]

6 minutes ago, D&N said:

We don't have that problem anyway. We're always together. We just speak to each other.

Great if you like the same lectures/films/duplicate Bridge/quizzes/golf nets etc.

We don't. 🙂

[Tattycoram]

3 hours ago, D&N said:

We don't have that problem anyway. We're always together. We just speak to each other.

I'm assuming neither you nor your wife is 16!

 

I love that my daughter is planning to seek out quiet places to read or talk to people who might give her crochet advice (I'm a knitter) or go to a watercolor class without me!

Edited June 17 by Tattycoram