Cingular cell phones beware!

[North2Alaska]

I sailed on the AOS for Thanksgiving week (southern Caribbean) with my husdband and two boys (14 and 16). We have a really wonderful time....

 

Today I got my cell phone bill. We have Cingular, and my 16 year old son apparently had some really great chats with his girlfriend back in the US to the tune of $600! He says that he did nothing special! When we boarded the boat in Puerto Rico, he thought it was really cool that his phone was working!

 

Does anyone know how this could happen? I read some posts stating that you had to call Cingular and have international roaming turned on.. (which I would never do for a child!). I never saw anything on the cruise about using cell phones, and any costs associated with them while out to sea! This looks like a huge scam to me!

 

Any suggestions for how to get Cingular to drop the charges? Has this happened to anyone else and were you successful at getting the charges dropped??

 

I had no idea the signal could go through the ships towers. I was planning on seeing if I could pick up a signal from land (1st cruise, Alaska). It's terrible that this happened, but thanks for the warning!

[Don Pedro]

The last time I was on a cruise I called cingular before to find out the charges while at sea, and they warned me that if I made a call in close proximity to the ships towers I would be charged that rate, even if I was docked in a port. (He was funny....he said that if I didn't want to get charged an arm and a leg for calls, get as far away from the ship as possible!) Bet your tush I turned my cell off the second I got onboard!

 

We had Cingular tell us the same thing. It made absolutely no sense that someone vacationing at a resort near the cruise ship pier could have their calls picked up by the ship's tower and get charged the higher rate.

 

After talking with several Cingular supervisors they discovered, in their own literature, that the ship's tower is turned off as the ship nears the port and that calls from Puerto Rico and St Thomas would be considered local calls. If, however, you use you cell phone out at sea, before the ship's tower is deactivated you can expect a hefty phone bill.

[signman]

The basics of cellular phone usage are simple. If your screen displays the word CINGULAR, service is charged at your plan rate. If the screen says anything else like CINGULAR AT SEA, then your charges will not be at your plan rate, and you should probably take action to find out what rate you will be paying before you use the phone, or be prepared to pay "whatever".

[wraithe]

We had Cingular tell us the same thing. It made absolutely no sense that someone vacationing at a resort near the cruise ship pier could have their calls picked up by the ship's tower and get charged the higher rate.

 

After talking with several Cingular supervisors they discovered, in their own literature, that the ship's tower is turned off as the ship nears the port and that calls from Puerto Rico and St Thomas would be considered local calls. If, however, you use you cell phone out at sea, before the ship's tower is deactivated you can expect a hefty phone bill.

 

The supervisors are correct, the ship's are not licensed to provide cell phone service in the US or any other sovereign nation, therefore, their system is turned off approximately one hour before reaching the 3 mile national limit for territorial waters.

[wraithe]

Does anyone know how this could happen? I read some posts stating that you had to call Cingular and have international roaming turned on.. (which I would never do for a child!). I never saw anything on the cruise about using cell phones, and any costs associated with them while out to sea! This looks like a huge scam to me!

 

Here's RCL's brochure on connecting at sea:

 

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192/wraithe4460/RCLKeepingYouConnectedBrochurePage2.jpg is one side of the document, and this is the other;

 

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192/wraithe4460/RCLKeepingYouConnectedBrochurePage1.jpg.

 

This was available at the Purser's Desk on Grandeur in October of 2006. Sort of blows the whole scam theory.

[willysgrandma]

I am lost for words. Rather than have your son take responsibility, you are looking for ... how can I get the charges dropped..... why didn't they warn me ...... I never saw anything on the cruise.........I thought I had to have something turned on...... Is this a scam......

 

Little sympathy here. Chalk it up to a hard lesson. I would think a 16 year old should know what the parameters are for the use of a cell phone if he is old enough and responsible enough to have one. He should at least be mature enough if he did not know, to ask.......

 

Show him an example and you take responsibility.

 

I agree! I won't even use my cell phone on a cruise - it is your responsibility to know what your charges are going to be when you use the phone. Cingular owes you no refund.

[mrdood]

Does anyone know how this could happen? I read some posts stating that you had to call Cingular and have international roaming turned on.. (which I would never do for a child!).

 

...now there is something humorous, call Cingular and tell them because you "read some posts" on Cruise Critic, you are not responsible.

 

I have to say that I disagree with most on here, the cost is YOUR responsibility, you are the parent, you allowed him access to the phone. The fact that you are on here and wanting to have Cingular just erase your bill shows that you don't take responsibility and that is what you have taught your child, so why would anyone expect him to take responsibility...

 

You gave him the phone, he USED the minutes, Cingular did nothing wrong...

 

Just be grateful he didn't call from stateroom phone... that bill would have been about $2,000

[rocket88]

Jeez - she just asked a question!

 

Obviously neither the kid nor the parents realized the charges would be so high. Hopefully she can strike a deal with Cingular, if not it's one of life's lessons learned the hard way.

 

Let's leave it up to the family to figure out how they will settle the finances.

 

BTW, since there are so many parenting experts out there, anyone care to tell me why my 22 year old son is having so much trouble finding a job?

[silentbob007]

I was on a RCCL cruise last week, and I saw all sorts of people chatting on their cell phones. I even heard several ask ... what is this Cingulair at Sea thing? I told everyone I heard that from that they would be charged about $3/minute for their call. Some thought that was fair, and others immediately pocketed the phone.

 

I don't know how it works with Cingulair, but with my Sprint phone, if I'm roaming, it asks me to hit an extra button to confirm that I'm willing to pay whatever the costs are over my plan price. That keeps accidents from happening. :)

[texasnana]

i agree it is the parents problem not the phone company.... i would check other companies. What if you have an international plan on your cell phone with cingular.

 

I have t mobile and had add Costa rica and Canada when we vacationed and there was no charges or extras. IN mexico on my t mobile there was a slight charge per a call..

 

Hubby will be taking his cingular international phone * or the plan he is on * so i am sure it will work with no problem>>

[Cruising89143]

I don't understand how this could be considered a scam. It's the buyers/consumers responsibility to be be aware of the different roaming charges/services available while at sea. The last time I was on a cruise I called cingular before to find out the charges while at sea, and they warned me that if I made a call in close proximity to the ships towers I would be charged that rate, even if I was docked in a port. (He was funny....he said that if I didn't want to get charged an arm and a leg for calls, get as far away from the ship as possible!) Bet your tush I turned my cell off the second I got onboard!

You can't just play dumb and expect cingular to have sympathy for you. Sorry.

Laura

 

Someone at Cingular gave you the wrong info. I used my cell phone just last month on the Jewel when we were docked in San Juan and St. Thomas. I made phone calls home while sitting on my balcony and I was on the local cell towers and not the ships. When you turn your phone on if it is on a local cell tower then it states "Cingular" on the phone. If you are on the ships system then it states something totally different on the phone. That is the way to tell who's tower you are using. It worked this way on the Navigator last year also. Of course it will also depend on what type of service agreement you have with Cingular or ones cell provider. Mine is nationwide with no long distance or roaming charges and this includes San Juan the the US Virgin Islands.

[wraithe]

BTW, since there are so many parenting experts out there, anyone care to tell me why my 22 year old son is having so much trouble finding a job?

 

Because he isn't looking in the right place??? :D Hmmm, somehow I doubt that helped. LOL. It's supposed to be funny, smile man! FWIW, when I was 23 and couldn't find a job, the US Navy stepped right up, offered me a job that I did in one capacity or another for 20 years! I'll end the recruiting commercial now, things were a lot different in 1983 than they are now. I wish your son luck in finding a good job in a field he enjoys.

[ColeandAbby]

Jeez - she just asked a question!

 

Obviously neither the kid nor the parents realized the charges would be so high. Hopefully she can strike a deal with Cingular, if not it's one of life's lessons learned the hard way.

 

Let's leave it up to the family to figure out how they will settle the finances.

 

BTW, since there are so many parenting experts out there, anyone care to tell me why my 22 year old son is having so much trouble finding a job?

 

Loaded question. Be warned that you parenting skills may be blamed for your son's lack of employment..:rolleyes:

 

I agree w. your post. Hard lesson learned. I'm sure the mom feels bad enough w/out all the bashing here...

[LLSullie]

We cruised AOS Dec 10th. First time leaving all the kids home so we were interested to see if the phones would work, as opposed to calling from a ship phone or onshore. Amazingly, my BF's Cingular phone only worked at sea. My verizon phone worked at every port. Also amazing, he was charged Cingular at Sea pricing ... Verizon to Verizon phone calls ... Free.

 

Unfortunately I let my parents, cruising with us, know this ... my mother, on Verizon, made sure to "keep in touch" ... LOL

[Cruising89143]

Loaded question. Be warned that you parenting skills may be blamed for your son's lack of employment..:rolleyes:

 

I agree w. your post. Hard lesson learned. I'm sure the mom feels bad enough w/out all the bashing here...

 

No one is bashing the OP. She came here on her own free will and asked if there was a way to get the charges dropped. From the answers that she has received, most of us here believe that it is her and her sons responsibility to take care of this and not a "scam" as she has indicated. If you don't want other peoples opinions then don't post on a message board.;)

[alibail]

I had no idea the signal could go through the ships towers. I was planning on seeing if I could pick up a signal from land (1st cruise, Alaska). It's terrible that this happened, but thanks for the warning!

 

Your phone (at least UK phones) will not default to the ships network, instead they will default to the nearest network in port you are allowed to use.

 

If the phone does default to the ships service, go into your settings, under "mobile networks" (or whatever it happens to be called on your phone) and select Change, and then click on a network other than the ships service.

[Merion_Mom]

No one is bashing the OP. She came here on her own free will and asked if there was a way to get the charges dropped. From the answers that she has received, most of us here believe that it is her and her son's responsibility to take care of this and not a "scam" as she has indicated. If you don't want other peoples opinions then don't post on a message board. ;)

As usual, words of wisdom from Gordon. ;)

 

ColeandAbby - this really isn't bashing of JSaunders. She posted that she feels that the charges are erroneous and should be rescinded. That's just nonsense. She (son/whoever) used a service and was charged for that service. It really couldn't be any simpler.

 

Hey, I ordered an after-dinner drink in the dining room, and they CHARGED me for it! Can you believe the chutzpah?!?!?!?!??!?!?

[Autumnrose]

I agree it is not a scam. This is good information for many people who may not know. I have Sprint and used my phone is San Juan for a couple of calls and sent a few pictures. When I got home I didn't even notice much difference from my normal bill so I am not sure what I was charged.

 

The 16 year old really must have been talking a lot or the charges are really high compared to Sprint. I went to Mexico and got caught in a Hurricane. For 3 days we were without water and electricity. I used my phone constantly and also let many other people at the hotel use my phone because I seemed to be the only one with Sprint and my phone was the only one that worked. I even connected to the net to check weather conditions. My bill was only $350.00. High but I had thought it would be much higher. And no I never had to call Sprint or do anything special to my phone.

 

I knew that my bill would be high from using outside of the US. I certainly would never expect the fees to be waived for me.

[gerif]

Gosh - it would have been cheaper to bring the girlfriend!

 

Anyway, I really don't believe the OP was being bashed - just didn't get the answer she was looking for.

[rocket88]

As usual, words of wisdom from Gordon. ;)

 

ColeandAbby - this really isn't bashing of JSaunders. She posted that she feels that the charges are erroneous and should be rescinded. That's just nonsense. She (son/whoever) used a service and was charged for that service. It really couldn't be any simpler.

 

Hey, I ordered an after-dinner drink in the dining room, and they CHARGED me for it! Can you believe the chutzpah?!?!?!?!??!?!?

Here's an opinion - anyone with over 5000 posts has too much time on their hands.

 

Not meant to criticize, just an opinion!!

[TexCruise371]

One of the first things I do when I board ship is turn off the cell phone and put it in the safe. I'm trying to get away from the stupid thing.:D

[Cruisin Dave]

All you needed to do was go to Cingular's website, pull up the Travel Guide and select Royal Caribbean and it would have told you the cost per minute and what service you would've had. The information is out there.

 

Personally I think it was naive to assume that the cost would be the same as in the US. Why did you let your son have his cell phone with him if you didn't want him to use it?

Thanks for the information about finding rates. I checked mine and it is $2.49 per min not including tax and other charges.

[Lauderdalegal]

I sailed on the AOS for Thanksgiving week (southern Caribbean) with my husdband and two boys (14 and 16). We have a really wonderful time....

 

Today I got my cell phone bill. We have Cingular, and my 16 year old son apparently had some really great chats with his girlfriend back in the US to the tune of $600! He says that he did nothing special! When we boarded the boat in Puerto Rico, he thought it was really cool that his phone was working!

 

Does anyone know how this could happen? I read some posts stating that you had to call Cingular and have international roaming turned on.. (which I would never do for a child!). I never saw anything on the cruise about using cell phones, and any costs associated with them while out to sea! This looks like a huge scam to me!

 

Any suggestions for how to get Cingular to drop the charges? Has this happened to anyone else and were you successful at getting the charges dropped??

 

I was on the Radiance 12/9-12/17 and looked at my Cingular bill for 9 calls lasting a total of 27 minutes my bill was $46.86. It appears I didn't get any text message charges. High but I expected it.

[Shannon12]

why would you or your son think that the calls would be part of your domestic plan?

 

Because I dont know of many 16 year old boys that would even think of this if they were able to call their lady friend from a cruise ship :D

[ColeandAbby]

No one is bashing the OP. She came here on her own free will and asked if there was a way to get the charges dropped. From the answers that she has received, most of us here believe that it is her and her sons responsibility to take care of this and not a "scam" as she has indicated. If you don't want other peoples opinions then don't post on a message board.;)

 

Perhaps ones should look at the way they address folks...