AT&T at Sea

[chris2597]

I read on the ATT website that I can use my att cell phone on the ship. I am trying to decide if I should do this or just use the internet cafe to check in on things at home. Has anyone used the cell service with att? Also, would I need to sign up for international roaming to get the service?

[ms8654]

Hi Chris,

 

I believe the price is about $7 or $8 per minute. I think it would be cheaper to send an e-mail. I have AT&T and a quad band phone. I have an international feature where I can make calls for about $1 or so a minute which I use in port as necessary. If you pay about $5 a month, you can save a lot on the per minute charge. But do the math, because it will cost you $60/year so get the lower price. Not worth it for me. Also they add it through the 1-800 number and it takes a few days to get approved as a credit check is involved and then some other approval. In today's times, it should be an instant approval IMO but no big deal since I didn't need it right away.

 

marie

[ladylawyer]

I read on the ATT website that I can use my att cell phone on the ship. I am trying to decide if I should do this or just use the internet cafe to check in on things at home. Has anyone used the cell service with att? Also, would I need to sign up for international roaming to get the service?

 

Hi! I have AT&T (formerly Cingular) and have made calls from RCI ships. They have their own cell towers. You'll see the designation "RCI at Sea" on your phone, when you call from the ship. It's just like calling from land ... except for the price. Even if you have unlimited long distance calling, expect to be charged $2.49 per minute. This is true, even if you have International Roaming.

 

It's way better than the almost $8 per minute, to use the ship to shore phone on board, but a lot more pricey than your usual cellular bill. Sometimes, if you're close to shore, you can pick up your signal from land at the regular costs. However, I've been standing on my balcony, while the ship is docked at the Port of LA, and paid RCI at Sea roaming charge. :eek: The best way to tell is to look for the designation on your phone's display.

 

If you don't need an immediate response, using the Internet Cafe (at a maximum of $.50 per minute) is more economical, depending on how much time you spend on the internet. :rolleyes:

[hunnypot1]

On our last cruise we left the kids with their auntie...

We used the internet cafe to keep in touch (and avoid the $2.49 per minute AT&T fee). Right before dinner we would read emails the kids sent and send them one telling of our adventures. We did no other internet surfing...

There was a $5 internet time coupon in each of our C&A gold coupon books. After we used up those minutes, we paid $.50 per minute. It cost us less than $15 for a five night cruise.

[chris2597]

Ladylawyer, Did you also have International calling on your ATT/Cingular phone when you used RCI at Sea? I dont want to go through the hassle of adding International just for the cruise, then cancelling the next month. I am hoping that we can just use our ATT phone as it is.

 

I was intending to use the Internet Cafe to keep in touch with home but I have read that it is sooooooo slow, even when just checking email.

[KeysRes]

We were on the Freedom last month, and our cell phone is ATT. Previous posters are correct that it is $2.49 per minute when at sea using the ships cell phone towers. You will hear your phone beep when they get close to port and turn off the towers....and you will be able to connect to whatever is on shore. Those rates are usually cheaper depending which port ( ex. $1.29 for Saint Maarten, etc. They show the rates on their website). You do need to ask for international roaming to be turned on for your phone...and I think that's a free feature depending on your contract. Mine was already on (unbeknownst to me, it was part of my cell package).

If you stop in St. Thomas or Puerto Rico, that won't cost any more than making a call in the US.

I found the internet to be rather slow onboard. I kept in touch with text messages. I think it was 50 cents per message, and nothing to receive. The sender in the US would have to pay to send - but depending on their carrier, the international text was 35 to 50 cents. Cheaper than a phone call anyway!

[WM219]

Hey All,

 

Marie was right in that the ~$5 add on will get your calls down to around $1.00/minute while on board. If you go into an AT&T corporate store, the agent can add the package for you a few days before you leave and then remove it after your trip. I recommend leaving it on for at least 2 months however, as it can take roaming charges that long to be applied to your bill. I did this for my August sailing on Freedom and an October trip to Asia.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Will

[ms8654]

Will,

 

Perhaps it's my package, but I don't pay the $5/month charge and my calls are about $1/minute depending on the country. I thought with $5 charge the calls were about $.25 or less per minute? My local store said they couldn't add the international calling and roaming at the store and that I had to do it with customer service. However, with that said, when I bought my most recent phone at a different store, they also told me that I had to reapply for the feature on my new phone, which was incorrect. Once it's on the account, it's on the account per customer service. I do like that when we arrive in each new country the phone automatically works. Typically the international carriers will send you a text message welcoming you to their network when you get the new signal. It is quite handy when traveling with a group and you are trying to locate the others. The scary part are the next few bills when you aren't quite sure what to expect.

 

Marie

[Shanafan]

If you have the iPhone make sure you put it on airplane mode or your email will continue to update and you will rack up one heck of a bill!

[debshomespun]

Another way to keep in touch with home is to check the internet cafe on the islands. While we were in Barbados last year, we stumbled on a cafe that was $2.00 for 20 or 30 minutes. Lots of time to check your email, or whatever else you wanted to check. The fee is about 50 cents per minute on the ship, which is far cheaper than using your cell phone.

 

If you want to check in with family, add them to your instant messenger, and you can talk w/them on line while at sea also. Set up some designated times before you leave, and check in with them while away. Works great!

[allsettocruise]

How about texting to family members while ON BOARD to eachother. We have two teens who are traveling with us and want to check in with them here and there. Will texting work on the ship to text to eachother, if so, how much is that?

[ripper998]

Also, be sure your phone is turned off if you DONT want to be charged. A friend of mine who has ATT went on an overseas trip and didnt use his phone once and he still incurred costs. Apparently whenever someone calls in they charge you a fee and then charge you another fee if it goes to voice mail. And his wife works for them and is on the employee plan. Kind of a rip off.

[Honey's Gal]

Texting works very well while on board, but I don't know how much it costs. One of the people travelling with us text their kids all the time during the Red Sox games. We had constant updates.

 

I also have AT&T, my phone worked great while in Hawaii and sailing most parts of the Pacific. It did cost about 2.49 a min, but it really wasn't all that bad for the 18 days we were away. I used my phone alot due to health issues with people at home.

 

The internet can be very sporadic while onboard. Also, very slow. There were some days we could not get a connection and being that far from land as we were, can cause problems.

[katbid10]

This is all great information. Thanks!

[kmatthews812]

How about texting to family members while ON BOARD to eachother. We have two teens who are traveling with us and want to check in with them here and there. Will texting work on the ship to text to eachother, if so, how much is that?

Wouldn't it be great if you had the ability to use an cruise-sponsored device to text other people on board only? If all it did was allow you text people on board, and did not use the international cell towers, would you be willing to pay a couple bucks to rent the device for the day?

[lance32]

Hi friends,:)

be careful, on my I-Phone it showed ATT at Sea. I ignored this was on LOS 9/07 for 7 days. Got home had 500+ dollar bill. I called ATT pleaded ignorance, it was and they settled for 250 dollars. This year I put Phone on Airplane mode, whci blocks calls+Texts coming in. I only made a few calls, and had normal Bill. RCI tried to say it was ATT, ATT said it was RCI.

my advice be careful, not worth changing plan for 7 days in my humble opinion, if not i phone keep phone off, use carefully, or be ready to have another OB Account Balance waiting at home. Have a Great Trip!

lance 32:)

[kenf333]

It is $2.49 per minute on the ship as others said, I enabled international roaming and in mexico a land based call was 59 cents per minute or something like that.

[hoop4321]

would be very interested in the texting. Is it 50 cents charged each way or just the senders phone?

[tex_toby]

In March on our Serenade Southern Caribbean cruise, we left our 3yo at home with grandparents. For our own sanity, we used our AT&T cell phone every evening to call and check in with him. Mine you, we only talked a few minutes a night, but it made us feel better. The rate was $2.49/min but worth every penny to us for our own peace of mind. Other cell companies charge more. My wife has T-mobile and it was going to cost upwards of $5 per min.

 

tex :cool:

[Gatorman85]

I have an I phone....love to check email on it. If you turn it off airplane mode, can you check email, then go back to airplane mode and only incur charges while it is on airplane mode ? Wondering if I need to use my son's razar phone if I need to make a call ? My teen sons are going on the ship with me and I was planning on texting them to check in with them as to where they are on the ship etc. One son has a razor, one has an I phone..... I may have to call AT&T

Thanks for the I phone info as the incoming email is uncontrolable.

[bmalbro]

I agree with kmatthews812, if cruise lines offered a free texting device for each passenger, I would use it a LOT. I wouldn't risk using my own phone on a trip (a) I'd like to be disconnected while on vacation and (b) if a cruise offered a mobile device, for free, I would be able to stay in touch with the rest of my party.

 

I think it's a great idea. Thoughts?

[lance32]

Yes,

you can switch off airplane mode, but be careful, my first year the texting charges killed me. As I have no kids, I dont have that concern. Ask RCI about here rental phones for ship use, or purchase two way radios. If you purchase two way radios make sure thet have a lot of channels, as alot of people on ship use them. I use old school notes/post it notes, and set all watches to ships time.

Happy Cruising:)

[BaumD]

AT&T at Sea will charge you $0.0195 per KB for downloading. If you limit each email download to 5 KB, that will be 10 cents per email. On my last cruise, my email downloads cost me about $6.00.

[meansun]

I was on the Voyager Feb 1. I just looked at my bill and there were no charges other than the calls I made from Cozumel. We have International calling turned on but I did not get the plan for $6.00 a month. The week before I went to the AT&T store to discuss all the charges specifically with them. To make calls from the ship it is $2.49 per minute. Texting is .50 cents incoming and .05 cents outgoing. The data was $.019 per kilo bite for data including any pictures downloaded or sent in a text message. Now on the iphone you can send a pic via text so you have to email it. On my daughters iphone we kept hers on airplane mode and did not turn on international calling.

 

I just looked at her texts for last month and there was 8532 messages with a week off. :eek:

[hoop4321]

 

I just looked at her texts for last month and there was 8532 messages with a week off. :eek:

 

 

Oh my!!!...LOL! Thanks for the info. I think we will go for the cell phones as I doubt 55 cents per text will equal $50 for the dect phones. We will use this for keeping tabs and security when he is in and out of the kids clubs.