Princess LTE fee is a rip off

I have an iPhone and this also happened in Europe.

 

 

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Princess turns off their cellular when in port, they have to. They can't leave it on or the local population would accidentally roam on their tower. It would also be illegal for them to keep it on. You must have had it on at sea. Your error. I was in Europe last week on Princess and had the AT&T $10 plan. I got a text from AT&T every time it was activated when I turned my iPhone off of Airplane mode in port.

 

Also, I live a few miles from the Canadian border. When I drive to a certain area, I have to put my phone into airplane mode, because it seems that the closest tower is in Canada, even though I am driving in the US. If I don't watch I could end up having international and roaming charges if I were to receive a call.

It sometimes works both ways. We are U.S. citizens but at one time we also had a home in BC. We used our US cell phone in BC to contact people back home with no roaming charges. Apparently the service we were using had a stronger signal than the local one everyone else in our area of BC were using. When calling locally, we just used our local land line. Saved us a lot of money.

Ummmm.... That isn't what people are suggesting. It isn't even what you said people are recommending. Turning on Airplane Mode and then enabling WiFi is exactly the same as disabling data - which is what I said.

I see your carrier is Verizon; I'm on AT&T. On its support site Apple states settings can be different for various carriers. The settings I outlined work for me and your settings work for you. Let's just leave it at that...

I don't know why but it seems to be true. Having worked in IT for many years I was always boggled that many people can do things one way but an alternate method turns their brains off and they "can't do that". Over the years I found it was usually easier to tell people the methods of doing things that seemed to be easiest for "most people" to grasp. The fact that it makes little sense to me doesn't alter the fact that people seem to work that way.

 

I just turn data off. It's quick and easy. I've just found that the two step process, while more cumbersome, seems to be better "understood" or at least easier for many to follow. You would be amazed at the mental roadblocks people set up for themselves when it comes to understanding technology. Heck, I can't even get people to understand that their wallpaper is not a screensaver.

 

As for being an "iPhone thing"... Apple makes me crazy. They give people one way to do stuff. Their way is the only way. GAH! No thanks. I don't like training wheels. Give me something I can tweak and play with and allows me to do things the way I want rather than the one and only way offered by Apple products.

It just seems intuitive to me that the best way to avoid huge charges for data is to "turn data off". But, then, I know what hollerith cards were used for. I never understood the attraction to the over-priced apple products either.

Remember the good old days, cell phones just made phone calls...... and computers were the only way to connect to the internet..... and beside it is a holiday.....

Me a have a basic cell phone ( no camera ) which I use only for phone calls....

time for another G&T after reading all this Don

Ummmm.... That isn't what people are suggesting. It isn't even what you said people are recommending. Turning on Airplane Mode and then enabling WiFi is exactly the same as disabling data - which is what I said.

No it isn't. Disabling Data disables just cellular data, but still leaves wifi, Bluetooth, cellular telephone and SMS active. Turning on Airplane Mode disables all of those those plus cellular data.

So turning on Airplane Mode then enabling wifi is NOT the same as disabling data.

I am curious how you received phone calls and texts when your phone is on airplane mode. Airplane mode turns off the cell service. You must have an amazing phone :D. WVBill and I have never heard of such a phone in airplane mode that receives phone calls. That is why airlines require phones to be in airplane (duh!) mode during a flight so that it prevents phones from sending or receiving texts or phone calls or trying to access cell towers.

Phone in airplane mode "ON", wifi mode "on"

apple phones allow txt messages between iphones through servers. you can also make voice and video calls via an app like whatsapp, or Skype. Use it on flights all the time

on WestJet it is WestJet connect https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/about-us/contact-us/faqs/westjet-connect

on Air Canada its Gogo Wifi https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/onboard/wi-fi.html

No it isn't. Disabling Data disables just cellular data, but still leaves wifi, Bluetooth, cellular telephone and SMS active. Turning on Airplane Mode disables all of those those plus cellular data.

 

So turning on Airplane Mode then enabling wifi is NOT the same as disabling data.

You can use Wifi & Bluetooth in airplane mode. It does automatically turn them off, but you can slide them back on and stay in airplane mode

You can use Wifi & Bluetooth in airplane mode. It does automatically turn them off, but you can slide them back on and stay in airplane mode

I realize that.

No it isn't. Disabling Data disables just cellular data, but still leaves wifi, Bluetooth, cellular telephone and SMS active. Turning on Airplane Mode disables all of those those plus cellular data.

 

So turning on Airplane Mode then enabling wifi is NOT the same as disabling data.

You can use Wifi & Bluetooth in airplane mode. It does automatically turn them off, but you can slide them back on and stay in airplane mode

Since my phone does WiFi Calling I turn the Wifi on after putting my phone in Airplane Mode on the ship. I leave data on because it is turned off in Airplane Mode. I can make voice, text and use data like I was home over the WiFi I have purchased or I get free as a Princess perk.

When we arrive in port I take it out of Airplane Mode if I want to use a Day Pass. That starts a 24 hour period. They send a text message. The phone searches for an AT&T roaming partner. It isn't going to connect with Cellular at Sea at a port, even if Princess left it on by accident! The phone has GPS and knows my location and has a list of carriers. I have it on automatic but sometimes I have to take it off automatic and manually select a roaming network. Cellular at Sea is never on the list of carriers at ports. I got back from Europe on September 2 so this is fresh on my mind. I was in Europe from August 22 to Sept 2. I just checked my phone bill and the only addition to my regular bill was $80 plus taxes for buying day passes on eight of the days.

So the other person screwed up somehow if they got a $2000 bill.

Nope. I get phone calls and texts all the time. Just can't access the internet.

If you are in airplane mode you are not getting calls. Absolutely not. That's the whole point of airplane mode. You can use your internet on airplane mode, if you turn the wifi back on after putting your phone in airplane mode. You could also get texts via iMessage since they come through a different server than your phone company, like a regular text would.A regular text (phone to phone without apple involved) would not come through. I think you're a little confused.

 

 

 

When I take a vacation I leave the internet behind. It is part of the fun of taking a vacation.

 

Usually, this post shows up much sooner in Internet discussions.

You can use Wifi & Bluetooth in airplane mode. It does automatically turn them off, but you can slide them back on and stay in airplane mode

Much simpler to just "Turn Data Off". The biggest cause of huge phone bills is data usage. Many apps use data all the time. You think you're avoiding big bills by not using the phone. Meanwhile the 300 apps on your phone are merrily running up a big data bill.

I recently took a Northern European cruise with Princess and they basically robbed us. They internet package was expensive and slowed. You basically spent 5 minutes of your allotted time to get to a website. When we were docked they took over the LTE and charged $9 per giga byte. Usually without an international it is $.98 so basically 9 times more than the regular price. By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill. Just really disappointed with Princess and I will never cruise with them.

 

 

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Questions:

If your ATT plan was to cover your data charges while in these countries, have you shown ATT that you were in fact in those countries for these charges?

That should be easy to do since you have the itinerary of the cruise you were on.

Have you asked them to remove the charges on penalty of falsely advertising that their plan would cover you?

If you are in airplane mode you are not getting calls. Absolutely not. That's the whole point of airplane mode. You can use your internet on airplane mode, if you turn the wifi back on after putting your phone in airplane mode. You could also get texts via iMessage since they come through a different server than your phone company, like a regular text would.A regular text (phone to phone without apple involved) would not come through. I think you're a little confused.

No longer true.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203032

WiFi Calling = make phone calls in airplane mode with WiFi turned on.

At this point it's all just data.

No longer true.

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203032

 

WiFi Calling = make phone calls in airplane mode with WiFi turned on.

 

At this point it's all just data.

Very interesting! We had not seen this before. I've got questions the link didn't answer, but it gives me something to do tomorrow, right? (research)

Very interesting! We had not seen this before. I've got questions the link didn't answer, but it gives me something to do tomorrow, right? (research)

It's interesting for sure. I love technology and even I can't keep up with this stuff.

Maybe we should have an Apple vs Android thread and see if it can remain more civil than the dinner attire threads. :evilsmile: :D

Maybe we should have an Apple vs Android thread and see if it can remain more civil than the dinner attire threads. :evilsmile: :D

God save me from people with emotional investment in their phone brand of choice. :) (Frequent topic of coworker bickering.)

God save me from people with emotional investment in their phone brand of choice. :) (Frequent topic of coworker bickering.)

Believe me, it was a joke.

God save me from people with emotional investment in their phone brand of choice. :) (Frequent topic of coworker bickering.)

Beats arguing over PL/1, Fortran an COBOL....

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Please enlighten me...

Op finally did state that Princess billed AT&T who then billed OP. It was not Princess who did the billing. How can an entity be billed when they do not have a contract or business relationship? So, it was AT&T who billed the OP.

And, yes, cell phone matters are clearly stated on the Princess website.

Phew... I hope that there were at least a few things about the cruise that were enjoyed.

After all, you are on a cruise ship! How glorious! :cool:

Beats arguing over PL/1, Fortran an COBOL....

 

 

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I use nano instead of vim just to annoy people at this point.

Welcome OP. As others have stated, I am thinking you received your bill from your cell provider. Years ago I had forgotten to turn off cellular roaming on my iPhone after a day in one of the New Zealand ports. I had purchased a small amount of international data from AT&T prior to the cruise for just this purpose and had planned to shut data roaming off immediately after each land use to avoid the additional charges but missed doing that. I found out the next morning when I took out my phone to take a picture in the middle of the Tasman Sea and had an "oh s***" moment when I saw the Cellular at Sea logo. I turned data roaming off immediately and about a month later I saw a $100+ charge on my AT&T bill. I immediately sent an email to AT&T to advise them of my mistake to ask if anything could be done. To my surprise and relief, they wrote off the whole thing for one time only. There was a good ending to my story, and I'm sharing it with you in case you want to try the same approach with your cell carrier. Good luck.

I think many of us have done this too...rookie mistake! It was nice of you to share with the OP.