how do you call home

I was disappointed to hear that ATT's cruise calling plan doesnt cover Princess Cruiseline. Im here to ask for some ideas on how you call home while cruising. I will be on the Caribbean Princess for 6 nights to the western Caribbean and would like to check in everyday.

Cellular at Sea service through the ship's towers is rarely included in any carrier's international calling plan. If it is that important to you to call home every single day, and texting or using a wi-fi messenger service from a social media site is inadequate, you will have to pay the piper. It is costly to provide cellular service from a moving cell site, and AT&T and every other provider is more than happy to pass the cost along to those who cannot turn off their devices on vacation. Just remember it wasn't that long ago that the only way to reach home in an emergency was to make a ship to shore call for $9 to $12 a minute (and the time counter started as soon as you began dialing).

You should call AT&T and ask them the cost per minute. It will not be cheap. Then you may want to consider how important it is to call home daily.

If you have cell phone, you might be able to get international calling plans and make calls from shore when the ship docks.

Practical way is to do your call on land at port visits. You may want to check with your carrier the cost aspects.

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You should call AT&T and ask them the cost per minute. It will not be cheap. Then you may want to consider how important it is to call home daily.

The time I used Sprint from my cell phone on the ship it was $2.49/minute.

If you have cell phone, you might be able to get international calling plans and make calls from shore when the ship docks.

When on land outside of the US, I've used FaceTime with free Wi-Fi but I believe they also have a FaceTime voice only option if the Wi-Fi connection isn't great. We enjoyed a video chat from our Rome hotel to family at home. :)

I was disappointed to hear that ATT's cruise calling plan doesnt cover Princess Cruiseline. Im here to ask for some ideas on how you call home while cruising. I will be on the Caribbean Princess for 6 nights to the western Caribbean and would like to check in everyday.

Skype

If you have cell phone, you might be able to get international calling plans and make calls from shore when the ship docks.

The OP has AT&T.....I have AT&T. Their plans are terrible.

Voice only Skype or Facetime using a WiFi connection in the ports. If at sea take put a bank loan when you get back to pay for the calls. Hopefully there is no real need to stay in contact each day.

How do you call home???

First, you cash your retirement plan... Or rob a bank!

Ok. Just kidding. You can use Vonage or Skype or Google Hangouts. Chance are you may not be able to secure enough bandwidth to do this while the ship is at sea-- If you can wait til you get to port, you can pick up wifi there- and then Skype.

If you use FaceTime, Google Hangouts or Skype, be sure to turn off the video and use only the audio. Bandwidth on the ship's wifi shouldn't be a problem as long as you turn off the video. Paying for internet minutes on the ship should be the most economical method.

If you use FaceTime, Google Hangouts or Skype, be sure to turn off the video and use only the audio. Bandwidth on the ship's wifi shouldn't be a problem as long as you turn off the video. Paying for internet minutes on the ship should be the most economical method.

Good to know & will try it from the ship on our next cruise.

If you use FaceTime, Google Hangouts or Skype, be sure to turn off the video and use only the audio. Bandwidth on the ship's wifi shouldn't be a problem as long as you turn off the video. Paying for internet minutes on the ship should be the most economical method.

I only use Skpe/video. Very few times did I have an issue.

Consider ship internet. Much easier and you can send a descriptive narration of previous day.

We use T-Mobile in almost every country in the world. Unlimited FREE Internet and Text and 20 cents per minute for calls. We have only run into 4 countries where this service is not offered.:):):)

I was disappointed to hear that ATT's cruise calling plan doesnt cover Princess Cruiseline. Im here to ask for some ideas on how you call home while cruising. I will be on the Caribbean Princess for 6 nights to the western Caribbean and would like to check in everyday.

The phone in your room.

We have AT&T and I used the wi-fi calling feature with my iPhone to make calls on our recent cruise.

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You should explore WI FI Calling. I don't have AT&T, I have T-Mobile, but I believe AT&T also has this available. I haven't tried this on ships as I don't want to pay the internet fees, but I have used it in hotels in Europe or Wi Fi hot spots in ports. It's just like calling on your phone line as the person on the other end doesn't have to have anything special. You basically are using the internet to make a call instead of the provider's phone service. Calls were clear as could be from Europe....I haven't used it in the Caribbean.

Download free app- WhatsApp. You need to be on wifi to use the app. Anyone you call needs to download the app. We have used the app on our iPhones to call home from Europe and from the middle of the Pacific on our way to Hawaii. Works great-free calling and texting.

I was disappointed to hear that ATT's cruise calling plan doesnt cover Princess Cruiseline. Im here to ask for some ideas on how you call home while cruising. I will be on the Caribbean Princess for 6 nights to the western Caribbean and would like to check in everyday.

I use the cabin phone and I do not talk long. ;)

If you are willing to buy an Internet package, some sort of Wi-Fi calling or VOIP software product would do the trick for cost effective calling while on ship.

I've used a couple of pieces of software on my iPad in the past, Talkatone and Bobsled. Both will utilize a regular Internet connection to make a VOIP call to a terrestrial phone number. The last time I used them they did not require any extra expense, aside from access to the Internet to make a call. I felt they worked well, and the latency of ship's satellite Internet didn't have much effect on voice quality. You may wish to look these two apps up in your phone or tablet's app store and install them before your next cruise. Then purchase an Internet package and you'll be able to call home every day from either on board using the Internet minutes you purchased or on shore if you find free Wi-Fi.

I was disappointed to hear that ATT's cruise calling plan doesnt cover Princess Cruiseline. Im here to ask for some ideas on how you call home while cruising. I will be on the Caribbean Princess for 6 nights to the western Caribbean and would like to check in everyday.

I use FaceTime with my iPad Pro it works great. I call home every night you use your wifi so it's free for me. You get free minutes for being a Platinum or Elite member.

Tony

I have AT&T cellular service. I buy an international package for 1 month that allows me to make calls back into the USA from the different ports in the Caribbean. Sending and receiving texts were unlimited, voice calling was limited and WiFi was severely limited. If you exceed the allotted voice time, the charge was less than not having the package plus there were a few packages to choose from. Worked for me. You can do it online in your account or call them.

It is around $2.50/minute if you are using the ship's cell tower so beware as the package does not cover it.

The OP has AT&T.....I have AT&T. Their plans are terrible.

Suggestion: Switch cell phone companies.

We have AT&T and I used the wi-fi calling feature with my iPhone to make calls on our recent cruise.

 

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