Cell Phone Use While at Sea..........

My wife and I will be cruising on Celebrity’s Summit soon and I have an unusual question about the cell phone coverage on the ship.

We both have smart phones, but like most people these days, we get an insane amount of text messages. So having either of these phones turned on while on the ship will more than likely incur a lot of unnecessary charges. Since we want our children to be able to contact us if they have an emergency, and to check in once a day via text message, we were considering activating an old flip-phone with a new number only they will have. This will allow us to communicate directly with them and not incur any unnecessary charges. I called Verizon about this and they stated the cruise industry no longer supports older CDMA cell phones on their satellite cellular service and because of that our old flip-phone won’t work while at sea. I asked the Verizon Rep for more information about this, but she wasn’t able to point me to any outside information stating this. She only said that it was a recent technology change. I then called Celebrity, but the Rep wasn’t able to find anything specific about older CDMA / non-smart cellphones.

So, to sum it up, does anyone know for a fact that older CDMA phones won’t work while at sea due to a recent technology change? Or, has anyone successfully used an older CDMA non-smart phone at sea recently?

Any and all help will be most appreciated.

I have a few suggestions. First, if you have a tablet with your email on it take that and purchase an Internet package. Sign in for a few minutes to check email. Do not forget to sign out when you are done.

If you must use your smartphone, put your phone on airline mode, turn off roaming or turn off cellular data and only sign in with wifi connecting to your internet package. Again, don't forget to sign off.

Power down your phone when not using.

Gail

We considered that, and may have to go that route, but this won't allow our kids to contact us directly without having to wait for us to check our messages.

I can't help with the question of the older phone being compatible with the ship's equipment, but have a possible alternative solution. Rather than activating an old phone, could you get a new SIM card for one of your two smart phones and use that for the cruise?

That's an interesting idea! I'll have to call Verizon and see if we can work that out.

Thanks!

That's an interesting idea! I'll have to call Verizon and see if we can work that out.

 

Thanks!

Good luck. Let us know how it works out, as I'm sure you aren't the only ones with this or a similar situation.

Receiving a text message only costs a nickel a message. Sending one will cost you 50 cents.

That's an interesting idea! I'll have to call Verizon and see if we can work that out.

 

Thanks!

you can purchase prepaid phone which not really cost a lot and use it.

Also, please join roll call for 10/18 sailing. It's very active and has few activities scheduled.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2016193&page=79

Mike

A couple of things have not been discussed. Cell phone service on board is not ATT, Verizon or anyone else without a cruise ship plan - otherwise it is the ship's cell phone service at a couple $$ a minute. But still expensive.

If the kids have an emergency why not simply let them call the ship. Understand expensive but if a real emergency worth it. As for internet - it is almost always VERY slow. I type up messages before connecting and usually only connect every few days.

Also if in the Caribbean or other places you should have wifi almost in every port. Can always call with Talkatone or another app.

My wife and I will be cruising on Celebrity’s Summit soon and I have an unusual question about the cell phone coverage on the ship.

 

We both have smart phones, but like most people these days, we get an insane amount of text messages. So having either of these phones turned on while on the ship will more than likely incur a lot of unnecessary charges. Since we want our children to be able to contact us if they have an emergency, and to check in once a day via text message, we were considering activating an old flip-phone with a new number only they will have. This will allow us to communicate directly with them and not incur any unnecessary charges. I called Verizon about this and they stated the cruise industry no longer supports older CDMA cell phones on their satellite cellular service and because of that our old flip-phone won’t work while at sea. I asked the Verizon Rep for more information about this, but she wasn’t able to point me to any outside information stating this. She only said that it was a recent technology change. I then called Celebrity, but the Rep wasn’t able to find anything specific about older CDMA / non-smart cellphones.

 

So, to sum it up, does anyone know for a fact that older CDMA phones won’t work while at sea due to a recent technology change? Or, has anyone successfully used an older CDMA non-smart phone at sea recently?

 

Any and all help will be most appreciated.

Verizon has an international plan for cruise and overseas. It costs $40. for a month If you go to their web site it explanes it further. We are getting this for our 23 Oct cruise on Constellation.

Verizon has an international plan for cruise and overseas. It costs $40. for a month If you go to their web site it explanes it further. We are getting this for our 23 Oct cruise on Constellation.

This will not help them while on the ship. The service on the ship is not through Verizon.

I'm with AT&T on an iPhone.

For me, incoming texts are billed at my normal messaging rates on my plan, which in my case I have unlimited texting, so no charge. So I don't get at all bothered about text messages while at sea.

When I send them, they cost 50 cents each.

You can also get a Crusie Ship Plan:

• $30 includes 50 minutes phone
  
• $60 adds 100 outgoing text messages
  
• $120 adds 100 MB data
  

You should ask your Verizon folks if they have a similar package that works on cruise ships with Cellular At Sea service, and see if maybe your incoming texts may be at no cost, as my AT&T plan is ( I have no idea how Verizon plans work).

I can tell you when talking with AT&T, I can not discuss cruise ship packages with normal customer service agents, they haven't a clue, and assume it's normal international services. I have to ask for the "International Desk" and once there, ask if they are familiar with the Crusie Ship Packages to be sure they don't try to give me an international land-based package that doesn't cover the ship. Also an unusual thing, 2 of Celebrity's ships are not compatible with this program - but Summit is.

You could also leave your phone on, turn off data roaming and then just get incoming phone calls.... If phone is ON if a call goes to voice mail you pay for the incoming call, if they don't go to voicemail, you don't get billed. If phone is off and call goes to VM, you don't pay.

Verizon has an international plan for cruise and overseas. It costs $40. for a month If you go to their web site it explanes it further. We are getting this for our 23 Oct cruise on Constellation.

MAYBE Verizon is different but for me with AT&T, they tried to sell me an international plan for $40, I pushed back saying it's too good to be true, can you confirm it will work ON A SHIP, not just on land, as I normally pay $120 for the service...they came back and said yes it works, it's a new package - so I took it.

Well, it didn't apply on cruise ships, only on land. So I was messaging away, talking away, using my data across the Atlantic. Halfway across, my phone got shut down. Got to land, called, my bill was up to $1400 - yes fourteen hundred dollars.

I called AT&T from my hotel, they adjusted the package around and my bill came back to $120 as I told them it should have been.

I recommend calling Verizon back to verify it will work on the ship, and take the customer service agents name and record the date, time and number you called if they insist it works, in case you have issues to call them back and have them fix it.

Just off Reflection Med. cruise with 5 days in Rome pre-cruise. I purchased the $60 ATT plan before we left for my iPhone 6. For $60, I had one month of international free texting, and 300 mB of downloads. For $120, you get free texting and 800 mB of downloads. We talked to the ATT people at the store for a LONG time about the plan, and there was no mention of a cruise-ship plan. Thank you Cle-guy for the info!

We had free wi-if in the apartment we rented in Rome. We also found free wi-fi at cafes and restaurants and I checked my email, voicemail, etc. DH unplugged for the trip because he lives on the phone. Best thing he ever did!

On the ship, we had to have the wi-fi via the ship wireless system in order for anything to work. Sigh. So I signed up for the 240 minute plan for $109. You MUST remember to put your device in airplane mode each time you are finished or the minutes will get chewed up very quickly. Ask me how I know!

Guest services was very kind and reimbursed me for the minutes I accidentally used because I fell asleep reading my iPad, instead of putting it in airplane mode. Talked to the guy in the ilab or whatever it's called. He reimbursed me for the whole plan and I bought the unlimited for $159 since it was halfway thru the cruise and they were running a special. A very kind thing for them to do, considering how I oinked thru my minutes so fast!

My advice:

1) definitely call Verizon, ask about the plan cle-guy uses.

2) get unlimited. It's peace of mind, and worth it. In this day and age, our family needs to contact us. We need to contact them. And hey, you can send pics of all the fun you are having just to annoy the whole fam!

On the other hand, we were with folks who had no ship wi-fi but they found free wi-fi whenever we left the ship. Usually in a cafe-just buy a coffee and check the email, send pics to the kids and friends, etc. BUT that's not the same if you need to contact the fam fast.

Another philosophy:

We have very dear older friends who have cruised for many years. They also used to occasionally watch the grandkids so Mom and Dad could get away. Their philosophy was:we will not tell you if little one breaks an arm or whatever, because there is nothing you can do about it. Just go, enjoy and we will see you soon.

Lots of food for thought!

HTH,

1) Verizon's $40 plan does not cover voice usage ON the cruise ship. Their website says it does, it actually does not; if you buy this you will be disappointed. You also do not actually get reliable data service on the ship (at least, I did not. I was unable to utilize any of the included data on the ship's site, only in ports.)

2) On Silhouette, at least, the mobile site provided 1x (CDMA) service (so usable on any phone Verizon sells.) You do not need to have a brand-new phone to use it; the local site is not LTE or HSPA only.

Also an unusual thing, 2 of Celebrity's ships are not compatible with this program - but Summit is.

 

A correction, now all X ships (exception Expedition) are on the same service a year or so ago there were a couple that were not.

One of the things my wife and I always loved about cruising was that we put our cell phone in the safe on the first day and never touched it throughout the voyage. Having children has changed that aspect. I'm in agreement that we won't be in a position to do very much if there is a problem, but my wife is pushing the issue.

I called Verizon and like Gergles stated, they claim the $40 plan will work on the ship. So I look at it this way, I have one of two options:

1. Activate the flip-phone and hope it works

2. Purchase the $40.00 plan for a week and if it doesn't cover the at sea calls, fight with Verizon afterwards.

Neither are very appealing.

I asked about another sim card, but they said that wasn't an option.

and on a side note, data isn't a concern at all for us.

One of the things my wife and I always loved about cruising was that we put our cell phone in the safe on the first day and never touched it throughout the voyage. Having children has changed that aspect. I'm in agreement that we won't be in a position to do very much if there is a problem, but my wife is pushing the issue.

 

I called Verizon and like Gergles stated, they claim the $40 plan will work on the ship. So I look at it this way, I have one of two options:

1. Activate the flip-phone and hope it works

2. Purchase the $40.00 plan for a week and if it doesn't cover the at sea calls, fight with Verizon afterwards.

 

Neither are very appealing.

 

I asked about another sim card, but they said that wasn't an option.

 

and on a side note, data isn't a concern at all for us.

Did you ask them about your text messaging plan? Does it allow incoming at no charge, only billing if you reply, as my plan with AT&T does? If this works with Verizon as with AT&T, this solves your problem doesn't it? I may have an international travel option for $5 or something that makes this possible, I'm not sure.

And of course, another option is to give the kids the number to call the ship direct, then they can leave you a voice mail in cabin for you to call back, or they can explain to guest services it's an emergency to find you....

If you have WiFi on the ship plus an iPhone, you may be able to send iMessages (Apple's version of text messages between Apple devices). Not sure about incoming iMessages since they may default to regular text messages from the sender since the Apple iMessage servers won't have your inactive iPhone registered.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If you have WiFi on the ship plus an iPhone, you may be able to send iMessages (Apple's version of text messages between Apple devices). Not sure about incoming iMessages since they may default to regular text messages from the sender since the Apple iMessage servers won't have your inactive iPhone registered.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

OP is looking for a cheap alternative, isn't interested in the expensive on-board data plans. As they want 24/7 reachability, they'd need the $299 unlimited plan. OP is even not interested in a $40 fee from his cell provider.

I find iMessaging sketchy at best. Sometimes I get messages, but can not reply, even when connected to WiFi, but if I shut wifi off and reply by phone text my reply goes. Other times, I do not get replies, but people get what I send, even though ion wifi. And when I turn on Cellular service again, all of a sudden I get a flood of incoming messages.

Verizon stated their international plan is as follows:

- $40 a month, prorated at $10 for the week

- 30 Free minutes of calling

- Free incoming text messages

- 25 free outgoing text messages

- 25mb of data

I have no issues with paying the $10 fee, or even a $40 fee for that matter. I don't ever expect to get anything for free. I just want something reliable. On the surface this international plan sounds almost to good to be true, which I think it is. As Gergles stated, Verizon said this would cover the Cellular at Sea service, but it really didn't in his case. So I would have to argue the charges when I got home, which is never fun.

We don't have iPhones, so their messaging service isn't an option.

Has anyone had any success with Verizon's international plan while at sea on the Cellular at Sea service?

My wife and I will be cruising on Celebrity’s Summit soon and I have an unusual question about the cell phone coverage on the ship.

 

We both have smart phones, but like most people these days, we get an insane amount of text messages. So having either of these phones turned on while on the ship will more than likely incur a lot of unnecessary charges. Since we want our children to be able to contact us if they have an emergency, and to check in once a day via text message, we were considering activating an old flip-phone with a new number only they will have. This will allow us to communicate directly with them and not incur any unnecessary charges. I called Verizon about this and they stated the cruise industry no longer supports older CDMA cell phones on their satellite cellular service and because of that our old flip-phone won’t work while at sea. I asked the Verizon Rep for more information about this, but she wasn’t able to point me to any outside information stating this. She only said that it was a recent technology change. I then called Celebrity, but the Rep wasn’t able to find anything specific about older CDMA / non-smart cellphones.

 

So, to sum it up, does anyone know for a fact that older CDMA phones won’t work while at sea due to a recent technology change? Or, has anyone successfully used an older CDMA non-smart phone at sea recently?

 

Any and all help will be most appreciated.

We also use Verizon, that had two intn'l plans, one for $40 ( I think 100 mins) and $85 250 mins. We were concerned about in my no texts as well, according to Verizon incomplete no texts were free .

I just called Celebrity and the cellular packages they offer are only for AT&T customers. Thanks for the information though.

I'm with AT&T on an iPhone.

 

For me, incoming texts are billed at my normal messaging rates on my plan, which in my case I have unlimited texting, so no charge. So I don't get at all bothered about text messages while at sea.

 

When I send them, they cost 50 cents each.

 

You can also get a Crusie Ship Plan:

• $30 includes 50 minutes phone
  
• $60 adds 100 outgoing text messages
  
• $120 adds 100 MB data
  

 

You should ask your Verizon folks if they have a similar package that works on cruise ships with Cellular At Sea service, and see if maybe your incoming texts may be at no cost, as my AT&T plan is ( I have no idea how Verizon plans work).

 

I can tell you when talking with AT&T, I can not discuss cruise ship packages with normal customer service agents, they haven't a clue, and assume it's normal international services. I have to ask for the "International Desk" and once there, ask if they are familiar with the Crusie Ship Packages to be sure they don't try to give me an international land-based package that doesn't cover the ship. Also an unusual thing, 2 of Celebrity's ships are not compatible with this program - but Summit is.

 

You could also leave your phone on, turn off data roaming and then just get incoming phone calls.... If phone is ON if a call goes to voice mail you pay for the incoming call, if they don't go to voicemail, you don't get billed. If phone is off and call goes to VM, you don't pay.

In this day and age, our family needs to contact us. We need to contact them.

 

Another philosophy:

 

We have very dear older friends who have cruised for many years. They also used to occasionally watch the grandkids so Mom and Dad could get away. Their philosophy was:we will not tell you if little one breaks an arm or whatever, because there is nothing you can do about it. Just go, enjoy and we will see you soon.,

Well, I vehemently disagree with the first sentiment. Why exactly do people NEED to be in touch instantaneously these days? Nothing in the world has changed except for our ability to be reachable.

The philosophy that you end your post with is where I wish everyone would start from: you really have no control over what's going on and only a really dire emergency is going to get you off the boat. In my experience, being in touch 24/7 causes more stress than it relieves.

For the OP, I'd heavily reconsider the suggestion that you use email to stay in touch with routine check-ins because you'll ultimately get much more peace of mind with that since you won't have to worry whether or not you're getting charged international roaming rates for this stuff.

Well, I vehemently disagree with the first sentiment. Why exactly do people NEED to be in touch instantaneously these days? Nothing in the world has changed except for our ability to be reachable.

 

The philosophy that you end your post with is where I wish everyone would start from: you really have no control over what's going on and only a really dire emergency is going to get you off the boat. In my experience, being in touch 24/7 causes more stress than it relieves.

 

For the OP, I'd heavily reconsider the suggestion that you use email to stay in touch with routine check-ins because you'll ultimately get much more peace of mind with that since you won't have to worry whether or not you're getting charged international roaming rates for this stuff.

Ditto

If you can't do anything about the emergency, there is no need for you to know.

If it's really that urgent, they can call the ship.

If you still feel you must have texting, get one of the free texting apps for your phone. It assigns you a 'new' phone number that operates via wifi. Sign on to the ship's wifi however many times a day you want to be bothered and get the texts from however many people you gave the new number to. The only cost is the wifi service.

Don't use iMessage as it's not very reliable.