How does Verizons Travel Pass work with Carnivals Wifi?

Asking for my DS he has Verizon as his carrier and they have a travel pass for using on a cruises, you put in your ship and it tells you if it's compatible or not. We are going on Triumph next week and for $2 supposedly it uses your domestic data while you are on the cruise. But how would that work, you aren't connected to Verizon towers out in the ocean, you have to connect to Carnivals satellite, he'd still have to pay for a data plan with Carnival right?

I'm assuming this travel pass if for use in ports not on the ship. I don't have Verizon. I have straighttalk and mine doesn't work in ports so I'll be using a ship package for sure and it will be a camera in port, wont' be good for anything else lol

As I understand it, the Travel Pass only applies while in port.... In the water the rates are set by maritime or cellular at sea. (They aren't cheap, so we always shut down the phone on board and use the travel pass or wifi in port)

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That's how I figured it would work. I will let him know to keep it on airplane mode while on the ship and buy the social package from Carnival while on the ship. Make sure he only uses his phone in the port. Thanks

Verizon has WiFi calling now. you can make a phone call much like Facebook Messenger calls on board as long as you have a internet Wifi connection. Verizon also now includes Canada and Mexico as part of you domestic calling areas included in your home calling plan.

click the "+" and read up.

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/wifi-calling-faqs/

I was able to use the Verizon travel pass in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman, only in port though. Had terrible connection for trying to FaceTime our kids but could make calls successfully. It was $10/day on the days you use it but my surprise came when I recently received my bill and realized that they charged me a $20 fee just to activate travel pass(that fee wasn't disclosed when they asked me to activate it). We usually only cruise once a year so I'm sure that I can find a more affordable way to communicate with our children while traveling. We always used prepaid phone cards before but forgot them this year. I wouldn't mind to pay $10/day if I could have FaceTime them but to only talk you can find more affordable options. Happy cruising.

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I have a cruise coming up in 3 days, only going to Cozumel. I called Verizon and told them to activate a Travel Pass ($2/day), which I was told can ONLY be used when in Cozumel. While on the ship, using Carnival Wireless Maritime Services (for Verizon), the prices are the following:

$1.79 per minute for calls

.50 cents per text sent

.5 cent per text received

So if you're willing to pay the above prices, you don't have to activate airplane mode if you don't wish.

Ideally, I'd like to activate one of the Wi Fi plans while on the ship to browse the internet. I was told to turn off cellular data to avoid roaming charges. (For an Iphone, its settings > cellular > cellular data > turn off)

This is what I got out my conversation with a Verizon rep, if anybody had something different come out of this let me know.

We took a cruise back in April. Before we left we called Verizon and added the basic international calling plan that was also for cruise ships. $40 a month (per line) for 100 talk minutes, 100 sent texts and unlimited receive texts and 100 MB data. While on the ship wife and I also signed up for the ships middle wifi internet service plan. Since we didn't want un-wanted received phone calls and only use the phone calls for emergency we kept in contact with our kids back home using Facebook messenger. Put our phones in airplane mode and turned on wifi. I still received phone calls and texts but none of them showed on the phone bill as minutes used or texts received or sent. So for the rest of the cruise we left our phones on airplane mode and then took them off when in port as we had international calling plan. We made a few phone calls and received some but never went over our 100 minutes or sent texts in port. those calls did show on the phone bill but they were covered on the international calling plan. we just shut off cell data through the entire cruise land and sea cause 100 MB goes fast like less then a day with FB use. theres free wifi spots all over ports. It wasn't until we were home and we found out that Verizon rolled out the wifi calling capability but just didint make it public yet as it was testing it. Like I said we made and received phone calls and texts while at sea on the ship and never saw them in the itemized phone bill in the international calling plan part of the bill or regular home calling plan.

So basically No huge charges or extra charges or outrages roaming rates or calling rates or hidden charges. NONE! we paid the $40 each phone line (2 lines) for international calling plan that works on cruise ships, our ship was Carnival Splendor, and had no issues and will definitely do it again only use the new wifi calling ability.

We basically needed the international calling plan for when we were in port but now Mexico and Canada are part of all domestic calling plans with Verizon and count towards your home calling plan. (we have unlimited everything) So our next cruise in 2018 we may still need and international calling plan because one of our ports is Grand Cayman. We signed up for one month during the time we were on our cruise and we called to cancel it before next months billing. Verizon rep told us it was absolutely no issue signing up for one month then canceling as lots of people do it for over seas vacations.

Last I heard when we went in April, Belize is NOT part of Mexico's calling plan and it would be a $10 charge if we used our phones there. We did use our phones (both phone calls and texts) but NEVER saw the $10 charge. SO don't know if it was a mistake or what.

This was our experience with Verizon service in April and we were extremely pleased with quality of service and billing end of it too. again no hidden charges over the $40 per line for the international plan as long as you don't go over the limits and we will definitely do it again to keep in contact with kids in case of emergency back home being watch by family members.

As I read it now on Verizon's page it is now $15 per device because of the new calling plans and expanded service. it used to be $40 per device for 100 minutes and texts and so on. $25 for 500 minutes 500 texts.

https://www.verizonwireless.com/solutions-and-services/international-travel/

Cruise ship rates are pay as you go or if you get any of the international calling plan they are included on cruise ships and not pay as you go rates ontop of international plan. Like I said, we signed up for the basic international plan and it worked on Carnivals Splendor just like the Verizon Rep told us it would. No hidden costs. just don't go over your limits.

i'm sure other cell carriers have similar service plans but cant speak for the hidden charges.

Thanks for all the info, his phone does have wifi calling so he was wondering if he'd still be able to do it without being charged. I will let him know that will work. Verizon told him since he has the higher data plan that he qualifies for the cruise plan of $2 a day for MX and his texts and calls there will just come off his domestic data. So he will be able to call and text in port (will make him keep his phone in airplane mode on the ships service while on board). They did not mention a $20 charge to activate it though. It wouldn't be worth paying $20 to activate it, just says he'll have a $2 fee for whatever days he uses it internationally. I'll have him look into it some more.

I need to see if my phone has wifi calling on it, bought a new one the other day so it might. If not I'll keep in touch with DH with FB messenger once or twice a day.

For me, I planned on disabling cellular data (for an iphone go to settings > cellular > cellular data) to avoid roaming data while on the ship, and get one of the Carnival Wi Fi packages to still be able to browse the internet. But I didn't want to keep airplane mode on, just in case someone tries reaching me that I really need to talk to. People can call me, but if I don't answer I won't get charged. People can text me, but that's only 5 cents. And once I land in Mexico, that's when my Verizon Travelpass kicks in, which is $2 per day per device. I wasn't told nothing about a $20 fee either.

If I'm incorrect about any of this let me know.