WIFI Calling

No need for International Plans

No need to worry about roaming fees and data roaming fees

No need to even connect to the ships cellular

No additional charges from your carrier.

I recently used this feature while on an 11 day Med cruise.

Can do this on any smartphone

Facebook, text, voice calling, etc

http://www.imore.com/how-enable-wi-fi-calling-your-iphone-6s-or-6s-plus

Are you talking about when the ship is at sea? How can your phone not use the ship's WiFi, and thus it's system, if that is the only WiFi available to it when the ship is at sea?

Are you talking about when the ship is at sea? How can your phone not use the ship's WiFi, and thus it's system, if that is the only WiFi available to it when the ship is at sea?

I take this: "No need to even connect to the ships cellular"

to mean the phone does not connect to the ship's cellular service, but does connect to the ship's WiFi.

Well duh

You do have to purchase the ships WIFI plan to do WIFI calling which most people are already purchasing anyway.

You do not connect to the ships cellular tower which does charge additional fees

So you will still be paying for minutes on the ship's WiFi. Other than paying for the ship's WiFi, I have never paid a penny for data downloads using the ship's WiFi.

So you will still be paying for minutes on the ship's WiFi. Other than paying for the ship's WiFi, I have never paid a penny for data downloads using the ship's WiFi.

I'm not sure what your argument is.

If you have a smart phone, tablet, etc,,, you're most likely to purchase the ships WIFI package.

With newer smartphones, you can now call home to check on the kids, parents, pets, etc by using your phones WIFI Calling feature.

There are no additional charges from your carrier or the ship.

If you go old school and use the ships "Cellular", you pay the ship for the access by the minute, then you pay your carrier for your roaming,,, or You pay your carrier additional money for their "International" plan or their Cruise plan..

With WIFI calling, you don't pay anybody extra money. The ships I recently sailed on don't have internet by the minute plans anymore. They all offer Unlimited plans.

Has wifi on ships improved enough to make phone calls? The last time we cruised a couple of years ago, it was a frustrating exercise just to stay online to browse the web.

No need for International Plans

No need to worry about roaming fees and data roaming fees

No need to even connect to the ships cellular

 

No additional charges from your carrier.

I recently used this feature while on an 11 day Med cruise.

Can do this on any smartphone

Facebook, text, voice calling, etc

 

http://www.imore.com/how-enable-wi-fi-calling-your-iphone-6s-or-6s-plus

I'm not sure what your argument is.

 

If you have a smart phone, tablet, etc,,, you're most likely to purchase the ships WIFI package.

 

With newer smartphones, you can now call home to check on the kids, parents, pets, etc by using your phones WIFI Calling feature.

 

There are no additional charges from your carrier or the ship.

 

If you go old school and use the ships "Cellular", you pay the ship for the access by the minute, then you pay your carrier for your roaming,,, or You pay your carrier additional money for their "International" plan or their Cruise plan..

 

With WIFI calling, you don't pay anybody extra money. The ships I recently sailed on don't have internet by the minute plans anymore. They all offer Unlimited plans.

My "argument" is this. You talk in your first post about data roaming fees, and several other comments that make it sound like you are talking about internet access without paying for it.

What you are really talking about is correct in your title..."WiFi calling". But that still needs to got through the ship's WiFi/internet system which has a fee attached, which you don't mention. And it has nothing to do with data roaming, which just confuses the issue.

You make it sound like you can "digitally get off the ship" to the internet (to make phone calls)without paying the ship a penny. At least that is my understanding of what you said in your initial post.

My "argument" is this. You talk in your first post about data roaming fees, and several other comments that make it sound like you are talking about internet access without paying for it.

 

What you are really talking about is correct in your title..."WiFi calling". But that still needs to got through the ship's WiFi/internet system which has a fee attached, which you don't mention. And it has nothing to do with data roaming, which just confuses the issue.

 

You make it sound like you can "digitally get off the ship" to the internet (to make phone calls)without paying the ship a penny. At least that is my understanding of what you said in your initial post.

What part of " you have to purchase the ships WIFI plan" do you misunderstand.

80% of the people under 60 are buying the Internet plan anyway.

2 years ago, this wouldn't work because they charged by the minute and the speeds were only 200 Kbps.

Today, most ships sell unlimited internet plans with speeds at 3 Mbps.

What part of " you have to purchase the ships WIFI plan" do you misunderstand.

 

80% of the people under 60 are buying the Internet plan anyway.

 

 

 

2 years ago, this wouldn't work because they charged by the minute and the speeds were only 200 Kbps.

 

Today, most ships sell unlimited internet plans with speeds at 3 Mbps.

Hmm. NCL has speeds that are barely dialup--when the system isn't offline. And the unlimited package is very expensive.

When I sailed on the Celebrity Eclipse last December, wifi worked sometimes, but very slowly. Nowhere near 3MB. And very expensive for unlimited.

In October I'm sailing Princess, which has no unlimited internet package (and apparently terrible speeds).

Disney had the most usable speeds of any line I've sailed, but no unlimited package.

I get that you're excited about voice over IP phone calls, but the wifi isn't as ubiquitous (or as functional, or affordable) as you think. I'm guessing you sail RCI or maybe Carnival.

Thanks OP for the reminder. I've only recently started using WIFI calling with my iPhone and so far I love it. The call quality is far superior to the cell service (we are one of those weird folks who actually use the iPhone primarily to make phone calls :)). It hadn't occurred to me how easy it will be to use it on a cruise.

I don't know about "most" ships being unlimited and broadband...

But when it works, WiFi minutes are cheaper than cellular minutes, although you usually have to buy a bundle for the best per-minute rates.

We just use email and/or text messages to keep in touch. And anyway, T-Mobile is 20 cents per minute most places you'd visit (off the ship) so little need for being creative for communications.

I do not buy unlimited data on our cruises. Not many ships even offer that yet. The last cruise was the first time unlimited was an option and i did not pay for the full data plan, only the social media. It definitely was not reliable for phone calls since my husband and i both tried it to stay in touch on the ship.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy 7 edge using Tapatalk.

80% of the people under 60 are buying the Internet plan anyway.

According to who?

80%? I would say that you are nowhere near the right number...

[[/b]QUOTE=klfrodo;50609471]What part of " you have to purchase the ships WIFI plan" do you misunderstand.

80% of the people under 60 are buying the Internet plan anyway.

2 years ago, this wouldn't work because they charged by the minute and the speeds were only 200 Kbps.

Today, most ships sell unlimited internet plans with speeds at 3 Mbps.

You are very rude. I disagree with your purported facts of mbps speed and passenger utilization, but I would not use derogatory language such as you did. Logical and coherent questions were asked. You're disrespectful.

[[/b]QUOTE=klfrodo;50609471]What part of " you have to purchase the ships WIFI plan" do you misunderstand.

80% of the people under 60 are buying the Internet plan anyway.

 

2 years ago, this wouldn't work because they charged by the minute and the speeds were only 200 Kbps.

Today, most ships sell unlimited internet plans with speeds at 3 Mbps.

You are very rude. I disagree with your purported facts of mbps speed and passenger utilization, but I would not use derogatory language such as you did. Logical and coherent questions were asked. You're disrespectful.

Well thank you for taking your valuable time to post your opinion.

I appreciate it very much.