I-Phone Clarification

I keep hearing about people connecting to the net and calling through the internet services at port, even from the ship, WHILE IN PORT. I have a plan that allows calls and data in all our ports, and will get my platinum free minutes while aboard. How can I be certain the phone is searching for the local not using the ship's satelite service?

If using the ships cellular you should see towards the top instead of a carrier Cellular at Sea.

Keith

The ship will turn off it's cell tower at the dock...frequently a mile or more away.

The ship will turn off it's cell tower at the dock...frequently a mile or more away.

That's helpful to know! Thanks.

At the top left on the iphone you see the name of your cellular provider. (mine says koodo) If you are in a port it will say the name of the local provider that your phone is connecting through, ie "Lime" in certain Caribbean islands. If it says cellular at sea your phone is connecting through the ships cell service - you probably don't want to see this as it will be very expensive. While the ship is in port they will turn off their service as previous poster has said.

I am not sure what exactly you are asking. Are you talking about turning off cellular service and connecting to a Wi-Fi network? We do that both on the ship and in port and use Wi-Fi calling on our iPhones. You can also call using the cellular network but what charges you get will depend upon the cellular provider you have, what plan you have, and which cellular provider you are connecting to in order to place the calls.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks all!

Clarification for Julie. I have a roaming package thats good for the Islands so as long as I am NOT on Cellular at Sea, I will be fine. Just kept hearing about people sitting on deck using phones !!

Thanks all!

 

 

 

Clarification for Julie. I have a roaming package thats good for the Islands so as long as I am NOT on Cellular at Sea, I will be fine. Just kept hearing about people sitting on deck using phones !!

Ah ok yep, it shows up on the top left and I typically get a text message as well. What you can also do to be sure you don’t accidentally end up on Cellular at Sea is when you get to the ship, go into your iPhone settings under “Carrier” and turn off “automatic” you will then be able to manually select the cellular carrier that you want to use.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I use AT&T Wi-Fi calling (not cellular) from the ship or from a hotel onshore. I put my iPhone in airplane mode and then turn on Wi-Fi. Then I have no roaming charges. AT&T Wi-Fi calling allows me to call anyone in the United States at no charge (other than the charge for Wi-FI if any). Since I use my free Platinum Wi-Fi on the ship, I can call home for free.

Since the ship's Wi-Fi is available in port as well as at sea, I can make Wi-Fi calls using ship's Wi-Fi there also.

As long as your phone is in airplane mode with Wi-Fi on, you will not connect to any cellular carrier and you will not have any cellular charges.

The ship will turn off it's cell tower at the dock...frequently a mile or more away.

Doesn't always happen. My wife made a call and texted some photos from our balcony overlooking the port facilities in SF. We were just boarding. She got a notice from the carrier that she was incurring big time charges so we called and got it fixed. Don't count on the ship tower being turned off even though it should be.

Doesn't always happen. My wife made a call and texted some photos from our balcony overlooking the port facilities in SF. We were just boarding. She got a notice from the carrier that she was incurring big time charges so we called and got it fixed. Don't count on the ship tower being turned off even though it should be.

Great info to have! Thanks!

Be sure and turn Wi-Fi calling on your phone. Some carriers require a call to customer service as it has to be done in the switch. You also need to turn in a 911 address to your carrier.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Doesn't always happen. My wife made a call and texted some photos from our balcony overlooking the port facilities in SF. We were just boarding. She got a notice from the carrier that she was incurring big time charges so we called and got it fixed. Don't count on the ship tower being turned off even though it should be.

Thanks for the heads up.