Symphony of the Seas and WiFi

Does anyone know if we have to purchase Voom if we just want to text each other via cellphone on the boat?

Does anyone know if we have to purchase Voom if we just want to text each other via cellphone on the boat?

You have two choices in order to text at sea:

Purchase VOOM for each device.

Pay your cell carrier by the text. AT&T & Verizon charge $0.50 per text sent, and Verizon additionally charges $0.05 per text received. If you have a different carrier, check with them for prices while at sea.

Thank you, that is helpful. One last question if you don’t mind. RC is running a special today for a joint voom and soda package. I planned on getting the kids a soda package anyway. They don’t have cell phones so could we put the voom on our phones? Not sure if RC has a way to track who owns the phone.

Thank you, that is helpful. One last question if you don’t mind. RC is running a special today for a joint voom and soda package. I planned on getting the kids a soda package anyway. They don’t have cell phones so could we put the voom on our phones? Not sure if RC has a way to track who owns the phone.

Yes, once you have the access code, anyone can use the VOOM service.

@Bob, what about the $8 feature on the Royal IQ app? I've read about it a handful of times, is this the app that is not on every ship? Could you clarify on this? Thank you!

@Bob, what about the $8 feature on the Royal IQ app? I've read about it a handful of times, is this the app that is not on every ship? Could you clarify on this? Thank you!

To my knowledge, the Royal IQ app is only supported on Quantum class ships and Harmony.

Thank you!! Hoping it'll be on Symphony by next year, $8 is a decent savings compared to the their Voom prices!

Thank you!! Hoping it'll be on Symphony by next year, $8 is a decent savings compared to the their Voom prices!

They don't use Royal IQ on Symphony, it now uses a different app called Royal (!) On Symphony we were given 15 minutes free Internet time to download the app. The guy on the help desk was great. I found it wayyyy better than the old IQ app.

They don't use Royal IQ on Symphony, it now uses a different app called Royal (!) On Symphony we were given 15 minutes free Internet time to download the app. The guy on the help desk was great. I found it wayyyy better than the old IQ app.

But still no texting with the new app, correct?

They don't use Royal IQ on Symphony, it now uses a different app called Royal (!) On Symphony we were given 15 minutes free Internet time to download the app. The guy on the help desk was great. I found it wayyyy better than the old IQ app.

Great! Does it have a texting feature that you can purchase?

They don't use Royal IQ on Symphony, it now uses a different app called Royal (!) On Symphony we were given 15 minutes free Internet time to download the app. The guy on the help desk was great. I found it wayyyy better than the old IQ app.

Hope that goes fleetwide soon.

Checking back in to see if the new Royal app supports texting on Symphony?

No updates to the app since last month and that was only bug fixes, no new features.

Biker, who wonders if RCI is doing anything with the new app considering no ship/features have been added since late March.

Am I missing something?

You can text, make voice & video phone calls with What's app (whatsapp) and avoid carrier charges from your cell phone provider. So you can either buy Voom or use the free wi-fi somewhere on the ship... right? Or am I missing something?

My husband & I used whatsapp while he was in Japan and never once paid for roaming or individual text messages from the carrier.

You can text, make voice & video phone calls with What's app (whatsapp) and avoid carrier charges from your cell phone provider. So you can either buy Voom or use the free wi-fi somewhere on the ship... right? Or am I missing something?

There's no free wifi on the ship. The Royal IQ app has a texting feature built in to communicate with others on the ship which costs only $8/device for the whole cruise compared to over $100 for a one device VOOM package for a 7 day sailing. Folks are looking for that same functionality with the new RCI app (and same or lower cost) - the only app that works on Symphony.

Thanks Biker19, I mis-read and thought there was wi fi in the cafe, but it's wired internet in the cafe and maybe there is a charge. Not the point, I get it.

But since I was going to purchase Voom anyway, I can still use whatsapp... which is what I was thinking and I think you confirmed. Whew. Thanks!!

Thanks Biker19, I mis-read and thought there was wi fi in the cafe, but it's wired internet in the cafe and maybe there is a charge. Not the point, I get it.

There's both in the RCI Online area but regardless of how you connect there's a charge to get to the internet.

Just to sum it up:

1. Symphony uses the Royal app which has no texting.

2. There is no free WiFi onboard which connects to the internet - the "free" WiFi works only with the Royal app but does not connect to the internet.

3. For regular texting you need a phone connection (via sattelite) and no data (WiFi/internet). This is definitely not for free (just receiving text messages is for free).

4. With WiFi (with internet connection) you can text using apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Threema... and many more. Those apps do need an internet connection.

To avoid high roaming fees turn your mobile phone on airplane mode and then turn on WiFi. Buy a Voom package and connect to the ships WiFi for internet connection.

steamboats

@steamboats, not sure that's completely accurate, let me try to summarize what I know as available options:

Royal offers:

- Royal app which connects to their wifi but provides no access to internet. Guests can use this app for guest-to-guest texting, at cost of $8 per person for duration of cruise. This does not enable texting with anyone not using the service or not onboard the ship. This app is basically virtual Cruise Compass and SeaPass so it's a great resource even if not using for the fee-based texting capability.

- Voom Surf or Surf and Stream packages which connects to their wifi and provides access to internet. Pricing is per day but must be purchased for entire sailing (e.g. $15.99/day x 7 day cruise.) Pricing seems to be best when purchases pre-cruise via Cruise Planner - watch for regular sales that occur. Guests would board ship with phone in airplane mode, with wifi enabled and use the provided code to login and use the purchased service. This is best option when needing data access for email, web, What'sApp, Facebook, etc.

Cellular carrier options:

- I use Verizon and when abroad I can use cellular roaming (with cellular data turned off) and costs $.50 to send texts / $.05 to receive texts - there is also fixed pricing for calling. This is good option when trying to stay in touch with family not sailing with me, and when I don't need data access such as Facebook, email, etc.

- Verizon also offers 'Travel Pass' at a fixed rate per day and location, with limited data. This is an option but isn't cost effective if using for data.

Royal offers:

- Royal app which connects to their wifi but provides no access to internet. Guests can use this app for guest-to-guest texting, at cost of $8 per person for duration of cruise.

You have the RCI app and the Royal IQ app confused. Symphony uses the RCI app which does NOT have the $8 texting option, only the Royal IQ app has that, which doesn't work on Symphony.

3. For regular texting you need a phone connection (via sattelite) and no data (WiFi/internet). This is definitely not for free (just receiving text messages is for free).

That is carrier dependent and probably not free for most (though usually only 5 cents per text).

Royal offers:

- Royal app which connects to their wifi but provides no access to internet. Guests can use this app for guest-to-guest texting, at cost of $8 per person for duration of cruise. This does not enable texting with anyone not using the service or not onboard the ship. This app is basically virtual Cruise Compass and SeaPass so it's a great resource even if not using for the fee-based texting capability.

 

Cellular carrier options:

- I use Verizon and when abroad I can use cellular roaming (with cellular data turned off) and costs $.50 to send texts / $.05 to receive texts - there is also fixed pricing for calling. This is good option when trying to stay in touch with family not sailing with me, and when I don't need data access such as Facebook, email, etc.

- Verizon also offers 'Travel Pass' at a fixed rate per day and location, with limited data. This is an option but isn't cost effective if using for data.

As Biker19 said... texting option for 8$ is not available for the Royal App used on Symphony (only for the Royal IQ App on Quantum class and Harmony).

Yes, you can use cellular roaming with turned of data but you have to go through the ships sattelite as soon as your 3 miles from the coast. This might add some cost to the texts sent. Usually with my (German) plan I can receive text messages for free (within the US and with sattelite connection). But of course other plans might charge for receiving text messages.

steamboats