texting

[bermuda lover]

Hi there,

I have never brought a cell phone on vacation with me, but this year I have two teen boys who will fight me tooth and nail to bring their phone for texting. I am going to Bermuda and on the Dawn. I have verizon; has anyone experienced this and how much money does this cost. I am thinking about banning the cell phones...... any advice would be so helpful.

thanks

Lisa:confused:

[smeyer418]

its generally .50 cents to send and .05 cents to receive a txt message.

its also $2.49 to receive/send a call or even if it goes to voice mail if the cell phone has attached itself to the ships cell tower. Its 1.99 per minute in Bermuda on Verizon.

Ban them its cheaper....

[roger001]

As mentioned, $.50 to send and .05 to receive, each and every text. If you have a text plan it is not valid while on ship or out of country.

[JamesIlsley]

I would recommend having a phone free vacation. When we cruised to Bermuda, we had data turned off on my iPhone but for some reason it didnt block the data and I got a $1000+ bill for my phone silently checking email even though I never read it. Do yourself a favor and leave the phones off! You are on vacation!

[garycarla]

Do NOT trust a teen with a cell phone to text. They can do hundreds a day, without even thinking about it.

 

By the way, we always take our cell phones, and leave them on. If you do not want to leave them turned on, at least have them with you. There are way too many situations where having a phone could come in handy.

[LittleMissMagic]

Tell the boys they can text.... as long as they pay the bill! :D

 

(You might want to warn them on the costs....)

[Anjjmum0294]

Tell the boys they can text.... as long as they pay the bill! :D

 

(You might want to warn them on the costs....)

 

My daughter is fighting me for her phone, I think I will lay this one one her see what she says lol

[roger001]

My daughter is fighting me for her phone, I think I will lay this one one her see what she says lol

 

 

And to restate....A phone call while on the ship using you cell phone is $2.49...and that is per minute...not per call.

[che5904]

I realize in this age. No to a teen usually means "OK we'll negotiate".

 

 

Taking that mentality into consideration. OP or Roger001 do your teens have part time jobs or money saved from other than what parents have donated to the cause over the years ;)? Is there anyway to track on their phones to calculate when they have overspent what they have in their own spending money to cover the end bill?

 

If the answer to those question are no, then you may want to resort to old fashioned thinking of, No means No until you are able to support your own choices.

 

Unless there is another reason you wish them to be left at home, like they are using them when you would consider it, an inappropriate time. For example in the MDR while you are having a family meal.

[fergusonvt]

Hi there,

I have never brought a cell phone on vacation with me, but this year I have two teen boys who will fight me tooth and nail to bring their phone for texting. I am going to Bermuda and on the Dawn. I have verizon; has anyone experienced this and how much money does this cost. I am thinking about banning the cell phones...... any advice would be so helpful.

thanks

Lisa:confused:

 

Neither my phone (old school Samsung Convoy) or my son's phone (newish phone with internet access) worked on the Sun. We are on Verizon and I think someone mentioned on another thread a while ago we would have to get international service then drop it when we came home. Our cruise was to Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Marteen. DS was 18 and did just fine without his phone for a week.

[roger001]

I realize in this age. No to a teen usually means "OK we'll negotiate".

 

 

Taking that mentality into consideration. OP or Roger001 do your teens have part time jobs or money saved from other than what parents have donated to the cause over the years ;)?

 

I'm proud to report that my former teens are teens no longer......and now have full responsibility for their financial actions.....wheeee. Of course, now there's the grandkids.......who are teens.

[kwombough]

I took my phone last week and turned it on only when in Bermuda. It was great to send family a hello we are alive lol. Also turned it off when on the ship though because Verizon has the right to charge you extra for using the ship satellite (i dont know if they really do or not) But do call before you head out, a repesentive helped me turn on international roaming on my phone for better coverage in Bermuda at no cost. She even made sure I could not use any data plan items.

[RYMOMA]

We have AT&T, there is an option within my account to temporarily suspend the phone...

 

no calls in or out

 

i have used that feature when i lost my phone and didn't want anyone else using the service if they had found it.

 

Maybe verizon has the same feature

[che5904]

Sorry error in previous posting

 

I realize in this age. No to a teen usually means "OK we'll negotiate".

 

Taking that mentality into consideration. OP or Roger001 (it should have read OP or anjjmum0294) do your teens have part time jobs or money saved from other than what parents have donated to the cause over the years ;)? Is there anyway to track on their phones to calculate when they have overspent what they have in their own spending money to cover the end bill?

 

If the answer to those question are no, then you may want to resort to old fashioned thinking of, No means No until you are able to support your own choices.

 

Unless there is another reason you wish them to be left at home, like they are using them when you would consider it, an inappropriate time. For example in the MDR while you are having a family meal.

 

I'm proud to report that my former teens are teens no longer......and now have full responsibility for their financial actions.....wheeee. Of course, now there's the grandkids.......who are teens.

 

ooops sorry roger001 :o I meant anjjmum0294. Yes mine have turned into those wonderful blossomed adults as well. Thankfully my grandchildren have not got to those delightful teenager years. And obvioulsy we both survived to tell the tale :D

[sxmnov08]

When in port but still on the ship can we assume normal rates will apply? We will be on the NCL Pearl Alaska itinerary out of Seattle end of June.

[smeyer418]

When in port but still on the ship can we assume normal rates will apply? We will be on the NCL Pearl Alaska itinerary out of Seattle end of June.

no check your phone. If it says roaming you may still be on the ships cell tower. don't assume anything...

[smeyer418]

I took my phone last week and turned it on only when in Bermuda. It was great to send family a hello we are alive lol. Also turned it off when on the ship though because Verizon has the right to charge you extra for using the ship satellite (i dont know if they really do or not) But do call before you head out, a repesentive helped me turn on international roaming on my phone for better coverage in Bermuda at no cost. She even made sure I could not use any data plan items.

she is wrong I think. International roaming only means you pay less(a few cents not much). they charge for each minute.

 

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Roaming/rates_coverage.html

 

the total Verizon charge on the ship is 2.49 per minute

[NMLady]

... Verizon has the right to charge you extra for using the ship satellite (i dont know if they really do or not) ... /quote]

 

We have Verizon Nationwide plan and used it on our cruise in Alaska. Most ports we had no extra charges because we didn't use the phone until the ship's satellite was turned off. However, in Homer the ship was 90 minutes late leaving the port and we didn't realize the ship's satellite was already on while in port during that time in preparation for the earlier departure time. We were billed $2.49 per minute for the call my husband made during that time.

[bermuda lover]

Hi there,

I have never brought a cell phone on vacation with me, but this year I have two teen boys who will fight me tooth and nail to bring their phone for texting. I am going to Bermuda and on the Dawn. I have verizon; has anyone experienced this and how much money does this cost. I am thinking about banning the cell phones...... any advice would be so helpful.

thanks

Lisa:confused:

 

 

Thanks everyone for the response.... I know the kids will be handing over their phones to me... I will bring mine in the event of an emergency... thanks, it looks like everyone has the same question.

Lisa

[4774Papa]

My advise, just say NO.

[Lovely_Star]

If they were my kids I'd like to see them fight me tooth and nail when I leave their behinds at home while I go on vacation....or the other alternative would be them paying for their own fees by getting a job. I'm just saying ;)

[4774Papa]

if they were my kids i'd like to see them fight me tooth and nail when i leave their behinds at home while i go on vacation....or the other alternative would be them paying for their own fees by getting a job. I'm just saying ;)

bingo

[smeyer418]

and don't take the phone away in Washington State

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/05/26/2011-05-26_dad_shot_in_head_with_arrow_by_teen_daughter_over_cell_phone_dispute.html

[che5904]

and don't take the phone away in Washington State

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/05/26/2011-05-26_dad_shot_in_head_with_arrow_by_teen_daughter_over_cell_phone_dispute.html

 

OK that isn't a cell phone issue. That is a whole family struture issue. This type of story always makes me shake my head in total disbelief.

[crew mom]

DS lives on board and he doesn't use text messaging because of the expense nor does he use his phone except while in US ports. He does have international service so will purchase a calling card and use that or we will Skype. He is able to email at a reasonable rate from his phone so we do email back and forth as if we were texting if we are both online at the same time. His phone bill is still expensive every month.

 

I would ask for the phones and turn them off and put them away. Maybe leave them at home if you think that the temptation will be too much.