Cell phone between islands

[glenn29]

Im not worried about cell coverage on the islands. I know I'll have it near populated areas but might/will lose it driving to more remote locations.

 

My question is at what point do I turn my iPhone on airplane mode so I don't get phone and data charges on the ship?

 

For example, we sail from Hilo to kona, are we close enough to the island the entire time it won't matter or will I lose 3G from shore and pick up the ships?

 

Also between islands. We'll be on the march 23rd century that hits Oahu, Maui, kauai and the big island.

 

Anybody have any info?

 

Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Im not worried about cell coverage on the islands. I know I'll have it near populated areas but might/will lose it driving to more remote locations.

 

My question is at what point do I turn my iPhone on airplane mode so I don't get phone and data charges on the ship?

 

For example, we sail from Hilo to kona, are we close enough to the island the entire time it won't matter or will I lose 3G from shore and pick up the ships?

 

Also between islands. We'll be on the march 23rd century that hits Oahu, Maui, kauai and the big island.

 

Anybody have any info?

 

Thanks

 

Any time you are not tied to a dock, it is possible you will access the ship's cell tower, and pay big fees for data or phone use. I wouldn't even expect you would be safe at a tender port like Kona unitl your tender tied up to the shore.

[glenn29]

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was thinking as well. Probably airplane mode as soon as I leave land till I get to land again....just to be on the safe side.

[CruiserBruce]

Might as well just turn it off. If you are going to play games or take pics, I understand. But, unless you are actually doing those things, why not just turn it off?

[glenn29]

I tend to leave it on while on ship because I still use it for a lot of things. It works as my Ipod for music, it's our sound machine and alarm clock at night and most of all I use it as a camera.

 

In airplane mode it has no way to pick up any signals so it should be safe in that way, I have about the same chance of forgetting to change it to airplane mode as I do forgetting to turn it off.

[lv2bgoofy]

I just came back a couple of weeks ago and I never turned my phone off and never put it on airplane mode. I received no data charges or any extra charges from sailing.

[born2cruize]

You don't say what ship you're on. If it is the POAm you don't need to worry as they do not have a cell tower they have a satellite dish for Internet but no cell tower.

[glenn29]

I'll be on the Celebrity Century, I"m not 100% but pretty sure that this ship does have a cell tower, good to know about POA though.

 

Brn2bgoofy, what ship were you on?

[NapaMike]

I'll be on the Celebrity Century, I"m not 100% but pretty sure that this ship does have a cell tower, good to know about POA though.

 

Brn2bgoofy, what ship were you on?

 

Glenn-thanks for the reminder on that- if you find out about cell tower on century vs. satellite, can you post it here? We will be on it also.

[born2cruize]

Glenn-thanks for the reminder on that- if you find out about cell tower on century vs. satellite, can you post it here? We will be on it also.

 

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but cell towers talk to other cell towers. So therefore once a cell tower is our of range it doesn't work. I always believed the phone system on the ship was a satellite phone system therefore individual cell phones won't work with a satellite phone system.

 

The advantage of putting a cell phone in airplane mode was to prevent the battery from draining because the phone would constantly poll trying to make a cell tower connection when no connection was possible.

 

Does anyone know how close or far away two cell towers have to be to connect?

[CruiserBruce]

According to the Celebrity website, all Celebrity ships have cell towers tied to satellite communications.

[born2cruize]

According to the Celebrity website, all Celebrity ships have cell towers tied to satellite communications.

 

Thanks, that explains how a cell tower can communicate with a satellite system.

[CruiserBruce]

And, in reality, cell towers don't talk to other cell towers, at least not directly. Your cell phone call goes to a cell tower. If you are calling someone not on that same tower, you phone call is routed via landlines- regular phone lines- to the tower where the person you are calling is located. Then it is rebroadcast into the air, reaching the cell phone you are calling.

 

If you are calling a hardwired phone, the cell phone call goes to a tower, but never comes back out into the air, it just stays on the landline to it's destination.

 

On a ship, the tower receives the calls, and the ship's landline takes it to the ship's satellite dish, sending it off to it's destination via the satellite(s), landlines, and, if required, cell tower(s).

[chipmaster]

When in doubt just turn off as the ship disembarks. Visual distance is not a good indicator of connection..

 

Im not worried about cell coverage on the islands. I know I'll have it near populated areas but might/will lose it driving to more remote locations.

 

My question is at what point do I turn my iPhone on airplane mode so I don't get phone and data charges on the ship?

 

For example, we sail from Hilo to kona, are we close enough to the island the entire time it won't matter or will I lose 3G from shore and pick up the ships?

 

Also between islands. We'll be on the march 23rd century that hits Oahu, Maui, kauai and the big island.

 

Anybody have any info?

 

Thanks

[lv2bgoofy]

I was on the POA - so without the cell tower I didn't need to worry about it

[welove2cruise*]

I believe with verizon you will always see a notification (I also get text messages) when you are roaming. I will probably just turn off the option for data roaming completely just to be safe.

[dcruisers]

From Hawaii are calls on cell phones free to the mainland? I have Verizon and on our cruise last fall to Alaska calls home were part of the plan.

[CruiserBruce]

From Hawaii are calls on cell phones free to the mainland? I have Verizon and on our cruise last fall to Alaska calls home were part of the plan.

 

Depends on your plan. But if you have a free long distance for all 50 states, well, Hawaii is part of the US....;)

[sassyredhat]

I had mine on (AT&T) in Alaska and got charged big time. However, it did notify me when I was getting charged.

In 2 weeks, in Hawaii, it's on airplane mode until my feet hit the dirt. :D

Pat