Answering Cell phone on the ship

[rjrice1]

What I did with T mobile I had them turn off my voice mail... so my phone would just ring and ring.. as long as you didn't answer it there was no charge.

Had international texting applied. Think it was $.25 per out going text and free incoming. Hope this helps.

Cathy

[luvtheships]

another option is to do a month add-on plan. ATT do global data that's cheap ... about $25 for the plan last time i used it. then, you can check email, etc in ports.

 

you can also sign up for just a portion of a month. so, if you sign up for 10 days, you get 1/3 the plan's allotted data at 1/3 the price. setting it up via calling 611 or on the internet lets you choose when to start it.

 

they also have a global calling plan. it's something like $5 to get cheap rates to again call from port.

 

most of the major carriers have similar options.

 

as mentioned above..the key to using a cell while at sea is to not use it at sea at all..but in the ports...but be sure to be far enough away from the ship so that you are not using the ships tower.

[illinoisfive]

i went to carnival.com and typed currently on board in the search box and nothing comes up.

i am confused, don't you still need to have access to internet to sign into currently on board?

[Havingfun2010]

this is not true, as i was told that even if you do not answer, and your phone goes to voice mail, you can be charged for that, as your phone "answers" it.

 

If the phone is turned "on" and it rings, you will be charged for it because it connects and the charge begins at the connection. However, if the phone is turned off, than the connection never happens, because the network can not find the phone and therefore, no charge. When you phone is "on", it sends a signal that is picked up by a tower. That is how you are found quickly when someone calls you. Not all phone companies are the same, however, it is not just your phone company, but also the carrier that your phone is in, so you just never know for sure when the connection charge begins.

[dolphin2012]

i have seen that onboard section on the carnival website.. but when you are on the ship where do you use a computer to get to the internet.. do they let you use the computers in the internet cafe free for their site? we turned off our phone and gave our families the ship phone number. on the magic it was cheap to call in an emergency, alot cheaper than cell phone. we didnt need to use it but nice to know it was affordable. I also know somebody that had a 500.00 phone bill surprize cause their kids were texting each other on the ship the whole week... have to be careful....i go to get away from phones etc......

[luvtheships]

If the phone is turned "on" and it rings, you will be charged for it because it connects and the charge begins at the connection. However, if the phone is turned off, than the connection never happens, because the network can not find the phone and therefore, no charge. When you phone is "on", it sends a signal that is picked up by a tower. That is how you are found quickly when someone calls you. Not all phone companies are the same, however, it is not just your phone company, but also the carrier that your phone is in, so you just never know for sure when the connection charge begins.

 

As I dont have nor want a smartphone..but we do indeed have 2 smartphones on our family verizon plan...my concern and I believe rightly so..is this...

 

 

even when you keep the smartphone or I guess even a basic phone..off while on the ship or near the ship's tower.....

 

when you are on land and do turn it on to check things out....the data and messages and texts...will come through...so that is the reason why you must know exactly what your carrier will charge you...

 

and that is why even basic phone users need to pay for some sort of international plan for their phones

 

still though...a basic cell phone set up for texting while at sea....number given only to those that you really need to be in contact with...

 

FWIW..NCL claimed they had a working cell tower....verizon claimed that my phone would be able to send and receive texts while on board.....

 

yep they were wrong......and every other pax I cam into contact with was having the same issue while on board..so it wasn't the phone or the carrier..it was the ship's tower...

[luvtheships]

a final thought to those that need phone contact with a college kid..babysitter..ellderly...

 

use the free carnival site...and use it only once or twice...

 

however, in a REAL emergency...

 

just tell the babysitter etc.....

 

To Call You Ship to Shore...jus contact the ship and to heck with the charges....

 

it doesn't matter that it may take some time to get the message to you because you can't do anything anyway...

 

and anything you can do will cost a fortune anyway...i.e. get off at the next port and fly home (hope you have insurance)

 

If it is a hospital or a police station contacting you..then does the cost really matter?

 

The most important thing is that you leave all your contact info in the right hands..

 

and that includes..

 

your cell number

 

your ship's name

 

your neighbor's phone number

 

your cabin number

 

 

you get the idea...

[Athankfulheart]

I can tell you the details of my personal experience on the Dream with 2 CDMA smart phones. We called Verizon ahead of time and signed up for an international texting plan for the week we would be on the ship. The cost was minimal. We decided on this because it was the cheapest and most reliable method of staying in touch with children at home. We were charged .05/outgoing and .50/incoming per text message. We were able to send and receive texts best when we were closest to land. We were NOT charged for missed calls ( calls sent to voice mail). We are 100% certain of this because both phones had multiple voice mails left while we were gone. Voice calls would be charged at $2.49 per minute to/from our phones. We turned off our data from the time we left Florida until we returned in order to avoid background data useage. There were no surprises on our bill when we got home. Just the charges by Verizon for the text messages that we used. We paid Verizon and Verizon fwd'd Carnivals cut to them (ships tower). My husband noted a 4G signal when off the coast of Miami which we could use free until we got a roaming blinky.

 

 

We used the funville message boards to communicate daily with our children and reserved texting for questions that needed an immediate answer, of which there were few. (our children were home alone, oldest being 20 and 18)

 

Before this trip, we found the available info online to be incomplete and confusion + the fact that every carrier may differ. Call your carrier and ask questions. Hopefully this info will help someone to at least know the questions that they should ask their carrier.

[CapeCodCruiser]

I can tell you the details of my personal experience on the Dream with 2 CDMA smart phones. We called Verizon ahead of time and signed up for an international texting plan for the week we would be on the ship. The cost was minimal. We decided on this because it was the cheapest and most reliable method of staying in touch with children at home. We were charged .05/outgoing and .50/incoming per text message. We were able to send and receive texts best when we were closest to land. We were NOT charged for missed calls ( calls sent to voice mail). We are 100% certain of this because both phones had multiple voice mails left while we were gone. Voice calls would be charged at $2.49 per minute to/from our phones. We turned off our data from the time we left Florida until we returned in order to avoid background data useage. There were no surprises on our bill when we got home. Just the charges by Verizon for the text messages that we used. We paid Verizon and Verizon fwd'd Carnivals cut to them (ships tower). My husband noted a 4G signal when off the coast of Miami which we could use free until we got a roaming blinky.

 

 

We used the funville message boards to communicate daily with our children and reserved texting for questions that needed an immediate answer, of which there were few. (our children were home alone, oldest being 20 and 18)

 

Before this trip, we found the available info online to be incomplete and confusion + the fact that every carrier may differ. Call your carrier and ask questions. Hopefully this info will help someone to at least know the questions that they should ask their carrier.

 

With Verizon that has been my experience as well but I also added the Int'l Data plan for $25/mo for 100MB. I would turn my data off unless close to land or at a port as data while at sea is almost non existent - my email would update as would any other data. I did not exceed the 100 MB on an 8 night cruise. I texted a few times both in & out as well as phone - both answered & missed. No surprises in my bill.

 

The BEST thing you can do is CALL YOUR CARRIER AND GET INFORMED!!!!

[Mijo]

Hello everyone. Thank you all for your responses. I actually called my cell provider (Bell mobility in Canada). Just came back from my cruise and no surprise charges... thank god... Here goes: While using the ship's tower, incoming text is free and to send it's 0.75$. I had turned off my data. Do not have voice mail and my phone rang but did not answer. Got no charge. But I agree that using funville was even better than using texting. Unfortunatly I will be on Celebrity in March and they don't have that luxury... I will probably use my cell a lot more.. Oh btw if I had made a call while at sea it would have been 7$/min Bell offers no plan for while at sea...

Hope that helps some people

MJ

[TriciaEMTB]

I turned off data on my iPhone. You can also turn off your voicemail.

 

Also, depending on your cruise you may not have cell service anyway for half the cruise. I have Sprint and we didn't have any service (Literally said "No Service") from the time arrived in Belize until after we arrived in Grand Cayman.

 

 

No service makes me sad.

 

I kept my phone on and with me though because I'd use it to set alarms and reminders for various activities and use the notepad to jot stuff down that I didn't want to forget.

[Cushing985]

Teach your kids to call Carnival Corporate and they'll connect you on the ship's phone. On our Hawaiian cruise our son called their offices in Miami to find out how he could talk to us as our much loved Greyhound died in his sleep. They not only connected us but they took care of the cost of the phone call. One of the many reasons Carnival is our preferred line.

 

 

Check with your specific carrier as other suggested. Yes, it would be nice to just turn it off and leave it in the safe but as a parent with a child in college in the case of an emergency I want to ensure they can reach me if they have to whatever the cost.