Newby to smart phones -- Question?

[Travelbug 2]

I have just acquired a Samsung smart phone and I love it. :)

I will be cruising the Pacific coast in a couple of weeks and I know that Wi Fi on board is VERY expensive. If I just use the camera feature on the phone will I be incurring any expense?? ( I live in Canada). If so, I will keep it turned off and use my digital camera.

Using a smart phone is a big learning curve for me :D please excuse my ignorance. :confused:

[Mumsysailor]

I have just acquired a Samsung smart phone and I love it. :)

I will be cruising the Pacific coast in a couple of weeks and I know that Wi Fi on board is VERY expensive. If I just use the camera feature on the phone will I be incurring any expense?? ( I live in Canada). If so, I will keep it turned off and use my digital camera.

Using a smart phone is a big learning curve for me :D please excuse my ignorance. :confused:

 

Don't know your particular phone but you need to turn off data roaming so that it doesn't try connecting to a network. Then you can use the camera freely.

 

Mumsy.

[Netty13]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 and I think they all are quite similar. You have to go to 'settings' and disable the 'mobile data' (something like thay... sorry, mine is in German)

Leave the WLAN active, it will let you know when Wifi is available and you can chose if you want to use it.

If the mobile data is disabled and you just use the camera you'll be fine :)

[Boytjie]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 and I think they all are quite similar. You have to go to 'settings' and disable the 'mobile data' (something like thay... sorry, mine is in German)

Leave the WLAN active, it will let you know when Wifi is available and you can chose if you want to use it.

If the mobile data is disabled and you just use the camera you'll be fine :)

 

Does 'mobile data' include phone calls? On an iphone you can put it into Airplane Mode which means it turns off the phone's connection to cellular data networks, the phone app, and other related services.

[Netty13]

Does 'mobile data' include phone calls? On an iphone you can put it into Airplane Mode which means it turns off the phone's connection to cellular data networks, the phone app, and other related services.

 

I still can do phone calls with the mobile data disabled. It just makes sure your phone does not any upgrades (apps), and doesn't connect with the internet, which would cost a fortune outside of Germany.

[Wavemistress01]

I am so pleased that you asked this question. I was recently dragged into the 21st century with a Samsung S111 and I was also wondering the same thing. I too love my new phone but it is taking me a while to get to grips with it. I think I will go with the airplane mode suggestion. at least that way I wont get caught out with anyone trying to phone me whilst I am on my cruise. I too wanted to use my camera to avoid taking my large camera with me. Its the SMART thing to do. Sorry about the BAD pun. Couldnt resist.

[Netty13]

Right, if you don't want to use it for phone calls either, the flight mode is probably better. I have to admit I don't know where that is set on Samsung phones :confused:

[Boytjie]

I still can do phone calls with the mobile data disabled. It just makes sure your phone does not any upgrades (apps), and doesn't connect with the internet, which would cost a fortune outside of Germany.

 

I suspected that :) It would be a good idea to turn the phone and text functions off too onboard. There must be something similar to Airplane Mode on other phones.

[Netty13]

I suspected that :) It would be a good idea to turn the phone and text functions off too onboard. There must be something similar to Airplane Mode on other phones.

 

I just searched and found it :) It's just called Offline mode on my phone and when I click it the '3G' thing disappears and a little airplane appears.

Yes, I'll most likely use that as well on board. In ports I'd like to use my phone ;)

[California Traveler]

It might be best to go back to the retailer you purchased it form the staff there will adjust all the settings for you. Just tell them what you want and they will do it. All it takes is one wrong push of a button and the phone is messud up :(

 

For example: My husband's new phone battery was running low every day, always plugged in at night to re-charge. I finally talked him into going back to the store, sure enough his phone was set up on constant roaming. Once that was turned off the battery now lasts for a week.

 

CT

[Gemluver71]

So I live in California and having traveled to Canada last year (Vancouver) with a teen and now sailing to Alaska in June with 4 teens (!), I called my carrier and ship services. The way it works is this (regardless of your carrier, plans, grandfathered plans, type of smartphone, whatever):

 

Traditional phone use and text messages do not use data and neither does your camera (when it takes the picture) or music you already have downloaded to your phone.

 

However, every time you use an app, email, google, safari, cloud storage (for pictures), iTunes, maps, GPS, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (any social media), you are using data. The smartphone must either use a WiFi connection or 3/4G connection. If you do not purchase the WiFi option on the cruise, your phone will use data everytime you do one of these things. To do this it "pings" off the ship's towers with it's 3 or 4 G capability. The fee for Holland America every time you ping above and beyond your carrier's plan is $20.00 per megabyte (approx. 1000 megabytes in a Gig remember). Average use on a 60 second check of your FB? 4-5 megabytes! As you can see this adds up really quickly!

 

Everytime you are on land you will use the towers for the country you are in (and at that point there are roaming charges, WiFi opportunities and such, that's when you need to work with your phone carrier), so you won't inccur the ship's fee for their tower.

 

My carrier's advice (and mine) is to go into your settings and turn off the data. Unplug while you are on the cruise, save your picture sharing for when you get home.

 

Hope this helps!

[Typhoon1]

Set it to airplane mode as soon as you board the ship and you should not have any problems.

[wants2cruise2]

I don't have a smart phone so I just turn mine off and it goes into the safe, but DH and everyone else in my family does and the phones go onto airplane mode when ship starts to move. Then they can use pictures and their music without any problems.

[SadieN]

Turn off Cellular Roaming and put it into Airplane mode.

Different phones call these by different names.

[Travelbug 2]

Thank you to all for comments and suggestions.

It looks like "Flight" mode is the way to go so that is what I will do. :)