Verizon on Getaway

[Kruizin'Kath]

My husband just got off the phone with Verizon. They said for $40.00 we would get 100 minutes ($1.99/minute for additional minutes) of talk and 100 text messages. They also said there would be no roaming charges and without the plan, NCL charges $2.49/minute. Does anyone know if this is accurate, and if I would need to buy into the iconcierge app?

Thanks for any help with this.

Kathy

[webzila]

You may want to double check that. I don't think Verizon international plan covers calling/texting from the ship. You may get discounts in ports though.

For $25 you can get 100 MB of data allowance which will include data while on the ship and in ports.

 

I have Verizon and always get the international data before leaving then drop it a few weeks after coming back.

 

You can see here that the 100 roaming minutes and 100 texts is for travel to specific countries

http://www.verizonwireless.com/landingpages/global-roaming/

 

Cruise ship voice is still 2.49 per minute, 50 cents for msgs sent and 5 cents for received but as I mentioned they do have a 100 MB data plan that will work on the cruise ship.

Edited March 18, 2015 by webzila

[Cruiser Who Knows Nothing]

No matter how much Verizon charges, you still can't get a signal.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Kingofwylietx]

You can use an iPhone and wifi (I'm thinking about while in port) to make free FaceTime video or audio calls to other iPhones. There are apps to do the same with Android. This works anywhere in the world you have a wifi signal.

 

It's a cheap way to stay in touch abroad.

 

If you want to use a US based phone abroad for regular voice calls, you'll want to contact Verizon prior to the trip.

[fefe]

I agree, " if you can get a signal"! I don't ever seem to have any luck with Verizon on a cruise.

[Kingofwylietx]

Getting a land signal on the ship will pretty much be limited to your time in port. Even close to shore, I've never had much luck. I guess you could get lucky if you are up high, in the open, and have line of sight to land (you might be lucky enough to pick up a cell tower).

[Kruizin'Kath]

Thank you all for your responses.Since my 88 year old Mom had a stroke a few weeks ago and is in rehab, I guess I'll have to take my chances and buy in to their plan, which is now $40.00.

[webzila]

As I mentioned, don't get the $40 plan if you are going to use your phone for voice service on the ship. It wont cover it.

 

As far as signal, I don't remember about NCL but I could always get 1X reception without any issues. You need to make sure you have a global phone (most newer Verizon ones are) and also make sure your phone is set to allow global roaming.

[LrgPizza]

While at St. Thomas, you will have free data and texting with Verizon, without having to buy any additional plan. You would also get $1.99/minute calling, which is cheaper than what they are offering you with the purchased plan.

 

While on board, if you pay a 1 time fee of $7.95 to activate iConcierge, you can call home for $.79/minute.

 

Just throwing those out there as other options.

[WatchHill]

Whatever you do, verify the service and coverage, plus the dates a couple of times with Verizon. For the Caribbean, using one of the newer iphones will give you the access you need. Taking a lap top or similar? Email, will work, too.

 

For me, I had to activate the Global [british Isles for 22 days] plan and due to my billing dates, have to pay through two billing cycles. Ugh. I usually ignore the all too frequent email from Verizon, but had nothing better to do today and looked at the verification letters OMG - a Verizon rep initiated service as of yesterday and I told her specifically May 1st. then I noticed she activated the service on another phone number, not the iphone I will be carrying throughout the trip.

 

I used both the online Verizon Global chat and a visit to a Verizon store to get this done. I seriously wonder if they all have access to the same info.

 

Darcy

[debuskjt]

^ I travel constantly and that's not the way it should work. It's very easy to activate a global plan online from your account effective the date you travel. You can then turn it off the day you return, effective that same date. You will ONLY be charged for the timeframe you use it at a partial rate equal to the cost of the service divided by the number of days in the month.

 

You will be told fees will be "prorated" because you pay in advance for service. So if you left it on, you'll get charged for what you used this month AND the next month on next month's bill. But if you only used it for 5 days and then turned it off, you only get charged for the 5 days you had international plan on. For instance, when I travel to Mexico for work it is $10 for data. If I'm there for two days out of a 30 day month and don't go over 100 MB, they only charge me $0.67. If I used 101 MB they only charge me $10.67.

 

So if you had turned on your service the day you left for your 22 day vacation and turned it off the day you return, you shouldn't have paid for two months. You should have paid for 22 days. The service reps are particularly stupid and the online interface is much, much better for adding and removing global features.

 

Cruise ship voice is still 2.49 per minute, 50 cents for msgs sent and 5 cents for received but as I mentioned they do have a 100 MB data plan that will work on the cruise ship.

 

PSA: That 100 MB data plan Verizon used to have for cruise ships appears to have recently bitten the dust and is no longer available. :(

Edited March 23, 2015 by debuskjt

[webzila]

^ I travel constantly and that's not the way it should work. It's very easy to activate a global plan online from your account effective the date you travel. You can then turn it off the day you return, effective that same date. You will ONLY be charged for the timeframe you use it at a partial rate equal to the cost of the service divided by the number of days in the month.

 

You will be told fees will be "prorated" because you pay in advance for service. So if you left it on, you'll get charged for what you used this month AND the next month on next month's bill. But if you only used it for 5 days and then turned it off, you only get charged for the 5 days you had international plan on. For instance, when I travel to Mexico for work it is $10 for data. If I'm there for two days out of a 30 day month and don't go over 100 MB, they only charge me $0.67. If I used 101 MB they only charge me $10.67.

 

So if you had turned on your service the day you left for your 22 day vacation and turned it off the day you return, you shouldn't have paid for two months. You should have paid for 22 days. The service reps are particularly stupid and the online interface is much, much better for adding and removing global features.

 

 

 

PSA: That 100 MB data plan Verizon used to have for cruise ships appears to have recently bitten the dust and is no longer available. :(

 

Hmm, you are right. Within the past week Verizon retired what they call their "older" global plans. I confirmed with them. They say that they replaced them with better / newer options. That must have been a joke.

 

Lets see - old plan - 100 MB for $25

New plan - 1 MB for $20

 

I don't know where that would be considered better