ATT plan

[Driftwoodgal]

We are on a transatlantic cruuse in a few weeks. I am doing research on the cruise line package with ATT. Has anyone used it, if so what are your thoughts about it.

[Ashland]

We are on a transatlantic cruuse in a few weeks. I am doing research on the cruise line package with ATT. Has anyone used it, if so what are your thoughts about it.

I use AT&T's cruise and international land packages when ever we travel ... always better to have it...we like to be able to stay in touch with our family...regardless of where we are. No need to stay in the dark or worry (paranoid) about cell phone use. Call AT&T they'll explain everything you need to know.

[Driftwoodgal]

Trying to find out how well the calling worked at sea. Did you use your plan at sea?

[jkrislc]

I used their international plan on the Brilliance Northern Europe cruise as it was a port intensive itinerary. The calling plan works just like at home, you won't notice a difference in calling, but you're limited to 50 minutes of included calling. Unfortunately, texting is not included, so you pay $.50 per text. As a result, I just used pay per use for texting if I needed to contact family from the ship.

[impatientlywaiting]

Too bad you don't have T-Mobile. International texting/data is free and calls are 20 cents per minute. On our trans-Atlantic last year it was awesome when we weren't being charged and other passengers were complaining about their carriers' charges. :)

[Driftwoodgal]

I used their international plan on the Brilliance Northern Europe cruise as it was a port intensive itinerary. The calling plan works just like at home, you won't notice a difference in calling, but you're limited to 50 minutes of included calling. Unfortunately, texting is not included, so you pay $.50 per text. As a result, I just used pay per use for texting if I needed to contact family from the ship.

 

Did you have to call with any additional area codes numbers or did you just dial the 10 digit number to the person at home. Do you remember what incoming texts cost? Was there a delay in the connection time when calling. Just trying to figure out what will work best for us as I need to stay connected when we are on the ship. From what I have read you can not check emails with this plan, it is just calling and texting.

 

 

Thanks for your help.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Driftwoodgal

[SPacificbound]

I used AT&T international plan and cruise ship plan on various trips. If you are actually going to use your phone or device it is not cheap.

 

I have now moved on to TMobile Simple Choice.

[MattInFLL]

I've used the ATT cruise ship plan many many times. I always get the full package of minutes, texts and data. It always works well, and the thing I like about it is that when you are in a Caribbean port, it still works. On a longer cruise, I will add a "land" data package to supplement the data in the ports, since data is always what I use the most of.

 

On a transatlantic, though, I'm not sure I would use it. For me, it would not be enough data to last 7-10 days, so I would end buying internet on the ship anyway. But I am a big email guy and so you may not be as big a data user as I am. I don't text or voice call that much. But if that is your need, the package could still make sense.

[jkrislc]

The cruise package I looked at provided calls only. If I remember correctly, texts were $.50 to send or receive. I used their international plan and made my calls and texts while in port as we were on a port intensive itinerary. I believe most smart phones compensate for international calls home, so I don't recall having to add the country code at all and I don't recall any significant delay of any type when making the calls.

[MattInFLL]

The ATT cruise ship plan is available in 3 tiers. Voice calls only; voice and text; or voice text and data.

[MikeFromGB]

With AT&T, I believe incoming texts are free ("billed at the domestic rate") and outgoing texts are $.50 each. This applies to ala carte (no plan). If you purchase the AT&T Cruise plan, you get what's indicated. In either case, I believe only outgoing texts carry a charge or count against your plan.

[rockdoctor]

My experience with shipboard satellite phone service has been less than spectacular. Conversations can be difficult. Perhaps there was just bad satellite coverage when I used it.

[Driftwoodgal]

My experience with shipboard satellite phone service has been less than spectacular. Conversations can be difficult. Perhaps there was just bad satellite coverage when I used it.

 

This is my concern for our transatlantic. Paying to keep in touch but not being able to use it. I know Internet is very iffy at times.

[aggiedad2016]

Too bad you don't have T-Mobile. International texting/data is free and calls are 20 cents per minute. On our trans-Atlantic last year it was awesome when we weren't being charged and other passengers were complaining about their carriers' charges. :)

 

 

I too have a T-Mobile simple choice plan i use just for international travel and it is great! However, I thought that those great rates didn't apply for Cellular at sea. Do you have to change any settings to avoid the astronomical roaming rates that T-Mobile lists for Cruise Ship Rates?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cherylandtk]

Too bad you don't have T-Mobile. International texting/data is free and calls are 20 cents per minute. On our trans-Atlantic last year it was awesome when we weren't being charged and other passengers were complaining about their carriers' charges. :)

This is true only for their Simple Choice plans and only for the 120 countries on the list. Cruise ships are NOT part of the list and voice calls from ships run 5.99 per minute. As with anything, it pays to investigate your own plan. (FWIW, I am not switching to Simple Choice because I have a grandfathered t-Mobile plan that costs much less than Simple Choice, and our limited use Internationally doesn't come close to our monthly savings.:))

...However, I thought that those great rates didn't apply for Cellular at sea....

You're correct. It's 5.99 per minute, even with Simple Choice. Edited August 21, 2015 by cherylandtk

[Driftwoodgal]

So I ended up buying the passport plan with unlimited free texts as that is what my plan at home has. I will pay $.50 per minutes for phone calls and have a small amount of data. Free wifi hot spots in some cities, probably useless.

 

I will get the internet package for the days we are at sea and use the passport plan when in port.

 

It is interesting that you can't find information on ATT about the country code numbers that you need to dial in order to use this. They did give me an international number if I ran into problems.

 

This took some research to find the best plan to fit our land and cruise vacation.

 

I hope others still chime in and give helpful hints to others that are doing research.

 

It seems like each carrier has different prices etc so info will be helpful to future cruisers.

 

Happy sailing and thanks for your imput.

[Flatbush Flyer]

So I ended up buying the passport plan with unlimited free texts as that is what my plan at home has. I will pay $.50 per minutes for phone calls and have a small amount of data. Free wifi hot spots in some cities, probably useless.

 

 

 

I will get the internet package for the days we are at sea and use the passport plan when in port.

 

 

 

It is interesting that you can't find information on ATT about the country code numbers that you need to dial in order to use this. They did give me an international number if I ran into problems.

 

 

 

This took some research to find the best plan to fit our land and cruise vacation.

 

 

 

I hope others still chime in and give helpful hints to others that are doing research.

 

 

 

It seems like each carrier has different prices etc so info will be helpful to future cruisers.

 

 

 

Happy sailing and thanks for your imput.

 

 

The country codes are on the website along with the names of the partnering networks (e.g., Vodaphone, Orange, etc.)

[Driftwoodgal]

Thanks good to know I had trouble finding them. I have slow Internet so it was frustrating. I went into a store today to set this up.

[hun]

We'll be going on a Med cruise and also have ATT but am thinking of just using the iPhone apps that have free texting and calls.... Have you considered those to cut down on the need to increase the cell plan? Whoever you'd call would of course also need to put on their phones :)

I hope I can give the names of the ones we've used - Viber and WhatsApp