Voom Surf & Stream CAUTION.

[Snow Road Cruisers]

I returned from an Empress if the Seas cruise on May 20, and discovered that AT&T has invoiced my account for over $1,000.00 for Cellular at Sea usage (AT&T sent an IM concerning the credit limit) while on the cruise; however I paid for and logged into Voom Surf & Stream package using the code provided when we were handed our sea pass card before we departed Tampa. The internet was offline many times during the cruise, even to the point the casino could not complete pay outs so I know there we issues and I visited with the internet support technician at least three times during the cruise to ask why my phone internet was non-responsive or slow and he check the settings and the log in each time. I have written to RCI and feel sure they will make thing right with the AT&T fees, but please be alert to what your phone indicates, rather than what you are told.

[Clarea]

This is exactly why many of us here recommend putting the phone in Airplane Mode and turning on WiFi once you get on the ship.

[TimeToGetNauti]

If you don't have your phone in airplane mode and turn off cellular roaming, this is a common occurrence on cruises. It is very unfortunate you got hit with such a large bill. I hope you can get it rectified quickly.

Randie

[firerecruit71295]

I am sorry to hear about your experience. As mentioned above, I ALWAYS make sure my phone goes into airplane mode as soon as I board and then log into the WIFI after that. Hope it all works out.

[reallyitsmema]

I returned from an Empress if the Seas cruise on May 20, and discovered that AT&T has invoiced my account for over $1,000.00 for Cellular at Sea usage (AT&T sent an IM concerning the credit limit) while on the cruise; however I paid for and logged into Voom Surf & Stream package using the code provided when we were handed our sea pass card before we departed Tampa. The internet was offline many times during the cruise, even to the point the casino could not complete pay outs so I know there we issues and I visited with the internet support technician at least three times during the cruise to ask why my phone internet was non-responsive or slow and he check the settings and the log in each time. I have written to RCI and feel sure they will make thing right with the AT&T fees, but please be alert to what your phone indicates, rather than what you are told.

 

You need to turn on airplane mode and then enable wifi so that you aren't using cellular. We met a first time cruiser on Allure last week who made the same mistake and was contacted by AT&T warning them of their usage.

[Clarea]

You need to turn on airplane mode and then enable wifi so that you aren't using cellular. We met a first time cruiser on Allure last week who made the same mistake and was contacted by AT&T warning them of their usage.

I'm really curious if Cellular at Sea is considered data roaming or not. My experience is that the data roaming setting is off by default, so I'm wondering if people are tuning this on, or is Cellular at Sea somehow being classified as not-roaming, yet it has extra cost.

[swoopy2110]

This has nothing to do with Voom

 

It is your phone's data settings

 

I don't expect RCI will pay for you data

[reallyitsmema]

I'm really curious if Cellular at Sea is considered data roaming or not. My experience is that the data roaming setting is off by default, so I'm wondering if people are tuning this on, or is Cellular at Sea somehow being classified as not-roaming, yet it has extra cost.

 

We are Verizon and iPhone users, the woman was AT&T and Samsung phone, so we were not familiar with her settings. We saw international data turned on when she went into her data settings, so that should have been off. She also was a new smart phone user who had talked to AT&T and her son prior to this cruise, their first, for their 50th anniversary. She was really frazzled since she was going to have large charges and her son should have told her that.:eek: I do know she wasn't in airplane mode and didn't want it in airplane mode because she wanted to text and was told to keep it the way it was by AT&T.

 

We told her what we do with our phones and left it at that. I bet her son got an earful when the couple got home.

[Clarea]

We are Verizon and iPhone users, the woman was AT&T and Samsung phone, so we were not familiar with her settings. We saw international data turned on when she went into her data settings, so that should have been off. She also was a new smart phone user who had talked to AT&T and her son prior to this cruise, their first, for their 50th anniversary. She was really frazzled since she was going to have large charges and her son should have told her that.:eek: I do know she wasn't in airplane mode and didn't want it in airplane mode because she wanted to text and was told to keep it the way it was by AT&T.

 

We told her what we do with our phones and left it at that. I bet her son got an earful when the couple got home.

It could be that the woman purchased some international package from AT&T for their land portion and had to turn on data roaming for it to work. Then forgot to turn it off when on the ship.

[debgreg]

I turned data roaming off on the Ovation and used Zoom and it didn't hook up to cellular at sea, but this time taking no chances , Airplane mode it is

[reallyitsmema]

It could be that the woman purchased some international package from AT&T for their land portion and had to turn on data roaming for it to work. Then forgot to turn it off when on the ship.

 

No, she said she didn't purchase any package and when she spoke to AT&T, they told her she should have purchased the $120 package they offer. I asked her if they let her buy it when they called and let her prorate it and she said no, she didn't do that.

 

When she showed us the data setting, she said she had turned that off and it was back on again, so I really don't think she knew what she was up to. Her husband said his dumb phone was smarter and he was sticking to that. They were a cute little couple we had met after boarding in Park Cafe. We had invited them to sit with us when they couldn't find a table. Had she let my DH take her phone and look through her settings, we could have figured out what was up and helped better, but she was frazzled and was done with the whole situation. I just hope they kept international data off after we had her turn it off. I really think she was doing something to change her settings and being new to the phone, didn't realize it.

[heathstockton4]

I am on Independence on Saturday with the Drinks and Voom/Surf Package, so to clarify when on board i should have the Airplane Mode ON but still connect to the Voom Wi-Fi, never thought of it before but does Airplane Mode just block calls and data but allow a wi-fi connection ?

 

Thanks

[Clarea]

I am on Independence on Saturday with the Drinks and Voom/Surf Package, so to clarify when on board i should have the Airplane Mode ON but still connect to the Voom Wi-Fi, never thought of it before but does Airplane Mode just block calls and data but allow a wi-fi connection ?

 

Thanks

Whenever you put the phone in Airplane Mode, it turns off cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth. So you have to re-enable WiFi after you put the phone in Airplane Mode.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

OP, are you expecting Royal to pay your AT&T bill? If so, not happening. This wasn't their fault.

[heathstockton4]

Whenever you put the phone in Airplane Mode, it turns off cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth. So you have to re-enable WiFi after you put the phone in Airplane Mode.

 

Thanks, just tried at home and you are totally correct, glad i checked as i could easily have been caught the same.

[Clarea]

Thanks, just tried at home and you are totally correct, glad i checked as i could easily have been caught the same.

While you are at it, you should enable WiFi calling if possible on your phone. That would give you full phone functionality (calls and texting) over WiFi.

[Lionesss]

I am electronically illiterate, that is why I rely on my 22 year old DD to set up and program my phone on board.

 

They know what it is all about.

 

And yes we did know about putting it on airplane mode on board.

 

However, we were able to access the cell tower on our A T and T I phones as we sailed around Miami last year.

 

Safe travels.

[Havingfun2010]

When traveling, I ALWAYS turn off both data roaming and data. That means only WiFi will work, and no chance of this happening. I also keep the phone open to receive texts and phone calls, but texting is really cheap, and I just don't answer the phone.

 

You can put it in airplane mode also, but I chose not to, because the risk is minor.

[frank808]

While you are at it, you should enable WiFi calling if possible on your phone. That would give you full phone functionality (calls and texting) over WiFi.

With voom wifi and airplane mode on i can only use a messeging app like whatsapp. The standard text using sms does not work. I am with sprint, does you carrier text function still work or are you also using a texting app?

 

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

[Clarea]

With voom wifi and airplane mode on i can only use a messeging app like whatsapp. The standard text using sms does not work. I am with sprint, does you carrier text function still work or are you also using a texting app?

Check this out, it looks like Sprint supports WiFi calling if you have the right phone and IOS:

 

https://www.sprint.com/en/support/solutions/services/faqs-about-wi-fi-calling.html

[Lisa8]

There has been times where I turn off cellular and airplane mode and it would reset and still turn back on. Since then I've always taken my Canadian Sim out when I travel overseas. Most of my contacts use iphones or apps anyway so i'm able to stay in touch using wifi

[GJustice]

Once we leave US port the phones stay in the safe until we get back to US port. I DID buy the AT&T $120 plan a couple of years ago "just in case" and checked messages a couple of times a day, but won't do that again.

 

The providers really should make it easier to shop for cruise services. AT&T is pretty good, but gets wrapped up in MONTHS of service which makes a week (or less) cruise not really affordable. The one time I did buy the coverage it was the last couple of days of one billing period and a few of the next, so my bill was a laundry list of prorations and adjustments for 2 months.

[reallyitsmema]

Once we leave US port the phones stay in the safe until we get back to US port. I DID buy the AT&T $120 plan a couple of years ago "just in case" and checked messages a couple of times a day, but won't do that again.

 

The providers really should make it easier to shop for cruise services. AT&T is pretty good, but gets wrapped up in MONTHS of service which makes a week (or less) cruise not really affordable. The one time I did buy the coverage it was the last couple of days of one billing period and a few of the next, so my bill was a laundry list of prorations and adjustments for 2 months.

 

I think Verizon makes it very easy. They have an interactive travel planner that details out all the different options. You put in which ship you are sailing, which countries you are visiting and what type of phone you have and then it presents all the options. Can't be any easier than that.

[Snow Road Cruisers]

This is exactly why many of us here recommend putting the phone in Airplane Mode and turning on WiFi once you get on the ship.

 

 

Thank you everyone for your insights. Please note the airplane mode was off until the internet support technician changed the settings. I asked him about the Cellular at Sea display then on my phone and he said it did not matter three times; that is the concern I was attempting to share with the community; “please be alert to what your phone indicates, rather than what you are told.”

[Clarea]

Thank you everyone for your insights. Please note the airplane mode was off until the internet support technician changed the settings. I asked him about the Cellular at Sea display then on my phone and he said it did not matter three times; that is the concern I was attempting to share with the community; “please be alert to what your phone indicates, rather than what you are told.”

I wonder if the internet support tech would like to pay your cell phone bill.:rolleyes: