Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Princess LTE fee is a rip off

sachielles

By sachielles,
in Princess Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

billco

billco

Posted
Posted
that also provides free unlimited text and data in over 140 countries and calls for $.20 a minute back to the US, Canada and Mexico from those 140 countries

 

 

 

Sprint has the same feature. We switched to Sprint from T-Mobile last year under a program that charges us 1/2 of what we were paying for 18 months. (50% off T-Mobile Simple Plan 2GB Per Line Data Plan. Includes Unlimited Anytime Minutes, Unlimited Text and 2GB of Per Line Data all while on the Sprint Network. 50% Off Data and Access Charges until 5/31/2018. No additional discounts apply.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRAYTech

GRAYTech

Posted
Posted
In defense of the OP, I have seen the provider of cell service inexplicable go from ATT to Cellular at Sea and back in seconds while around ports. My fix was to always hold my iPhone vertically so I can see the provider.

 

Can you clarify "Around Ports"? Was that coming in or with the lines tied to the dock?

 

Coming in I have seen it switch but never when fully docked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bvillemiss

bvillemiss

Posted
Posted
If there was indeed a screw up, which can happen, the internet manager should be able to make the adjustment. We have had issues once in a while and it has always been handled. I worked in IT and just write it off to human error. Which, if you drill down deep enough it always is, and, I don''t mean user error. IT makes plenty of mistakes.

 

I often put text in red, bold, and italic to denote the part of the quote to which I a responding. There is noting condescending about it. The poster was simply explaining the convention to you. No need to get snarky with him. He was honestly attempting to explain something to you that you seemed not to understand.

 

EDIT: Sorry OP. I missed the earlier post where you said you get it and it wasn't the colors but the content. My bad.

 

Most all of the time, it is safe to use your cell phone while on the ship in port. But not always... We were once sailing through Gov't Cut in Miami talking to our son. We ended the call before we were out of the Cut. To our great surprise, when we got our AT&T bill, we had a charge for over $100 for that call which switched to Princess' satellite even while still in the port. AT&T reversed the charges "as a courtesy".

 

Princess does not sail through Government Cut or from Miami. :o

 

Warning- this post will be in blue, because it reminds me of the open sea! ;p

 

We love Princess and are on her two more times next year and have NEVER felt "bothered" by our wait staff. We interpret their suggestions as helpful suggestions to enhance or meal. We appreciate them offering the perfect after dinner drink, etc. We can accept or decline. The crew members are serving us to make a living and performing their duties. I appreciate their efforts! We do not view them as "flim flam" salespeople.

 

Cruising and vacationing is a frame of mind- I have the freedom to say "No, thank you" to any staff member and continue to enjoy my cruise.

Yes, there are ships/ cruise lines we do not care for but we have found a lovely cruise line home with Princess and one other.

And we ALWAYS turn our phone off when on the ship. We have never been charged when in port, however, I will admit that this has been a very informative thread and we will continue to be cautious on our future cruises.

Happy Sailing to All!!!

 

 

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vampiress

vampiress

Posted
Posted
Can you clarify "Around Ports"? Was that coming in or with the lines tied to the dock?

 

Coming in I have seen it switch but never when fully docked.

around ports, as you cruise in. i' have woken up as we were sailing in, turned on my phone and connected to land based towers. generally with in site of land i've been able to connect to land towers. mine has never connected to the ship's towers because i have data roaming off.

 

i also have t-mobile, and i have data and cell in mexico included with my plan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Loonbeam

Loonbeam

Posted
Posted

Makes sense, the ship towers technically do not have to be turned off until the gangway is down so the phone will go to strongest signal.

 

This would not be for an extended period of time and not likely to run up a bill like OP got.

 

around ports, as you cruise in. i' have woken up as we were sailing in, turned on my phone and connected to land based towers. generally with in site of land i've been able to connect to land towers. mine has never connected to the ship's towers because i have data roaming off.

 

i also have t-mobile, and i have data and cell in mexico included with my plan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

Posted
Posted
Makes sense, the ship towers technically do not have to be turned off until the gangway is down so the phone will go to strongest signal.

 

This would not be for an extended period of time and not likely to run up a bill like OP got.

 

 

Has nothing to do with the gangway.

Supposed to be off long before that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pablo222

pablo222

Posted
Posted
221 posts that could have been avoided if the OP had just turned off the phone and left it off.

 

How nice that so many posters could pile on.

 

Not everyone knows everything before their first cruise.

There are posts here every day that demonstrate that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AZbeachboy

AZbeachboy

Posted
Posted

I think there are a few points that have been made her that will be especially helpful for new cruises. 1) You learned to get a package from the cruise lines. There is no free internet for anyone unless you buy it or it comes with a special you purchased.

2. Just because you think you can get it free without buying it because you see it is available (which I happened to think the OP did) It is not and that will catch up with you.

3. You can do without the internet while your on vacation. If you must be on internet wait till port and go to an internet café. It is much cheaper. The only problem is in some ports English is not the language of the web.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
caribill

caribill

Posted
Posted

You can do without the internet while your on vacation.

 

Maybe you can, I can't:

a) Communication with vendors for private tours

b) Paying bills that need to be paid during the cruise

c) Notification from credit card bank that card has been frozen because of a suspicious charge (that I made) in a foreign country, even after telling bank in advance the card would be used by me in that country.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pablo222

pablo222

Posted
Posted
I recently took a Northern European cruise with Princess and they basically robbed us. They internet package was expensive and slowed. You basically spent 5 minutes of your allotted time to get to a website. When we were docked they took over the LTE and charged $9 per giga byte. Usually without an international it is $.98 so basically 9 times more than the regular price. By the time we realize that our LTE was taken over by Princess it was $2000 bill. Just really disappointed with Princess and I will never cruise with them.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

For the next person: this info from cruise critic might be helpful:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1752

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=45

 

 

And a lot less abusive than the posts here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
billco

billco

Posted
Posted
I think there are a few points that have been made her that will be especially helpful for new cruises. 1) You learned to get a package from the cruise lines. There is no free internet for anyone unless you buy it or it comes with a special you purchased.

2. Just because you think you can get it free without buying it because you see it is available (which I happened to think the OP did) It is not and that will catch up with you.

3. You can do without the internet while your on vacation. If you must be on internet wait till port and go to an internet café. It is much cheaper. The only problem is in some ports English is not the language of the web.

 

In reading this thread I haven’t seen an emphasis on any of the above points. I think the most helpful points would be:

1: Take time prior to a cruise to learn basic operation of your device in regards to WiFi, cellular, and internet and the differences between each.

2: Read your carriers instructions on international use.

3: If purchasing an internet package read the cruise lines instructions particularly on how to log on, log off, and keep track of your minutes.

4: If things go horribly wrong, don’t come whining on CC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charles4515

Charles4515

Posted
Posted
I think there are a few points that have been made her that will be especially helpful for new cruises. 1) You learned to get a package from the cruise lines. There is no free internet for anyone unless you buy it or it comes with a special you purchased.

2. Just because you think you can get it free without buying it because you see it is available (which I happened to think the OP did) It is not and that will catch up with you.

3. You can do without the internet while your on vacation. If you must be on internet wait till port and go to an internet café. It is much cheaper. The only problem is in some ports English is not the language of the web.

 

On your point 1, if you have cruised on Princess a certain number of times you do get some free internet without buying it. I had 150 minutes free a few weeks ago. I only used 90 minutes of it because I have worked out doing things offine and quickly logging on and off on Princess slow internet.

 

On your point 3, some can do without internet on vacation, some can not do without it, and some like me don't want to do without it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charles4515

Charles4515

Posted
Posted
Maybe you can, I can't:

a) Communication with vendors for private tours

b) Paying bills that need to be paid during the cruise

c) Notification from credit card bank that card has been frozen because of a suspicious charge (that I made) in a foreign country, even after telling bank in advance the card would be used by me in that country.

 

A couple of weeks ago I decided on the spur of the moment to do the London Eye. Since I had the International Day Pass I did it on my phone instead of standing in the queue. That saved time and was a discount. Did have snafu as American Express which does not do travel notifications declined it and sent an email asking if it was me. So being connected I was able to reply and get the hold released. If I had went to the ticket window and didn't have cell service I would not have been able to use that card.

 

Then in Belgium using a Barclay Mastercard that I had like you did put in the Travel Notification in advance, it was declined. I had to call them on my cell to unfreeze the card.

 

I mentioned this in another thread, having the day passes in London saved me money as I used Uber there a few times. Uber fares were less than the London taxi rates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Loonbeam

Loonbeam

Posted
Posted

Actually asked about that once. It's SUPPOSED to be turned off when land towers are in range (2 miles give or take), but it HAS to be turned off when either docked or in the port area - depending on the port (has to do with signal interferences rules in that country). Many ships will do it earlier because its one less thing to worry about, but you cannot depend on it being off until totally docked.

 

Interesting note - the older systems are effectively picocells, so as long as the land tower is fairly close to the port the land tower will be grabbed due to strongest signal. However, as ships upgrade to the newer high speed systems, the repeater on board is more powerful as well and thus you may see this happen more.

 

 

Has nothing to do with the gangway.

Supposed to be off long before that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charles4515

Charles4515

Posted
Posted
Actually asked about that once. It's SUPPOSED to be turned off when land towers are in range (2 miles give or take), but it HAS to be turned off when either docked or in the port area - depending on the port (has to do with signal interferences rules in that country). Many ships will do it earlier because its one less thing to worry about, but you cannot depend on it being off until totally docked.

 

 

I looked it up. Don't rely on what someone told you. It has to be off at 12 nautical miles except in the European Union where it has to be off at 2 nautical miles. It can't be on otherwise. It will go off before the ship is docked. Either 12 miles out or 2 miles in most of Europe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...