Princess LTE fee is a rip off

[sachielles]

Your phone connected to the closest tower, which was the one on the ship. You should have received a text message telling you what carrier you were on when you turned on your cellular service.

 

 

 

I didn't receive a message.

 

 

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[perditax]

Not the fault of and has nothing to do with Princess.

There is no cell signal to connect to onboard while in port.

You were connected to a land based cell tower while in port.

You should be yelling at AT&T and yourself for not researching before you cruised.

End of story.

 

 

Respectfully, I think you're wrong. Or at least, it has been my experience on NCL that I can't connect to local towers if I'm on the ship in port--have to get some distance from the ship. In other words, I don't think ships necessarily shut down their cell tower just because they're docked. I only recently got a similar international plan so I was futzing around with it a lot on my last Carib cruise in June.

 

I do think OP stayed on the ship, did something that ate a whole lot of data (video streaming?) over Princess's signal, then got the bill from ATT.

[perditax]

I won't re-post again, but, see my post #64 above.

 

 

I just read your post (not OP). You mention being able to change to another carrier. How were you able to do that?

[sachielles]

Not the fault of and has nothing to do with Princess.

There is no cell signal to connect to onboard while in port.

You were connected to a land based cell tower while in port.

You should be yelling at AT&T and yourself for not researching before you cruised.

End of story.

 

 

 

That's not what ATT said. Also when I spent 2 days before getting on board. I was only charged $10 daily. ATT specifically told that's what Princess charged for using their tower. They had contracts with other cruise lines but not Princess. Besides their wifi package was also shady. It ate up minutes very quickly and charged more minutes than actually used.

 

 

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[sachielles]

I just read your post (not OP). You mention being able to change to another carrier. How were you able to do that?

 

 

 

I didn't say I changed to another. That must have been a typo. I do know however that Royal Caribbean has a contract with ATT and when LTE is available they do not charge.

 

 

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[ar1950]

That's not what ATT said. Also when I spent 2 days before getting on board. I was only charged $10 daily. ATT specifically told that's what Princess charged for using their tower. They had contracts with other cruise lines but not Princess. Besides their wifi package was also shady. It ate up minutes very quickly and charged more minutes than actually used.

 

 

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Again:

 

Did you log off by doing the logout.com that they tell you to do. If you don't do that the minutes continue to run for a while even though you are off line. It is in the instructions when you first log on every time.

[sachielles]

Again:

 

 

 

Yes I did and I was not the only one having a problem with them. The line in front of the Internet cafe with disgruntled passengers was very long. Everyone had the same complaint.

 

 

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[sachielles]

Again:

 

 

 

Stop being so condescending if you want me to reply to your question. Why the red font? Seriously mess up.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

That's not what ATT said. Also when I spent 2 days before getting on board. I was only charged $10 daily. ATT specifically told that's what Princess charged for using their tower. They had contracts with other cruise lines but not Princess. Besides their wifi package was also shady. It ate up minutes very quickly and charged more minutes than actually used.

 

I have the same add on for $10 per day through AT&T and have used it exclusively since it came out several times. Because Princess does not partner with AT&T it is does not help when you use it onboard and at sea.

The $10 plan activates when you use any data, a text message, a call, a download of any kind.

It does not care where you were connected from so yes AT&T charged you the $10, but it also charged you for use when at sea connected through the ship. If you did use any data then the $10 charge would not be applied. Since it does not cover any use onboard you would be charged $$$$ for any at sea onboard use.

Again I say YES the internet onboard Princess is notoriously slow and frustrating.

[sachielles]

I have the same add on for $10 per day through AT&T and have used it exclusively since it came out several times. Because Princess does not partner with AT&T it is does not help when you use it onboard and at sea.

 

The $10 plan activates when you use any data, a text message, a call, a download of any kind.

 

It does not care where you were connected from so yes AT&T charged you the $10, but it also charged you for use when at sea connected through the ship. If you did use any data then the $10 charge would not be applied. Since it does not cover any use onboard you would be charged $$$$ for any at sea onboard use.

 

 

 

Again I say YES the internet onboard Princess is notoriously slow and frustrating.

 

 

 

Again this happened when we docked and not at Sea.

 

 

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[ar1950]

Yes I did and I was not the only one having a problem with them. The line in front of the Internet cafe with disgruntled passengers was very long. Everyone had the same complaint.

 

 

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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.

[Colo Cruiser]

Respectfully, I think you're wrong. Or at least, it has been my experience on NCL that I can't connect to local towers if I'm on the ship in port--have to get some distance from the ship. In other words, I don't think ships necessarily shut down their cell tower just because they're docked. I only recently got a similar international plan so I was futzing around with it a lot on my last Carib cruise in June.

 

I do think OP stayed on the ship, did something that ate a whole lot of data (video streaming?) over Princess's signal, then got the bill from ATT.

 

 

On Princess I have never connected to the ships cell service when in port because its not activated until the ship is away from land. I use my cell all the time while in port and have had a local signal. I have use land based cell towers many times after the ship leaves port. Sometimes the ships cell service is turned on pretty quickly and other times if the ship is close to land it does not come on. I have never seen it enabled while in port.

[idahospud]

Each time we switch countries on the ship we are notified. Looking at the text messages from our carrier over the last couple years we have:

 

Welcome to Spain!

Welcome to France!

Welcome to United Kingdom!

Welcome to French West Indies!

 

After each one of these texts it states:

Your ____ plan gives you unlimited data at 2G speeds, calls at 20 cents/min and free texts.

 

(I omitted the carrier name so as not to promote.)

 

But when on a cruise ship the language is completely different:

Welcome to Cruise Ship. Out of plan coverage. $.50/text and $5.99/min talk.

 

If you see that message get the phone on airplane mode ASAP.

[Go-Bucks!]

I've never had an issue when in port or docking (or even close to port) because I get an alert and can cancel or change to another available local cell service.

 

I haven't either and have sailed 8 times on Princess, using my cell phone with internet each time. When docked and on the ship, I try to use wifi from the shore if possible. Works out about 50% of the time.

 

Did you log off by doing the logout.com that they tell you to do. If you don't do that the minutes continue to run even though you are offline. It is in the instructions when you first log on every time.

 

OP, there's no way that you got on the Princess ship's wifi for 1 min. and got charged for 25 min. As was said above, you might have forgotten to log off (by typing in logout.com) and stayed logged on for all that time. I am able to make my ship's internet package last quite awhile if I'm careful.

 

One other thing for the OP....in order to be using the Princess satellite tower on the ship, you have to log onto the ship's wifi. You can't just "accidentally" get onto it and have racked up those charges. You have to log on every single time with your password. I get the feeling that you might be confused about how the ship internet works and are blaming them through your misunderstanding. Many people here, who are experienced Princess passengers, have told you what probably happened but you continue to argue. Probably time to drop it.

[ar1950]

One other thing for the OP....in order to be using the Princess satellite tower on the ship, you have to log onto the ship's wifi. You can't just "accidentally" get onto it and have racked up those charges. You have to log on every single time with your password. I get the feeling that you might be confused about how the ship internet works and are blaming them through your misunderstanding. Many people here, who are experienced Princess passengers, have told you what probably happened but you continue to argue. Probably time to drop it.

 

Not true. The cell phone service is a separate service from WIFI. Two different animals.

[Go-Bucks!]

Why the red font?

 

We do that in order to distinguish our answer from the question. If it's all in the same color, it's difficult to tell which is which. This is commonly done on forums/boards to make it easier for people to read. You don't need to take offense - it's done all the time. :D

[perditax]

On Princess I have never connected to the ships cell service when in port because its not activated until the ship is away from land. I use my cell all the time while in port and have had a local signal. I have use land based cell towers many times after the ship leaves port. Sometimes the ships cell service is turned on pretty quickly and other times if the ship is close to land it does not come on. I have never seen it enabled while in port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if it may be port specific. I don't know, will check it out next time I'm on Princess.

 

Due to my experience, I'm inclined to believe OP was in port but failed to heed the text messages about what carrier they were on.

[sachielles]

We do that in order to distinguish our answer from the question. If it's all in the same color, it's difficult to tell which is which. This is commonly done on forums/boards to make it easier for people to read. You don't need to take offense - it's done all the time. :D

 

 

 

Right not condescending. It's all in my head. Thanks for the explanation.

 

 

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[perditax]

Right not condescending. It's all in my head. Thanks for the explanation.

 

 

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People do use weird colors instead of quoting here a lot. Some of them use weird colors and fonts in all their posts for no reason, and I end up putting them on ignore.

 

I'm gonna let this thread go now, but I guess I'll leave you with a final consideration: do you think if Princess was systematically scamming people out of thousands of dollars with their cellular tower that anyone would ever cruise on them a second time? I know you're not going to, but the existence of these forums should prove that most people don't have the outcome you did.

[Aus Traveller]

From reading the previous posts, I think the OPs problem was with his/her phone and their phone service company and not with Princess internet.

 

However, I would like to relate that on one cruise we had difficulty with the ship's wifi internet (maybe through our inexperience with it). We racked up a lot more minutes than we were using. Maybe my husband didn't log out correctly - I don't know. When he asked the Internet Manager about it, the Manager immediately offered to credit the minutes that ran on after we had finished our internet session. This was superb service and more than we were entitled to. :) I have always found the Internet Managers to be extremely helpful and obliging.

[sachielles]

People do use weird colors instead of quoting here a lot. Some of them use weird colors and fonts in all their posts for no reason, and I end up putting them on ignore.

 

I'm gonna let this thread go now, but I guess I'll leave you with a final consideration: do you think if Princess was systematically scamming people out of thousands of dollars with their cellular tower that anyone would ever cruise on them a second time? I know you're not going to, but the existence of these forums should prove that most people don't have the outcome you did.

 

 

 

It was not just the color but what was being said. So please stop explaining.

[satxdiver]

By International Law the ship is required to turn off their cell tower when they enter foreign nation space. Therefore they cannot have their cell tower active while in port. The cell tower shuts itself down automatically and is not controlled by Princess. The only way one can use the ship's WiFi is to log in with a valid and paid log in. Since this is a totally different service than the cell tower, the ship's WiFi is always on whether at sea or in port. It is expensive and very bandwidth limited. Welcome to the days of dial up service. Given what the OP posted, I don't believe they know what they are whining about.

[ar1950]

It was not just the color but what was being said. So please stop explaining.

Got it. No more explaining here. You aren't going to cruise Princess again and I expect most here will not care in the grand scheme of things. BTW, most replies were trying to help. Hope that your future cruises on whatever line you decide on are better. :)

[perditax]

By International Law the ship is required to turn off their cell tower when they enter foreign nation space. Therefore they cannot have their cell tower active while in port. The cell tower shuts itself down automatically and is not controlled by Princess. The only way one can use the ship's WiFi is to log in with a valid and paid log in. Since this is a totally different service than the cell tower, the ship's WiFi is always on whether at sea or in port. It is expensive and very bandwidth limited. Welcome to the days of dial up service. Given what the OP posted, I don't believe they know what they are whining about.

 

 

Just to make sure I understand correctly, if I was in a Caribbean port and I only got the "welcome to cellular at sea" text when I turned on my cellular service on the ship, the ship was in violation of law? Sincerely asking, as I had this happen to me with NCL and found it frustrating because I wanted to be able to test my new international plan. Think it would have been Cozumel.

 

Just to make it really clear, I'm not the OP and not arguing with you. I've only sailed Princess once. Just asking.

[myfuzzy]

I have sailed Princess for years, and always have paid for the internet. It is absolutely crucial that you use the log off signature, and then go to log in to make sure you are logged off. I have also taken to having a pad next to the computer to log for my own information on how much time I had when I logged on and then log off, so when I log in again, I compare it to the minutes I had when I logged off previously. Any problems, off to the internet cafe.

 

Also, I live a few miles from the Canadian border. When I drive to a certain area, I have to put my phone into airplane mode, because it seems that the closest tower is in Canada, even though I am driving in the US. If I don't watch I could end up having international and roaming charges if I were to receive a call.