Princess LTE fee is a rip off

[triptolemus]

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?

 

In some cases they could be in violation of local regulations. It could also be the ship's cell tower is licensed or otherwise approved to operate in a given region. In the US, it would be the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which licenses radio frequency spectrum within the US. In Cozumel, it would be the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico. It's entirely possible that the ship's tower is licensed to operate in that region. I'm not going to go look it up...

[sachielles]

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. :)

 

 

 

Yes most replies were trying to understand what happened, but some comments were condescending and if not insulting. What it really necessary for someone to tell they are happy I'm not cruising Princess because they don't want to bump into me? Why do people feel like it's ok to be demeaning because they are online.

[Colo Cruiser]

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.

 

Darn Rogers.......

[Thrak]

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.

 

Keith:

 

As much as I agree that this is the fault of the OP and not of Princess...

 

We once boarded Star Princess in SF. We were in our balcony cabin looking down at the port buildings. Ship wasn't due to sail for at least another hour. My wife assumed that the Princess cell service was turned off in port. It wasn't She sent a couple of pictures and almost immediately got a text from Verizon telling her she was incurring some crazy bills. What??? We were docked and not even on the "at sea" side of the ship. Princess had their cell tower on and it had snagged my wife's signal. Not cool. Verizon immediately reversed the charges and offered her a limited plan.

 

We never have cellular service on when on the ship no matter if it is docked or not. Once was enough. I know they are supposed to not have it "on" but they did anyway. We learned from that one time and were never foolish enough to leave cell service turned on again. I'm just totally boggled that anybody would ever use their data while at sea. Especially using it enough to incur a bill of that magnitude. How can one not know that is a path to disaster?

Edited September 13, 2017 by Thrak

[Steelers36]

I think I am finally understanding something here.

 

When ship is at sea, Princess is connected to satellite for cellular service.

When ship is docked, Princess has a contract to connect to AT&T, which includes LTE service where available.

Ergo, if the complainant was connected via Princess, his closest "cell tower", he has bypassed the direct connection to a land-based cell tower and is subject to whatever the ship is charging while in port.

 

If I am right, the cell user needs to make sure connection is to a land-based tower service and not the ship.

If you are an AT&T customer, IDK how or if this is possible since the phone handshakes with the closest "tower".

 

Outside of that, I'd have to agree that careful research and understanding of how the ship system works ahead of time is important and often necessary.

I have never used ship cell service. I use airplane mode and then only turn it on in a US port like St Thomas.

 

I do need to find a solution for upcoming trip around S.A. (when in ports) and don't get me started on the rip-off Canadian-based cell companies. We pay about double what US does for similar features at home. Imagine what happens when we go abroad!!!

 

E.G. - I could have recently had T-Mobile two super smart phones, all U/L, for $100, including taxes.

Same sort of thing in Canada from Bell Mobility would be just under $250 with taxes. And the data would be 12G - not officially U/L, but close enough.

[jagoffee]

Nope the fee was going to Princess. Att has to pay Princess when their LTE tower is used.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

So you paid the $2000 to AT&T and they told you that they paid most of it to Princess for the use of the Princess LTE tower? I do not have enough knowledge to dispute what you are saying, but it does seem odd. If you are really paying the $2000 to AT&T I would suggest you elevate your issue to a higher level at AT&T for consideration. At a mininium AT&T may not have explained their $10 a day plan.

 

I do agree that the Princess internet is not up to the completion because they do not offer an unlimited package.

 

As you have other issues anyway you will have to try some other cruiselines or at least a different cell service provider.

[cherylandtk]

When ship is docked, Princess has a contract to connect to AT&T, which includes LTE service where available.

I don't believe this is correct.

[Steelers36]

As for cellular when in port, I have been in Port Everglades many times on the ship and had my cell on T-Mobile right up to sail-away. Same in St Thomas. So, is this port specific perhaps????

[Colo Cruiser]

I don't believe this is correct.

 

 

It's not.

[Steelers36]

You pick on Rogers, but Bell and Telus are same. It's all a rip off up here.

 

As for the border issue, I would think a call to the provider would result in a credit if you were in the USA. I have seen that happen with my phone in Niagara Falls once.

[Steelers36]

It's not.

And I am fine to hear that. I was just trying to solve the puzzle for myself. I cannot figure this one out. I guess I will stop thinking about it and hope to find a reasonable international solution. I have read about some where you pre-order a SIM card and covers multiple countries.

 

Too bad I no longer work in the US and no justify having permanent US plan.

[perditax]

And I am fine to hear that. I was just trying to solve the puzzle for myself. I cannot figure this one out. I guess I will stop thinking about it and hope to find a reasonable international solution. I have read about some where you pre-order a SIM card and covers multiple countries.

 

 

 

Too bad I no longer work in the US and no justify having permanent US plan.

 

 

There's also this

 

https://fi.google.com/about/

[Woobstr112G]

Back in May, I used the ship's phone service to post some photos on FB. I did this a few times when the ship's internet was not responding. Don't ask me why I did this, but I swear I'll never do it again. I knew going in it was it was going to be expensive and it certainly was.....:D:D:D

Bob

[sachielles]

As for cellular when in port, I have been in Port Everglades many times on the ship and had my cell on T-Mobile right up to sail-away. Same in St Thomas. So, is this port specific perhaps????

 

 

 

It must be because I was in Europe. Also different cruise lines have different rules.

[Thrak]

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.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

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.

[tothemall&beyond]

As for cellular when in port, I have been in Port Everglades many times on the ship and had my cell on T-Mobile right up to sail-away. Same in St Thomas. So, is this port specific perhaps????

 

 

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".

[joeyancho]

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.

 

 

When I take a vacation I leave the internet behind. It is part of the fun of taking a vacation.

[pjrockman]

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have to agree to this. Our Kids can't wait to turn their ATT IPhones on as soon as we are pulling into the port at US St Thomas. It is easy to tell when to let them 'turn them on' so to speak. Also we used the 10 dollar a day ATT plan for the first time when we went to Cabo overnight on Princess and we never charged more than $10 for that 24 hours we were docked in Cabo (before they added the free Mexico and Canada portion to our plan). Again, no problems.

 

Oh well. Live and learn.

 

 

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[tothemall&beyond]

Nope. I get phone calls and texts all the time. Just can't access the internet.

 

 

It's really just the opposite. Airplane mode blocks phone and data, not wifi. I keep my airplane mode on all the time when flying, cruising or overseas, and always can use my wifi with it engaged.

[Colo Cruiser]

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

[Colo Cruiser]

Keith:

 

As much as I agree that this is the fault of the OP and not of Princess...

 

We once boarded Star Princess in SF. We were in our balcony cabin looking down at the port buildings. Ship wasn't due to sail for at least another hour. My wife assumed that the Princess cell service was turned off in port. It wasn't She sent a couple of pictures and almost immediately got a text from Verizon telling her she was incurring some crazy bills. What??? We were docked and not even on the "at sea" side of the ship. Princess had their cell tower on and it had snagged my wife's signal. Not cool. Verizon immediately reversed the charges and offered her a limited plan.

 

 

Oh I am sure it's possible. :o

[M4dC0w]

Easiest way to solve the issue. Airplane mode with wifi active

 

also I travel in the lower mainland BC area (Canada) all the time, and I get my cell hijacked all the time by AT&T instead of my Bell Mobility network when I go a mile further south toward the USA.

 

Why? because in your "network selection" on your phone settings most people have it set to "automatic". At this setting the phone will automatically lock onto the best signal it can find.

 

I found to stop the hijacking, turn the "automatic" setting off. Now you get to select the network you want.

 

Usually on cruise ships the little icon will say "MCP or WMS" instead of AT&T, Verizon, Bell, Rogers, etc... That indicates you are on the ships cellular network.

 

The OP made the mistake, and is now blaming Princess for the error. Especially for 223GB of data on a phone.

 

Here's some more reading for you;

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/onboard/in_touch.jsp

Edited September 13, 2017 by M4dC0w

[xlxo]

If you find the wifi slow... best time to use is between midnight and 6am.

[Colo Cruiser]

If you find the wifi slow... best time to use is between midnight and 6am.

 

 

 

Less passengers on it for sure.

Thats also when crew are using it. :o

[CATGUY7]

That's how I know if I have AT&T in port - I turn off airplane mode and the icon in the left corner shows the cellular service. If it isn't AT&T, airplane mode is immediately turned back on.