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Princess LTE fee is a rip off

sachielles

By sachielles,
in Princess Cruises

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billco

billco

Posted
Posted
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.

 

Really? This was your first Princess cruise. Does it not seem strange that no one else has posted support on Cruise Critic. Most internet complaint/cell phone complaints are from people who didn’t put their cell phones in airplane mode or who didn’t logout when finished with the internet. Over the years I have been guilty of both and paid for my mistake. Fortunately in most cases my cell provider or the internet manager let me off with a warning.

 

It just seems to me that if this was the fault of Princess we would be hearing a lot about it from other folks. I mean there are an awful lot of people who use internet on Princess Cruises. Seems you should accept that if they aren’t having this problem, it just might be you who screwed up.

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perditax

perditax

Posted
Posted
Really? This was your first Princess cruise. Does it not seem strange that no one else has posted support on Cruise Critic. Most internet complaint/cell phone complaints are from people who didn’t put their cell phones in airplane mode or who didn’t logout when finished with the internet. Over the years I have been guilty of both and paid for my mistake. Fortunately in most cases my cell provider or the internet manager let me off with a warning.

 

It just seems to me that if this was the fault of Princess we would be hearing a lot about it from other folks. Seems you should accept that.

 

 

I did try to make the point that if this was a systematic scam on Princess's part, no one would ever cruise with them again. OP requested that I "stop explaining".

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suzyed

suzyed

Posted
Posted
The $10 per day AT&T does not cover the ships cell service/data when at sea.

It also has nothing to do with the Princess@sea onboard service.

It is land based package coverage only. You don't need it to log into the ships wifi/internet. ;)

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

The OP is unwittingly talking about two different issues. One is the ships internet and the other is the phone with ATT carrier.

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suzyed

suzyed

Posted
Posted
I turned off my phone and didn't open it until I docked. So with my international plan I was not supposed to be charged more than $10 daily. However as long as I was on the ship my LTE was through the Princess tower. They in turn charged ATT for the usage. I bought a $200 internet plan from Princess but it kept eating up the minute every time I logged on. If I logged on for the. Minutes I would be charged for 25 minutes.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

OK, I think we talking two different issues here....

First, the internet service you purchased for $200: Yes, we all know the service is VERY slow! So once you get connected, do what you have to do and then SIGN OFF! If you don't sign off, it keeps charging you. We had some issues a few cruises back and went to the internet cafe for assistance. If you talk to whomever is in charge thay can look at all your usage and if/when you signed off. Many times they will give you a credit for some of the usage. But if you make the mistake of not signing off again, you will be stuck for the extra usage.

 

Now for your iphone. ATT sells you the $10 while you are in port. If you are docked but still on the ship you need to check your iphone screen in the top left corner, and it will say either ATT LTE or Mobile at Sea. If it says "SEA" it's going to connect to the ships tower. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, but you have to check your phone to see what it says and use accordingly.

 

I know it's shocking to get a huge bill...many of us have made a mistake and had that happen, but it's not Princess' fault...you knew going in that Princess did not subscribe to ATT, right? So then you have to investigate and figure out the best way to use your phone and your internet while onboard.

Every cruiseline is going to have their own little glitches so it's best to figure it out before you sail.

 

Not sure if you are up for renewal and open to a new carrier, but we have had very good luck with T Mobile. On our recent Panama Canal cruise, as we docked at each individual port, our phone would pop up with "Welcome to Costa Rica" feel free to use your T Mobile plan while here!

 

Do your reseach, try some other cruiselines, and good luck!

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suzyed

suzyed

Posted
Posted
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.

Exactly what I was saying!!

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leck57 Holiday Sharing Rare

leck57

Posted
Posted
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?

 

My God it gets frustrating reading threads like this. You DO NOT incur charges while your phone is left on whether it's connected to Cellular at Sea or a local phone provider. You only pay if you answer or make a call.

The charges are incurred because people do not turn off data roaming, which then costs you as apps etc get updated. As someone said early in the thread if you put your phone on Flight mode you get no calls or messages. I leave my phone on in case of emergency, so calls can actually get through. If I don't recognise the number or don't want to answer it costs nothing to ignore it.

As I said, turn off data roaming and leave your phone on if you want and it will cost nothing more than at home. Leaving your phone as such does not use data if you disable mobile data. Easy done, just go to settings, data usage, mobile data - then switch to off/disable.

Yes, it is a confusing subject which is just the way the Telcos like it but the misinformation out there is mind blowing.

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cherylandtk

cherylandtk

Posted
Posted
Because I am still in the dial telephone era, would someone please tell me, in simple English, how anyone could incur charges like the OP.
As simple as I know how: A cell phone is a mini computer, it receives electronic information over cell towers and wifi connections. This information comes in the form of data, text messages (which are really just data in another form) and phone calls. When using a cell phone, if one does not disable these forms of electronic information while at sea, they will be receiving this data at very expensive international or at-sea rates. These rates are set by the cell phone provider company; in the case of the OP it is $8 per Megabyte.

 

Eta-Don't know what the OP had running or how data was accessed, but as an example, 20 minutes of streaming data will run almost 300 megabytes.

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Charles4515

Charles4515

Posted
Posted
Because I am still in the dial telephone era, would someone please tell me, in simple English, how anyone could incur charges like the OP.

 

 

 

In simple terms they had data roaming on and were connected to a cell tower not covered by their cell plan. Data roaming is turned off by default so the OP had to have turned data roaming on. My guess is that they were using an International Day Pass at a port. If you want to use data with that pass you have to turn data roaming on. Then they forgot to turn data roaming off when the ship sailed from the port and they roamed on Cellular at Sea which the ship turns on when it is at sea.

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myfuzzy

myfuzzy

Posted
Posted

So, i think I am asking, by how, what features would be used, phone call, texts, checking the internet?

 

My phone is set up for internet, emails, texts, so, when the lines drop, my phone is turned off. I access the internet from the Internet Cafe, sign on, sign off, done.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
My God it gets frustrating reading threads like this. You DO NOT incur charges while your phone is left on whether it's connected to Cellular at Sea or a local phone provider. You only pay if you answer or make a call.

The charges are incurred because people do not turn off data roaming, which then costs you as apps etc get updated. As someone said early in the thread if you put your phone on Flight mode you get no calls or messages. I leave my phone on in case of emergency, so calls can actually get through. If I don't recognise the number or don't want to answer it costs nothing to ignore it.

As I said, turn off data roaming and leave your phone on if you want and it will cost nothing more than at home. Leaving your phone as such does not use data if you disable mobile data. Easy done, just go to settings, data usage, mobile data - then switch to off/disable.

Yes, it is a confusing subject which is just the way the Telcos like it but the misinformation out there is mind blowing.

 

Actually, I've heard different things depending upon the carrier. Verizon doesn't charge you for calls you don't answer. According to some on this board, ATT will charge you for connection while your phone rings, minimum one minute charge.

 

We mostly ignore all incoming calls except from select individuals, ie, son in law. SIL knows to text unless it's a house on fire emergency.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
In simple terms they had data roaming on and were connected to a cell tower not covered by their cell plan. Data roaming is turned off by default so the OP had to have turned data roaming on. My guess is that they were using an International Day Pass at a port. If you want to use data with that pass you have to turn data roaming on. Then they forgot to turn data roaming off when the ship sailed from the port and they roamed on Cellular at Sea which the ship turns on when it is at sea.

Or, OP assumed his $10 per day data package worked at sea too.

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frugaltravel

frugaltravel

Posted
Posted
Phone in airplane mode "ON", wifi mode "on"

 

apple phones allow txt messages between iphones through servers. you can also make voice and video calls via an app like whatsapp, or Skype. Use it on flights all the time

 

on WestJet it is WestJet connect https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/about-us/contact-us/faqs/westjet-connect

on Air Canada its Gogo Wifi https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/onboard/wi-fi.html

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

You use Skype on flights "all the time"? So you are one of the culprits for the internet not working very fast on flights :D

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Loonbeam

Loonbeam

Posted
Posted

Given I have seen people say this exact thing (and I have hastily attempted to correct them - the parents of one particular kid on our last Carnival cruise is going to be in for a very rude surprise as they were under the impression texting at sea was covered - its not and the kid was sending about 200-300 per day I guess) that is a not unreasonable assumption

 

 

Or, OP assumed his $10 per day data package worked at sea too.
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M4dC0w

M4dC0w

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the clarification.

 

You use Skype on flights "all the time"? So you are one of the culprits for the internet not working very fast on flights :D

 

 

actually on flights the wifi is different than on ships. The allocate a block of bandwidth per IP address assigned, not sharing the overall bandwidth from the satellite. As normally there is only a limited few using the service, I like to open up a hotspot and allow others to connect with my account also ;p

 

iMessage and apps like whatsapp/Skype and others are great for texting with minimal bandwidth usage.

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M4dC0w

M4dC0w

Posted
Posted (edited)

Watching movies or TV shows on Netflix uses about 1 GB of data per hour for eachstream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for each stream of HD video, the Op was billed $2K. Roughly 225 GB.

 

that would make it 225 hours of SD video, or 75 hours of HD video (unlikely) on the cruise. It is not possible to use that much data.

Edited by M4dC0w
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