Carnival and AT&T ?

[Midwestgal]

looking for a cruise phone package for my upcoming cruise . AT&T doesn’t offer according to the website cruise packages for Carnival . I see Royal and a few others but not Carnival. I only need phone service not internet. I will call and see what they can offer but curious who here has AT&T and what you may know as far as packages.

[zorky12]

I am not sure but I was under the impression you can not make calls on the ship at sea. We have Verizon and we are able to use our phones just as we are at home in ports for $10 per day unlimited everything and Mexico is included in our cell package so Mexico is no extra cost

[GTO-Girl]

Forgive me because I really am ignorant about this kind of stuff but I will relay our experience.

 

We sail on Royal and get their internet package. We of course keep our phones on airplane mode always!!

 

We called and verified with AT&T that if we are on a ship’s WiFi, with our phone on airplane mode we could make a receive phone calls that we be consider local calls as if we were at home.

 

In other words if we were not trying to call an international phone number the phone coverage area was same as if we were at home.

 

We made and received several calls that week with no extra charges. Call and speak and AT&T and let them verify this for you also...

[coevan]

you can also call from your cabin for $1.99 a minute, keep the calls short. My wife's dad is pretty ill with heart disease and it only a matter of time. You can give people at home your ship, sailing date, booking number, and cabin number and your relatives can contact you at sea

[Midwestgal]

you can also call from your cabin for $1.99 a minute, keep the calls short. My wife's dad is pretty ill with heart disease and it only a matter of time. You can give people at home your ship, sailing date, booking number, and cabin number and your relatives can contact you at sea

That’s what I might just do.

[Midwestgal]

Forgive me because I really am ignorant about this kind of stuff but I will relay our experience.

 

We sail on Royal and get their internet package. We of course keep our phones on airplane mode always!!

 

We called and verified with AT&T that if we are on a ship’s WiFi, with our phone on airplane mode we could make a receive phone calls that we be consider local calls as if we were at home.

 

In other words if we were not trying to call an international phone number the phone coverage area was same as if we were at home.

 

We made and received several calls that week with no extra charges. Call and speak and AT&T and let them verify this for you also...

Will look into it, thanks

[Midwestgal]

My best bet is probably since two ports are SJ and ST are US territory just call from the ship. I know if they need to contact me they can do so via the ship. I know JH posted the number that can be called if folks back home need to contact you but only if it’s indeed a true emergency. I don’t anticipate an emergency .

[lcpagejr]

Forgive me because I really am ignorant about this kind of stuff but I will relay our experience.

 

We sail on Royal and get their internet package. We of course keep our phones on airplane mode always!!

 

We called and verified with AT&T that if we are on a ship’s WiFi, with our phone on airplane mode we could make a receive phone calls that we be consider local calls as if we were at home.

In other words if we were not trying to call an international phone number the phone coverage area was same as if we were at home.

 

We made and received several calls that week with no extra charges. Call and speak and AT&T and let them verify this for you also...

 

You might want to reclarify, with AT&T, the underlined comment above. Unless you have a wifi hotpot set up with a specific number....I can't see how you can call out. Regardless...I wouldn't count on the reliability of Carnivals wifi....Very inconsistent and very slow at times.

[mdsgu]

Call AT&T. We added some sort of international plan just for our sail dates. It was going to be $10/day/phone, but only if we used it. We only went to Key West, Nassau, and Freeport. KW is, of course, part of the US, so that wasn't a problem. Had we used our phones in the Bahamas, the $10 charge would have kicked in. Calling from the ship was not included.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Will look into it, thanks

 

 

 

Most newer phones have wifi calling.

 

 

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[GTO-Girl]

You might want to reclarify, with AT&T, the underlined comment above. Unless you have a wifi hotpot set up with a specific number....I can't see how you can call out. Regardless...I wouldn't count on the reliability of Carnivals wifi....Very inconsistent and very slow at times.

 

All I can tell you is what AT&T told us. After speaking with them we did make and receive calls and we were not charged anything extra.

 

We were doubtful at first too but the AT&T rep assured us that was the case. We were on the ship in Grand Cayman and she said as long as we didn’t try to call an international phone number we could use our phone through WiFi.

 

We have since received our bill for the time period in question and there were no extra charges. But since I am certainly no expert on such matters is why I advised the OP to call AT&T themselves.

[amanda219]

I have worked in wireless store for 7+yrs.

 

ATT does not have a plan to use call/txt/data aboard a Carnival ship. In fact, the cruise lines that they do offer a package for must be provisioned by a special team.

 

On ship: put phone in airplane mode & best thing to do is use the in room phone for $1.99/min.

 

Other ways to keep in touch on sea days would be thru social media messaging or a chat app thru your app store. You would need to buy the coordinating wifi package thru the ship.

 

Leaving out of New Orleans gives you until about 10pm until you get close to exiting the river until you need to put phone in airplane mode.

 

In ports:

 

A lot of the newer tiered data plans 10gb or above offer free calls/txt while in Mexico. The 3 newest unlimited plans also offer data coverage as well at no additional cost.

 

While in other ports, you can add a free code to each phone line called "international day pass." There is no charge to add it & it stays on your line for free (ready for next cruise ;)) unless you request it be removed. If you use your phone in port, it triggers a $10 charge for 24hrs. That gives you access to everything on your plan just like you were using it at home. If you have unlimited everything: you would have unlimited talk/text/data for the next 24hrs of international use.

 

Example: We arrived in Aruba @ 2pm one day & Curacao at 8am next morning. We used phone from 3pm in Aruba and put them back in airplane mode around 2:30pm in Curacao the next day & only incurred 1 $10 charge.

 

Did to people having all different types of old/new plans, I think it is worth a call into customer service to make sure your plan is provisioned correctly before you set sail. I have seen an $800 international bill from someone who forgot to put it in airplane mode.

[SadieN]

If you call using your cell phone onboard it’ll cost $2.49/minute. Cheaper to call from the Cabin.

 

 

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[coevan]

at sea, you can not use your cell phone without wifi calling. I am not sure what the $2.50 a minute refers to. AT&T told me every island has different rates. On land there are many calling options

[missquito]

Download the AT&T Global Wi-Fi app on your device. When in port turning your phone will be $10 a day using the same plan you have on land.

[SadieN]

at sea, you can not use your cell phone without wifi calling. I am not sure what the $2.50 a minute refers to. AT&T told me every island has different rates. On land there are many calling options

 

 

 

DH has simply called the office using his cellphone from the ship (cellular data was turned off). Cellular at Sea charges $2.49/minute.

[tvman18]

On several cruises we had the wifi RC unlimited plan. Placed phone in airplane mode; turn on wifi calling ; turn off cell data dial away. Even called in the middle of the ocean Checked in at home everyday and had no extra charges. Done it twice; on a western cruise and New England cruse. However looking at the carnival plans. Carnival states wifi calling will not work. They must block it some way.That is on any of their plans. Wifi calling will work in any port where you can find a open wifi connection no extra charge. AT&T iphone 6

[coevan]

DH has simply called the office using his cellphone from the ship (cellular data was turned off). Cellular at Sea charges $2.49/minute.

 

 

Cellular charges are determined by your carrier not Carnival. Having an international calling package will help.

As to your cabin phone

 

For our guest's convenience, the ship's telecommunications network offers direct dialing via satellite from the stateroom telephone. This is available 24 hours a day regardless of the ship's location. This service is closed on the final day of the cruise at 4:00am.

The rate is $1.99 per minute, and charges are billed to the guest's on board Sail and Sign Card. Since all communication is via satellite, the charges apply to all calls including calling cards, credit cards, 800 toll-free numbers and collect calls

[SadieN]

Cellular charges are determined by your carrier not Carnival. Having an international calling package will help.

 

....................

 

 

 

Actually Cellular at Sea is/was a concession. The phone calls were a line item on the next month’s phone bill.

[Flatbush Flyer]

You might want to reclarify, with AT&T, the underlined comment above. Unless you have a wifi hotpot set up with a specific number....I can't see how you can call out. Regardless...I wouldn't count on the reliability of Carnivals wifi....Very inconsistent and very slow at times.

 

 

 

Wifi calling (on capable phones) just needs an internet connection. Of course, cruise ship connections can be dicey and even if they're good, they may be throttled for certain processes like "face time," streaming, etc.

 

 

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[redhot77]

So if my ATT plan includes Mexico, then while we are in Cozumel then I should be able to call home, RIGHT?

[amanda219]

So if my ATT plan includes Mexico, then while we are in Cozumel then I should be able to call home, RIGHT?

 

Correct. There are so many variants of plans that have been available over the past few years. A call in to service to verify that it is included in your current plan is worth the time.

[Flatbush Flyer]

So if my ATT plan includes Mexico, then while we are in Cozumel then I should be able to call home, RIGHT?

 

 

Not necessarily!

If your "international capable" phone connects to the AT&T network or one of its international partners, yes - no foreign roaming charges. When traveling outside the US, it is always best to adjust your phone settings to manually select networks. For any regular plan inclusions or add-on plans from your usual provider, you'll want to see that appropriate network displayed on your phone's top bar (partners can be found in the international section of your provider's website).

 

 

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[mrsh678]

At sea last time I talked to my husband and family through Facebook messenger. My mom used her Trac phone; it even worked out in the middle of the ocean our first sea day and in ports. She called her sister that morning cause she woke up before me and was kind of panicking seeing all ocean out the window LOL

[Havingfun2010]

You might want to reclarify, with AT&T, the underlined comment above. Unless you have a wifi hotpot set up with a specific number....I can't see how you can call out. Regardless...I wouldn't count on the reliability of Carnivals wifi....Very inconsistent and very slow at times.

 

On ATT and with an iPhone, you can enable wifi calling. You don't need a wifi hotspot. Once you set it up on the phone, it will actually always call on wifi first, than cellular second. It will hand off back and forth also if need be. If you put your phone on airplane mode, it will prevent any handoff's. So the call will drop.