Tech help needed using iMessages while on a cruise in the Caribbean...

[LongHill44]

My kids will want to text their friends back home and plan to do so using iMessage.

 

We plan on getting them each the Social Plan.

 

We understand that we need to put their phones in airplane mode, but then we get a bit confused.

 

When we put their phones in airplane mode, it disables wi-fi, but don't they need wi-fi to send and receive iMessages?

 

And if they are in airplane mode, can they even utilize the social plan package? I was advising them that sending PMs through Facebook may be just as efficient.

 

Thoughts?

[firemanbobswife]

It says iMessage isn’t supported but it did work with the Social plan. They can also use Messenger, etc to communicate. This explains how to set it up.

 

[Cruiseman38]

What you will need to do is put the phone in airplane mode, go in the Wi-Fi setting and turn it on. This way you can access Wi-Fi while the phone is in airplane mode.

 

I hope this was helpful.

[LongHill44]

It says iMessage isn’t supported but it did work with the Social plan. They can also use Messenger, etc to communicate. This explains how to set it up.

 

This is what I mean, several people have noted that their iMessages did in fact work, yet Carnival says it doesn't.

 

Is there a reason Carnival says this and yet others confirm it in fact works?

[LongHill44]

What you will need to do is put the phone in airplane mode, go in the Wi-Fi setting and turn it on. This way you can access Wi-Fi while the phone is in airplane mode.

 

I hope this was helpful.

 

 

Turning the wi-fi back on in airplane mode will not allow us to get billed for data or cell use will it?

[firemanbobswife]

This is what I mean, several people have noted that their iMessages did in fact work, yet Carnival says it doesn't.

 

 

 

Is there a reason Carnival says this and yet others confirm it in fact works?

 

No idea but I’ve used it myself.

[firemanbobswife]

Turning the wi-fi back on in airplane mode will not allow us to get billed for data or cell use will it?

 

No. You’re connected to wi-fi. Try it at home. Works the same way.

[bUU]

Turning the wi-fi back on in airplane mode will not allow us to get billed for data or cell use will it?

Airplane Mode is a convenience setting... As well as turning off telephony (and TXT), it also turns off a set of actual switches, generally Mobile Data and Wifi. Those can be turned back on individually. As long as Airplane Mode remains enabled and Mobile Data remains disabled, your smartphone won't be making a connection to the cell network.

 

Is there a reason Carnival says this and yet others confirm it in fact works?

There is probably some feature of iMessage that they either block or wish they could. It is far less costly to say it doesn't work than to say some of it works and then deal with the inevitable complaints from passengers that didn't understand or read the fine details.

 

This message may have been entered via voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[mz-s]

I come from a tech support perspective. "Not supported" doesn't necessarily mean it won't work, it just means don't come to us asking for a refund if it doesn't work.

[Cruiseandswing]

To make it easy like someone said. iPhone automatically takes off one if you have not done it before. Turn on WiFi then airplane mode. If it goes off put it back on. Trust us it works.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone wishing there were more swingers.

[bUU]

Turn on WiFi then airplane mode.

I think you have that backwards: Turn on Airplane mode then turn on WiFi, in that order.

 

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

[moongal]

We couldn’t get iMessage to work for us on the last 2 of our cruises. We had the social media plan for everyone and had the airplane mode turned on and WiFi on. Only thing we could use that worked was facebook messenger. None of us actually had a Facebook acct but we all just downloaded the Facebook messenger app and that worked great for texting each other on the ship and those back at home.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[prattmom]

We couldn’t get iMessage to work for us on the last 2 of our cruises. We had the social media plan for everyone and had the airplane mode turned on and WiFi on. Only thing we could use that worked was facebook messenger. None of us actually had a Facebook acct but we all just downloaded the Facebook messenger app and that worked great for texting each other on the ship and those back at home.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Same experience - we ended up using whatsapp

[RRLLAL]

On our last cruise this past March, I don't think we put it in airplane mode. We just turned off cellular data. Was able to use imessage to those back home. On board we just used the CCL app since it was more reliable.

[Organized Chaos]

Turning the wi-fi back on in airplane mode will not allow us to get billed for data or cell use will it?

Someone mentioned that they did not use Airplane Mode, but simply turned off Cellular Data. To put it simply, Cellular Data is the transfer of (internet) data over your phone. If you just turn off Cellular Data, it does not disable the phone's cellular network antenna. It can still connect to a carrier's cellular network, so you can still use the phone and send/receive regular text messages (SMS). I wouldn't want it connecting to Cellular At Sea, the ship's on board cell phone network, by accident and incurring huge charges. So the best thing to do is use Airplane Mode.

 

There's another step I like to take since I use my phone to tell time while on board. You do not want your phone automatically resetting its time according to your location. So if your kids are going to use their phones to tell time, you need to make sure they stay on ship's time. Go into Settings...Privacy...Location Services. Scroll all the way to the bottom and go into System Services. Turn OFF "Setting Time Zone." This will prevent your phone from using its GPS location to adjust the time. And yes, the iPhone's GPS receiver is still enabled when it's in Airplane Mode. That won't incur any charges. As a matter of fact, I download offline maps and like to go out on deck now and again to see where we are.

 

Two years ago, Carnival supported iMessage with the Social plan. We used it aboard the Conquest and it worked almost flawlessly. About a year later, they reworded their FAQ's to specifically state that iMessage wasn't supported on the Social plan. I think it's a combination of what they block for passengers using the Social plus changes in the way Apple handles its proprietary messaging service that causes it not to work as well as it once did. It's easier for Carnival to say it's not supported at all than to deal with complaints. We each had the Value plan a couple weeks ago aboard the Glory and iMessage did pretty good. Sometimes very slow to send/receive, but then again, the overall internet service was absolutely terrible.

[firemanbobswife]

 

Two years ago, Carnival supported iMessage with the Social plan. We used it aboard the Conquest and it worked almost flawlessly. About a year later, they reworded their FAQ's to specifically state that iMessage wasn't supported on the Social plan. I think it's a combination of what they block for passengers using the Social plus changes in the way Apple handles its proprietary messaging service that causes it not to work as well as it once did. It's easier for Carnival to say it's not supported at all than to deal with complaints. We each had the Value plan a couple weeks ago aboard the Glory and iMessage did pretty good. Sometimes very slow to send/receive, but then again, the overall internet service was absolutely terrible.

 

I'm not sure I agree with this part. I don't ever remember it saying any of the plans support iMessage specifically on paper (I would have to go find my FunTimes). It said none of the plans support iMessage on the Hub App and that's my recollection as well. It always said it wouldn't work, but it did. These are screenshots from December 11, 2015. You can tell they're old as that's when you could still get the Social package for $5/24 hours and that option is no longer available.

Edited June 26, 2018 by firemanbobswife

[Organized Chaos]

I'm not sure I agree with this part. I don't ever remember it saying any of the plans support iMessage specifically on paper (I would have to go find my FunTimes). It said none of the plans support iMessage on the Hub App and that's my recollection as well. It always said it wouldn't work, but it did. These are screenshots from December 11, 2015.

It wasn’t on paper or in the Hub app. We couldn’t even use the Hub app on board the Conquest in June, 2016. It was in the FAQ’s. And it didn’t specifically say iMessage was supported...it simply did not say it wasn’t supported, like it does now. The wording was changed sometime last year.

[firemanbobswife]

It wasn’t on paper or in the Hub app. We couldn’t even use the Hub app on board the Conquest in June, 2016. It was in the FAQ’s. And it didn’t specifically say iMessage was supported...it simply did not say it wasn’t supported, like it does now. The wording was changed sometime last year.

 

As far as I remember it’s always said it wasn’t supported. I think I even mentioned that in my reviews from back then and I remember discussing it on here too.

This is from my 10/16 Glory Cruise

Edited June 26, 2018 by firemanbobswife

[RiVL520]

On both my trip on the Valor in December and my trip on the Imagination last month the social plan worked in iMessage for iPhone to iPhone only... it would not send SMS messages to android phones. It would also work for word messages only. No pictures would go through. Facebook messenger worked well if you send only one picture at a time and it does take a few minutes to send. WhatsApp also worked well. I would suggest having their friends and them all download WhatsApp to be safe though.

[firemanbobswife]

On both my trip on the Valor in December and my trip on the Imagination last month the social plan worked in iMessage for iPhone to iPhone only... it would not send SMS messages to android phones. It would also work for word messages only. No pictures would go through. Facebook messenger worked well if you send only one picture at a time and it does take a few minutes to send. WhatsApp also worked well. I would suggest having their friends and them all download WhatsApp to be safe though.

 

That has been my experience as well. Since iMessage is only between iPhones it won’t work for Android. I was never able to send pics through iMessage but could on the other platforms.

[lizardhowson]

Turning the wi-fi back on in airplane mode will not allow us to get billed for data or cell use will it?

 

Of course not - Wifi and cell network are two different things.

As I and others told you months ago in one of your multiple threads about this, if you are still that paranoid about this, take the sim cards out.

Then the phone(s) can only connect to Wifi.

With the sim card out, it cannot receive a cell network signal until you re-insert the sim card.

[Organized Chaos]

On both my trip on the Valor in December and my trip on the Imagination last month the social plan worked in iMessage for iPhone to iPhone only... it would not send SMS messages to android phones.

That's due to the nature of how these messages are sent. iMessage is a service that passes through Apple's servers, so isn't available across platforms. After all, Apple is a closed system. Also, SMS (regular ole text messages that have been around forever) are typically sent over the cellular carrier's network and not over Wifi, so they don't send when you're lacking a cellular connection, like on the ship. But there's a way around that. If your phone is Wifi Calling capable, and your carrier supports is, you can turn that on. FYI, you probably have to enter an address for 911 purposes when you enable it. With Wifi Calling enabled, it's routes the SMS over the internet and through the cell carrier's network. Not only will you be able to send iMessages between iPhones from a Wifi-only connection, but also SMS (regular text) messages to Android phones. I can't confirm that this method works on the Social plan, but definitely does on the Value plan (and Premium I assume).

[SharkCruiser24]

imessage worked on the magic last october. Wasn't sure prior to the cruise so I used whatsapp until a friend text me and it came through. Bonus - video chatting works through whatsapp with the social plan really early in the morning like around 3am ;)