AT&T International Plan Cruise Package - Anybody used it?

[Mike A]

We used Wi-Fi calling while at sea on the Joy and ATT International unlimited plan for the 3 days in Bermuda. It was $10 per day 1st line and $5 each additional line. This plan provided me with the same unlimited service I have in US. No issues with Wi-Fi calling and service in Bermuda was great. 

[gootie]

Mike A

I have read that the AT&T day pass does not connect until one is actually on the pier. Any comments?

 

[Turtles06]

6 minutes ago, gootie said:

Mike A

I have read that the AT&T day pass does not connect until one is actually on the pier. Any comments?

 

 

I'm not Mike but I've used AT&T's international day pass, and that's not correct.  Cell phones can connect locally from on board a docked ship, and sometimes from a few miles out.  Day Pass is unrelated to cruising specifically but rather to travel, any travel.  Once you arrive in a covered country, your 24 hours for $10 will start running the second you use data, send a text, or make or accept a call.  (So if you don't want that to happen for unintentional data usage, turn off data roaming.) 

[gootie]

Thnx Turtles06. Very helpful

[Turtles06]

24 minutes ago, gootie said:

Thnx Turtles06. Very helpful

 
You’re very welcome. AT&T’s website is a good source of info, as are their phones reps (at least prior to the pandemic).

[Mike A]

Hi Gootie…sorry for just answering now. To confirm what Turtles06 posted, I used ATT International Day Pass service from my balcony as we approached St George at least an hour before we docked at Heritage Wharf  I even received a text from ATT within 1 minute of turning on cellular telling me I had the International Day pass and that I was good to go. 
Mike A

Edited June 17, 2022 by Mike A

[BirdTravels]

7 hours ago, gootie said:

cruising soon and this thread has been informative. Comments about needing to be actually on the land to use day pass especially helpful. Has anyone seen different coverage when in port?

Be careful. When you reply to a comment 3 years old, then thread contains old, stale and incorrect information. 

[gootie]

Mike A

Excuse my questioning nature. What phone settings does one use?

[Mike A]

Hi Gootie... Sorry again for late reply. Not on everyday LOL

If you have an iPhone that is where you will go to turn on/off Airplane Mode which has to be on while at Sea. Once you are in sight of land you just have to turn off Airplane Mode and turn on cellular service. If Service is in area, you will get service bars on the phone. Within 1 minute oy my turning on I received a text from AT&T telling my they recognized I was in a Foreign Country and that since I had International Day Pass I was good to go. I was off the coast and withing eyesight of St George Bermuda at that time Hope this helps.

Mike A

[TheycallmeFlip]

On 11/15/2018 at 6:29 PM, rtkenmore said:

I think some of you are confusing packages...  AT&T has a cruise ship package now that includes NCL ships.  They are discussed in the link at the top but they do not allow any additional data above what is included in the package (200mb).

 

The $10/day package that someone has mentioned is the International Day Pass.  It does NOT work on the cruise ship and will charge you international roaming if you attempt to use your data or phone while on the cruise ship.  The International Day Pass is good in port only for a 24 hour period and uses your existing plan data.

 

It's great if you can time it right and want to save a little bit of money.  Anytime you have back to back port days, just start a new "pass" around noon and then you have until noon the following day in a different port to use the same pass.  Essentially, this lets you use one pass for every other day for the most part...  And is a lot cheaper than the cruise package from AT&T or the cruise ship internet if you only want it while in port to begin with.

 

We are currently battling with AT&T over their International Day Pass/Cruise packages.  Our phones are under my wife's name and she tried to sign up for AT&T's Cruise package only to have the site say that she's not eligible for the package.  So, she calls the number provided.  We speak with two separate agents and both tell her that she is eligible for the International Day Pass for $10 a day.  They both assure us that the plan will cover both the ship and on shore in Bermuda.  Two hours after we leave port in Boston, my wife makes a call.  Ten minutes after her call, she gets a text saying that the Intl Day Pass will not work on the ship and provide the link for their Cruise package.  This time she can sign up for the package and we do so.  A couple of days later, she gets another text saying that she has over $250 in roaming charges.  My wife's brother was in ICU and she needed to be able to be reached and needed to check in on a daily basis.  I told her that we would straighten things out when we get home.  No need for anymore stress.  She gets another text saying that we have over $500 in roaming fees on Friday when we get home and then the following day another one saying over  $750 in roaming charge.  We call and speak with someone at AT&T, who credits us $30 off of the $100 cruise package to charge us for the Day Pass price.  But she couldn't see any roaming charges to credit them.  She then got a voicemail from someone else telling her that we owed the roaming fees, but became elusive when my wife tried to call back.   We will not be paying any roaming fees and will fight this.

 

Flip

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, TheycallmeFlip said:

We are currently battling with AT&T over their International Day Pass/Cruise packages.  Our phones are under my wife's name and she tried to sign up for AT&T's Cruise package only to have the site say that she's not eligible for the package.  So, she calls the number provided.  We speak with two separate agents and both tell her that she is eligible for the International Day Pass for $10 a day.  They both assure us that the plan will cover both the ship and on shore in Bermuda. 

 

First, and most important, I hope that your brother-in-law is doing well.

 

As for the rest,  is it possible that the AT&T phone agents misunderstood what was going on?  AT&T's FAQs about the International Day Pass contain this question: "Can I use International Day Pass on a cruise ship?"  The answer is "No. Only AT&T cruise packages include usage on eligible cruise ships while at sea."  It then goes on to add:  "Good to know. If your cruise takes you to an eligible International Day Pass country, International Day Pass applies to your usage in port and on shore."  It seems unlikely, but any chance the agents were talking about usage of the IDP when on the ship docked in Bermuda?  ("cover both the ship and on shore"?) 

 

In any event, I'm sorry your wife was not given correct information, and I hope you get this worked out.   I think if you persist with AT&T up the chain, they should do something for you.  (I wonder if the calls were recorded on their end, which would help.)  

 

https://www.att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1458476

 

Good luck, and all the best to your BIL.

[phillygwm]

Forgive my ignorance.  I've had AT&T for years and was aware of the cruise package but it previously excluded NCL.  

 

So is the $100 package in lieu of the NCL Internet package?  If so, it would seem to be a better deal (for my 10 day cruise, anyway) than the ship's package.  Of course, there are data constraints on AT&T which wouldn't exist with NCL so I'd need to better quantify my usage.

 

Since I have Unlimited Premium, it covers Canada and Mexico so no additional costs for my Canadian cruise on that front 🙂

[Turtles06]

7 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

Forgive my ignorance.  I've had AT&T for years and was aware of the cruise package but it previously excluded NCL.  

 

So is the $100 package in lieu of the NCL Internet package? 

 

It's not "in lieu" of anything.  One is provided by NCL, the other by AT&T.  Up to each person to do the math and determine which makes the most financial sense for her.  And one important factor is how much data you expect to use.

 

https://www.att.com/international/cruise-packages/

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

Forgive my ignorance.  I've had AT&T for years and was aware of the cruise package but it previously excluded NCL.  

 

So is the $100 package in lieu of the NCL Internet package?  If so, it would seem to be a better deal (for my 10 day cruise, anyway) than the ship's package.  Of course, there are data constraints on AT&T which wouldn't exist with NCL so I'd need to better quantify my usage.

 

Since I have Unlimited Premium, it covers Canada and Mexico so no additional costs for my Canadian cruise on that front 🙂

NCL is included in the cruise ship package

 

 

The NCL internet package provides unlimited data. AT&T provides 200 MB which you could blow through in a few minutes and run up a mega bill. 
 

 

If you are an AT&T customer, you could use the NCL a internet with streaming with your AT&T wi-if calling. The direct ship calling will be better, but costs a bunch. 

Edited June 24, 2022 by BirdTravels

[phillygwm]

22 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

AT&T provides 200 MB which you could blow through in a few minutes and run up a mega bill. 

Yeah, that was my concern.  200 MB doesn't sound like a lot but I have an unlimited plan (and usually work off my home wifi anyway) so I've never really "metered" my usage.  Maybe I'll turn off wifi and see how much data I use in 10 days 🙂

 

I looked at it a few years ago and, back then, NCL didn't participate.  I was surprised when I read this thread that they now do so wanted to compare.  I don't have a huge need to make calls and most of my texts are iMessages anyway, which work with the ship's wifi.

[TheycallmeFlip]

On 6/23/2022 at 5:47 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

First, and most important, I hope that your brother-in-law is doing well.

 

As for the rest,  is it possible that the AT&T phone agents misunderstood what was going on?  AT&T's FAQs about the International Day Pass contain this question: "Can I use International Day Pass on a cruise ship?"  The answer is "No. Only AT&T cruise packages include usage on eligible cruise ships while at sea."  It then goes on to add:  "Good to know. If your cruise takes you to an eligible International Day Pass country, International Day Pass applies to your usage in port and on shore."  It seems unlikely, but any chance the agents were talking about usage of the IDP when on the ship docked in Bermuda?  ("cover both the ship and on shore"?) 

 

In any event, I'm sorry your wife was not given correct information, and I hope you get this worked out.   I think if you persist with AT&T up the chain, they should do something for you.  (I wonder if the calls were recorded on their end, which would help.)  

 

https://www.att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1458476

 

Good luck, and all the best to your BIL.

My brother in law is doing better and has been moved out of the ICU, next stop is a long term rehab facility.  Fortunately we live just outside of Boston, so there are some great facilities nearby.

Unfortunately, my wife's information was from two separate phone calls with different reps and not their website.  (She received a text message that told her that her plan made her ineligible for the Cruise package and gave a number for her to call.)  She did explain to both reps that she needed to have phone service on the ship as well as in Bermuda for the length of the cruise.  Which was why we were trying to purchase the cruise package to begin with.  

And of course we haven't heard back from AT&T.  Which is surprising as we have always had good customer service from them in the past.

Flip

[Reakonblue]

On 6/27/2022 at 5:48 PM, TheycallmeFlip said:

My brother in law is doing better and has been moved out of the ICU, next stop is a long term rehab facility.  Fortunately we live just outside of Boston, so there are some great facilities nearby.

Unfortunately, my wife's information was from two separate phone calls with different reps and not their website.  (She received a text message that told her that her plan made her ineligible for the Cruise package and gave a number for her to call.)  She did explain to both reps that she needed to have phone service on the ship as well as in Bermuda for the length of the cruise.  Which was why we were trying to purchase the cruise package to begin with.  

And of course we haven't heard back from AT&T.  Which is surprising as we have always had good customer service from them in the past.

Flip

https://investors.att.com/site-services/customer-service-v2?async=1
 

That is the link to the Office of the President of Customer Service. The end all be all. I’ve had 2 situations where I’d exhausted all regular channels of AT&T cs and once I found this form I was contacted via a phone call by a VP within a few hours 

[TheycallmeFlip]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:59 PM, Reakonblue said:

https://investors.att.com/site-services/customer-service-v2?async=1
 

That is the link to the Office of the President of Customer Service. The end all be all. I’ve had 2 situations where I’d exhausted all regular channels of AT&T cs and once I found this form I was contacted via a phone call by a VP within a few hours 

Thanks for this link.

 

[BoLTMaNv2]

Review package options (2023 update)

AT&T offers two different cruise packages. Both have a one-time charge, automatically expire after 30 days, and provide coverage on over 175 qualifying cruise ships when at sea (PDF, 390KB).

AT&T Cruise Plus¹

This package has a $100 one-time charge and includes:

• Unlimited talk and text
• 1GB data allowance ($10 per 100MB overage charge)
• Smartphones and tablets are eligible

AT&T Cruise Basic ¹

This package has a $60 one-time charge and includes:

• 100 minute talk allowance ($1 per minute overage charge)
• Unlimited text
• 100MB data allowance ($10 per 100MB overage charge)
• Smartphones only

 

1. Make sure you’re traveling on a cruise ship that is on the AT&T qualified ship list (PDF, 390KB). If it’s not, all your usage on the ship’s cellular network will be charged at AT&T’s pay-per-use rates.
2. Identify all the destinations your cruise ship will visit and if you will want to use your eligible devices in port and/or on land. If you will, you may want to add AT&T International Day Pass® to cover that usage. With AT&T International Day Pass, you can talk, text and use your plan data in over 210 destinations for $10 per day. Without it, your talk, text, and data usage will be charged pay-per-use rates in port and on land.

FYI: AT&T Cruise Package usage only includes usage while at sea on an eligible cruise ship. All other usage, such as being in port or on a land excursion, is not included with the cruise packages

 

IMO Best Deal: Use ships free wifi and  wi-fi calling (no data plan needed), get the in-port plan for each port day to use in port, the total cost might be $50 (5 port days) and that uses your data plan

 

TL:DR   There are two ATT on-ship options $60 (Text) $100 (100MB Data)

There is an in-the-port option as well  $10 per day using your Data plan in port

 

Read more: Explore AT&T Cruise Packages - AT&T Wireless Customer Support (att.com)

Edited July 29, 2023 by BoLTMaNv2

[BirdTravels]

The gigabtye of data is better that the useless plan AT&T used to sell. But I would blow through that in a couple of days on a cruise. So, no thank you, I will stay with the [slow] unlimited wifi. 

[Weluv2fish]

Thank you all. Every cruise we have gone on since this post we have purchased it with an excellent outcome 

especially great for ports we have visited for up to 12 hours 

 

happy cruising everyone 

Luv2fish 

[Weluv2fish]

Once again I’m not talking about using onboard.  We use ship wifi on board.  This is only in ports that we use this for 

[BoLTMaNv2]

Last week, I used about 1.6 GB which would cost me on the ship $160 (100+60 over).  That being said I am unlikely to use that as heavily at Sea with all the stuff to do on the ship.

 

I think the key is on the ship be sure to turn on airplane mode, then turn on wifi and connect to ship wifi to avoid any extra charges and turn on wifi calling   I don't see the value of the ship experience,  needing extra data.

 

In port though the International Day pass seems like a steal at $10 per day.   The main usage would be something like  Google Maps and Translator, apps with tips, maybe AR apps, etc. while exploring the port then turn on Airplane mode before boarding the ship, and reconnect to its wifi.   Total port days would be maybe 5 out of 7 days or $50 with unlimited calling/data/text etc (as my plan is unlimited). So use your Smartphone as is in Port like normal with the international day passes.

Edited July 29, 2023 by BoLTMaNv2