Data Use Issue on Celebrity Summit/ AT&T

[guidarelli]

We recently returned from a Caribbean cruise. We had an AT&T talk/text package but didn’t get a data package so we turned off our phone data during the cruise. We also turned off WiFi. And Bluetooth. We kept these features off for the duration. We got a few text notices while at sea saying we were using data, but we checked our phones and all settings previously mentioned were still turned off, so we foolishly assumed they were scam texts. We returned home to discover that my husbands phone had used $650 in data. Weirdly, my phone used data as well, but only $1.  While on the Summit, we used the Celebrity app, which should be free. We are not tech savvy and wonder if somehow using this app could have turned on data use. We also wonder if others have had similar issues with data being used even though data and WiFi settings are turned off. Thanks for any help. AT&T has budged little on our bill and it would help our case if we knew others had a similar issue (although we  wouldn’t wish this on anyone!).

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by guidarelli

[Flatbush Flyer]

If the ship had AT&T's Cellular@Sea and you didn't turn on Airplane mode, you may have been using a very expensive cellular network connection for voice/text/data which only hands off to wifi calling when that Cellular@Sea is on (airplane mode "off") but has weak or no service. 

[Essiesmom]

You turned off the wrong things,  You should have turned ON Airplane Mode, and then turned on wifi and bluetooth.  You would not have used any data then.  I am not tech savvy but this is what others recommend and it has worked for me.  EM

[snyniew]

In order to use the Celebrity app you had to be  on WiFi so if not that maybe why it was data. I was on the Summit and turned my phone into airplane mode, really the only way not to be charged for the data and such. Then for the Celebrity App you log into the Celebrity WiFi and just say you are using the free app.  

[guidarelli]

Thanks to all who have replied so far.  We agree that airplane mode would have worked as a fail-safe measure. Our issue is that AT&T sold us a “Talk and Text” only package. We purchased this so that our family could reach us while we were on the cruise. If we were in airplane mode the whole time, neither talk nor text would work, making this plan useless. We turned off data and WiFi so that we could continue to talk and text. AT&T is telling us that we must have turned on our data and WIFI while on the cruise. We did not. They say that it was not possible for us to be using data when these features are turned off. We are trying to prove that there was a ‘data leak’ that was not our fault. 

[guidarelli]

17 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If the ship had AT&T's Cellular@Sea and you didn't turn on Airplane mode, you may have been using a very expensive cellular network connection for voice/text/data which only hands off to wifi calling when that Cellular@Sea is on (airplane mode "off") but has weak or no service. 

Flatbush Flyer, thanks for this information. It is not anything that AT&T informed us about. My question is, why would my husband’s phone have used so much data and my phone so little? We were almost always together and I probably sent more text messages than he did. We were texting friends while on the ship. These friends all had WiFi packages.  Could that have contributed to the problem??   Again, we really appreciate any ideas about what caused our problem, as well as hearing from anyone else who has experienced unwanted data use on a cruise, especially on a Celebrity cruise, using an AT&T phone. 

[SRF]

This is strange, as you state.  But I would check on the package you bought, that may have been for LAND use.

 

The way to use your phone on the ship is to buy the wifi package, then, before you head to the ship, set up wifi calling.  

 

Then on the ship, Airplane Mode - On, Wifi - On, log into the wifi and you can talk and text fine.  No package required.

[guidarelli]

Yes, SRF, that would seem like it could be our issue, however, this is what AT&T has to say on their plan via a Q&A page on their website.  

"Usage aboard select cruise ships is only covered by AT&T Cruise packages. For a list of included cruise ships, go to att.com/cruiseshiplist." (Yes, Celebrity Summit is on the list)

"Yes, the packages do include usage incurred when off-ship or aboard your cruise ship while in port in Canada, Mexico, and most Caribbean countries. For a list of included countries, visit att.com/cruiseshiplist."  

 

Currently, AT&T is reviewing our case and we think that we will be required to pay the up-charge for my husband to change my husband's package from a Talk & Text package to a Talk, Text, Data package.  This will save us about $500, and we take that deal if offered, however, our position remains the same. We believe we are being asked to pay AT&T for an error in their system.  I'll keep everyone posted:-)

[FlyerTalker]

You know...these smart phones are getting smarter every day.  We hear stories of how "we never changed a setting" and "it was the same as always."  Guess the phones have learned how to redo their settings without any human intervention.  SkyNet is coming!  (That is, right after Winter.)

[smithop]

Are you saying your husbands line did not have a data plan and you are being offered that as an upgrade?  That would certainly explain why his bill was higher if he had any apps using data.  There are so many apps that people dont realize are using the data connection, its best to have someone at the phone store show you how to review in the phone settings.  I turn them all off.  They get turned on so easily when adding an app, an innocuous question like “do you want updates on your XYZ” people click yes and boom, constant data use for updates.

[sanger727]

If you turned data off then your phone would not have used data. Obviously it did, which meant at some point data was not turned off. Did you by any chance turn your phone off and back on at some point during the trip? It’s possible that it could have defaulted to turning all your options back on. Same thing if you had turned airplane mode on and back off. Could you have turned your data off, then went to airplane mode for the flight? When data is off, nothing on your phone will use it. If data is turned back on, there is a ton of stuff that runs in the background using it that you don’t realize.