How to prevent connecting to ship's cell network?

[marklyn]

I know you can turn on airplane mode and from what I understand the ship turns off the cell service in port.

However, with our Tmobile plan and data pass we want to be able to use land based cell networks when we're close enough to do so, plus we're going through the panama canal, and want to be sure we're using land based cell networks there.

Does this mean anytime I want to use my cell phone for data/calls I need to always check the cell network first?

Does anyone know of an app that prevents you from using ship cell service?

Tips for this situation?

It it helps, we have android S9 and S10 phones with Tmobile.

Thanks

[Paul Bogle]

I use apple products so YMMV. In my wifi settings I can set individual networks to ignore. I'm sure android has a similar setting. You can try this at home and see if you can make your device ignore your own wifi. If successful repeat the process once onboard.

[marklyn]

I'm not speaking of wifi and I know what you're  talking about.  I don't want my phone to connect to the ships (phone) cellular network.  It would be neat if you could do the same 'ignore' for cellular networks as you could do for wifi though.

 

[Turtles06]

It would be good to post your question in the Cruising Technology forum:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/677-cruising-technology/

[marklyn]

Good idea turtles06, will do that now.

[Paul Bogle]

Sorry I mis-understood.

According to NCL the cellatsea service only operates in international waters (12 miles or more from shore) so the canal passage should not be an issue.

 

https://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-cellular-phone-service-texting

[marklyn]

No problem Paul.  The issue is that on past cruises we've been as far as 18 miles from land and was still getting a pretty decent signal.  In this situation the phone would likely try to automatically connect to the ship cellular service when that is the last thing I'd want it to do (regarding a phone reboot or off/on situation of phone).  I've asked this question in the tech area maybe someone knows of an app that would disallow the ship cellular network. Thanks

[KeithJenner]

I have a similar situation, as we have roaming cellular service included in our plan, so need to make sure that we connect to the land based service rather than the ships.

 

On multiple cruises it has never been an issue. We make sure we turn roaming off soon after leaving port, and if we are sailing near land then we just check which service is available before turning it on to use the internet. Very often we have found that we can connect to local networks when sailing near land, and the ships cellular has rarely, if ever, been a problem at such times.

 

Ive not sailed through the canal, and im

sure others will correct me if I’m wrong, but I would be very surprised if the ships cellular is turned on whilst there.

[htnut]

iPhone:  when at sea ensure your phone is in “airplane mode”.  You can then turn on just WiFi to connect to the ship’s WiFi without any worry about cellular connecting and getting billed by your carrier for “cruise ship” roaming. 

 

When in (or near) port, the ships are required to deactivate their cellular systems so then you can turn off “airplane mode” and only need to worry about your roaming carrier’s roaming charges for the country you are in. 

[marklyn]

Htnut, I already mentioned airplane mode in my original post. I'm not talking about wifi, I'm talking about cellular network only.

[dcipjr]

T-Mobile will let you block charged international roaming, to prevent you from being charged for data in any countries (and presumably cruise ships) not covered by your plan.

 

This should prevent any data roaming on the ship's network. 

 

Personally, in addition, I would still use airplane mode whenever I'm onboard and out of sight of land.

[marklyn]

That's very interesting dcipjr... I contacted Tmobile about this and they gave me some basic things to do (which I already knew) but they didn't mention this!!! I"ll have to contact them again specifically to ask about this and see what they say. Thanks

[luckyinpa]

this is one instance where tracfone is superior. impossible to get out of USA charges on the phone...because they dont work then 😉

[insidecabin]

What I do on my android is turn off auto networks selection.

 

once you get a roaming connection on land.

 

setting->network->mobile network->carrier  (turn of auto and select the network)

 

it won't then connect to the ship when that signal is better than the land one.

 

Depending on region itinerary and networks you may need to change it as you get near the next port.

 

 

[BirdTravels]

On 9/3/2019 at 1:13 PM, marklyn said:

That's very interesting dcipjr... I contacted Tmobile about this and they gave me some basic things to do (which I already knew) but they didn't mention this!!! I"ll have to contact them again specifically to ask about this and see what they say. Thanks

If you do this, you won’t be able to connect

to land-based Service’s in your ports of call (which was your original request). Once you leave your embarkation port, your phone won’t connect again until you are back in a US port. 

 

You can still use Wi-Fi calling and Wi-Fi on the ship, only if you pay for the most expensive premium unlimited plan. 

[esm54687]

On 9/2/2019 at 1:37 PM, marklyn said:

I know you can turn on airplane mode and from what I understand the ship turns off the cell service in port.

However, with our Tmobile plan and data pass we want to be able to use land based cell networks when we're close enough to do so, plus we're going through the panama canal, and want to be sure we're using land based cell networks there.

Does this mean anytime I want to use my cell phone for data/calls I need to always check the cell network first?

Does anyone know of an app that prevents you from using ship cell service?

Tips for this situation?

It it helps, we have android S9 and S10 phones with Tmobile.

Thanks

Post #14 is the key..... 

 

Just confirm that CellularAtSea is not the chosen mobile network when you do the manual scan..... you should spend some time documenting each carrier along the canal and confirm that TMO has roaming agreements with them (on the TMO website) in advance. 

[Birdie And Sue]

On 9/2/2019 at 1:37 PM, marklyn said:

I know you can turn on airplane mode and from what I understand the ship turns off the cell service in port.

However, with our Tmobile plan and data pass we want to be able to use land based cell networks when we're close enough to do so, plus we're going through the panama canal, and want to be sure we're using land based cell networks there.

Does this mean anytime I want to use my cell phone for data/calls I need to always check the cell network first?

Does anyone know of an app that prevents you from using ship cell service?

Tips for this situation?

It it helps, we have android S9 and S10 phones with Tmobile.

Thanks

 

 

The best way is to turn off your phone and enjoy your cruise!

[marklyn]

3 hours ago, insidecabin said:

What I do on my android is turn off auto networks selection.

 

once you get a roaming connection on land.

 

setting->network->mobile network->carrier  (turn of auto and select the network)

 

it won't then connect to the ship when that signal is better than the land one.

 

Depending on region itinerary and networks you may need to change it as you get near the next port.

 

 

This sounds like the best solution this far. Thanks!