Verizon TravelPass $10/day for cruise?

[jasminesmom1]

I have the VZW TravelPass plan (a fairly new option) enabled on my mobile and understand that as soon as it connects to the ship board cellular (not wifi) that the $10/day charge to VZW kicks in since I am now "roaming". Two questions:

1. Does Royal Caribbean somehow add any surcharge to that, or is the $10/day all I pay? Anyone tried this and had success,

 

2. If I connect on say Day 2 of the cruise, and I then i turn cellular off for the remaining days, does VZW charge the $10/day until I connect to a US tower again, or am I just charged for only the days I actually connect to the ships cell network? Does RC have the ability to block my access to cellular svc from my provider?

 

Thx in advance! We sail in 3 days!

[J0Y0US]

Are you sure the cruise ship you are on is part of the plan? All I can find is "select cruise ships" but no actual list. Did you find a list somewhere of which ships have this?

[J0Y0US]

I have used the international plan in the past for work as I traveled a bunch and typically once you connect to a tower it texts you about having service there and then starts the timer. If you turn off the cell service then the next day it should not charge you.

[Cutigerlady]

On our recent cruise, my husband took his phone out of airplane mode while we were in Jamaica to connect to the "free Wifi" where we were and fortunately this new Verizion travel pass kicked in for him automatically.  I got a text message saying that they were using one of our passes for his phone number. He didn't understand that even on a free Wifi he was pinging towers in Jamaica.  

 

Once I realized what the heck he had done, we put his phone back in airplane mode and I was only billed $10.  So you are only charged while the phone is out of airplane mode.  I would be careful because when you are at sea, you pick up satellite coverage which I don't know if that is covered under the travel pass.  It may be worth it to you to use the travel pass and only use it while you are in port somewhere as a cheaper alternative to RCL's internet service.  

[smokeybandit]

This would be used in foreign ports, not on board ship.

[J0Y0US]

Okay reading further I think you might be mistaken.

 

In port in foreign countries you will have access to cell service. On cruiseships you only get a 50mb allowance. Otherwise charged out at a higher rate.

 

https://www.verizon.com/plans/international/international-travel/cruise-and-inflight/

 

It also states non-recurring at this link.

https://www.verizon.com/articles/4-ways-to-stay-connected-on-a-cruise-ship/

Edited April 20, 2022 by J0Y0US

[kfnesq]

We have done it - but as stated above, it doesn't work for cruise ship coverage, only for ports.  So, on the ship, connect to the ship wifi and leave in airplane mode.  OFF the ship - you can use the Travelpass and you'll be charged $10/day.  Travelpass will text you when it kicks in at each port, once you come out of airplane mode.

[mailmama]

I have ATL&T and used it several times on March cruise to Western Caribbean. Worked great and easy. Made several phone calls and only charged $10 each day that I made the calls. Big difference from individual phone call charges!

[hallux]

Don't use the cellular on the ship, stay on WiFi.

 

36 minutes ago, Cutigerlady said:

So you are only charged while the phone is out of airplane mode

If he was connecting to WiFi, there was no need to turn off airplane mode.  WiFi can be turned on once airplane mode is turned on.

[mjkacmom]

We’ve had this for about 10 years, I don’t think it works on cruise ships, just on land.

[Wineaux007]

My experience is that it doesn't work on board the cruise ship.  I always call Verizon prior to my trips to enable the Travelpass on our iPhones.  I only use it for emergencies ashore.  I mostly use wifi when off the ship, and pay out of pocket for in/outgoing texts, which is cheaper than enabling the Travelpass.

[neverlaysup]

3 hours ago, jasminesmom1 said:

I have the VZW TravelPass plan (a fairly new option) enabled on my mobile and understand that as soon as it connects to the ship board cellular (not wifi) that the $10/day charge to VZW kicks in since I am now "roaming". Two questions:

1. Does Royal Caribbean somehow add any surcharge to that, or is the $10/day all I pay? Anyone tried this and had success,

 

2. If I connect on say Day 2 of the cruise, and I then i turn cellular off for the remaining days, does VZW charge the $10/day until I connect to a US tower again, or am I just charged for only the days I actually connect to the ships cell network? Does RC have the ability to block my access to cellular svc from my provider?

 

Thx in advance! We sail in 3 days!

Cruise ship cellular is NOT on Travel Pass, do not use this on sea days. I have Travel Pass as well and I use it on shore only, Cellular at Sea is totally different. Keep in mind, Travel Pass has very limited data amounts so make sure to turn off all updates over cellular and limit your video/photo uploads otherwise you will burn through the 50MB in an hour. On my last cruise with Windstar, I had no internet package and turning my phone on every day was far cheaper than the ships WIFI plan.

 

[jasminesmom1]

Thank you everyone! Great advice. Always appreciated.

[KruznKimmie]

And the cost is $10/24 hour period based on when you activate the service versus $10/day.  So if you activate at 10AM the service continues until 10AM the next day until you are charged another $10.

[SRF]

You people need to switch to T-Mobile. 😄

 

Unlimited 2G data and texting in over 210 countries (and ones that are not covered are not normally cruise destinationss) and 25 cents per minute calling, unless you do wifi calling which is free.

 

I travel internationally for work and switched from AT&T, and pay less per month with better service.

[smokeybandit]

5 minutes ago, SRF said:

Unlimited 2G data

It better be unlimited for as long as it'd take to download data on 2G

[pghflyer]

It is $5 if in Canada and Mexico.  Also the pass has fixed amount of "fast" data and then goes down significantly. You are allowed to call to your home country and the country of your pass for free. I think it is a great deal but doesn't help on the ship unless at port.  Never seen a charge from any cruise ship while using Travel Pass.

[SRF]

7 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It better be unlimited for as long as it'd take to download data on 2G

 

I have traveled a lot using it.  And it works fine for Google Maps for directions, looking up restaurants in Trip Advisor and such.

 

No, it will not stream movies.

 

And if I need faster data, buying high speed data is cheaper than your Verizon $10 per day setup.

Edited April 22, 2022 by SRF

[SG65CB]

20 hours ago, KruznKimmie said:

And the cost is $10/24 hour period based on when you activate the service versus $10/day.  So if you activate at 10AM the service continues until 10AM the next day until you are charged another $10.

 

Also you can use it across multiple islands. So if you activate it at 10 AM on one island and the next day you use it until 10 AM on another island it is still one $10 charge. 

[KruznKimmie]

On 4/21/2022 at 12:24 PM, pghflyer said:

It is $5 if in Canada and Mexico.  Also the pass has fixed amount of "fast" data and then goes down significantly. You are allowed to call to your home country and the country of your pass for free. I think it is a great deal but doesn't help on the ship unless at port.  Never seen a charge from any cruise ship while using Travel Pass.

My Verizon plan includes Mexico & Canada free with no additional charges.

[dancewithe]

On 4/20/2022 at 1:26 PM, neverlaysup said:

Cruise ship cellular is NOT on Travel Pass, do not use this on sea days. I have Travel Pass as well and I use it on shore only, Cellular at Sea is totally different. Keep in mind, Travel Pass has very limited data amounts so make sure to turn off all updates over cellular and limit your video/photo uploads otherwise you will burn through the 50MB in an hour. On my last cruise with Windstar, I had no internet package and turning my phone on every day was far cheaper than the ships WIFI plan.

 

Travel pass enables you to use what you would use on your plan at home. My data is unlimited.

[neverlaysup]

1 hour ago, dancewithe said:

Travel pass enables you to use what you would use on your plan at home. My data is unlimited.

TravelPass from Verizon is 2GB a day, it doesn’t matter what plan you have at home. After 2GB, you revert to 3G service only. 

[Crazy4Cruisin225]

I have TravelPass through Verizon and an unlimited data plan. My plan (an older unlimited plan) adds one freeTravelPass day each month to my “bank” that are each good for a year. I don’t ever use them on the ship but do in port. Also when I go on land based vacations. I’ve never been charged the $10 daily fee because I know how many free days I have in that bank…currently 11. Like others have said it slows down after you use the 2GB, but still fast enough to use Maps, stream music, check email, etc. Just don’t expect to be able to watch movies on Netflix or Hulu with it. 

[Morecruisesplz]

On 4/20/2022 at 8:40 AM, J0Y0US said:

I have used the international plan in the past for work as I traveled a bunch and typically once you connect to a tower it texts you about having service there and then starts the timer. If you turn off the cell service then the next day it should not charge you.

Mine is 24 hours at a time

 

[Morecruisesplz]

On 4/21/2022 at 7:00 PM, SRF said:

 

I have traveled a lot using it.  And it works fine for Google Maps for directions, looking up restaurants in Trip Advisor and such.

 

No, it will not stream movies.

 

And if I need faster data, buying high speed data is cheaper than your Verizon $10 per day setup.

Will it work in Barcelona? Doing a transatlantic but will be in Barcelona 4 days pre cruise.