Bermuda Wifi and Cell Phone Access

[lx200gps]

Posted this a few hours ago and the entire thread disappeared. No idea why this topic would be against the rules and deleted, but I’ll try again.

 

We’ll be making our first ever trip to Bermuda this coming June on the Norwegian Joy. The NCL wifi system is expensive and lacking some capabilities at the basic levels, requiring upgrading to their Premium plan at significant extra cost for streaming and importantly, the use of a VPN.

 

One Bermuda telcom provider, Bluewave, offer a wifi plan, at $25 for 48 hours, far less than what NCL is asking. Their coverage “map” seems to show that service is available at the Dockyard, but would anyone know whether their service has enough grunt to be able to reach onto a ship docked at Heritage Wharf? I would prefer to access a system in our cabin rather than going ashore.

 

Probably a better alternative is just to use my own home cell phone roaming plan with Bell Canada, which affords me almost unlimited access to my home data for only $CAD15/day in Bermuda. Has anyone used their US or Canadian cell phone roaming at the Dockyard, and, again, is the coverage strong enough to allow access onboard the ship? I would imagine that if cell phone coverage is available, it would be better and stronger than local wifi. Thanks in advance....

[Charles4515]

Your post disappeared because there was a hiccup and that happened to everyone’s post during that period. It was not deleted. 
 

There is no Dockyard WiFi that works on the ship. 
 

I roam all the time all over Bermuda on my US AT&T cell phone plan. I get charged $10 for any 24 hour period. Take it off airplane mode and turn on Data roaming. Don’t forget to reverse that when the ship leaves Bermuda.  Cell phone coverage is pretty good in Bermuda. Good on the ship but might be weak in your cabin if you are not near a window. 

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

Has anyone used their US or Canadian cell phone roaming at the Dockyard, and, again, is the coverage strong enough to allow access onboard the ship? I would imagine that if cell phone coverage is available, it would be better and stronger than local wifi. Thanks in advance....

I have a US cell phone through Verizon and always do their $10 per day flat international service. I usually just do a personal hot spot through my phone for my computer and have never had any issues with normal things like email, web etc. Have never tried streaming but everything else works well. 

 

As Charles said, if you have a balcony sitting out there will give you a little bit better of a signal if you're on the ship. 

[lx200gps]

Excellent, thanks for the confirmations. Looks like we'll be OK. I have no issue with having to be near a window, I'd even settle for having to go out on the balcony. Do you notice a difference in reception/performance depending on whether you are on the Dockyard side or facing the Sound? Obviously we have no way of knowing which way the ship will be pointed until we actually arrive and dock. 

[princeton123211]

21 hours ago, lx200gps said:

Do you notice a difference in reception/performance depending on whether you are on the Dockyard side or facing the Sound?

No-- nothing noticeable. 

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, princeton123211 said:

No-- nothing noticeable. 

Excellent, thanks. On a related note: I've seen posts here on CC about issues with location services, Google Maps failures etc. Have you had any experience using GMaps for real-time location positioning while roaming on the local cell network? I've seen it said that Google's Bermuda mapping is a little inaccurate. I expect that downloading the map and using GMaps "off-line maps" feature would also work.  We're thinking about a Tizy/Tazzari electric car rental for one day and I'll need to know our location in accurate detail.

[princeton123211]

Just now, lx200gps said:

Have you had any experience using GMaps for real-time location positioning while roaming on the local cell network?

I've used an app called Hitch, which is the local Bermudian version of Uber/Lyft, and uses GPS features on your phone with no issues. It would clue right to where we were every time. I'm not sure if the app uses google maps or something else in the background. 

 

I try not to drive myself on the island so haven't used Google maps in the way you are describing so cant speak directly to that, but have had no issues using GPS for other things while on the international plan from Verizon on an iPhone. 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

Excellent, thanks. On a related note: I've seen posts here on CC about issues with location services, Google Maps failures etc. Have you had any experience using GMaps for real-time location positioning while roaming on the local cell network? I've seen it said that Google's Bermuda mapping is a little inaccurate. I expect that downloading the map and using GMaps "off-line maps" feature would also work.  We're thinking about a Tizy/Tazzari electric car rental for one day and I'll need to know our location in accurate detail.

The companies that rent the Twizzy  and Tazzari say they have mobile apps that work off line .

[lx200gps]

15 hours ago, njhorseman said:

The companies that rent the Twizzy  and Tazzari say they have mobile apps that work off line .

I'll have to look into that further. From other threads here on CC, I am under the impression that these apps aren't actually navigation apps, just "dumb" off-line  maps that show the island but do not provide real-time positioning

[lx200gps]

17 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

I've used an app called Hitch, which is the local Bermudian version of Uber/Lyft, and uses GPS features on your phone with no issues. It would clue right to where we were every time. I'm not sure if the app uses google maps or something else in the background. 

 

I try not to drive myself on the island so haven't used Google maps in the way you are describing so cant speak directly to that, but have had no issues using GPS for other things while on the international plan from Verizon on an iPhone. 

Thanks for the intel. Hitch is downloaded on my phone now, I'll start playing around with it.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

Thanks for the intel. Hitch is downloaded on my phone now, I'll start playing around with it.

Hitch is a way of calling for a taxi. It is not an Uber/Lyft ride share app. You would be getting a taxi. Instead of phone calling for a taxi you are using an app. There is also a 15% surcharge over the metered taxi rate using Hitch. The only advantage I see is that you can pay with a credit card but 15% seems a steep upcharge to me for that. The last four years i have switched from using public transport except for the public ferries in Bermuda to using taxis and never had a problem getting a taxi. I have Hitch downloaded just in case but never used it.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Charles4515