International phone

[alphawave1]

So, in the past cruises my sister and I would get some kind of internet pkg. The majority of time the internet simply didn’t work. Purchasing a pkg from carrier added enormous fees to the monthly phone bill: $400. That was even keeping airplane mode activated. 
We need to stay in touch with family back home, and we were wondering if purchasing a cheap “unlocked” phone and data plan with a SIM card from keep Go. Only to be used in ports, btw. Not on ship. 
any advice?

[hova]

On a recent trip to Europe and then cruise in Mediterranean and back to Florida, we bought an esim card through Airalo.  Nothing to install, but some phone settings configuration was necessary.   We had plenty of data for the entire trip for about 15-20 USD.  The data worked in all European countries.  We also had internet on the ship, so we were covered whether we were on land or sea.  Keep in mind, this particular esim card was data only, so if you wanted to make a phone call,  you needed to do it through WhatsApp.  We could pretty much use our phone data package for anything else, including facetime, emails , maps or general surfing.    If making phone calls is essential, I assume there is esim cards available to buy.   By going this route, you don't need to buy a phone, or switch sim cards, but having some technical savvy is helpful.  You can also buy and configure the esim at home, and then activate it once you get to your destination.  Also, if your trip is to the Caribbean, there are cards for that area as well.

Edited January 7, 2023 by hova

[crzndeb]

That’s why I switched to T-Mobile. Free text and data in every single port I have been to around the world. If you just want to use in port, find someplace that offers free Wi-Fi. You might have to purchase a drink or something, but may be worth it for you.

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, alphawave1 said:

So, in the past cruises my sister and I would get some kind of internet pkg. The majority of time the internet simply didn’t work. Purchasing a pkg from carrier added enormous fees to the monthly phone bill: $400. That was even keeping airplane mode activated. 
We need to stay in touch with family back home, and we were wondering if purchasing a cheap “unlocked” phone and data plan with a SIM card from keep Go. Only to be used in ports, btw. Not on ship. 
any advice?

Where is your cruise going?  Europe?  Asia?  Canada?  Caribbean?

[alphawave1]

3 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Where is your cruise going?  Europe?  Asia?  Canada?  Caribbean?

Panama, Mexico, and Columbia.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, alphawave1 said:

The majority of time the internet simply didn’t work.

Don't assume this to be the case and go with a Voom plan and wifi calling.

[crzndeb]

I asked my daughter what she used in Paris and London. She rented a Wi-Fi. She wasn’t on a cruise, but you can weigh costs when you are in port.

 

https://travelwifi.com/?msclkid=f6ae72bfec021ff66b4d110644fae3e6&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=S | Brand | Non-En&utm_term=travel-wifi&utm_content=TravelWifi

 

[monorail81]

2 hours ago, alphawave1 said:

So, in the past cruises my sister and I would get some kind of internet pkg. The majority of time the internet simply didn’t work. Purchasing a pkg from carrier added enormous fees to the monthly phone bill: $400. That was even keeping airplane mode activated. 
We need to stay in touch with family back home, and we were wondering if purchasing a cheap “unlocked” phone and data plan with a SIM card from keep Go. Only to be used in ports, btw. Not on ship. 
any advice?

Who is you carrier?  A lot of them have very reasonable costs in ports now. We have Verizon and it costs is $10 in most ports we visit for the day to use out voice and data that is on our current plan. 

[klfrodo]

8 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

I asked my daughter what she used in Paris and London. She rented a Wi-Fi. She wasn’t on a cruise, but you can weigh costs when you are in port.

 

https://travelwifi.com/?msclkid=f6ae72bfec021ff66b4d110644fae3e6&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=S | Brand | Non-En&utm_term=travel-wifi&utm_content=TravelWifi

 

That's what I do except I use Skyroam. No need to connect to free (unsecured) wifi hotspots.

Solis WiFi Hotspot | Stay Connected – soliswifi

Edited January 7, 2023 by klfrodo

[teacherman]

We have ATT.  We have a "plan" where we also pay $10 per day when we use our phone in a foreign country.     Then we use calling, data, etc just like at home.  

[alphawave1]

1 hour ago, teacherman said:

We have ATT.  We have a "plan" where we also pay $10 per day when we use our phone in a foreign country.     Then we use calling, data, etc just like at home.  

Honestly, I have AT&T as well, and I think you are correct. I know that in Mexico, we don’t need a plan, but Columbia/Panama,  we would need to pick up this plan. 

[Cigar King]

4 hours ago, alphawave1 said:

Panama, Mexico, and Columbia.

Going to all of these on Serenade soon.  We have done the same cruise before.  We use T-Mobile, and our package includes coverage in all these ports.  It's just data and text, but, if we needed to make a call wifi calling works.

[Ashland]

5 hours ago, alphawave1 said:

Panama, Mexico, and Columbia.

We just did the full Panama Canal itinerary (Serenade) and had the Voom Surf/Stream with RCI and had no problems putting our iPhone on airplane mode and wifi calling. We have AT&T and I could call/text my family when I was on the ship...it worked fine. It was never necessary to call or text when in port but I certainly could have using my International day pass plan $10.00 per 24 hour from AT&T if I needed to.

 

The only problem that we had on this itinerary was the ships satellite was at times unavailable.

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, alphawave1 said:

Honestly, I have AT&T as well, and I think you are correct. I know that in Mexico, we don’t need a plan, but Columbia/Panama,  we would need to pick up this plan. 

Latin America is now included on AT&T if you have an Unlimited Plan. That includes Panama and Columbia. 

 

https://www.att.com/plans/unlimited-data-plans/roam-latin-america/

Edited January 7, 2023 by Charles4515

[hancock]

Use WhatsApp to contact friends and family when you have access to wifi and they have wifi too.  Won't cost you anything.

[TheMiz]

1 hour ago, hancock said:

Use WhatsApp to contact friends and family when you have access to wifi and they have wifi too.  Won't cost you anything.

 

I have never had problems with wifi calling until the spring of 2022 ,    that was when I was told it now only works with this WhatsApp , problem is not one person in my contact list uses that app so it was a lost of a few hundred dollars .   

 

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and lots will not use it.

[twinmommy08]

I’ve had success using WiFi calling on Vroom while on the ship. It was pretty clear but it depends on speeds and signal strength. We have iPhones so we were able to iMessage each other and friends with iPhones over WiFi too and never had a problem.
 

We were unable to text (sms) message over WiFi while on the ship to family with android devices. 
 

T-Mobile is great and allows free texting pretty much everywhere while on land and 5g of high speed date then free slow data. Calls cost a bit per minute outside of North America. 
 

[Biker19]

38 minutes ago, TheMiz said:

  that was when I was told it now only works with this WhatsApp

WiFi calling is independent of any other app.

[TheMiz]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

WiFi calling is independent of any other app.

 

 

Yes 

 

In my case using my unlocked Samsung S22 Ultra with a verizon sim the wifi was blocked 

There for no texting or calling unless I dl'd WhatsApp    and  followed their the print out, still no luck

that is when they told me the ppl I a texting or calling must also use WhatsApp.   Until the spring of 2022 I never had this problem.

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, TheMiz said:

that is when they told me the ppl I a texting or calling must also use WhatsApp.

If the native WiFi calling doesn't work, there are apps (such as Google Voice) that can call/text to actual phone numbers instead of requiring the other party to have some app.

[Cigar King]

13 hours ago, TheMiz said:

In my case using my unlocked Samsung S22 Ultra with a verizon sim the wifi was blocked 

You can try sending text via email.  It sounds like, for whatever reason, your default text app is being blocked when you are on wifi.  Google how to send texts via email and that should work for you.

[TheMiz]

9 hours ago, Biker19 said:

If the native WiFi calling doesn't work, there are apps (such as Google Voice) that can call/text to.

 

 

This is only a problem on the ship, when we are at a port and I have wifi I can call and text 

 

I was not alone with this, our group of 8 none would work on our TA ( April- May ) to Spain on the Wonder of the Seas

 

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by TheMiz

[Joseph2017China]

ATT is $10 a day unlimited data/text/voice.  It is capped at $100 per month.  A second line is $5.00 per day.  Although an  extra charge, it is not that expensive compared to using the ships wifi.  Note, the daily rate is not included for ships.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, TheMiz said:

This is only a problem on the ship, when we are at a port and I have wifi I can call and text 

That was likely resolved by now. 

[TheMiz]

32 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

That was likely resolved by now. 

 

 

One would hope but there are still  posts from October saying the same thing.