Using telephone at sea.

[europe14]

I know there used to be a plan for this on Norwegian. They had a rate of $1.99 a minute for a ship to shore call from your cabin phone to call home. (Cheaper than most other lines) They also had a package and it was something like $99 for unlimited ship to shore calls. I don’t know if they still have that and I don’t know about Princess but I did get that on Norwegian and was able to call home each day while out to sea. So maybe there is a plan. Maybe you could call Princess customer service.

[Steelers36]

11 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We use internet based Whatsapp to make calls when at sea.  Works great!

Same here!!  👍

[capriccio]

We set up WiFi calling which worked great with the internet on our 28 day Round Australia cruise, half of which were sea days.  We were even able to FaceTime without any problems which was especially great since our daughter was hospitalized for emergency surgery about half way through the cruise.  Being able to not only talk to her but see her was reassuring that we didn't have to cut the cruise short and return to the States.  The other 2 couples we were traveling with did the same and had no problems.  My sister-in-law called back to the States every day to check in with her 90 year old mother just as she does at home or wherever she travels.

[Rick&Jeannie]

12 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I use it all the time with my son.  He is primarily an iPhone user.  He is the one that put me on to WhatsApp to start with.  We've used it while we were both on ship and while he was land-side.  Works great.

I forgot to mention that I use Android...so WhatsApp crosses over platforms very well.

[ldubs]

On 8/7/2023 at 8:18 AM, Treasure Hunter said:

The AT&T plan works great. I take it out every cruise and in Europe recently I had unlimited use of phone ( calling and texting) for $10 a day. It started on the day I used the phone.

 

Does that AT&T plan work onboard ship without wifi?  

 

Many providers (I will never say all because I'm sure there are exceptions) have a wifi calling feature.   No extra charge applies.   Same for WhatsApp mentioned by others.  

[Potstech]

It may cover AT&T charges but does it also cover connection charges to the ships system?  They are entirely 2 different systems.

[Treasure Hunter]

It has nothing to do with the ship's WIFI. I used it mainly to text to my daughter at home all day long while at sea. It's what I'm used to doing.

[beg3yrs]

5 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Does that AT&T plan work onboard ship without wifi?  

 

Many providers (I will never say all because I'm sure there are exceptions) have a wifi calling feature.   No extra charge applies.   Same for WhatsApp mentioned by others.  

It is designed to use the ship's cellular to satellite tower. No WiFi required, just your cellular phone.

 

3 hours ago, Potstech said:

It may cover AT&T charges but does it also cover connection charges to the ships system?  They are entirely 2 different systems.

Yes it covers connection charges to the ship's system.

[ldubs]

5 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

It is designed to use the ship's cellular to satellite tower. No WiFi required, just your cellular phone.

 

Yes it covers connection charges to the ship's system.

 

Sounds like a winner.  Does it also allow data usage (beyond phone and text)?  

[beg3yrs]

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Sounds like a winner.  Does it also allow data usage (beyond phone and text)?  

I think the higher level plan does but it isn't a lot. Details on the web-site.

[Californian]

On 8/7/2023 at 8:11 PM, capriccio said:

We set up WiFi calling which worked great with the internet on our 28 day Round Australia cruise, half of which were sea days.  We were even able to FaceTime without any problems which was especially great since our daughter was hospitalized for emergency surgery about half way through the cruise.  Being able to not only talk to her but see her was reassuring that we didn't have to cut the cruise short and return to the States.  The other 2 couples we were traveling with did the same and had no problems.  My sister-in-law called back to the States every day to check in with her 90 year old mother just as she does at home or wherever she travels.

 

I do the same

[gottagocit]

On 8/7/2023 at 9:18 PM, Thrak said:

I'm mainly just interested in being able to easily message between my wife and myself onboard and haven't been very satisfied with the medallion messaging system. Hoping WhatsApp will be an improvement. Neither of us has used it before but it can't be all that difficult if so many people use it on a regular basis.

If you both are using an iPhone you can simply text each other as you would at home and the phone will send/receive an iMessage when connected to the ships WiFi system. You’ll get the same notification sound and message box you do at home. It’s far better than the ships app messaging and cost nothing extra assuming you each are paying for WiFi onboard. You can also connect to anyone at home this way assuming they too are using an iPhone.  
I will say I think you have to toggle on a setting under setup to use iMessages but I suspect anyone with iPhones have already done that. 
You will need to keep your phone in airplane mode with WiFi turned on and have it connected to the ships WiFi of course for it to work. 

Edited August 10, 2023 by gottagocit

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

On 8/7/2023 at 7:25 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Check to see if your phone has "wifi calling" capability.  Set it up at home before you leave. (And test it at home.)

Is there a roaming charge when you receive WIFI calls. Can you also make calls with WIFI calling? I'm terrified of an outrageous phone bill. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

14 minutes ago, DANCING GRANDMOMMY said:

Is there a roaming charge when you receive WIFI calls. Can you also make calls with WIFI calling? I'm terrified of an outrageous phone bill. 

Nope...no "extra" charges at all (other than the cost of the internet plan from the ship.  You need to set it up while still at home and TEST IT.

[AF-1]

Hi let me chime in for the OP.

1.  If you have a Iphone you can use wifi calling using the ships wifi while at sea.  You also have facetime on the Iphone which allows you to call or receive calls via video on your iphone

2. If you have an android phone download Whatsapp which will allow the same wifi and facetime calling as the iphone. 

3.  I own an iphone and use facetime a lot.  We were in europe in July and used it about five times

I also have whats app for those people back in the states who don't have an iphone

4,  If you are on ships wifi or shoreside wifi; you won't have any charges on your phone when you return home.  Remember to set all this up before you leave on your cruise.  On the iphone you can do this in settings

 

** Hope this clarifies things for you.  Cheers