Text and Calling Onboard

[pete_coach]

I have searched and gotten old and mixed info.

Does the NCL app allow you to call and text between phones while onboard?

Do you need to log on to the wifi network?

What I mean is, I am in my cabin and want to know where my Wife is. How do I call her on the phone? Her actual phone number or do you get some sort of special number??

Is it IPhone only?

Sorry if this has been discussed but I could not find the info, particularly the "how to".

[BirdTravels]

23 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

I have searched and gotten old and mixed info.

Does the NCL app allow you to call and text between phones while onboard?

Do you need to log on to the wifi network?

What I mean is, I am in my cabin and want to know where my Wife is. How do I call her on the phone? Her actual phone number or do you get some sort of special number??

Is it IPhone only?

Sorry if this has been discussed but I could not find the info, particularly the "how to".

The NCL App allows you to call and text between phones. It requires everyone to pay the $9.95 activation fee. The app is pretty clunky. 
 

You need to be connected to the ship’s INTRAnet. You connect to the ship’s Wi-Fi, but not log onto the external INTERnet. 
 

You get an internal number to call on the ship’s system. 

[seemoreroyals]

You are supposed to be able to text back and forth on ship using imessages on iphones.  I think you have to have your phones in airplane mode and use ships internet.  That way you do not have to pay the $9.95 fee. 

 

We are going to try it in a couple of weeks.  

[UKstages]

the answer the bird gives above is the official line. it is correct to a degree. NCL would prefer you pay $9.95. there are, however, backend holes and workarounds for iMessage texting between iPhones.

 

at the present time, you will be able to send and receive text messages (iMessages) to and from iPhones and other iOS devices while onboard, provided they are all connected to the ship's wifi. you do not have to be using your wifi minutes in order to use this service. iMessages (but not photos) can also be sent and received among iPhones and iOS devices not physically located on  the ship, such as those belonging to friends and family back home.

 

 

[pete_coach]

28 minutes ago, UKstages said:

the answer the bird gives above is the official line. it is correct to a degree. NCL would prefer you pay $9.95. there are, however, backend holes and workarounds for iMessage texting between iPhones.

 

at the present time, you will be able to send and receive text messages (iMessages) to and from iPhones and other iOS devices while onboard, provided they are all connected to the ship's wifi. you do not have to be using your wifi minutes in order to use this service. iMessages (but not photos) can also be sent and received among iPhones and iOS devices not physically located on  the ship, such as those belonging to friends and family back home.

 

 

Thanks.

It is different than what BirdTravls said.

That is the problem when I searched, there are very disparate responses to the question.

[UKstages]

i think what the bird says is pretty much the same thing, but it doesn't tell the whole story. the bird explains the way messaging works within NCL's app. she makes a distinction between the "intranet" and the "internet.' i do, too, but explain it by saying you have to be connected to the ship's wifi but don't have to be using your plan or "minutes."

 

what specifically is it you feel is in conflict? or what specifically is it that you need to know?

 

please be aware that many of the disparate responses come from people who are not on the apple ecosystem so they know nothing about the backend loophole among iOS devices. or they are attempting to text folks using android devices, in which case, there is no backend loophole and you have to pay NCL to text onboard. the experience they relate is correct... for them. any response to this question that mentions "free texting" but makes no distinction between texting to android devices and apple devices is not worth reading.

[RedRover96]

We both have Android, however with the FAS+ I believe we both have unlimited Wi-Fi, does that make a difference in calls/texting?

 

RedRover

[cruiser2015]

4 hours ago, pete_coach said:

I have searched and gotten old and mixed info.

Does the NCL app allow you to call and text between phones while onboard?

Do you need to log on to the wifi network?

What I mean is, I am in my cabin and want to know where my Wife is. How do I call her on the phone? Her actual phone number or do you get some sort of special number??

Is it IPhone only?

Sorry if this has been discussed but I could not find the info, particularly the "how to".

I was going to ask the exact same question.

Thanks, Pete.

[cruiser2015]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The NCL App allows you to call and text between phones. It requires everyone to pay the $9.95 activation fee. The app is pretty clunky. 
 

You need to be connected to the ship’s INTRAnet. You connect to the ship’s Wi-Fi, but not log onto the external INTERnet. 
 

You get an internal number to call on the ship’s system. 

If both parties have the ship's internet service, is this $9.95 activation still required for onboard person to person calls and/or texts?

[pete_coach]

3 hours ago, UKstages said:

i think what the bird says is pretty much the same thing, but it doesn't tell the whole story. the bird explains the way messaging works within NCL's app. she makes a distinction between the "intranet" and the "internet.' i do, too, but explain it by saying you have to be connected to the ship's wifi but don't have to be using your plan or "minutes."

 

what specifically is it you feel is in conflict? or what specifically is it that you need to know?

 

please be aware that many of the disparate responses come from people who are not on the apple ecosystem so they know nothing about the backend loophole among iOS devices. or they are attempting to text folks using android devices, in which case, there is no backend loophole and you have to pay NCL to text onboard. the experience they relate is correct... for them. any response to this question that mentions "free texting" but makes no distinction between texting to android devices and apple devices is not worth reading.

Actually BirdTravels said "The NCL App allows you to call and text between phones. It requires everyone to pay the $9.95 activation fee. The app is pretty clunky. "

So far, some say you have to be on wifi. Some say INTRAnet...what ever that is. Some say only on the app. Some say you need to pay $9.95. Some say you don't have to pay. Some.like you talk about a "back end loophole".....whatever that is or means.

You say a lot but, say nothing. You too say some are right or wrong or not worth reading.

Hence disparate information.

My question basically, no to the point is, what is the deal. Do I pay $9.95 or use wifi and/or turn on airplane mode and am OK to text my friends?

Someone onboard or recently off that can give step by step explanations?

Edited December 3, 2023 by pete_coach

[seemoreroyals]

Pretty sure that if all parties have iphones you can stay in touch using imessages.  Phone needs to be in airport mode and need to use ships wifi.  I All you get with the imessaging is texts.  If not you have to pay the $9.95.

 

If this has not been resolved definitively we will let everyone know in a couple of weeks when we are on our next cruise

[junieh]

Sorry to jump in on this but this is something that I have been looking into as well. We have a 12 year old son who likes to go off and do his own thing and we want to be able to call him or have him call us while onboard. He uses an iphone but my husband and I both use Android so we can't use the iMessages option. In our case, we are on regular FAS so our wifi is limited so unless we upgrade, we won't always be connected. If I understand correctly, the calling / texting service is independent from the wifi internet connection that we get, so by paying the $9.95 set up fee per person, would we ensure unlimited calls / texts between us for the duration of our cruise, regardless of whether we have wifi or not? Is the service pretty reliable once it is set up? We were on MSC Seascape last year and their version of this service was useless and never actually worked. But there the wifi package was unlimited so we could always call each other on WhatsApp so it didn't matter. I'm just trying to understand whether we all have to upgrade to unlimited wifi or if this calling service will actually work for us.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

On 12/3/2023 at 2:55 PM, RedRover96 said:

We both have Android, however with the FAS+ I believe we both have unlimited Wi-Fi, does that make a difference in calls/texting?

 

RedRover

If you are texting using the NCL app you need to be connected to the intranet but not using your minutes.  It still costs $9.95 per device to do this.  You do not need to have an internet package to be connected to the intranet.  There are things you can do on the NCL app just connected to the intranet without using the minutes you have with your internet package.

[sanger727]

On 12/3/2023 at 3:09 PM, pete_coach said:

Actually BirdTravels said "The NCL App allows you to call and text between phones. It requires everyone to pay the $9.95 activation fee. The app is pretty clunky. "

So far, some say you have to be on wifi. Some say INTRAnet...what ever that is. Some say only on the app. Some say you need to pay $9.95. Some say you don't have to pay. Some.like you talk about a "back end loophole".....whatever that is or means.

You say a lot but, say nothing. You too say some are right or wrong or not worth reading.

Hence disparate information.

My question basically, no to the point is, what is the deal. Do I pay $9.95 or use wifi and/or turn on airplane mode and am OK to text my friends?

Someone onboard or recently off that can give step by step explanations?

 

 

There are two things being discussed here.

 

1. NCL offers calling and texting through their app for a cost of $9.95 per device. You would put your phone into airplane mode and turn wifi on. You would not use the browser to "log into" the wifi. Simply by turning wifi on, you are connected to the intranet and can use the app. You wll only be able to text other people who have the app. It won't use imessage, it will create a funky number for you within the app

 

2. There is a glitch in their wifi intranet/internet setup. Some people find that if they turn wifi on (and again, not use the browser to log into the internet), imessages are able to come through. This is unintentionally and is never guaranteed to work. My personal experience on my last cruise was that I occasionally received imessages but I couldn't send any out. 

 

3. If you want to be able to use you phone the way you do at home, you will have to purchase the unlimited internet package. 

[junieh]

Thank you for your replies. If you have used the calling service, could you please let me know if it was a reliable service? I would much rather pay the set up fee for that than have to get unlimited wifi for all of us.

[pete_coach]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

 

 

There are two things being discussed here.

 

1. NCL offers calling and texting through their app for a cost of $9.95 per device. You would put your phone into airplane mode and turn wifi on. You would not use the browser to "log into" the wifi. Simply by turning wifi on, you are connected to the intranet and can use the app. You wll only be able to text other people who have the app. It won't use imessage, it will create a funky number for you within the app

 

2. There is a glitch in their wifi intranet/internet setup. Some people find that if they turn wifi on (and again, not use the browser to log into the internet), imessages are able to come through. This is unintentionally and is never guaranteed to work. My personal experience on my last cruise was that I occasionally received imessages but I couldn't send any out. 

 

3. If you want to be able to use you phone the way you do at home, you will have to purchase the unlimited internet package. 

Please link the information on texting through their app for $9.95.

I have the app and cannot see anything like that. We all have wifi, it is part of FS.

[cruiseny4life]

5 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Please link the information on texting through their app for $9.95.

I have the app and cannot see anything like that. We all have wifi, it is part of FS.

Here's a link: https://www.ncl.com/no/en/cruise-faq/what-cost-phone-and-messenger-package

 

And a screenshot:

 

[pete_coach]

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Here's a link: https://www.ncl.com/no/en/cruise-faq/what-cost-phone-and-messenger-package

 

And a screenshot:

 

Great thanks.

Who or where do I get that from? Like I said, it does not look like it is on the NCL app and I cannot see it on the website..

[hallux]

Just now, pete_coach said:

Great thanks.

Who or where do I get that from? Like I said, it does not look like it is on the NCL app and I cannot see it on the website..

You do it once on board.  You can't do it until you connect to the ship's WiFi.

[PATRLR]

@pete_coach - What sanger727 wrote is spot on.  I will add a bit to this part:

 

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

There is a glitch in their wifi intranet/internet setup. Some people find that if they turn wifi on (and again, not use the browser to log into the internet), imessages are able to come through. This is unintentionally and is never guaranteed to work.

I'm not so sure it's a "glitch", United Airlines actually promotes this capability on their planes.  I will however agree that it is never guaranteed to work.

 

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

My personal experience on my last cruise was that I occasionally received imessages but I couldn't send any out. 

Our experience was quite a bit different.  We had good luck texting to and from other iPhones both on the ship and at home.  It's important to remember text only (no pictures/video) and only to/from iPhones (so using iMessage even though most users don't recognize the difference from regular SMS texts and iMessage texts).  We did find that sometimes the messages could be delayed so it wasn't the best at on-ship communication but it was great for communicating with our daughter at home.

[hallux]

and, for what it's worth, I seem to recall getting messages on my Android phone while on the ship, from people not on the ship.

 

Something to keep in mind with these 'loopholes' - as Starlink is rolled out across the fleet the changes in the network configuration MAY cause them to get closed.  Yes, it should just be a change in the 'backhaul' internet connection and not a change to the routers, but there's a chance.

[cruiser2015]

2 hours ago, sanger727 said:

 

 

There are two things being discussed here.

 

1. NCL offers calling and texting through their app for a cost of $9.95 per device. You would put your phone into airplane mode and turn wifi on. You would not use the browser to "log into" the wifi. Simply by turning wifi on, you are connected to the intranet and can use the app. You wll only be able to text other people who have the app. It won't use imessage, it will create a funky number for you within the app

 

2. There is a glitch in their wifi intranet/internet setup. Some people find that if they turn wifi on (and again, not use the browser to log into the internet), imessages are able to come through. This is unintentionally and is never guaranteed to work. My personal experience on my last cruise was that I occasionally received imessages but I couldn't send any out. 

 

3. If you want to be able to use you phone the way you do at home, you will have to purchase the unlimited internet package. 

Just to be clear on one point:

If you have the unlimited internet (so no minutes worries) and want to communicate with another onboard iphone, how does that work? You have internet, not cell service.

How would texting work?

Is there a voice option?

[junieh]

If you have unlimited internet, you can just use a regular internet based service such as WhatsApp / Messenger / Facetime etc.

[marktwothousand]

I have found that for those who have the NCL $9.95 messaging package, you can’t count on messages showing up on the other person’s phone unless they manually check the NCL app…however! If you use the messaging app’s phone feature to reach them, the call usually punches through and alerts them immediately.

 

So if you need to get someone’s attention right away, phoning through the app is usually the most reliable way. 
 

and as others have said, you get a special phone number in the app, which you can phone from anyone else in the app, or from room-to-app, or even phone ship’s services from the app. 

[junieh]

That sounds good enough for us. As long as the call function works fine, that will do for us. Now I need to work out how to give consent so my 12 year old son can use the app. This is what NCL says: "To grant permission, a parent must log into the app with their information, open the main menu and navigate to the Preference Centre, select the CHILD ACCESS menu option, and follow the instructions." But I can't find the Preference Centre on my app. I wonder of this is something that will be visible onboard?