AT&T International pass - free roaming $10/day - On a day at sea in Bahamas, anyone try?

[SAmome]

I know I'll be fine at GSC and Nassau but while floating around in the Bahamas, if I'm able to get signal and text etc, can I be pretty sure I won't be charged big fees b/c connects to the ships cellular?  Anyone try? 

 

Is there a way to tell the phone to ignore the ships "cellular" and only use cellular if you can pick up a tower from land in the Bahamas?

 

Thanks.

[Karaboudjan]

1 hour ago, SAmome said:

I know I'll be fine at GSC and Nassau but while floating around in the Bahamas, if I'm able to get signal and text etc, can I be pretty sure I won't be charged big fees b/c connects to the ships cellular?  Anyone try? 

 

Is there a way to tell the phone to ignore the ships "cellular" and only use cellular if you can pick up a tower from land in the Bahamas?

 

Thanks.

 

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but I used a similar plan (not AT&T) in New Zealand and when I had to make some calls from the ship while in port the only network that I was prompted to connect to was the NZ service.  If there was some NCL "cellular" service I don't know how I would have even connected to it...

 

 

[SAmome]

19 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but I used a similar plan (not AT&T) in New Zealand and when I had to make some calls from the ship while in port the only network that I was prompted to connect to was the NZ service.  If there was some NCL "cellular" service I don't know how I would have even connected to it...

 

 

Thanks.  I think the ships cellular ($$$) gets turned off in port so people can't accidently end up on it.  Or that's what I think I read back in the day.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, SAmome said:

I know I'll be fine at GSC and Nassau but while floating around in the Bahamas, if I'm able to get signal and text etc, can I be pretty sure I won't be charged big fees b/c connects to the ships cellular?  Anyone try? 

 

Is there a way to tell the phone to ignore the ships "cellular" and only use cellular if you can pick up a tower from land in the Bahamas?

 

Thanks.

When you are at sea, the ship will turn on its cell tower once you are about 2 miles from shore and can’t get a land cell tower. Any time you are at floating around the Bahamas, you wouldn’t be able close enough to connect to a land tower. 
 

AT&T (not the cruise line) will charge you $3/minute to talk, $0.50 for each text message, $1.30 for a message with photo or video, and $2.05/MB for data. (Figure it will cost you a couple bucks for every 6-8 emails you get unless people send you photos and videos in which case one email could cost you $10). 
 

Even if you don’t get email, all of those sneaky apps on your phone which help you with information are constantly using your connection and running up bills. 
 

There is no way to tell your phone to selectively connect to international carriers. Just onto airplane mode. 
 

Just go into airplane mode when you are leaving port. If you forget,,, AT&T will be very happy. 

Edited May 7 by BirdTravels

[hallux]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Just go into airplane mode when you are leaving port.

This is the way.  If you want to prevent connecting to the CellularAtSea 'tower' on the ship or any land-based towers that may be in range, airplane mode is your friend @SAmome

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

Used to be that the International Calling Plans for AT&T did NOT include while on a cruise ship.  So, check the fine print, lest you be unpleasantly surprised!  I'm a firm advocate of airplane mode, too!  Save your calls for when you are on land, if you get the plan.

[BirdTravels]

If you have a wifi package, you can use your AT&T phone for wifi calling. Works o.k., not great. 

 

AT&T sells a cruise ship plan for $100 for unlimited calls and text. It has a small amount of data, which you need to be very careful to monitor. I could blow through the included data in a few hours. 

[TheycallmeFlip]

I used AT&Ts plan last year on a cruise to Bermuda and they didn't set my plan up right Then they tried charging all these roaming fees.  My wife who stayed home called them.  We straightened it out the bill when I got home.  Airplane mode is definitely your friend with the plan.

 

Flip

Edited May 8 by TheycallmeFlip

[blackwing]

On 5/7/2024 at 1:46 PM, BirdTravels said:

When you are at sea, the ship will turn on its cell tower once you are about 2 miles from shore and can’t get a land cell tower. Any time you are at floating around the Bahamas, you wouldn’t be able close enough to connect to a land tower. 
 

AT&T (not the cruise line) will charge you $3/minute to talk, $0.50 for each text message, $1.30 for a message with photo or video, and $2.05/MB for data. (Figure it will cost you a couple bucks for every 6-8 emails you get unless people send you photos and videos in which case one email could cost you $10). 
 

Even if you don’t get email, all of those sneaky apps on your phone which help you with information are constantly using your connection and running up bills. 
 

There is no way to tell your phone to selectively connect to international carriers. Just onto airplane mode. 
 

Just go into airplane mode when you are leaving port. If you forget,,, AT&T will be very happy. 

Yep.  We have AT&T... if you leave your roaming on when the ship leaves port, I got a text message warning me that the ship was not included in the $10 International Day Pass and that I would be charged roaming.  I went into airplane mode.  My son was elsewhere, saw a text message pop up while he was playing some online game, swiped it away.  He owed us $50 after we got home.

[mjkacmom]

My family of 7 have had the Verizon travel pass for many years, airplane mode on the ship.

[Mike A]

I have used the AT&T $10 International plan, and it worked perfectly on the Gem (2017) in the Bahamas and the Joy (2022) in Bermuda. As soon as we were a few miles offshore. The cellular service was available and there was no longer an ability to pick up the ships cellular. I also had Unlimited Premium Wi-Fi on the ship at sea and used Wi-Fi calling. It worked great for me for calls and texting. Not so much streaming.

[PartyPlannerLady]

free roaming $10/day - On a day?

 

OK how is something that cost $10 a day, free?  Must be new math!  Did you actually mean UNLIMITED roaming?

[ChiefMateJRK]

Has anybody recently used an NCL ship's supposed "cell tower?"  How much were you charged by your provider?  With cheap/free internet and wi-fi calling, I'm not sure why I would ever need to use a ship's cellular.  I've just seen the blurb in the daily about making phone calls from your room for $4.99 per minute.  That's great if you have an emergency and the wi-fi is down (again).  Otherwise, not so much.