ohh my my!!! Roaming charges on cruise

[LorrieB]

On our cruise my husband left his cell phone in the car and I brought mine. I turned it off and put it in the safe. Then..... Hurricane Ike hit and we were redirected to New Orleans a day late. I'm glad I had my phone so we could call relatives to let them know we were okay and that we would be delayed in getting home. My husband's phone was destroyed along with our vehicle which was parked in Lot B of the Port of Galveston which was under 8 feet of water. So, we will both carry our phones but turn them off. And, we have AT&T. I actually turned my phone on several times to see when we went back to a US Cell Tower. While you are on the ship your cellphone reads something like SeaCell or Cellsea. It is easy to distinguish between the cell towers and the ships towers. The difference in price is HUGE!!!!!!!!!

[falkcor]

Did you have the World Traveler plan activated also???? This info is so helpful as I also have a Blackberry Curve 8310...

 

yup, at least i think that's what it was called (it was some time ago). basically, i explained that i needed to be able to use it, wherever i was internationally, and they directed what changes needed to be made to my plan.

[ksatte03]

I have T-Mobile, don't have a Sidekick, but I have a Blackberry.

 

Awesome info! You rock! ;)

[big_duck]

Verizon...I recieved some texts but when I called Verizon I was told yep you are charged even if your not using it..its roaming and those roaming charges apply as long as your phone is on :eek:

147.00 :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

I do have a Pre....and I called Sprint last week to inquire and be listed for international/ship......I was told about the price (I forgot) to send and receive calls, but nothing was mentioned about being charged for just having the phone on.....

I will call again today....

 

When we were on a Mexican Riviera cruise this past March, I had my phone on (Verizon)...there, unfortunately there was a death in the family while I was on board. There were quite a few calls back and forth.

I had no roaming charges.

 

Isn't that weird??? :confused::confused:

 

We were scared to DEATH waiting for the phone bill and it was normal when it came in.

 

 

I won't have my phone on in the Caribbean.....I seriously don't think I'll be lucky like that ever again.

 

$149 @ $2.49 works out to about an hour of connect time. Unless the phone was only on for 1 hour, these aren't roaming charges, they are charges for incoming missed calls and voice mail.

[Wennfred]

Verizon...I recieved some texts but when I called Verizon I was told yep you are charged even if your not using it..its roaming and those roaming charges apply as long as your phone is on :eek:

147.00 :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Yep, I have mentioned this before about leaving your phone on, mine is off and locked inside the safe and there is no need to use it until the ship returns.

 

I always laugh to myself when I see these young kids running around the ship chatting away on the cells.

 

 

Fred

[jxkemerling]

Just got off the phone with ATT and they stated its .50 for text while at sea thats out going and incoming and 1.30 to send photo text.

[MicksMom]

We have Verizon & found that texting is the best way to check in. I agree that no phone would be great but due to health issues with my dad, I needed to be in contact with my mom. Teen DD taught her how to read & reply to texts. I would send a text about the same time each day & leave my phone on long enough for her to reply "all ok" or "call" - this worked great for us. Total cost was a couple dollars. We did call Verizon ahead of time to activate international calling. We also blocked DD's texting for the entire week. No charge for this, just called the day before & set it up.

[camreesmom]

I always laugh to myself when I see these young kids running around the ship chatting away on the cells.

Fred

 

I had to bust DS17's bubble earlier this week. He thought he was going to be able to text his GF as usual while we're on the cruise. I am taking all cell phones and putting them in the safe once we're on the ship. I'll give them back when we are back in Galveston.

[amylee1178]

I do have a Pre....and I called Sprint last week to inquire and be listed for international/ship......I was told about the price (I forgot) to send and receive calls, but nothing was mentioned about being charged for just having the phone on.....

I will call again today....

 

The Pre is an updated Centro/Treo, which does not work on cruise ships. Even if you have it on there isn't a signal. :/

[party-of-5-ny]

My husband works for AT&T, no charges unless you USE your phone, even checking your voice mail or reading texts. There are no charges for "just having your phone on". Period.

[camreesmom]

The Pre is an updated Centro/Treo, which does not work on cruise ships. Even if you have it on there isn't a signal. :/

 

I've used my Centro on both Royal Caribbean & Carnival without any problems. In fact on the Ecstasy last year, I used it quite a bit since DH wasn't with me.

[cruisinbuddy]

From one company in Canada, you only have roaming charges if you use the phone. Last cruise it worked out to @ $2.00 a minute to talk.

[Jeans*Fanatic]

This all makes me nuts! So many different scenarios and experiences! Why can't all the cell phone companies do the same thing?! Ok, I know, that is a silly expectation, but it really would be so much easier. It seems we all got different answers from our individual carriers!

 

OP, I am so sorry you had that happen! I wish you had been able to read about it here before you left. But, I also know it is impossible to read every post on this site, and sometimes certain posts are missed. I found this site and soaked up every word I could find before I cruised. But I only had 3 weeks to do so, and I am a very busy person as most people are, so it is just luck that I happened to see a post about phone costs before I took my cruise.

 

I knew enough to realize there would be additional costs, but I really didn't know all the details until I read here. The two best pieces of advice I read were: call your individual carrier before you leave, and put your phone in airplane mode while on the ship. (I would add a third bit of advice to that: repeat back to the rep what he is telling you to ensure you understood it correctly, and then write it all down so you don't forget. Also get his/her name and employee ID number in case he misinformed you.)

 

I did all of the above, and did not incur any extra costs. My carrier (Sprint) told me that even with the phone turned off - not in airplane mode, just turned off - if someone called me and left a voice mail, I would still be charged $2.49 a minute. So, if one person left me a rambling 5 minute voicemail, it would have cost me over $12. Imagine a couple of dozen such voicemails! :eek:

 

The rep explained this happens because: even when the phone is turned off, a voicemail can still be left on the phone, and when that happens, the phone is connecting to the nearest tower, which is the ship's tower while in international waters. The ship charges the cell phone company for this connection, so the cell phone company in turn charges the customer. It works the same way when using the land towers in foreign countries.

 

So, the best thing to do if you don't want those charges, is to put the phone in airplane mode - which prevents any connection to your phone whatsoever. I called all my loved ones while I was standing in line to board the ship, and then I put my phone in airplane mode, where it stayed for the duration of the cruise. When I got back into port, I put it back in regular mode and saw that I had many vm's, all of which would have cost me had I not known to use airplane mode.

 

Sorry this is so long, but I feel this is such an important message for those of us who cannot afford surprise charges while on vacation. I guess the moral of all of these stories is that anyone traveling, who cannot afford any surprises, should research every possible detail before leaving.

 

Thanks for breaking this down!!! Okay, I don't know where my airplane mode feature is on my Black Jack II. Would anyone happen to know??? I would really appreciate it.

[Jeans*Fanatic]

If I decided to get the International Calling feature setup on my account, how many days, months in advance before my cruise should I put it on my plan?

[time11130]

All of this is so confusing! I just spoke with my AT&T Rep and she told me that we had to set up the international package in order to send or receive text messages from back home while on our cruise and then it is .50 a message each way! I have to go back into the store on friday; maybe I will ask another person. On our last cruise we received several messages from home and we were not charged anything extra. We did not respond back, my husband is a volunteer Fire Fighter and he receives all of the 911 dispatch calls on his phone... no matter where we are! On this vacation I would like to keep in touch with Daughter that is staying home, just in case of an emergency.

Lisa

[FantasyLineAddict]

If I decided to get the International Calling feature setup on my account, how many days, months in advance before my cruise should I put it on my plan?

 

It usually takes effect instantly and is usually free, although sometimes requires an additional credit approval. The reason people don't often have it activated all the time is because your phone could get stolen and rack up a big bill pretty quickly in international calls if it landed in the right(wrong) hands.

[AryMay]

I called Sprint today to make sure I understood their policies concerning international phone usage. Basically here is what I learned as it pertains to our Freedom cruise:

 

• Cost on the ship is $2.49/minute and 20 cents per text (sending and receiving).
  
• Cost in Mexico: $1.69/minute, international text not available
  
• Cost Rica & Panama: Phone will not work BUT if by chance it does cost would be $2.29/minute.
  

 

I ask multiple times that if I turned on my phone would I incur any cost for the phone receiving voice messages. Each time she said no. She did say this applies to Sprint phones. She mentioned a Nextel phone WOULD get charged in this case. (Sprint & Nextel are both the same company??)

 

At the end of the conversation I said "so texting would be the best and cheapest method to communicate from the ship?" The reply...yes "if" it works. :confused:

 

For the most part I will keep my phone turned off and in airplane mode, but will probably check for any texts from the kids a couple of times.

 

One other bit of information...she said checking voice mail using the one button "speed dial" may not connect. Instead she suggested dialing my own phone number and entering my password to access my voice mail. She also went through the process of dialing the U.S. from Mexico (you must enter 00 before 1+area code+number.)

 

She offered to send a follow-up email with all that we had discussed...but it never came. Uggghhh. :(

 

In case anyone is interested the rep gave me these two phone numbers to call international support directly:

 

From U.S. tollfree 1-888-226-7212

Outside U.S. 1-817-698-4199

[ronrythm]

On a cruise about a year ago, some kids at my dinner table the first night were texting each other. I said that could get to expensive. They said oh no we have unlimited texting. I asked if that applied to international roaming. They looked at me with blank expressions, but their father. looked startled. The next day out on the deck I ran into the father. He thanked me for mentioning it, as he had gone online and checked. Those text messages were costing .50 to send and .50 to receive. They had spent over $300:eek: texting eachother from one place on the ship to another. The cell phones were now locked in his safe. Just think if he'd have waited until they got their bill after they got back home. They could have had $2000+ in cell phone charges.

It pays to check

Enjoy

Ron

[dan40]

As I understand cell phones, even if turned off, they are being tracked from cell tower to cell tower. Both sending and receiving. So maybe that happens with the ships satellite connection too. I absolutely DO NOT use my phone on a cruise. Its off and locked in the safe. After one 10 day cruise, I take the phone out of the safe at disembarkation time. It is stone dead! [No charger along since it won't be used.] I think, forgetful old fart, you left it on for 10 days.. Next cruise 12 days, I double checked that I turned it off. Looked at it in the safe after a couple of days, OFF. End of cruise,,,,,stone dead [different phone from the first cruise] No charges ever showed up so the room steward wasn't calling Manila on my dime.:D Next cruise, I pop the back, pull out the batt, and lock all in safe. End of cruise a fully charged phone when reassembled.

 

 

If you get an Email advising you to not eat canned pork due to swine flu,

 

IGNORE IT!

 

Its just Spam.

[kdg51]

My friends both had Verizon and called home while on the ship to say hi and wish someone a Happy Birthday. Other people could not hear them on several attempts. They were charged at $2.49 per minute for each attempt to talk to someone and Verizon would not remove the charges because they were billed from the other carrier. I had my Tracfone at the time and that worked fine picking up the nearest carrier. Too bad they caught on and are able to disable the sim card. I leave it off now not wanting to go through the hassle of replacing the sim card and explaining how it happened. :eek:

[scrim67]

I have my TWITTER, FACEBOOK and GMAIL accounts setup so any alerts are forwarded to my cell phone and appear as text msgs.

 

I will have to remember to temporarily turnoff all of this next time I cruise in December.

 

scrim

[rednose83]

Same here! All 4 phones go into the safe as soon as we hit the cabin. It is pretty funny watching dd17 go thru withdrawal those first few hours. This is a young lady who sends/receives over 7,000 texts a month!:eek: Luckily we have unlimited texting on our plan - LOL.

 

Wow! and I thought my 3500 was bad....

[medic123]

I have an elderly sick father. I alway leave my personal At&T phone on. I am only charged for calls I answer or make. I also have a Nextel Blackberry for work and was suprised to find better nextel service in Cozumel than at home.:confused: No additional charges for direct connect calls or recieving data while in Coz, I really enjoyed sitting on my balcony in port and laughing at all those people hard at work at home. This was last November and still no additional charge. My boss is a workaholic, cruiser and thrifty, he always checks in with everyone while in Mexico since there is no additional charge.

[alphakitty]

Wow...all I can say is I've used my cell phone on most cruises to keep in touch with home and all I've ever been charged is the $2.49/minute that Cellular At Sea charges. I have Verizon service with International Dialing enabled. I've never been charged roaming over and above this $2.49 per minute. I always left the phone on, though I don't get voice messages because no one calls me. :D

[Burchrod]

For those who use their phones for the clock feature....our phones did strange things two weeks ago on the Fascination.

My son's phone thought it was 6 hours earlier than it actually was. It also thought it was November, 1999.

My husband's phone was also six hours off but it thought it was 1980!!!!

We thought we were going back in time..........