Blackberry TMobile Questions - very long (sorry)

[jend**]

I'm taking my Blackberry Curve with me on a European cruise, and I am confused about costs incurred while on the ship. I added worldwide roaming to my plan, plus the $20 unlimited international email. I understand the roaming costs for calls made while off of the ship, but I am still very confused about charges associated with using the phone on the ship.

First, how do you disable the phone from receiving calls while on the ship - I do not want to be charged for voicemails, etc, but I do want to be able to send/receive emails and use BB messenger.

Second - emailing on ship: I understand that I have unlimited emailing included in the $20 add on plan. How do I enable emailing on the ship, and is there any way that I will be charged somehow by the ship for emailing? I don't understand how my phone can be "connected" to allow emailing, but "disabled" from receiving calls.

Third - BB Messenger: I spoke to TMobile BB support and was told that there is absolutely no charge for using BB messenger. However, I have read on the internet that there is charge. Does anyone know the answer?

Thanks!!!!

[garycarla]

All intl and world plans are of no value while on the ship. Other countries may work as advertised, but not on the ship.

 

Most of the carriers charge 2.49 a minute for cell calls on the ship, except t-mobile that rips you off at $5 a minute.

 

Internet access on the ship is via the ships system, not t-mobile or any other normal carrier. You then of course have to pay them at $.40 to $.75 per minute.

 

How to NOT get phone calls while on board? Almost all phones have what is called airplane mode meaning it turns off the "radio" portion and will not receive phone calls.

[CRUZIN TOM]

When you land at each foreign port, your phone will sync with the local service. Typical roaming charges are $2.25 and up depending on the port. Plus minute usage.:)

[basor]

I suggest that you check one of the online Blackberry support web sites (like Crackberry) for answers to how to use/work your phone in Europe. They are fantastic about answering all technical questions about using a Blackberry.

[crew mom]

I passed your questions on to DS. He is currently traveling from Malaysia to the UK so I may not have an answer for you today. He's using a Blackberry now and it's been worth it for him. He has International calling on his plan. I know that he is able to send & receive e-mails on board without incurring additional charges since it is data transfer. Text messages have additional charges so we don't text. We e-mail back and forth like messaging instead.

 

Hope to have some answers for you soon.

[crew mom]

DS says (via email from his Blackberry in Dubai)

 

If you have the unlimited data for roaming, everything should be fine. As for phone calls, it's just like at home with peak times. It can ring and ring all it wants but until you connect it, you won't be charged. You can set your phone to silent / vibrate so as to not hear it ring.

 

Voice mail also doesn't count as it is stored in a central location not on the physical phone. As long as you do not call to retrieve your voice mail you won't be charged.

 

All calls placed from a cell phone on board, or answered on board, will be charged through your service provider NOT by NCL.

 

BB messenger is also free as it is data.

 

To avoid charges DON'T PRESS TALK!!! :D

 

Hope this helps.

[jend**]

thank you so much for the info. after spending 3 hours today calling tmobile 6 times, i finally learned that there is no unlimited international data package available from tmobile, and as a result, i will be charged for BB Messenger messages at $15 per megabyte while in europe. however, it appears that BB Messenger messages are quite small, so hopefully i will not incur more than $30 total in BB Messenger charges.

 

as a follow-up, for anyone from the US who is using a BB on an international cruise, here is what i learned from tmobile today: in order to avoid getting charged for phone calls while on the ship (even if you do not answer the phone), it is best to forward all of your calls. to do this, click on the phone icon, click the menu button, click options, click call forwarding, then make sure the "for all calls" option is selected and change the "do not forward" to the 1-805-# (by clicking on the "do not forward" and selecting the pre-set 1-805 #), then click save (to disable call forwarding, just change the "for all calls" # to "do not forward" and then click save).

 

also, for about $20 (which is prorated for the amount of time you leave this feature added on your plan), you can send and receive unlimited email on your BB while you are out of the US. This is for email only; phone calls, texts, and BB Messenger are NOT included. tmobile assured me that there are no additional roaming charges associated with the email, regardless of whether i'm emailing on the ship or while in port.

[crew mom]

Interesting that tmobile is so different. DS has ATT.

 

DS has been in the Baltics for a couple of months now, in India over Christmas, and just in Malaysia and other then paying a flat fee for international roaming data and calls, doesn't have any additional charges on his phone for BB messenger or e-mails. He's actually paying less now and getting more service then he did before getting the Blackberry.

 

Guess it's the differences in the companies. Sorry about that. Guess the info doesn't help for you. :(