Cell Service While In Canada
Pretty much every cruise from Seattle to Alaska makes at least one stop in Canada. If you use your phone here, you will connect to Canadian towers and have to pay international roaming. The big exception is T-Mobile, which includes calls from Canada and Mexico in its plans. Keep in mind as well that cell providers have international plans that you can purchase for one month which will help bring your per-minute prices down.
Make Sure To Put Your Phone On Airplane Mode To Avoid Expensive Roaming Charges
Cellular rates at sea can sneak up on you, and you can easily rack up a $500 roaming bill.
Even if you’re not actively on your phone, most are still using data, so make sure to set yours on airplane mode to avoid roaming charges.
Really, unless you’re using your phone for photos or accessing the ship’s WiFi, just turn it off.
Immediately Removing The Automatic Gratuity Affects Many Staff Members
On most cruise ships, there is a preset daily gratuity charged per passenger unless it’s removed at the guest-services desk.
I see so many people come on board and immediately remove the charge, but this fee is usually split between your housekeeping, dining, and cleaning staff. It is essential to their jobs and affects their livelihoods.
I’d recommend waiting until the end of the cruise to make sure you’re happy with the service instead of removing it on day one.
You can also increase or decrease the amount instead of cutting it.
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Tips That Will Help You Text On A Cruise Ship For Free
1. Check if your carrier provides international coverage
The average smartphone today can function anywhere in the world. However, its important to confirm that your carrier provides services beyond borders. Most carriers have this information showcased on their websites. This allows you to determine if your device will still work once youre overseas.
Confirm that the areas covered have access to calls, texts, and the internet. You may be surprised to find out that the locations youll be traveling to are all covered. This will be of great benefit to you and your family because youll be able to travel on a cruise ship without having to buy new plans or change anything.
If your carrier doesnt offer services overseas, consider moving to one that does to cater for your traveling needs so you can text for free from a cruise ship.
2. Avoid phone calls
Phone calls cost a lot more than texts. Unless you really want to get in touch with your family and friends, its best that you keep away from making phone calls. This is because international plans could put you back a couple of hundred dollars.
Most rates start at between $25 and $30, and this barely includes any minutes for calling.
To get an opportunity to make calls, most service providers charge $40 and above with limited data plans. You may opt to buy a local sim card, but this will only benefit you if youre well-prepared and know how to work your phone using foreign cell phone services.
5. Download Ship Mate
What Is The Wi
Every ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet is Wi-Fi enabled. To use the internet at sea on your personal device , you will need to purchase an internet package in addition to paying a onetime activation fee.
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Among the many package options, cruisers on all Norwegian ships are able to purchase unlimited packages for the entire sailing — $29.99 per day for unlimited internet usage on sailings up to 12 days long, and $24.99 per day for sailings 13 days or longer.
If you don’t want an unlimited plan your choices are as follows:
Norwegian Breakaway is the only ship offering plans that charge for data used, rather than time spent online. Those rates are $59 for 300 megabytes or $125 for 1,000 megabytes.
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The rest of the Norwegian fleet offers internet packages based on minutes. Excluding Norwegian Sky, internet package rates are $75 for 100 minutes or $125 for 250 minutes. Norwegian Sky charges exclusive rates of $39 for 60 minutes or $55 for 100 minutes.
Norwegian’s long-running Free at Sea promotion includes a number of value-added perks depending on which cabin category you book. One of the perks offered is a complimentary 250-minute internet plan.
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At& t Cruise Ship Packages
AT& T provides coverage while at sea. But International Day Pass and/or Passport packages do not apply to cruise ships. Only AT& T cruise packages will cover usage aboard cruise ships. And, only certain cruise ships are covered. You can find a current list of included cruise ships at att.com/cruisehips.
Cruise ship package rates apply only when you are more than 12 miles from port. Once within the 12 mile zone, standard roaming rates for that country apply. If you sail on a non-qualifying ship, any cellular use will be billed at pay-per-use rates.
If you do procure a cruise package, your usage on shore may also be included. Certain ports in Canada, Mexico and most Caribbean countries will be covered.
Packages last for 30 days and automatically expire. Even though your cruise may last less than 30 days, no proration is available.
Plan Options
AT& T offers three different options for cellular coverage on cruise ships: Talk & Text, Talk, Text & Data, and Pay-Per-Use Calling. Packages are available on a per-line basis. Each device must have its own package.
AT& T cruise package allowances and overage rates for usage on-ship only apply when Cellular at Sea, Nor-18, or 901-18 displays on your device.
How Can I Chat Or Text Friends And Family Onboard
One of the most common concerns I hear about is someone going on a cruise who wants to stay in contact with someone else onboard, or even back at home.
The simplest approach is to buy a Voom internet package that can support enough devices at once to be able to text or chat via your preferred app. Popular choices are iMessage, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
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Download The Connect@sea App
This app uses the ships wireless service, so youll still have to buy a package. But the app allows for ship-to-shore, shore-to-ship, and onboard calling and texting. If you want to be accessible at all times, download this app to your Apple or Android device. To use it, you must purchase calling credits, but thats cheaper than purchasing a calling and data plan from your provider if you intend to use your phone frequently.
Dressing Down On Formal Night Limits Your Dining Options
Even though walking through the promenade in shorts is your choice, many guests aren’t aware that there’s usually a formal evening on cruises.
Most passengers don evening gowns and suits on formal night, and I’ve met cruisers who wished they would’ve packed at least one nice item besides their Margaritaville shirt, of course.
Passengers not formally dressed on this evening aren’t allowed to eat in the main dining rooms, though the buffet is open to everyone.
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Holland America Line Navigator
Cruisers can use the Navigator app while on their cruise to plan each day by saving activities to a personalized daily schedule, explore and book shore excursions, view restaurant menus and make dinner reservations, view spa treatments and check their onboard expenses. A chat feature enables people to communicate with each other for free while onboard, as well. Notifications can be set up to send reminders and alerts for reservations and incoming messages.
On select ships, cruisers can also review, purchase and share their cruise photos. Anyone who forgets to download the Navigator app prior to embarking can download it once on board free of charge without using internet minutes.
Find Alternatives To Reach Out
You have to be prepared for emergencies at all times. Memorize all the emergency numbers or carry a chit of the important numbers at all times. That way, you can contact your beloved in case of a delay, layoff or an emergency. Use your fellow cruisers phone to get in touch with the cruise operators in case of any trouble.
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Cell Service While In Ports
Lets start by discussing your cell service while in port. If you are in a Canadian port such as Vancouver or Victoria, then you will be connecting to Canadian cell towers. Unless you have international plan or a provider like T-Mobile who allows you to call in Canada at no additional charge, then you are going to be charged for international roaming.
Where you might run into an issue is with coverage. Within the port cities themselves, you should be fine on coverage, even getting 4G data in many areas. Traveling outside of the ports will likely cause you to drop signal quickly, especially if taking an excursion to the wilderness.
In addition, your coverage is going to depend on your cell service provider. According to their coverage maps, each company offers service in the Alaskan ports. You can see, however, that coverage definitely varies, with T-Mobile and AT& T offering the widest service.
What If I Accidentally Use Roaming Services While On Board
Its up to you to make sure your phone settings are adjusted to keep you from roaming at sea. Expect an alert via SMS text that youre headed into roaming territory, but beyond that, service providers wont necessarily notify you of overages and fees youll just be surprised with a large charge on your next bill.
Keep a watchful eye on your airplane mode setting, ensuring its always on when youre on board your cruise ship. If you forget, you wont be charged for incoming calls you dont accept, but some service providers will charge for unread text messages that arrive while your phone is roaming.
Use the ships Wi-Fi to monitor usage on your service providers app. If something seems off, contact the service providers customer service.
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Tips For Conserving Data Usage
- Turn off all automatic updates in the Play Store and App Store
- Turn off all automatic downloads for email, music, apps and updates
- Pause auto synchronizations and cloud backups
- Stop apps set for automatic background refresh
- Turn off automatic uploads for photos
- Disable location services
- Turn off auto software updates
- Check social media settings disable or downgrade any auto image preview and video autoplay.
Cellphones Are No Longer Optional Onboard Cruises Heres Why
Once upon a time, cruisers would board their ships, put their cellphone in their cabin safe, and forget about it for the duration of the cruise. Now with Covid requiring more touchless interactions and cruise lines eliminating paper waste onboard, a cellphone is a key travel accessory your clients will want to carry at all times.
This new reliance on cellphones and app usage onboard may be an adjustment for older travelers. But as I discovered on a recent cruise on Holland Americas Rotterdam, technology can improve the cruise experience, eliminating wait times, paper clutter, and other inconveniences. Here are a few ways cruise lines are using apps, ensuring you must always have your cellphone with you onboard.
Bar and restaurant menusOnboard Rotterdam, I was never handed a paper menu, thanks to Covid. Instead, signs with QR codes sit on every dining table and bar. You can access the menu via these codes or through the restaurant section of the Navigator app. Most venues will give you a traditional menu if you ask, but the assumption is youll use your phone.
While there is something nice about holding a weighty menu in your hands, its incredibly convenient to plan your order in advance or peruse the main dining room menu from anywhere on the ship.
Tour tickets are delivered via the app, as well, so you dont need to keep track of paper tickets when you go ashore. The shore excursion staff will quickly scan the code on your phone to check you in for your tour.
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What About Sending And Receiving Text Messages
Youll be able to send and receive text messages while connected to the ships network. Youll usually be charged the pay-per-text international rate unless you purchase a package from your carrier. Youll be charged either by deducting from your monthly limit or a set fee per message. Youll also pay for incoming messages you receive while on the ships network.
Set Boundaries To Your Expectations
Cruise ship internet will yield different results depending on the time of the day and the number of users. It also depends on the water territory the ship is cruising through. Expect spotty network in certain areas. Cruise ships directly rely on satellites for internet. Anticipate some congestion during peak hours of usage.
The above pointers will help you use your cell phone on a cruise ship in the right way.
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Check The Packages With Your Service Provider
Apart from checking in with the cruise line, get in touch with your service provider to check out their offers. Major wireless providers have reasonable cruise roaming rates. Sign up for a suitable plan before you depart for your vacation. Avail data, messaging and calling plans that are similar to the normal packages.
Important Things To Remember When Using Your Phone On A Cruise
It’s important to bear in mind the following information before stepping aboard your cruise ship:
When travelling by cruise, getting contact with the outside world can be difficult through Wi-Fi or phone signal. However, this could even be to your advantage, allowing you to sit back and relax without the interruptions of work or day-to-day life!
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Can I Use The Internet On My Phone
Using data while roaming can be quite expensive. I recommend putting your phone in airplane mode as soon as your ship sets sail. Even when in port, the costs can quickly accumulate. Checking with your carrier for an international data plan will be your best option. You may be limited by the amount of data you can use per day and may be charged for any overages. Most cruise lines now offer data packages. Carnival offers unlimited access depending on the package you choose, but MSC offers a finite package of data. Check your cruise lines online planner to see what internet options they offer. I usually only need enough for social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. Check to see if your cruise lines internet package will allow voice calls on Facebook and Whatsapp.
Some ports will have free Wi-Fi in the plaza area and some bars and restaurants will offer free Wi-Fi to their patrons if you decide you dont want to purchase any of the ships internet options.
When Youre Off The Ship
- Your cruise option covers you on land in Mexico, Canada, and select Caribbean islands. In other places, international pay-per-use talk, text, and data rates apply. But you can save if you have International Day Pass, Passport, or a similar plan for international travel.
- If you also have International Day Pass or Passport on your devices, youll be charged those rates instead of the cruise option rates when youre in:
- Mexico, Canada, or select Caribbean islands
- A country covered by International Day Pass or Passport
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Download The Apps Beforehand
Realize that you have limited data on the cruise. If you are in the middle of the ocean, downloading applications, games, and upgrading your system is not an option. Despite the internet setup, there could be certain glitches. Slow internet and spotty network in certain areas is a common occurrence.
Many Guests Don’t Know That They Can Bring Their Own Wine On The Ship
While many people think no outside alcohol is permitted on the ship, many major cruise lines allow passengers over the age of 21 to bring a bottle or two of wine on boarding day, so you can stop smuggling drinks in empty mouthwash bottles.
Some terminals will even sell wine to boarding travelers.
If you buy alcohol in a port, you’ll have to check it upon reentering the ship, and it’ll be delivered to your room on the last night.
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Will I Get Phone Signal On A Cruise
The truth is that phone signal is intermittent on a cruise. When you do receive signal, this will be from an at-sea provider operated by the company you’re sailing with. Your phone service will charge you roaming charges for using this signal, but these exact rates will be different depending on your carrier.
When you are in port your mobile will operate from the carrier of the country that you are visiting, so you may not be able to access this depending on your mobile plan. If you want to rely on roaming charges for this, the cost will vary from country to country and will depend on your provider so contact them and make sure you understand the costs and extra charges before you step aboard. Most ships are built with Wireless Maritime Services or Cellular at Sea to provide mobile signal for passengers onboard.
Know Your Package Limitations
Make sure you understand the details of your roaming plan to avoid over usage. Do your homework and be conscious of the calling and internet limitations of your plan. Assess the cities you can switch off your airplane mode in and stay within your limitations. Unreasonably exorbitant prices will be charged if you exceed your plan limit.
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