3 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Our regular T Mobile plan works great in Europe - service is quite good, costs very reasonable, texts free, etc. 

Great to hear!   We are switching from Verizon to T-Mobile next week and saving about $600 per year and what seems like better service.

9 hours ago, Cyberchomp said:

It probably helps that T-Mobile is owned by Deutche Telekom, one of Europe's biggest telecommunications providers, so your T-M phone ought to work over there.

That makes perfect sense especially if tied into their network.

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Latest update (per Wall Street Journal – sorry, paywall):

SpaceX, T-Mobile to Connect Satellites to Cellphones in Remote Areas

 

“It means no dead zones anywhere in the world for your cellphones,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at an event at SpaceX’s facility in Texas.

Very interesting video.  Thanks for sharing!

3 hours ago, Fam_Cruise said:

I use my phone a lot when traveling and recently switched to T-Mobile after being with AT&T forever. When AT&T got rid of their International Passport plans and wanted $10 a day I said no way. 
 

A much better roaming deal with T-Mobile is their 15GB International Pass which gives you 15GB of high speed data over 30 days with unlimited texting and calling for $50 USD. I generally do 30 day trips so that comes to $1.67/day which can’t be beat IMO. And it works in Turkey according to T-Mobile. I’ll find out as I’ll be in Turkey in a couple weeks.  Note: free 2G data is more restrictive in that respect 

This sounds like a great option for our upcoming back2back cruises from Ravenna through the Greek Islands and on through the Suez Canal to Dubai.  Thanks for the information!  I will check it out at our local T Mobile store.

1 hour ago, the mice said:

We have T-Mobile's senior Magenta Max 2 line plan which is $90 taxes included.  We moved over from Sprint and we love the international coverage which we had from Sprint. but which is even better with T-M. 

No one has mentioned it but you also get Netflix standard (2 lines) included.   Plus we have gotten offers for 1 year free of Paramount+, one year free of Apple TV+ and assorted other freebies from T-Mobile Tuesdays - things like free Shutterfly 8x11 albums, free magazine subscriptions, free coffees, etc.   And you can get these bennies on both lines.   

I think there is also free in-flight Wi-Fi connection for a year but need to revisit the T-Mobile store to check.

1 hour ago, Mercruiser said:

I'm a cheapskate when it comes to cellular plans (more money for cruising that way :). Right now I'm on Visible (Verizon owned discount carrier), paying $25/month for unlimited everything in the USA only - no international roaming. 

 

I'm planning to switch carriers in January for my upcoming Azamara cruise from Peru to Miami, followed by a couple more Europe cruises next summer.  This thread reminded me to read up on international roaming plans again. Back in 2018, I did not pick T-Mobile because their Europe data speeds were very slow. Maybe that has improved now that it's 2022?

 

Here are the two relevant T-Mobile web pages:

 

https://www.t-mobile.com/plan-details

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/international-roaming-services

 

Summarizing these web pages, you have to be on the Magenta MAX plan to get 5GB of high-speed data in Europe. Above 5 GB, the speed drops to a glacial 256 Kbps. If you are on the regular Magenta plan, it's always  256 Kbps, except in these 11 countries where you get 5 GB of high-speed data: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, and Greece.

 

The cost of Magenta MAX, for one line, age 55+, is $65/month. Since T-Mobile limits customers to 5GB of international high-speed data, lets compare to Google Fi, which charges $20 (fixed monthly) + $50 (data) for 5 GB = $70/month. Here is the relevant Google fi web page:

https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6201699?hl=en

 

For 4.5 GB data or less, Google Fi is cheaper because they only charge for the data used. For more than 5 GB of data, Fi is a better way to go because T-Mobile throttles the speed to 256 Kbps above 5 GB. Google Fi charges $10/GB up to 6 GB. From 6 GB to 15 GB, they charge $60 under the "Bill Protection" feature.

 

In summary, T-Mobile Magenta MAX has the best plan, if and only if, you use between 4.5 and 5.0 GB of data in a month. For less than 4.5 GB or more than 5 GB of data in a month, Google Fi is best.

 

Unless something changes, I'll be using Google Fi.

 

Sorry for the long post. I just retired (again) and have lots of time on my hands. I guess I need to go on a cruise.

The T-Mobile plan for TWO lines on the Senior Magenta Max plan is $45 each or $90 for both.  This is significantly less than our current plan with Verizon at $130 and Verizon is increasing the plan cost by another $12 next month!  We are ready to switch to T-Mobile and will actually have more benefits including the International Plan which Verizon charges an extra $100 per month when travelling overseas and is included with no extra charge with T-Mobile.

4 minutes ago, HiFi43 said:

Just a note RE T-Mobile. If you are not traveling in the next month and prefer I-Phones, Apple will be releasing their I-Phone 14’s by mid September and at T-Mobile they told me today, when I visited them, that they would have offers on the new phones with the next two weeks. So it might pay to wait to get the newest model (although the 13 is more than adequate)

 

If you are a senior, their senior plan monthly pricing is great.

 

 

That is great information.  We are planning to get the Magenta Max for Seniors Plan and it might be worth waiting a few weeks for the newer I-Phone.   I have an I-phone 11 now and am very happy with it, but the offer to upgrade is quite generous by T-Mobile.   Thanks.

All of the replies have been very helpful in making our decision to switch to T-Mobile!   They are also currently offering a free Samsung phone worth $800 or a trade in of your old phone for the IPhone 13 plus a $100 Prepaid Mastercard!  I am happy to hear that the service works so well in most parts of the world!

10 minutes ago, rizello said:

We just switched recently to TMobile to their Magenta Max plan.  We went through five counties in our recent cruise and it was seamless.  Each time we entered a new country we got a text that we had the support for texting and data.  We didn't make any calls, but the data and texting worked great.

Yay!!!  Thanks for the input on your recent experience.  It sounds like lots of positive reviews for T Mobile!

15 minutes ago, KY Deb said:

We just returned from Ireland last month, not a cruise.  T Mobile worked perfectly.  5g mostly. Automatically connected to the network.   Did not have to call or sign up in advance on their website.  No charges.   

Thanks Deb!   I appreciate your feedback and it sure helps make our decision!

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We switched from Verizon to T-Mobile in April for just this reason and have since used it on two trips:  B2B river cruises in Holland, Belgium and France in April-May; and a comprehensive Baltic cruise in July-August.  It worked flawlessly everywhere we went.  When the ship's wifi was too slow, I logged my computer into the phone as a HotSpot – nice fast connection.  Best part?—no extra charges!

 

I had planned to take T-Mobile's Magenta Max for Seniors plan, but they showed me how I could include my 2 kids on a family plan and it would be even cheaper to get the regular Magenta Max plan.  I do recommend Max over plain Magenta because the data roaming is more comprehensive.

 

Also don't pass up the chance to get new iPhones for free as new T-Mobile customers!  They gave us $800 per device trade ins on our old iPhones, which completely covered the cost of new basic ones (and most of the cost of my higher-end Pro).  [One tip:  go to the T-Mobile store and bring the phones you want to trade in.  This makes the process much smoother.  I signed up for the service via phone and then had to do the upgrades and trade-ins serially which really complicated the record-keeping.]

Thanks HostJazz Beau for such a comprehensive response to my inquiry.  We have a local T-Mobile store near our home and have checked out the plans.  It sounds like it definitely makes sense to switch to T-Mobile!!

1 hour ago, IslandThyme said:

I can't speak to recent use in Europe, but I used T-Mobile on the HAL Grand Asia and it worked perfectly all over Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and on many of the Pacific islands. No extra charges either. All I did was call them before leaving and give them my itinerary so they wouldn't dispute any of the use. I use that senior plan myself and am perfectly happy with it.

That is good to know.   We are considering the Magenta Max plan and just want to make sure it actually works overseas.   Thanks for responding.

1 hour ago, Cliff-FLL said:

I've been using T-Mobile for several years now in Europe and couldn't ask for better service & coverage.  Because of my plan - Magenta Max, I believe - they don't throttle my data so I can send emails, texts, photo's, etc. without any problems. Calls, as noted by Patty, are $.25/minute - but that's still cheaper than my old AT&T plan that charged $.35/minute for calls, $.10 for each text, limited data, and $60/month just to have access to service!

That's good to know.   We are looking at the T-Mobile Magenta Max plan and it seems like a good choice as long as it works!!   

I am thinking of changing our current cell phone plan from Verizon to T-Mobile and would like to ask if anyone has used T-Mobile recently on a cruise to Europe and if the phone service worked for text and data as well as talk.  I know Verizon worked quite well for us on previous trips, but the cost keeps going up and T-Mobile has a much less expensive plan for Seniors with lots of extras.   We will be cruising to Italy and Greece in October.   Thanks!

Thanks both Patty1955 and FlyerTalker.   I don't plan on using the cell phone a whole lot, but would like to know that at least it works for text and data in Italy and Greece.   I like the euro SIM idea too which sounds like a viable solution for cruise and extended land tours. I'll check it out.

I am thinking of changing our current cell phone plan from Verizon to T-Mobile and would like to ask if anyone has used T-Mobile recently on a cruise to Europe and if the phone service worked for texting as well as talk.  I know Verizon worked quite well on previous trips, but the cost keeps going up and T-Mobile has a much less expensive plan for Seniors with lots of extras.   We will be cruising to Italy and Greece in October.   Thanks!

We are thinking of using Luggage Free as well but would like to know if Air Tags are allowed in the shipped bag.  

We also have a cruise later this year that will be departing from Ravenna and are curious if anyone has had experience with shipping luggage recently with Luggage Free to ANY port in Europe.   There have been stories and pictures on TV and internet in the last few days showing thousands of bags stranded at airports in Heathrow and Amsterdam especially so it would be great to ship the large bags to the cruise port and only have to worry about carry-ons!  Luggage Free is partnered with Azamara and other cruise lines, but would like to hear if others would recommend.

8 hours ago, norn iron said:

Elro is on Onward

Thanks for letting me know.   

17 hours ago, norn iron said:

I’ll ask Elro and report back.

Which ship are you on?  We have had Elro 3 times on past cruises and he is the best.  We will be on Pursuit in October and Quest in late October.  Hope he is on one of those two!

I think dropping the Covid testing for boarding the ship would certainly help relieve some of the stress involved with cruising right now.   I sure hope Azamara decides to follow Viking's lead and dispense with the Covid tests.  We are scheduled to board the Pursuit in Ravenna on October 17th followed by the Quest on October 29th and eliminating the test would definitely help in eliminating some of the worry with travel to Europe or anywhere overseas.   I would guess it may even help add more bookings for Azamara!

7 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Interesting Phil. We did the Luxor & Valley of the Kings tour with Your Egypt Tours rather than Azamara. Our guide told us that we could buy a camera pass if we wanted to take photos with a ‘proper’ camera and that we would have to leave such cameras behind if we didn’t, but no mention was made of leaving phones behind. No-one in our group bought the pass. We paid extra (1000 Egyptian pounds I think) to see King SETI’s tomb (which was well worth it).

 

Your photos are great!  We're you able to use your phone for the photos with no problem?  I usually use my camera as well as my iPhone.  We are on your November cruise from Atgens to Dubai.  We can hardly wait!

We are booked on the Athens to Dubai October 29, 2022 cruise and have the Ocean Suite forward.   We are so looking forward to seeing all the wonderful sites on this cruise including Petra and Luxor.   This is our second attempt at this itinerary with Azamara having cancelled in March 2020 because of Covid.  Hoping the forward suite will have smooth sailing on the Red Sea.  The breeze may actually be good considering the warm weather expected for this cruise.

We are also on the same Dubai to Athens cruise on March 28th and hope that Azamara will make the decision sooner than March 16th regarding this cruise.   Since the ship is due to dock in Muscat, Oman on the current cruise, it seems highly unlikely that we would board in Dubai if the March 28th cruise actually goes which means it would be a five hour drive to Muscat just to board the ship!   Israel is imposing a 14 day quarantine and it may be that Jordan and Egypt may follow suit at some point.   I think this cruise is a no-go and we need to make travel changes and cancellations for hotels and flights ASAP.    Please Azamara, make the decision and let us know this week.

We also have 4 free nights attached to the April 23rd cruise from Athens to Venice and am wondering if that can be transferred to a future cruise in 2021.  We are also booked on the March 28th cruise from Dubai to Athens. 

Thanks Bonnie for all of your help and answers during this stressful time for all of us.