Phone Use-Text

[shensadie5]

What guidelines should we use with our teens about texting/phone internet use while on board?

[John Henry on CC]

What guidelines should we use with our teens about texting/phone internet use while on board?

"Leave it at home."

[Poorplaya]

What guidelines should we use with our teens about texting/phone internet use while on board?

 

Agreed, you can sometimes get cell service on the ship at a very expensive rate and you can pay for the internet at a couple bucks for like 5 minutes, expensive, I would cut them off while cruisin!!! :p

[orchidj5]

50 cents to send-5 cents incoming is what verizon charges for international roaming texts-which is what the ship is -my guideline would be turn your phone off when you get on the ship and on when we dis embark.

[Mysticks1]

You can do what I do and take them and lock them in the safe after sail away and don't give them back until you dock after the cruise. My 16 yr old daughter can send/receive over 1000 texts in a week. :eek: At 50 cents each that would be a lot of money. She doesn't have the self control needed not to use it.

[hockeyken]

:p Leave - them - at -home !!!

[marci22]

Leave the kids' phones at home.

[Cya@Sea]

I take them away and store in the safe also, My daughter is a text freak too. I am not paying the bill for her idea of conversation( lol, jk and other 1 word texts) She will survive for 7 days, and I will be worry free for 7 days.

[galavant3]

We lock the phones in the safe also.

[bala1130]

We have Sprint and was able to use our phones while in the ports of St Thomas & San Juan without additional charges. Otherwise, we turned them off.

[Havingfun2010]

Leave it at home, or locked in the safe, and make sure it is turned off. International texting, or texting on the ship. Assume the send and receive 800 per day. That is 5600 a week. Divide by 2, and multiply by .55 (.50 to send, and .05 to receive). That will give you a small $1,540.00 texting bill.

[QTBabyNurse]

I'd like to add one more piece of info to the good info already posted---

If they have a "smart phone", make sure the data roaming is turned off when you put it in the safe because otherwise you will be charged international roaming fees for all the emails that are sent to the phone during the time you are out of the country...

[Mysticks1]

Adding - leaving them at home wasn't an option for us with a 9 hour drive to/from port and we stay at least one night before the cruise in a hotel and on our last cruise it was two nights stay pre-cruise.

Make sure they are off when you put them in the safe - depending upon the battery life when off you might have to plug them in when you go to bed the last night so they are fully charged the next morning - leaving them off while charging.

[marci22]

We took our phones but the kids' left theirs home. I didn't want to worry about them losing them on the plane, on the transfers to the ship, etc. Guess what? They survived.

[BonVoyage20]

Im 20 and every time that I cruise I take my phone but I always turn it off. Honestly I forget about it because Im having a fabulous time haha. If you must use your phone, its best to do it while at the port than it is on the ship. Still expensive, but cheaper than the ship

[wdwfamily]

I echo the leave it at home/turn it off and lock in the safe people :) Unless they have a prepaid with only a little money on it that isn't automatically recharged, you could come home to a bill that totals more than the cost of the cruise!

 

When we cruise both DH and I bring our phones. His is turned off as soon as we set sail so he doesn't risk getting charged for incoming emails etc. My phone doesn't have email/data so when we are in port and want to make a quick call home we grab my phone and are good to go!