AT&T texting while on board?

[MNCruizer1]

We tried our iphones for one day at sea. No calls just text. It was about $32 for each of us. To send photos we used data and roaming. We just wait until we get home to use our phones.

 

Very confused.. I would like to send photos to my husband who isn't going with us. So there is an additional charge over what you you pay for your cell service?

What if you add international roaming to your plan? Does the cruise line charge you no matter what your plan is?

[SadieN]

Things have changed in the last 3 years since this thread was started.

 

 

Best bet is to check ATT and find out what the current rates are. There are different rates depending where you are traveling. Pictures use TONS of data. Text not so much.

 

It is now cheaper to call from your cabin at $1.99/minute than use your cellphone at $2.49/minute. We've called from our cabin many times without issue.

[moongal]

We are just off the Magic and we found that our AT&T iPhones did not work at all while on the ship. Could not send or receive texts. I had called AT&T prior to our trip and she assured me that it would work and cost 50 cents each way (to send and to receive). We had planned to use this method to keep track of where my daughter was in the event she made friends and wanted to go do something by herself (she's 13)

 

We were heartily disappointed when we found that it did not work on board. I tried everything. Bought an Internet package, turned on roaming turned off roaming, turned on and off international data (or whatever it's called) but we were not able to get any texts to go through. In asking around it seemed no one else was having any luck unless they had Verizon phones.

 

Don't know if this is just unique to the Magic, as they are still on the old Internet system ( if that would have any impact on cellular????)

[Missymo]

We are just off the Magic and we found that our AT&T iPhones did not work at all while on the ship. Could not send or receive texts. I had called AT&T prior to our trip and she assured me that it would work and cost 50 cents each way (to send and to receive). We had planned to use this method to keep track of where my daughter was in the event she made friends and wanted to go do something by herself (she's 13)

 

We were heartily disappointed when we found that it did not work on board. I tried everything. Bought an Internet package, turned on roaming turned off roaming, turned on and off international data (or whatever it's called) but we were not able to get any texts to go through. In asking around it seemed no one else was having any luck unless they had Verizon phones.

 

Don't know if this is just unique to the Magic, as they are still on the old Internet system ( if that would have any impact on cellular????)

 

For everyone texting family members on board. First check the cruise line you will be on to make sure they have a Maritime Cellular Program on board (Cell at Sea (NCL)- Cellular at sea (RCL) etc. If they do, then your ATT smart phone will work and show Cell at Sea(instead of ATT) when phone turned on. Make sure you are in Airplane mode to shut all data,including imessage, and data roaming.. To text someone on board or home, just text normally. You will be charged $.50 per text outgoing, and whatever your incoming plan is. That is it. No international or special plan needed for texting.

The speed of text messages varies considerably. Sometimes is is relatively fast, within a minute or so, but never instantly like it is at home most of the time. But sometimes the messages don't come through for quite some time, 10, 20, 30 minutes or more. And some areas of the ships have very poor cellular connections which probably impact the speed as well.

_

[Havingfun2010]

For everyone texting family members on board. First check the cruise line you will be on to make sure they have a Maritime Cellular Program on board (Cell at Sea (NCL)- Cellular at sea (RCL) etc. If they do, then your ATT smart phone will work and show Cell at Sea(instead of ATT) when phone turned on. Make sure you are in Airplane mode to shut all data,including imessage, and data roaming.. Airplane mode will prevent texting, so you do not want to put it in airplane mode. You do want to turn off data and data roaming. To text someone on board or home, just text normally. You will be charged $.50 per text outgoing, and whatever your incoming plan is. That is it. No international or special plan needed for texting.

Correct, but one point to note. If on the ship, each person talking/texting is being charged so a text and a response would be doubled on the phone bill. So make the text long, and to the point, and complete sentence and answer. (tell that to the kids!)

The speed of text messages varies considerably. Sometimes is is relatively fast, within a minute or so, but never instantly like it is at home most of the time. But sometimes the messages don't come through for quite some time, 10, 20, 30 minutes or more. And some areas of the ships have very poor cellular connections which probably impact the speed as well.

_

 

Using texting on the ship, can be frustrating at times, because the service is not the best and like this poster said, it could take minutes or all day before a text is received. Not helpful if you are meeting for dinner in 5 minutes.

[kelkel2]

We both have iPhones - and follow the directions provided by AT&T and have NEVER been charged for any data beyond what's included in our plan.

Here's the link:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/en_US/pdf/Travel-Tips.pdf

 

This has also worked for me. I've never had any problems with data charges being outlandish. In fact, last cruise, I made phone calls, texts etc and never noticed anything on my bill other than maybe a few $'s with of charges. If you have your data roaming off, you shouldn't be getting data charges while pulling from an International tower.

Now, if you go and connect to wifi, you should be able to use your phone to check email or apps like Facebook just like you normally would, again just don't ever touch that data roaming button. In fact, there's really no reason to turn it on, even when home. I leave mine off. If you want to check your email on your phone, or your Facebook etc find somewhere in port that has free wifi and connect that way. Ask your steward, they generally know where the wifi spots are :)