Massive Mobile Phone Bill Whilst @ Sea

[Clarea]

But RCCL does not own (or control) Cellular At Sea, do they? I'm just not seeing how Royal has anything to do with this....

Correct, Cellular at Sea is independent of Royal, and charges go directly on the user's cellular bill.

[Static events]

But RCCL does not own (or control) Cellular At Sea, do they? I'm just not seeing how Royal has anything to do with this....

 

 

I am sure Royal Caribbean get a cut of all the revenue Cellular At Sea make from guests whilst on a RCCL ship..? If not Cellular At Sea pay RCCL a flat rate to hire/part hire the mast onboard ship... as a result RCCL has some responsibility...? A monopoly is never a good thing.

[Donray]

I am sure Royal Caribbean get a cut of all the revenue Cellular At Sea make from guests whilst on a RCCL ship..? If not Cellular At Sea pay RCCL a flat rate to hire/part hire the mast onboard ship... as a result RCCL has some responsibility...? A monopoly is never a good thing.

 

What monopoply? You can alway use a Satellite Phones....

 

Sure are a lot of people that don't want to take responsibility for themselves and find out before hand what cost would be.

[Static events]

What monopoply? You can alway use a Satellite Phones....

 

Sure are a lot of people that don't want to take responsibility for themselves and find out before hand what cost would be.

 

LOL this is true.

[tulsacubfan]

I am sure Royal Caribbean get a cut of all the revenue Cellular At Sea make from guests whilst on a RCCL ship..? If not Cellular At Sea pay RCCL a flat rate to hire/part hire the mast onboard ship... as a result RCCL has some responsibility...? A monopoly is never a good thing.

 

You "are sure" or you know this for a fact? My understanding is RCCL (and other lines) let you know (if you read it) that cell charges are determined (and billed) by your carrier and you need to check with them for charges....

 

If you want to be angry with someone (other than yourself), be angry with Cellular At Sea or your carrier. I don't see any "fault" on RCCL (or any cruise line).

[Eng23]

You "are sure" or you know this for a fact? My understanding is RCCL (and other lines) let you know (if you read it) that cell charges are determined (and billed) by your carrier and you need to check with them for charges....

 

If you want to be angry with someone (other than yourself), be angry with Cellular At Sea or your carrier. I don't see any "fault" on RCCL (or any cruise line).

Well said...

[Guerre]

It cracks me up to see the original OP blame the cruise line. LOL

Only one person to blame and that is you and every other consumer who does not know these things. Part of the blame is the phone carriers, but mostly the un-educated consumer. Hopefully for all its a well learned lesson.

 

Cruise ships may be priced a bit higher, but any trip to a foreign country when you haven't pre-arranged an international calling and an international data package, will likely lead to staggering phone bills. I remember being charged $600 for a single day's worth of email checking in the UK. People often come back from European holidays with teenagers and have $4000 phone bills, and most of the time they are forced to pay every penny of it - the days of sweet talking your way out of it are going away.

 

AT&T makes it really easy to set up the plan for as long as you need it, then remove it when you don't. Maybe cost you an extra $100 on the bill, though note that voice calls still cost $2/min or thereabouts.

 

My plan on my next cruise is to set up the top-tier data plan and also to set up the Royal Caribbean unlimited wifi plan, since my company will reimburse me for it as long as I respond to urgent emails within a day or so. I'm the sort of person who will find it easier to relax if I know that things are OK back at the office.

[Jmcphillipsjr]

I don't feel sorry for anyone that can't turn off their freaking phone while they are on vacation. I'm 35 and I have every techno gadget known to man, and I love tech, but the minute I step on a cruise ship my phone gets turned off and put in the safe.

[LadyShiva]

I don't feel sorry for anyone that can't turn off their freaking phone while they are on vacation. I'm 35 and I have every techno gadget known to man, and I love tech, but the minute I step on a cruise ship my phone gets turned off and put in the safe.

 

Yeah, it sucked to cruise through Hurricane Sandy and need to use internet to make sure my flight wasn't cancelled because the airport was flooded.

 

Truly horrible. :rolleyes:

[Christine Frances]

Please correct me if I am in error, but I thought the mast on the ship was to connect to satellites owned by Cellular at Sea. I thought the cruise ships had to pay CAS for the privelege of using their satellites the same as the cruise ships have to pay for bandwidth for wifi. I can't see it the other way around ie Cellular at Sea paying the cruise lines. I thought the cell tower on the ships was used by people with any cell phone provider, not just A TT. My Telus provider will charge me $7 for calls and .60 for out going texts using a satellite. ps you can tell I'm not a teckie lol

[nelblu]

i had seen the advertising on the AOS library, which made it seem that RCL was offering a cell phone package. Went to customer service and they basically punted and advised me to contact my carrier (Verizon.) If I nee to make an emergency call from the ship, there's a coupon in the Diamond bool;et which allows phone calls from my cabin for $2.00 per minute which works out cheaper than the cell phone. We keep in touch with our kids via the internet, although slow, keeps everybody happy.

[BeachChik]

I see that many mobile phone companies now notify you every time you use 5mb of date whilst aboard. They also text you a running total of your bill and allow you to cap your bill at a certain amount.

 

I still believe Royal Caribbean have a duty to ensure all guests are not getting ripped off whilst at sea....?

 

You have a responsibility as an adult to know what charges will apply for any service you are using. Comment sense would tell you that using a cell phone while in the middle of the ocean will not be cheap.

 

And seriously bumping your own thread 9 months later? I say it's time to accept personal responsibility and move on.

[tulsacubfan]

Yeah, it sucked to cruise through Hurricane Sandy and need to use internet to make sure my flight wasn't cancelled because the airport was flooded.

 

Truly horrible. :rolleyes:

 

Turn the phone on then. I think she was more referring to those people who can't turn off Facebook, Twitter, texting 100's of times a day, email, etc. My phone is turned off and in the safe while I am on a cruise. On land vacations (where it is a lot cheaper), we agree to check emails, etc twice a day....but while we are vacationing, we are relaxing. There is very little that will happen that can't either wait a few hours or days or that I could do anything about anyway.

 

However, should an emergency (like Sandy affecting flights) arise, the phone can then be turned on, I can rearrange flights, then turn it back off.

[LadyShiva]

Turn the phone on then. I think she was more referring to those people who can't turn off Facebook, Twitter, texting 100's of times a day, email, etc. My phone is turned off and in the safe while I am on a cruise. On land vacations (where it is a lot cheaper), we agree to check emails, etc twice a day....but while we are vacationing, we are relaxing. There is very little that will happen that can't either wait a few hours or days or that I could do anything about anyway.

 

However, should an emergency (like Sandy affecting flights) arise, the phone can then be turned on, I can rearrange flights, then turn it back off.

 

Yeah, we get it, you prefer no electronics. I prefer no speedos on my cruise. Guess what we both get told?

[VFL Cruiser]

Hey, maybe I may be in the minority, but when I go on cruise vacation I tell everyone that I will not be able to be contacted via my cell phone. If it's a dire emergency and you need to contact me then call the emergency number that RCCL gives out.

I go on vacation to get away from everything, not to take everything with me! For goodness sakes I can live without a cell phone for 1 week!

[SnoopyJS]

I do not understand people that take/use their cell phones on vacation! If i used my cell phone on the ship my SO would throw it overboard. Same goes for my laptop!

 

There are those of us who go away for a break leaving elderly relatives behind for whom we are the major 'support crew'.

 

We put alternative plans in place for their care and keep all very expensive communication to a minimum whilst away ..... but being well in their 80s those elderlies tend to get quite insecure with us not there, and the occasional use of our phones for their well being is not too much to take issue with.

 

With responsible use the phone bill should not be a surprise at all and in my book, if we can afford the cruise and want to use this brilliant technology from somewhere in the middle of the ocean then we first do our 'homework' then just simply put up and shut up :D

[SnoopyJS]

I see that many mobile phone companies now notify you every time you use 5mb of date whilst aboard. They also text you a running total of your bill and allow you to cap your bill at a certain amount.

 

I still believe Royal Caribbean have a duty to ensure all guests are not getting ripped off whilst at sea....?

 

Should Royal Caribbean also be made responsible for checking to make sure all guests have their travel, life and house insurance in order before boarding ???

[Scribbles77]

why would you need your cell phone on a cruise? i turn mine off and leave it in the safe cause im on vcay and dont have a care in the world :p

 

I need mine sometimes, my 73 yr old dad stays at my house to look after my cats, rabbits etc, he is 50 miles away from home and knows no-one in the area so i like to just make sure he is ok. :)

 

All that aid i downloaded Skype on my phone and tend to call him when at a port with free wi fi, but if i have a lot of sea days i have been known to call from the ship.

[Ocean Boy]

I don't feel sorry for anyone that can't turn off their freaking phone while they are on vacation. I'm 35 and I have every techno gadget known to man, and I love tech, but the minute I step on a cruise ship my phone gets turned off and put in the safe.

 

Some people have jobs and other responsibilities that give them a choice of either being able to be in contact while away or don't go. I don't quite get why some people don't understand that we all have our own unique situations to deal with on life.

[woehwdy]

Just got my monthly mobile phone bill through and unsurprisingly £450 worth of the bill is from using my phone whilst on board the Independence of the Seas.

 

I just want to make people aware of this crazy charge per MB of data used. I called Orange to see how much data I used and they said I used roughly 40MB of data whilst on board. Obviously whilst I was at sea I could only use Royal Caribbean’s phone mast which is run by AT&T Maritime. In other words it works out roughly £10 per 1MB used this is VERY expensive when you compare if to Oranges data plan which roughly works out to be £1 per every 25MB.:eek::eek::eek:

 

The worst part of it is I phoned Royal Caribbean's customer service department to complain and they have to be the most useless complaints department I have ever come across. I am well into Diamond now meaning I am a fairly 'Loyal to Royal' well obviously loyalty means nothing these days. The most senior member of the complaints team told me he was the highest person within the company I could speak to and that it was my fault I had such a high mobile phone bill. He also went onto say that mobile phone bills whilst on their ships is nothing to do with Royal Caribbean.

My complaint is this… nowhere on the ship does Royal Caribbean highlight that there will be extremely high prices for using data at sea and EXACTLY what that cost is. The reason for this is that no one will use the service.

The customer service manager also told me Royal Caribbean did not make any money off the mobile phone service. He is obviously a total dimwit, Royal Caribbean must get paid a rental fee for AT&T to have a mast at sea and they most likely take a percentage of whatever the service makes however don’t quote me on that as I am not a mobile communications expert. One thing I do know is Royal Caribbean are getting paid handsomely for this service at the expense of their guests and they try to be a covert as possible with the pricing structure.

 

This website here shows all the ships with this service on:

http://www.wmsatsea.com

So sorry you did not call you home carrier before you left, as the charges for international calls are charged by your carrier not RCCL, that is also in the FAQ's on the website if you happen to have a mind to read those.

[PCWalton1]

I don't feel sorry for anyone that can't turn off their freaking phone while they are on vacation. I'm 35 and I have every techno gadget known to man, and I love tech, but the minute I step on a cruise ship my phone gets turned off and put in the safe.

 

I love people who jump on a chat thread of a topic they obviously have no interest in and try to belittle the people who are interested in the topic. :p

[Christine Frances]

I agree!! There are a lot of people who only now have been able to get away and cruise because of the advances of technology! Some of us have to check in each day, be able to take calls and texts, be in close contact with aged parents. Maybe some people can throw their cell in the safe and forget about the world but there are lots of us that would not be able to cruise without these electronic links to home or business.

[SnoopyJS]

I agree!! There are a lot of people who only now have been able to get away and cruise because of the advances of technology! Some of us have to check in each day, be able to take calls and texts, be in close contact with aged parents. Maybe some people can throw their cell in the safe and forget about the world but there are lots of us that would not be able to cruise without these electronic links to home or business.

 

EXACTLY :D We are so thankful for the technology that allows us to holiday, yet stay in touch when necessary. There are so many situations where the sheer availability outweighs the costs involved.

 

I must admit though that the phone providers don't make it easy and are expert at hiding the nitty gritty details :confused: You really have to have your wits about you BEFORE going international.

[luv2cruiserccl]

I left my phone on 24 7 but with data off while on the freedom of the seas and no extra charges other then a few text messages I sent and received. I did also daily receive a free text msg from rccl or what ever island we where at and it explained the text, phone and data charges. While on the ship it was called cellular at sea. Plus there are lots of threads and post about it here. So even if u did not read anything here or rccls site the text messages should of clued u in it was going to be expensive if u left on.

 

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk please excuse typographical errors

[Tucker in Texas]

Hey, maybe I may be in the minority, but when I go on cruise vacation I tell everyone that I will not be able to be contacted via my cell phone. If it's a dire emergency and you need to contact me then call the emergency number that RCCL gives out.

I go on vacation to get away from everything, not to take everything with me! For goodness sakes I can live without a cell phone for 1 week!

 

I give my family/friends the "dire emergency" number and point out that the call will be on their nickle.

 

A couple of times, though, we have been in Puerto Rico or St. Thomas where we have free access only to find we have had to get away from the ship in order not to be handled by "cellular at sea" because they haven't turned off their tower or whatever. Our phone clearly states if it is on "cellular at sea" when we turn it on so we haven't been burned.

 

Tucker in Texas