So Frustrated with Verizon Wireless

[ktharris120]

Hi All,

 

I have spent countless minutes searching and reading previous posts on the use of cell phone onboard for both making calls, texting and surfing....

 

I am sooo confused.

 

I keep getting different answers from Verizon.

 

I have an iphone with unlimited data and texting with set number of minutes.

 

I have a global hotspot that could power my ipad....

 

What do I need to do?

 

Anyone know....cause I can not trust the answers I am getting from Verizon. The reps I keep getting, don't seem too knowledgeable!

[Coralc]

I'm really not that savvy about these things....but I believe the only way to have a connection to the internet or cellular service is to go through the ship's satellite connection. I think they pretty much control the connections at sea.

[qdog123]

You will need to add the global data plan which is $25 per 100MB otherwise you'll pay as you go at $20/MB. For voice your only option is to pay $2.50 per minute. For text it should be .50 to send. .05 to recieve.

 

Here is thier cruise ship page (it's toward the bottom): http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global/plans-and-pricing.html

[skibyrd]

You will need to add the global data plan which is $25 per 100MB otherwise you'll pay as you go at $20/MB. For voice your only option is to pay $2.50 per minute. For text it should be .50 to send. .05 to recieve.

 

Here is thier cruise ship page (it's toward the bottom): http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global/plans-and-pricing.html

 

This was our experience on recent Oasis cruise. Went well and bill not too bad...

[stevea36]

Hi All,

 

I have spent countless minutes searching and reading previous posts on the use of cell phone onboard for both making calls, texting and surfing....

 

I am sooo confused.

 

I keep getting different answers from Verizon.

 

I have an iphone with unlimited data and texting with set number of minutes.

 

I have a global hotspot that could power my ipad....

 

What do I need to do?

 

Anyone know....cause I can not trust the answers I am getting from Verizon. The reps I keep getting, don't seem too knowledgeable!

 

Did you call Verizon directly or go into a local store (which may be a reseller). If you did not call them directly I'd suggest that you make that call as local folks are not usually savvy on the international plans, especially cruise ship based.

 

That being said, it is my understanding that all plans that you may have, be they domestic or international, are not good on cruise ships.

 

approximate basic charges for most carriers are:

Phone: 2.50 per minute, calling or receiving.

Texting: Sending - $.50/msg, receiving - free (at&T) or .05 (vzw)

Picture texts - sending - $1.30, receiving - same as texts

data - Mortgage you home.

 

All calls/data go thru the ship's cellular/satellite system. data is quite slow and expensive.

 

My suggestion is to wait until you are in port to use the devices on the local, international, networks, or find a wifi spot in port.

 

Good Luck,

Steve

[PCWalton1]

You will need to add the global data plan which is $25 per 100MB otherwise you'll pay as you go at $20/MB. For voice your only option is to pay $2.50 per minute. For text it should be .50 to send. .05 to recieve.

 

Here is thier cruise ship page (it's toward the bottom): http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global/plans-and-pricing.html

 

I also did this on my Radiance cruise to Hawaii and it worked great. I think it cost me $20 extra for a 10 day cruise. :D

[wscott52]

This should answer your questions. I went through it all and then it came up with a number to call. The pleasant young woman I talked to at first seemed puzzled as to why I was calling but after putting me on hold for a minute or so she came back and handled it.

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/tripplanner/tripplannercontroller

[Esmerelda]

Here's a link to a thread I started last year on that very topic. It may have some useful info in it for you. (Daghis posted an ever better post within my post)

 

Thanks Daghis! :p

 

http://http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1698919

 

I hope this helps.:)

[bobmacliberty]

I'm in a similar situation. This thread answers my questions regarding charges from Verizon. Does Royal add their own charge on top of the cell provider, or is that somehow built into the Verizon charge?

[Clarea]

I'm in a similar situation. This thread answers my questions regarding charges from Verizon. Does Royal add their own charge on top of the cell provider, or is that somehow built into the Verizon charge?

Royal does not add charges for cellular service, it's all via your provider.

[luckyprincess]

Thanks for this thread! My big question is do I have to call Verizon and ask them to please add this plan (on only one of our lines as the other isn't going) for the dates of the cruise? Or do I just buy this cruise plan on the ship? Also if I just want to upload a picture to my FB page would that exhaust my 100mb? Thanks for anyone that knows!

[luckyprincess]

So I did the choose and find out what you need web page someone was nice enough to post. It gave me this but I'm confused. It has a data plan for $25 for 100mb but then also says pay as you go is $20 per mb! Which is it? :confused:

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/tripplanner/tripplannercontroller

[Clarea]

Thanks for this thread! My big question is do I have to call Verizon and ask them to please add this plan (on only one of our lines as the other isn't going) for the dates of the cruise? Or do I just buy this cruise plan on the ship? Also if I just want to upload a picture to my FB page would that exhaust my 100mb? Thanks for anyone that knows!

You would have to call Verizon. The ship does not get involved with cell phone charges.

[LadyShiva]

Thanks for this thread! My big question is do I have to call Verizon and ask them to please add this plan (on only one of our lines as the other isn't going) for the dates of the cruise? Or do I just buy this cruise plan on the ship? Also if I just want to upload a picture to my FB page would that exhaust my 100mb? Thanks for anyone that knows!

 

So I did the choose and find out what you need web page someone was nice enough to post. It gave me this but I'm confused. It has a data plan for $25 for 100mb but then also says pay as you go is $20 per mb! Which is it? :confused:

<link wouldn't work for anyone not using your computer>

 

You need to call Verizon to add a Global data plan before you go. If you use up all your data allotment, you are then charged per MB, on Verizon's plan.

 

If you use the wifi on the ship, you're cut off when you have used your allotment, so no overages using the ship's network. Verizon will not cut you off; they'll bill you later. :eek:

 

2 MB = a single good picture upload from your phone.

100 MB is less than a single Netflix movie.

My husband offered "100 MB = 3 songs of storage" (with how he saves his songs, that may be a bit overblown--but not much!)

 

My job would blow through 100 MB in 2 days. My husband says he and I blow through 2 GB in 1 day at the house, thanks to Netflix! :eek:

 

Hope that helps!

[Clarea]

You need to call Verizon to add a Global data plan before you go. If you use up all your data allotment, you are then charged per MB, on Verizon's plan.

 

If you use the wifi on the ship, you're cut off when you have used your allotment, so no overages using the ship's network. Verizon will not cut you off; they'll bill you later. :eek:

 

2 MB = a single good picture upload from your phone.

100 MB is less than a single Netflix movie.

My husband offered "100 MB = 3 songs of storage" (with how he saves his songs, that may be a bit overblown--but not much!)

 

My job would blow through 100 MB in 2 days. My husband says he and I blow through 2 GB in 1 day at the house, thanks to Netflix! :eek:

 

Hope that helps!

Thats not been my experience. The ship charges have always accumulated beyond any package limit I have purchased. Once a package has been consumed, they start charging the full per minute rate.

[luckyprincess]

You need to call Verizon to add a Global data plan before you go. If you use up all your data allotment, you are then charged per MB, on Verizon's plan.

 

If you use the wifi on the ship, you're cut off when you have used your allotment, so no overages using the ship's network. Verizon will not cut you off; they'll bill you later. :eek:

 

2 MB = a single good picture upload from your phone.

100 MB is less than a single Netflix movie.

My husband offered "100 MB = 3 songs of storage" (with how he saves his songs, that may be a bit overblown--but not much!)

 

My job would blow through 100 MB in 2 days. My husband says he and I blow through 2 GB in 1 day at the house, thanks to Netflix! :eek:

 

Hope that helps!

 

Wow!! I would only be uploading a pic to my FB status lol or looking at FB so I found a site that says 1 update to FB with a photo would be about 500kb and if there are 1000kb in 1mb and I get 100 of them I think I'll be good lol! I have a Zune for my music so no downloading of anything and I don't have my emails connected to my cell because I get a ton so I think the plan will be good for me! Ok, so one more question if you don't mind :p How will I know how many mbs I have used?

[Clarea]

Wow!! I would only be uploading a pic to my FB status lol or looking at FB so I found a site that says 1 update to FB with a photo would be about 500kb and if there are 1000kb in 1mb and I get 100 of them I think I'll be good lol! I have a Zune for my music so no downloading of anything and I don't have my emails connected to my cell because I get a ton so I think the plan will be good for me! Ok, so one more question if you don't mind :p How will I know how many mbs I have used?

I know of 2 ways to check, but this is on AT&T so it might be different for you. First, the phone keeps track of data, so you should be able to find the spot under Settings that shows how much data you have used. You can reset this to zero at the start of your trip. Second, I have a function under Settings where AT&T will send me a text with my current usage, minutes, texts, and data. Verizon probably has a similar function.

[gfd_2]

...

 

I keep getting different answers from Verizon.

 

I have an iphone with unlimited data and texting with set number of minutes.

 

I have a global hotspot that could power my ipad....

 

What do I need to do?

 

!

 

The folks who answer calls at the general Verizon Mobile support number won't be a big help .Call their International Desk at 800-922-0204, they were very helpful.

 

I signed up for the 29 dollar International Data Plan which gets me 100MB of data. If I go through the first 100MB Verizon will automatically apply another 100Mb for 25 dollars. This is NOT a shared plan so we'll put DW's phone in "airplane" mode.

 

If you do go with the Int'l plan I'd first make sure that your phone is set to update over wifi only so that you don't start to upgrade applications and burn through MBs. Not sure where that setting is on an iphone.

 

Also, some news apps will pull updates so you should go into the settings and uncheck "push notifications" or similar option.

 

Last year I got burned by the background updates. Verizon wanted to charge me 1,025 dollars in overage fees. Thankfully, they were able to look at my account and saw that I had called them several times to ask how much data I had used. She also confirmed that I hadn't used a streaming service like Slacker radio or Skype so she did some finagling and retrofitted my account with a larger International plan and charged me an extra 45 dollars.

[bobmacliberty]

Thanks for this thread! My big question is do I have to call Verizon and ask them to please add this plan (on only one of our lines as the other isn't going) for the dates of the cruise? Or do I just buy this cruise plan on the ship? Also if I just want to upload a picture to my FB page would that exhaust my 100mb? Thanks for anyone that knows!

 

You can look at your Verizon account online to see how much data you use. If you keep drilling down, you'll find a detailed data breakout. This might give you a sense of how many MB of data you typically use.

 

So I did the choose and find out what you need web page someone was nice enough to post. It gave me this but I'm confused. It has a data plan for $25 for 100mb but then also says pay as you go is $20 per mb! Which is it? :confused:

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/tripplanner/tripplannercontroller

 

I think the $20/MB pay as you go is only if you don't sign up for the global data plan at all. Somewhere else deep in the Verizon web site, I found a similar page that shows that you basically just add another $25 for another 100MB if you exceed the original 100MB from the global plan. I'll see if I canfind the page again and post a link.

[bobmacliberty]

Found it...It was on the page that qdog123 had linked before:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global/plans-and-pricing.html

 

 

Here's the section that covers cruise ships:

 

I interpret this as automatically paying $25 for another 100MB each time you use up the previous 100MB, although you should definitely confirm if this is correct with Verizon.

[garycarla]

I also did this on my Radiance cruise to Hawaii and it worked great. I think it cost me $20 extra for a 10 day cruise. :D

 

Sadly, this may not be representative of what others may experience. Since you were near the coastal towers (in the United States), you were therefore on your regular plan much of the time.

 

Taking a cruise that is not within range of the U.S. will result in much different charges.

[qdog123]

Sadly, this may not be representative of what others may experience. Since you were near the coastal towers (in the United States), you were therefore on your regular plan much of the time.

 

Taking a cruise that is not within range of the U.S. will result in much different charges.

 

The cell towers on the ship are turned on when the boat is moving so you will always catch them as they are way stronger than the towers on land. When in port the ships cell network is turned off so you will catch the land based towers.

 

Personally i don't turn on the data service when i cruise and just use the ships wifi. They give diamond members 60 minutes free usage ( between the wife and I ) and I always end up having extra minutes left over, but I'm not a facebook person.

 

P.S. I work for a cell phone provider although I'm not allowed to speak on public forums on behalf of the company.

[wscott52]

I interpret this as automatically paying $25 for another 100MB each time you use up the previous 100MB, although you should definitely confirm if this is correct with Verizon.

 

This is how it was explained to me by the woman at Verizon. No data plan and it's $20.00 for every megabyte. Buy the 100Mb for $25.00 plan and if you go over you automatically buy another 100Mb bloc for $25.00

[cruiser1956]

Hi All,

 

 

Anyone know....cause I can not trust the answers I am getting from Verizon. The reps I keep getting, don't seem too knowledgeable!

 

There are several great posts here that contain good information. My two best pieces of advice would be to call the international number that was provided here. ONLY speak to them. Make sure you have names, and times of when you called in case there is a problem later with the bill.

Second, be sure you put a START and STOP date on your global plan. Check your account when you get home to make sure the global plan has stopped, and you are back on your normal plan.

I am the administrator on a large Verizon Business account. These are my two biggest issues with Verizon. They gladly credit any mistakes, but at times it takes MONTHS to remove the global plan. Again, be sure to keep names and times of when you call. This can all be done before you leave.

What I don't understand, is even with everything set up correctly, I still have lots of "no service" and operators that speak another language when I try to make a call. But that is a different post...

Have a great cruise.

[macruisefan]

I can not trust the answers I am getting from Verizon. The reps I keep getting, don't seem too knowledgeable!

 

You can't trust the representatives of the company with which you are doing business, but you can trust complete strangers on the internet?:confused: