Magic jack

[smellycruzer]

I know people have had posted their experiences of using Verizon or AT&T phones in Alaska on Princess cruise ships. I need to be somewhat connected this time around, and am planning on bringing my magic jack with me. Is the service reliable, and what can I expect to pay?

[Steviewonder1]

Magic Jack requires an Internet connection to work. On a ship you will have to pay for an internet connection that will tether/wirelessly connect to a computer that you can then plug your magic jack into. Internet access fees apply on the ship unless you have one of the big Suites where it is free. The magic jack that does not require a computer requires a direct internet connection, ie Ethernet connection to plug into, which there are none on the ship except in the Owners Suites which include a desktop computer to use. You may be better off using your phone in Alaska in port as it is the same as the south 48 states. YMMV. If you have to be in contact while cruising away from the port, get ready to Pay for it. Most of the fees and up's are $2.50 to $4.00 per minute. Texting is also not cheap. Check with your carrier for those fees. Yes, I have used a MagicJack into a MacBook Pro in a Penthouse Suite on Princess and all was well including the Video Calls to my Granddaughter.

[paul929207]

Magic Jack requires an Internet connection to work. On a ship you will have to pay for an internet connection that will tether/wirelessly connect to a computer that you can then plug your magic jack into. Internet access fees apply on the ship unless you have one of the big Suites where it is free. The magic jack that does not require a computer requires a direct internet connection, ie Ethernet connection to plug into, which there are none on the ship except in the Owners Suites which include a desktop computer to use. You may be better off using your phone in Alaska in port as it is the same as the south 48 states. YMMV. If you have to be in contact while cruising away from the port, get ready to Pay for it. Most of the fees and up's are $2.50 to $4.00 per minute. Texting is also not cheap. Check with your carrier for those fees. Yes, I have used a MagicJack into a MacBook Pro in a Penthouse Suite on Princess and all was well including the Video Calls to my Granddaughter.

Passengers in suites do not get free internet.

[Loonbeam]

Also note that most of the ship's engineers block streaming services like Magic Jack. Skype etc (esp video now) as they use a very disproportionate amount of bandwith which is unfair to other cruisers using the system.

[Pam in CA]

Also note that most of the ship's engineers block streaming services like Magic Jack. Skype etc (esp video now) as they use a very disproportionate amount of bandwith which is unfair to other cruisers using the system.

Right. They are huge bandwidth hogs and someone using it will mean other passengers are either unable to log in, have extremely slow connections and thus use far more of the minutes they've paid for, or their connection is dropped, which can be very frustrating for them. For these reasons, it's frequently blocked.

 

Your best bet is to call when in port.

[satxdiver]

The internet connection used by the pax is slow (think dialup) since it is done over satellite. It is easy to block certain services such as VOIP (i.e. magic jack or skype) using their router (same as yours at home!) and they do. Downloading movies etc are also blocked. Internet access is not cheap by any means depending whether you buy by the minute or blocks of minutes.

 

Most US carriers particularly Verizon and AT&T charge $2.50/minute voice and $.50/text message sent. Verizon charges to receive text messages while AT&T does not. Data is particularly expensive.

[skynight]

The crew mostly use the free wi-fi at coffee shops and other locations when in port. Ask a crew member for the locations.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

So Skype will not work????

[cattolica]

We use Magic Jack at home for our long distance service. What we like about it when traveling is that the voice mail messages that people leave are converted to an WAV file in our e-mail account. This way when we are traveling if someone needs to reach us they can leave a message, we can listen to it and determine if us responding other than by e-mail is necessary, then we can use the ship's phone to place a call. Thankfully we have never gotten a message that requires us to go to that expense. We can just respond via a normal e-mail.

 

We did try to make a Magic Jack call once from the ship via our internet connection and it did not work well. It was just a practice run.....nothing urgent.

[24639]

You can also try Google voice. It is free, but you will have to use a credit card to initiate it. But, you can send texts via your computer and like Magic Jack it will record voice messages. I have no idea how it works on the ship. Works great on airplanes.

[1025cruise]

So Skype will not work????

 

While you might be able to make a connection, quality will be poor. Plus, there are reports of ships blocking Skype.

[Frugalist]

So based on the above reports, it sounds like using the ship's internet is not very practical (if at all possible) for Magic Jack calls. By the way, if you're Platinum, you get at least 150 free minutes per cruise.

 

I have the Magic Jack app on my Kindle Fire HD, and it works great. I used it to make free calls back to the states when we were in Canada last summer. I have no doubt it would work equally well at an internet cafe in port anywhere around the world.

 

I also have the free Text+ app on my Fire HD and it works beautifully to send unlimited free texts. It works off an internet connection, not a cell phone connection. Since it's not a bandwidth hog like a Magic Jack or Skype call, I suspect it would work nicely using the ship's internet.

[cherylandtk]

Every sailing will be different, as there will be different passengers with different internet access needs and habits. If the overall usage causes problems, Princess will block access as needed:

* Internet access via satellite is significantly slower than high-speed connections on shore. Princess Cruises reserves the right to filter content accessed via the ship's Internet services. Please note high bandwidth consuming applications such as voice over IP telephony, peer-to-peer file sharing and streaming media may be restricted onboard Princess vessels.

[pablo222]

Right. They are huge bandwidth hogs and someone using it will mean other passengers are either unable to log in, have extremely slow connections and thus use far more of the minutes they've paid for, or their connection is dropped, which can be very frustrating for them. For these reasons, it's frequently blocked. .

I am looking forward to using skype on my next cruise. As well as leaving my balcony door open, playing cards in the lido, and just about anything else i can think of.

[pablo222]

Every sailing will be different, as there will be different passengers with different internet access needs and habits. If the overall usage causes problems, Princess will block access as needed:

Just use a VPN connection, and bypass any princess controls.

[Potstech]

I have an app called Magicjack for my iPhone5. Uses Wifi to make calls. Used it recently in Ireland to make a few calls with local Wifi connections. Worked great.