Talking on cell phone on the ship or on the dock?

[audcc77]

I spoke w/ International Dept @ AT&T about my cell phone. I have a plain cell phone, not an I-phone. The lady said that while in St Thomas, which is free, if I used my phone to call home, I needed to be completely off the ship or I'd get charged.

 

I asked "How does AT&T know whether I'm on sitting at the pool, or standing on the land right outside the ship.?" She said that Carnival's cell towers are so strong that they suggest getting pretty far away before calling, otherwise the ship's tower will pick it up & you'll get charged for cellular at sea.

 

This sounds ridiculous to me. I've asked two people at AT&T and got the same response.

 

Does this sound correct?

 

Thanks.

[ViolaSwamp]

I have AT&T and have been to Saint Thomas twice. Both times I've used my BlackBerry there on my balcony for calls, texts, emails and Facebook and have not been charged any international or cruise ship tower fees.

[jimbo5544]

I am pretty sure (not positive) that they turn off the ship based cell service when in port. This would mean you would be using land based towers.

[Elaine515]

Although this might sound and is stupid, the bottom line is IF the Crew Member who is in charge, turns on the switch for Cellular @ Sea or not makes the difference...

 

If Cellular @ Sea is turned on, then yes, you will be billed for the time you are on the cell phone... If its not turned on, then no, you will not be billed...

 

And you can tell... look at your cell phone right now... Top Left it should have AT&T... On a ship, it will say Cellular @ Sea... easy enough to tell...

[arush5268d]

When the ship approaches land they turn off the ship-based cell phone service. It is safe to assume you are on a normal cell tower when you are4 in port.

[rhinomike]

Yes it is true. My mom and dad have Verizon. Their plan covers them everywhere in the US including Hawaii and Alaska. While on a cruise in Alaska they used their phones in Port. Their phones picked up the cell tower on the ship. They had a $500 charge for overages due to the cell tower on the ship. It is best to get away from the ship before using your phone. No problems once away from the ship on their excursions.

[Vitamin_Sea]

The ship does turn there system off when in port!

 

Never been charged extra.

[audcc77]

Although this might sound and is stupid, the bottom line is IF the Crew Member who is in charge, turns on the switch for Cellular @ Sea or not makes the difference...

 

If Cellular @ Sea is turned on, then yes, you will be billed for the time you are on the cell phone... If its not turned on, then no, you will not be billed...

 

And you can tell... look at your cell phone right now... Top Left it should have AT&T... On a ship, it will say Cellular @ Sea... easy enough to tell...

 

Wow - after so many cruises & I never noticed this little notation on the top left before. Thanks for mentioning that.

 

Thanks to all for your quick responses. This makes total sense now. I think it will be fine as long as someone turns off the proper switch on the ship, I can talk while sitting on the ship's deck area.

[rockbock]

I have never been charged a penny while using my phone on the ship in either Puerto Rico or St. Thomas. You can even use it while you are at sea, as long as you are close enough to US land that you are picking up an AT&T cell signal. As long as it says AT&T in the upper left corner of your phone, you are fine. If it says ANYTHING other than AT&T, you will be charged.

[afrayedknot]

I have never been charged a penny while using my phone on the ship in either Puerto Rico or St. Thomas. You can even use it while you are at sea, as long as you are close enough to US land that you are picking up an AT&T cell signal. As long as it says AT&T in the upper left corner of your phone, you are fine. If it says ANYTHING other than AT&T, you will be charged.

 

What about Verizon in Ensenada, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta?

[arush5268d]

What about Verizon in Ensenada, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta?

 

 

Verizon has different rates for Mexico than most other countries. If memory serves - it is $1/minute cheaper. You can checkon their website to be sure.

[Ocean Dancer]

What about Verizon in Ensenada, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta?

 

That is Mexico whether you are on the ship or not. Everyone is talking about U.S. or territories.

[Starlight Durban Cruising]

Yes it is true. My mom and dad have Verizon. Their plan covers them everywhere in the US including Hawaii and Alaska. While on a cruise in Alaska they used their phones in Port. Their phones picked up the cell tower on the ship. They had a $500 charge for overages due to the cell tower on the ship. It is best to get away from the ship before using your phone. No problems once away from the ship on their excursions.

While I don't doubt what you say, I don't think that shore-side crew would be happy if their cell phones hopped to the "stronger-signaled" ship's tower. I think more often than not that they would turn the ship tower off to avoid complaints from non-cruising port crew about such charges.

 

I had the opposite experience last year. I was cruising out of LA and I had fairly strong signal on the Verizon land-tower for at least an hour after we left the Port of Los Angeles. I was checking continuously on where the signal was coming from, and I was sending data/phoning. After that the signal became weaker and I put it in airplane mode.

[SadieN]

When calling onboard when docked make sure the carrier is not Cellular at Sea. We had better AT&T reception last week on St Thomas and Puerto Rico than we have at home.

 

afrayedknot--check with Verizon about international packages. AT&T has special packages for various areas, including Mexico.

[Viv0828]

Is verizon the same in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas as ATT - no charge?

[arush5268d]

Yes it is true. My mom and dad have Verizon. Their plan covers them everywhere in the US including Hawaii and Alaska. While on a cruise in Alaska they used their phones in Port. Their phones picked up the cell tower on the ship. They had a $500 charge for overages due to the cell tower on the ship. It is best to get away from the ship before using your phone. No problems once away from the ship on their excursions.

 

 

This sounds like the charges accumulated during the cruise, not in port. the cruise lines are pretty clear that they turn off the Cellular @ Sea service in port. If they didn't - thousands of people around the ports would get charged roaming. Have you ever heard of that happening?

[Elaine515]

This sounds like the charges accumulated during the cruise, not in port. the cruise lines are pretty clear that they turn off the Cellular @ Sea service in port. If they didn't - thousands of people around the ports would get charged roaming. Have you ever heard of that happening?

 

 

YES... about 2 years the guys were sitting on Lido Deck listening to the football game, got home and had a $500 bill from AT&T :( It was then determined that the person who was suppose to turn off the Cellular @ Sea button forgot to and everyone and anyone who used their cell phone while still at the Port of Miami was billed... AT&T got about 100 calls that particular week from customers who were on the same ship and billed while still at the Port of Miami

 

The best thing to do is make sure your cell phone, no matter who your provider is, says their name and doesn't say CELLULAR AT SEA top left of the screen...

[arush5268d]

YES... about 2 years the guys were sitting on Lido Deck listening to the football game, got home and had a $500 bill from AT&T :( It was then determined that the person who was suppose to turn off the Cellular @ Sea button forgot to and everyone and anyone who used their cell phone while still at the Port of Miami was billed... AT&T got about 100 calls that particular week from customers who were on the same ship and billed while still at the Port of Miami

 

The best thing to do is make sure your cell phone, no matter who your provider is, says their name and doesn't say CELLULAR AT SEA top left of the screen...

 

Whoops! yes, I agree that someone should turn off roaming and/or watch to see what network theya re on

[cruisinfanatic]

Yes it is true. My mom and dad have Verizon. Their plan covers them everywhere in the US including Hawaii and Alaska. While on a cruise in Alaska they used their phones in Port. Their phones picked up the cell tower on the ship. They had a $500 charge for overages due to the cell tower on the ship. It is best to get away from the ship before using your phone. No problems once away from the ship on their excursions.

$500?? Likely they were left on while on the ship to ring up that much

[Anthony63]

YES... about 2 years the guys were sitting on Lido Deck listening to the football game, got home and had a $500 bill from AT&T :( It was then determined that the person who was suppose to turn off the Cellular @ Sea button forgot to and everyone and anyone who used their cell phone while still at the Port of Miami was billed... AT&T got about 100 calls that particular week from customers who were on the same ship and billed while still at the Port of Miami

 

The best thing to do is make sure your cell phone, no matter who your provider is, says their name and doesn't say CELLULAR AT SEA top left of the screen...

 

they would have also gotten calls from people who were on different cruise ships and from people who did not even cruise.

 

i have Sprint i just put my phone in sprint only mode so i do not roam. I also have international roaming turned off in my phone settings. all it takes is just paying attention to how your phone connects to service.

[arush5268d]

$500?? Likely they were left on while on the ship to ring up that much

 

$500, at $2.99/minute is 167 minutes of tlaking on the phone. That's quite a lot for a port day...and mind you that means that they spent nearly three hours while they were in port on the phone right next to / in the ship.

Edited November 21, 2013 by arush5268d

[packedandready]

Not tech savy....but mine doesn't have att anywhere (yes, I have att :p)

Where else could it be. Windows system if that makes a difference.

[rockbock]

$500, at $2.99/minute is 167 minutes of tlaking on the phone. That's quite a lot for a port day...and mind you that means that they spent nearly three hours while they were in port on the phone right next to / in the ship.

 

My guess is that this person never turned off cellular data for the entire cruise, so the phone was constantly fetching emails, push notifications, etc. via 4g Cellular At Sea rates.

Edited November 21, 2013 by rockbock

[arush5268d]

Not tech savy....but mine doesn't have att anywhere (yes, I have att :p)

Where else could it be. Windows system if that makes a difference.

 

 

On Windows phones you need to go through a few menus to see. I have a Windows phone as well but have yet to roam on it so I'm not sure how the status icons change. But you can go and see what network y9ou are on

[rhinomike]

$500, at $2.99/minute is 167 minutes of tlaking on the phone. That's quite a lot for a port day...and mind you that means that they spent nearly three hours while they were in port on the phone right next to / in the ship.

 

It was for both my mom and dad. They never turned their phones on until the ship was docked. They had 4 stops on their cruise.

 

My dad networks quite a bit for his business even though he is supposed to be retired. I am guessing he did the majority.