AT&T Cruise Ship Plan

[peg3632]

I am thinking of adding the plan to my wireless while on the Jewel next month. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who purchased the plan and get your opinion of how it works. Did you also use it while off the ship? Thanks for your input.

[Clarea]

I am thinking of adding the plan to my wireless while on the Jewel next month. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who purchased the plan and get your opinion of how it works. Did you also use it while off the ship? Thanks for your input.

I haven't used the package, but I've looked at the features. If you have a smart phone, and you are considering using the data part of the plan, I'd take a look at your normal data usage first. The plan only gives you 100MB of data for $120, which is not much compared what most people have. A smart phone could consume that much quickly.

[shutterbug63]

I am thinking of adding the plan to my wireless while on the Jewel next month. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who purchased the plan and get your opinion of how it works. Did you also use it while off the ship? Thanks for your input.

 

I had this on the Liberty in December. I loved it. I bought the $60 package that was 50 minutes of talk time and 100 outgoing texts. Had no issues with reception. I did notice there was some delay in receiving and sending texts while at sea.

 

I did not buy any data with this package. It was super nice not to have to worry about when & where I talked or texted while at sea. BTW...the rates with this plan also apply on land while you're on the cruise, so while we were docked in Falmouth and Labadee, I had no problems using my phone while off the ship.

[MS52]

Does anyone know what the plan is called? I can't find it as an add-on.

 

found it:

 

http://www.att.com/att/global/affordable-world-packages/?cruise

Edited January 9, 2014 by MS52

[Clarea]

Does anyone know what the plan is called? I can't find it as an add-on.

 

http://www.att.com/att/global/affordable-world-packages/?cruise

[peg3632]

Shutterbug, how would I turn off the data on my iphone so that I don't end up paying for it and does it cost the people in the States to text me? Thanks

[Clarea]

Shutterbug, how would I turn off the data on my iphone so that I don't end up paying for it and does it cost the people in the States to text me? Thanks

Depends on IOS version. On my phone it's under Settings, General, Network, Cellular Data.

 

The cost for people sending texts to you depends on their texting plan, not yours. In other words, it does not matter that you're on a ship to the senders.

Edited January 9, 2014 by clarea

[QuickGold]

Do a google search for: royal caribbean at&t plan review

 

You will find a review from Jewel of the Seas taken last year

[shutterbug63]

Shutterbug, how would I turn off the data on my iphone so that I don't end up paying for it and does it cost the people in the States to text me? Thanks

 

I turned off data roaming on my phone per AT & T's instructions. I also went into most of my apps & turned off cellular data for them. Did not access email or internet on my phone while on the cruise. I didn't incur any extra data charges.

 

Whether or not it costs people to text you while you're on the cruise will depend on what plan they have on their phone. For me, I have unlimited texting so I never have to worry about going over because of incoming texts on the cruise. I did have to pay attention to not going over the 100 outgoing.

Edited January 9, 2014 by shutterbug63

[obnurse]

I found using my cell phone faster, cheaper and more convenient than going to the internet cafe. We have AT&T. I didn't add an international plan, just used our regular plan. It cost me 25 cents per text out and texts to me were free (included in our regular plan). I turned my phone completely off when not in use, which was most of the time, to avoid extra charges. I checked it a couple times a day to make sure there were no emergency calls, as my young adult daughter watches over our elderly mother in our absence. It worked great for us. I think our bill was approximately 20 dollars more that month. Depending on how much one uses their phone, it may pay to just use your regular plan.

[Zach1213]

I turned off data roaming on my phone per AT & T's instructions. I also went into most of my apps & turned off cellular data for them. Did not access email or internet on my phone while on the cruise. I didn't incur any extra data charges.

 

Whether or not it costs people to text you while you're on the cruise will depend on what plan they have on their phone. For me, I have unlimited texting so I never have to worry about going over because of incoming texts on the cruise. I did have to pay attention to not going over the 100 outgoing.

 

Based on my experience (I travel abroad many times a year with my iPhone), turning Data Roaming off will supersede everything, so you shouldn't need to turn any cellular data off. For example, my data roaming is ALWAYS off. That way I don't have to worry about remembering to turn it off when I leave the country. But my cellular data is always on, so that I can access the Internet from my phone while home in the US.

 

Basically, with data roaming OFF all of the time, and cellular data ON all of the time, I never have to remember to change anything when I travel abroad, and I have never once been hit with a penny of unexpected data charges.

[Zach1213]

I found using my cell phone faster, cheaper and more convenient than going to the internet cafe. We have AT&T. I didn't add an international plan, just used our regular plan. It cost me 25 cents per text out and texts to me were free (included in our regular plan). I turned my phone completely off when not in use, which was most of the time, to avoid extra charges. I checked it a couple times a day to make sure there were no emergency calls, as my young adult daughter watches over our elderly mother in our absence. It worked great for us. I think our bill was approximately 20 dollars more that month. Depending on how much one uses their phone, it may pay to just use your regular plan.

 

It sounds like all you did was text, which doesn't really use data...not in the sense that the Internet and apps do. So going to an Internet cafe and using your phone accomplish different things. If you had just willy nilly used your phone abroad to send e-mails, access the Internet, etc. without a special plan, your bill would have been huge.

[obnurse]

Oh, ok.....thank you for the clarification. I guess it worked for my needs, but I did not access the internet for e-mail, etc. My only concern was to be in touch with home for emergency purposes. I guess my smart phone is smarter than me, lol. :-)

[Starlight Durban Cruising]

I read the title, and for a moment my brain thought that AT&T was planning to operate cruise ships. At least you made me smile :o

[reedl]

I purchased the $30 plan on my cruise on the allure in October 2013. It worked well, and we used 55 minutes of cellular talk so the voice portion cost us $35 ($30 plan, plus $1 a minute for overage).

 

Since I paid for unlimited data on the Allure, I did not need the ability to send texts since everyone in my family has iPhones. Therefore we used iMessage over the ship's WiFi network which worked well. Receiving texts on AT&T is free if you have unlimited texting already. We never sent texts, but instead signed into WiFi and sent them that way.

 

We made many more calls than the 55 minutes using Skype over the ship's WiFi and it worked quite well since we had a illness at home we had to deal with.

[Ashland]

I also purchased the $60.00 cruiseship package with AT&T..great not having to worry..Worked well for us on/off ship, just remember you do still have to sign up for the internet service onboard in addition to this plan. Luckily between the two of us with our D+ C&A level we had 90 min free and didn't need to purchase any extra.

[marklodi]

...just remember you do still have to sign up for the internet service onboard in addition to this plan...

 

Er, I could be wrong, but I don't believe this is true. I believe if you sign up with ATT for this plan, and then use your phone in cell mode (ie do NOT connect to the ship's wireless), then you ONLY need this plan. It works in conjunction with "Cellular At Sea" and the charges all hit your cell phone bill.

 

Now if you DO want to use the wireless on your phone, then yes, you would need to sign up for an internet package on board and then connect to it on your phone, as a supplement or replacement to your cell package.

 

Please correct me if I am misunderstanding any of the above. Thanks. :)

[shutterbug63]

Er, I could be wrong, but I don't believe this is true. I believe if you sign up with ATT for this plan, and then use your phone in cell mode (ie do NOT connect to the ship's wireless), then you ONLY need this plan. It works in conjunction with "Cellular At Sea" and the charges all hit your cell phone bill.

 

Now if you DO want to use the wireless on your phone, then yes, you would need to sign up for an internet package on board and then connect to it on your phone, as a supplement or replacement to your cell package.

 

Please correct me if I am misunderstanding any of the above. Thanks. :)

 

That is true if you buy the cruise ship plan that includes data. I only bought the plan that included texting and calling.

[CanCruiser007]

Hello..going on our first cruise in a few weeks ....I have a Google 4 phone that I own so we are going to get a Sim card from AT&T and looking into just do a 30 day plan ...since I am not currently a customer ( was previously) do I need a base plan and a cruise ship plan?....just getting calling and text, no need for data...Is the cruise ship plan an add on???..thank you..