cell phone use

[ffwbchicks]

i know this has been discussed before but can't find a thread on it now. does anyone know at what point the tower on the ship takes over for phone calls?? Verizon has told me not to even use my phone at the port before we board!! Others have said you can use it as long as the ship is in port here in the US....

[stevea36]

i know this has been discussed before but can't find a thread on it now. does anyone know at what point the tower on the ship takes over for phone calls?? Verizon has told me not to even use my phone at the port before we board!! Others have said you can use it as long as the ship is in port here in the US....

 

If you are on the ship and your phone shows "Verizon" as the carrier you are still attached to the standard, statesize, Verizon towers. If the phone shows "Cellular at Sea" you are on the ship's tower. Usually the ship's tower is not activated until the ship is underway.

 

Steve

[leaveitallbehind]

If you are on the ship and your phone shows "Verizon" as the carrier you are still attached to the standard, statesize, Verizon towers. If the phone shows "Cellular at Sea" you are on the ship's tower. Usually the ship's tower is not activated until the ship is underway.

 

Steve

 

...but it can very well be as soon as you are underway - even where the land towers may still be in range, so just watch for the "Cellular at Sea" as mentioned by stevea36.

[setsail]

It takes over when your phone tells you it has, by looking at the screen

[ffwbchicks]

so it will just say that on my screen?? or do i have to look in my settings? i have an iphone.

[A2Mich]

so it will just say that on my screen?? or do i have to look in my settings? i have an iphone.

 

 

An iPhone shows the network on the top left of the screen to the left of the time display.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[ffwbchicks]

oh thanks!! I see it! thanks for all the help!

[reallyitsmema]

Make sure you turn off data roaming or else you will have a huge data bill when you get home.

[killtheump]

Make sure you turn off data roaming or else you will have a huge data bill when you get home.

 

Yes! Make sure data is off way before it says Cellular at Sea.

[cruisegirl1]

Make sure you turn off data roaming or else you will have a huge data bill when you get home.

 

YES!!

I thought all the necessary settings were in place, but obviously not, and received a charge for roaming and usage of about $100. I was able to get a bit of a reduction from my carrier.

 

Be careful.

 

M

[ffwbchicks]

ok thanks!

[Gayle V]

I would talk to your Verizon representative if I were you.

 

My son works for Verizon (over 20 years there. He is one of the guys that teaches the Verizon reps what they need to know. Needless to say, we have Verizon also.) I talked to him about this topic not long ago. Specifically about the assertion that the phone will say "Cellular at Sea" if you are using the ship's towers. He said that you cannot rely on that. That yes, if it says that, then yes you are on the ship's towers. But, and here's the big BUT, it does not always say that. It depends on your equipment and possibly your plan, among some other variables. There is no one size fits all answer to this.

 

(By the way, I was asking this in an effort to formulate some "cell phone use at sea" advice for a page that I write for another web page, which will remain nameless. The final result was basically, you need to talk to your own individual representative, who will know your phone and your plan. Your rep can also make recommendations for changes you might want to make before you sail that can possibly save you money, and assure your phone works where and how you want it to.

[edisit]

My phone never said "Cellular at Sea" and we have Verizon using an iPhone 5. It said Verizon LTE when docked then I had no signal for awhile until it started saying "Roaming". I made sure to spend the $25 for the international roaming data package which gives you $100 meg of roaming data for a month. Phone calls on Verizon are still $2.50 a minute at sea and varying amounts in port. Still waiting for my bill.