less expensive to bring friend than keep in contact by text message lol

[kathy884]

Thought I'd post this in case others haven't thought about this or are thinking about using their cell phones on the ship or in non-US countries for texting or sharing pictures. Be sure to check with your cell phone carrier about costs and options before doing this.

 

OMG -- Just checked with our cell phone carrier, Verizon. Thought I'd check on possible plans that might allow DS (18) to text with his girlfriend and friends in international waters or at non-US ports. We're on the Valor, and San Juan and St. Thomas are the only US places.

 

Outgoing texts are .50 a text, OK. Incoming ones at .25 OK. Not a huge problem, but something that would need to be limited. But here's where your costs could sky rocket. A picture is .50 incoming and .25 outgoing too, plus data (the plus data part is the issue). A typical picture is about 2 MG, and 1 MB on data international or at Sea is just over $20. And you pay this if someone sends a picture to you, so your not sending pictures doesn't take you off the hook.

 

Verizon also warned us that in US ports to be sure to be a good 100 feet or more away from the ship before turning on your phone or taking it out of airplane mode. Now I read that they don't turn on the global ship roaming till your 12 miles from shore, but I guess I'd rather be safe than sorry and will follow Verizon's advice.

 

Anyway, DH and I will have our cell phones turned off completely for the full duration of the cruise, and DS (18) will have his in airplane more the entire time except for our one stop in St. Thomas (our only US port), and his phone has to go back in airplane mode before boarding the ship.

 

It baffled me, how people could report $600+ cell phone bills after a cruise, but now I get it completely -- just share five pictures a day and send them to a friend in the states, and there you go. I'd be cheaper to bring a friend along than it would be to keep in contact.

[marlynnp]

You can turn off/block picture messaging.

 

And texting alone could easily give you a $600 bill - that's just a bit over a 100 texts (and their replies) each day on a week long cruise.

[xitappers2bx]

you're going on vacation.

 

your DS should be capable of turning off the electronics and being away from the phone for a week and spend that vacation with... i dunno, the family taking him on the vacation?

 

it's great he's going to miss his gf, but let's be real, he's 18. and you're the parent. let him experience a week without being attached to the digital leash we are all stuck to at home.

[Lerin]

We only use our phones for work and emergencies when traveling. About 4 times a week-at most. Save the for-fun friends, family, FB and photo stuff for when we return.

 

Can't think of any reason an 18 year old would need to text his gf. :confused:

Such a thing wasn't even in existence when I was 18 and it was fine.

[steph7021]

you're going on vacation.

 

your DS should be capable of turning off the electronics and being away from the phone for a week and spend that vacation with... i dunno, the family taking him on the vacation?

 

it's great he's going to miss his gf, but let's be real, he's 18. and you're the parent. let him experience a week without being attached to the digital leash we are all stuck to at home.

 

 

I believe the OP did say that their son would have it in airplane mode...I think they were just letting us all know how expensive it is and I appreciated the information.

 

I love it when folks can't pass up a chance to judge parenting.

 

 

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[wrigley80]

Here's a better solution. Turn the phone off and put it in the safe until the vacation is over

[kathy884]

I believe the OP did say that their son would have it in airplane mode...I think they were just letting us all know how expensive it is and I appreciated the information.

 

I love it when folks can't pass up a chance to judge parenting.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:) Yes that's exactly what I said. And yes, the text was just to let others know how expensive texting and other cell phone activities can be (some real details since we just checked it out). Thank you.

 

To other posters: DS is fine not communicating with friends for a week and enthused about the trip. Last summer we were in Yellowstone camping with no cell service / no big deal. I was just looking into a data plan for him if costs were reasonable because it's fun doing a little communication with friends, etc., but cost aren't reasonable, and we're skipping it. Also FYI - DS is a reliable, trustworthy, responsible teen who understands the value of a dollar. There is no need on my part to take his phone away. I trust him implicitly to keep it in airplane mode and want him to have it available for listening to music, something he enjoys doing and does regularly. Airplane mode allows one to use one's phone to listen to music and play any games you have on your phone.

Edited February 24, 2014 by kathy884

[Tapi]

Sometimes. I truly miss the days when I started cruising back in the 80's and going on a cruise TRULY meant disconnecting.

 

No Celular at Sea, no internet, no in-cabin telephone, no satellite TV, (not even a TV in the cabin), no CNN (if you wanted to keep up with the news, you'd swing by Guest Services for a leaflet with the day's top headlines), no pay per view movies (the ships used to have an actual movie theater). If you wanted to communicate with your loved ones, you had to go to the ship's Radio Room to place the call (at some hefty prices).

 

Wonder what some people would do today if the cruise lines truly went back to "the way cruising used to be like"...

 

 

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[!!SAM!!]

Sometimes. I truly miss the days when I started cruising back in the 80's and going on a cruise TRULY meant disconnecting.

 

No Celular at Sea, no internet, no in-cabin telephone, no satellite TV, (not even a TV in the cabin), no CNN (if you wanted to keep up with the news, you'd swing by Guest Services for a leaflet with the day's top headlines), no pay per view movies (the ships used to have an actual movie theater). If you wanted to communicate with your loved ones, you had to go to the ship's Radio Room to place the call (at some hefty prices).

 

Wonder what some people would do today if the cruise lines truly went back to "the way cruising used to be like"...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

I really miss those days also.

[ferfoodle]

Sometimes. I truly miss the days when I started cruising back in the 80's and going on a cruise TRULY meant disconnecting.

 

No Celular at Sea, no internet, no in-cabin telephone, no satellite TV, (not even a TV in the cabin), no CNN (if you wanted to keep up with the news, you'd swing by Guest Services for a leaflet with the day's top headlines), no pay per view movies (the ships used to have an actual movie theater). If you wanted to communicate with your loved ones, you had to go to the ship's Radio Room to place the call (at some hefty prices).

 

Wonder what some people would do today if the cruise lines truly went back to "the way cruising used to be like"...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

LOL - in the early 80's in my neck of the woods, we didn't have most of the things you mentioned at home let alone on vacation. We still had party lines out here in the West and 4 channels of TV to choose from. Movies - if you didn't catch them at the theater you had to wait years for them to be on TV. By the mid 80's we finally got cable (which brought us up to 20 channels) in our area and were fortunate to be able to buy a VCR. Yes, times have changed...some for the better...some for the worse.

 

OP, I have Verizon and do shut the cell off for the cruise as I am one who likes to disconnect on vacation. However, in both POM and Pt. Everglades, I have always made several calls and texts from our balcony on the ship before shutting it down (and turning it back on upon return). Never once have I had any extra charges from Verizon for those in port calls.

[Ehpride]

You may want to doublecheck on St. Thomas to make sure it's not considered roaming.

 

 

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[beberenn]

Thank you for sharing OP, Its nice to know ! I am sailing with my oldest child while she is off for Winter Break (college student) But I will want to communicate with my DH while he is at home with our younger kids.

[hate2shop]

Thanks for the info Kathy and I've found AT&T prices aren't any better.

Both of my teenagers are fine w/o their phones but my husband has to check in with work and I like to know my elderly mother can reach me if she wants to. On our last cruise our friends bought the data package and used Skype to keep in touch with their kids who were in Europe.

 

I also remember the radio room from my first cruise out of San Juan in 1990 and had to call the parents to let them know I made the ship. Cost me $8 but Mom insisted.

[AZTraceFan]

DH and I can't wait to shut off our phones and put them in the safe! That's when we know we know we are REALLY on vacation! Our 19 year old son kept his in airplane mode so he could listen to music and take pictures. :)

[Mrsg324]

Our phones stay in the safe the entire time we are on the ship.

[christyran1228]

I called Sprint right before we left and they were happy to suspend all services for the duration of our cruise, on 3 of our 4 phones ... that way my kids were free to take pictures and play games with theor phones with no worries. I left mine on for emergencies.

 

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[LittleMissMagic]

If your son and his girlfriend have iPhones, he can use iMessage on wifi without being charged the text message rate - that was how I kept in touch with my family when I lived in Europe.

[lil_tnk]

Just a FYI --- AT&T does have a international text package it's like 20 or 30 txts for $10

 

 

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[Tapi]

If your son and his girlfriend have iPhones, he can use iMessage on wifi without being charged the text message rate.

 

 

Remember that WIFI is not free on Carnival ships. There's an activation fee and then there are per minute charges that can be as high as 75 cents per minute. It can add up very quickly just to be connected to a WIFI signal, even if you are just iMessaging.

 

 

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[TheCalicoCat]

On my cruise using my iPhone, in addition to choosing airplane mode, I also turned off cellular data.

 

Sprint covered San Juan & St.Thomas/St. John - even while on the ship. I sent photos of El Morro as we cruised past.

[LittleMissMagic]

Remember that WIFI is not free on Carnival ships. There's an activation fee and then there are per minute charges that can be as high as 75 cents per minute. It can add up very quickly just to be connected to a WIFI signal, even if you are just iMessaging.

 

 

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No, it's definitely not free on cruise ships, but most ports have free wifi somewhere. Either that or "free" wifi at the price of a meal.

[Lisa0719]

trick for son if you/he wants is to have him and gf sign up on the carnival.com funville. they can "chat" on there for free. last cruise I started a thread under currently on-board and was able to give and get updates from home. i found doing it from internet cafe easier than from my ipad.

[grumpyjr88]

If you don't have iphones, then download Whatsapp. It's .99 cents but you can text everyone for free, including international numbers, from ports that have wifi.