Using Smartphones on rivercruising...

[pbnjrockette]

Since so many of the ships now have free WiFi, I was planning on taking my iPhone but wondered how to prevent extra charges. When Ocean cruising I keep my phone on "airplane mode" so as to not run into data charges. Does anyone know how reliable the WiFi is on the European rivers (especially in France)? Have you been able to use your phone to call and text?

[IT industry vet]

I didn't use my smartphone, but I used my iPad on a Viking cruise from Nuremburg to Budapest last year. The WiFi was pretty reliably available (though maybe a bit slow--I can't remember), with two exceptions: it would cut out if we were going through a lock, and it worked only within the enclosed parts of the ship (so it didn't work on the sundeck). The lack of availability outside the enclosed parts of the ship might have been a Viking thing, though.

[beesKate]

We leave our phones on airplane mode the entire time we're over there and rely on the wifi on the ship and in ports to send email and update facebook. I've never looked into getting a temporary plan to cover calls or texting because what we've been doing works fine for us. In ports, we've found Starbucks or other coffee shops with free wifi. Your tourguides or cruise director could also let you know where to find free wife.

[rjscott]

We are just back from Viking's Portraits of Southern France. We had Nooks with us for wi-fi, but also had our smartphones with us in the event we needed to make an emergency call home. Wi-fi was good for emailing, but I don't believe the signal strength would have been good enough for sending photos, etc. Under our Verizon plan for Europe, calls would have been $1.99 per minute and texts .05 ea. whether sent or rec'd.

Hope this helps.

 

Becki

[id est]

Yes, the connection is pretty stable except of maybe the locks. However it could be very slow and I think it depends on an area the ship is sailing.

[Bet & Peg]

In 2012 I used my iPhone just for WiFi - turned off the cellular setting and never had a problem on the ship except internet was slow sending photos.

 

By last December's (2013) trip I had a tablet. Phone again remained off for cellular and I mainly used Tablet sending E-mails. Many CC posts or messages home remained in "outbox" because of photos attached - large because of my camera. Most eventually did send. Most times regular mail went quickly!

 

I found internet connection was better near the library/computer station. In port usually service was good even in our room.

[jpalbny]

Just returned from Uniworld, on the Rhine. Use their free Wi-Fi extensively via both laptop and smart phone. It worked fine in our stateroom. When connected via Wi-Fi it was fast enough to read e-mail, upload photos (caveat: I downsize my photos to 800x600, about 200 kb, prior to uploading), play on the net, etc... There were a few times that it was painfully slow but not too often - and it doesn't work when you are going through the locks.

 

My data is set to be off when roaming so I don't leave my phone in airplane mode when traveling. But you can still connect to Wi-Fi and not incur data charges that way.

 

One cool thing I could do with the smartphone is to open Google Maps (the app) while still on the ship, view a map of the town we were visiting that day, and cache that map via the ship's Wi-Fi. Then, when walking around town later, I had a detailed local city may complete with a GPS locator so we didn't have to worry about getting lost. Most of the towns were small, but it was really helpful in Amsterdam yesterday morning (ugh - can't believe we're home already and had to work today)... :(

 

You can also use internet-based SMS , such as Google Voice and What'sApp to text for free with the ship's Wi-Fi. It's really handy if you need to remind your younger siblings that you're in Europe, and they aren't! :p

[jiminyC_fan]

I used both my iPad and my phone. They worked all over. Verizon told me to keep it on airplane mode and turn off mobile data. We didn't have any unexpected charges. Worked like a charm. I was sharing a few of my pictures on facebook every day with the phone.

[va2pa]

I turned off cellular data and data roaming on my iPhone and used the Wi-Fi on the ship which was surprisingly good on our last cruise on Viking's Elegant Elbe. Had great access in our room, in the lounge and on the sundeck. Didn't notice slow speed but I didn't try to upload photos to Facebook or email photos either.

 

To avoid purchasing an international plan for texting I used WhatsApp which works on Wi-Fi and is FREE!!! Worked great - just make sure the people you want to text also use WhatsApp.

[franski]

I take a smartphone and a tablet. I turn the data off on the phone - but add an international texting package - so I am not reliant on Wifi.

 

I think I paid about $25 for unlimited incoming texts and 250 outgoing texts. This is the best way for me to keep in touch with people back home.

 

Fran

[Host Jazzbeau]

We rely on wifi and tell people that we will try to check email daily if the ship has connectivity. We can also get texts for a reasonable rate (cheaper to receive than send), so we tell people that in an emergency they should text us and we will figure out how best to reply.

[Kenster]

+1 on the "Whatsapp" app. A free app. Install it and make sure your family or friends back home have it installed and you have free unlimited texting, including photos. Works like a charm.

[burtonnm]

If you have an iPhone and the people you're calling/texting have an iPhone, you don't need any extra apps to text. iMessage already works using wi-fi rather than cellular. You just need to be sure to disable any option that automatically sends it via SMS in absence of wi-fi. You can also make free phone calls over wi-fi using FaceTime audio.

 

Has anyone used FaceTime audio on a river boat? I'm not sure how good the connection needs to be to use it, so it may be difficult on a river boat.

[Bill'sBride]

I used my iphone (Verizon service) on the Viking Cities of Light in October and had great service. I paid $29 for international service for the month (be sure to call and cancel when you get home)_ and about $1 per minute for calls. I also used my ipad to facetime back home using ship WiFi. Facetime was spotty but calls were crystal clear!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We us WiFi and Skipe ..

[4774Papa]

We leave the cellphones behind when we travel overseas. It is really nice.

[franski]

I

 

Has anyone used FaceTime audio on a river boat? I'm not sure how good the connection needs to be to use it, so it may be difficult on a river boat.

 

Our friends travelled with an I-pad and did do FaceTime on one or two occasions. They were up early so that the on-line "traffic" was lower.

 

Fran

[jiminyC_fan]

We did facetime as well. I was sick and stayed on the ship and everyone else was off. I couldn't do facetime in our room like I could for everything else. It worked fairly well around the computer area though. Still slow but it served its purpose.

[Mark_T]

If bandwidth is limited, just use Facetime audio, it will work a lot better than the full video version.