RCI WiFi Package Questions

[Annefran]

Hi All,

 

I finally joined the era of technology and got a IPhone 5. This will be the first time that I will be taking it with me on board ship. We are sailing on EOS July 31st. I plan on calling Verizon to see what packages they can offer me while on the 9 night cruise etc.

 

Bear with me because this is ALL new to me. I know that I would turn my phone to airplane mode if I'm not making calls or sending texts to avoid roaming charges. But while on board EOS, I can purchase their WiFi package to be able to check email, post here to CC, Facebook correct? How does it work, once I purchase the package I get a logon and password for my WiFi account? OK make me smart on this because it's all above my head. :rolleyes:

 

Should I not bother to purchase RCI WiFi, would Verizon plans cover that? So confused....Share your stories please.

 

Thanks!

[Clarea]

Hi All,

 

I finally joined the era of technology and got a IPhone 5. This will be the first time that I will be taking it with me on board ship. We are sailing on EOS July 31st. I plan on calling Verizon to see what packages they can offer me while on the 9 night cruise etc.

 

Bear with me because this is ALL new to me. I know that I would turn my phone to airplane mode if I'm not making calls or sending texts to avoid roaming charges. But while on board EOS, I can purchase their WiFi package to be able to check email, post here to CC, Facebook correct? How does it work, once I purchase the package I get a logon and password for my WiFi account? OK make me smart on this because it's all above my head. :rolleyes:

 

Should I not bother to purchase RCI WiFi, would Verizon plans cover that? So confused....Share your stories please.

 

Thanks!

I'm not sure if Explorer has unlimited internet yet. If Explorer has unlimited internet plans, you should be able to connect to the WiFi with your phone, see the internet plans, and sign up right from your phone.

 

If Explorer still charges by the minute, then you would have to go to one of the guest computers, choose the wireless signup, swipe your Seapass card, and create a username and password. Then you could connect with the iPhone and log on with the username/password you created.

Edited July 21, 2014 by clarea

[Annefran]

I'm not sure if Explorer has unlimited internet yet. If Explorer has unlimited internet plans, you should be able to connect to the WiFi with your phone, see the internet plans, and sign up right from your phone.

 

If Explorer still charges by the minute, then you would have to go to one of the guest computers, choose the wireless signup, swipe your Seapass card, and create a username and password. Then you could connect with the iPhone and log on with the username/password you created.

 

Thanks Bob for the information. If anyone has recently been on EOS, can you answer the question about unlimited internet service? If not, I guess I can inquire on boarding day. It's ALL good, I'm on a cruise!! :p

[Clarea]

Thanks Bob for the information. If anyone has recently been on EOS, can you answer the question about unlimited internet service? If not, I guess I can inquire on boarding day. It's ALL good, I'm on a cruise!! :p

Remember also that you will get at least 45 minutes of free internet for your D+ coupon. I believe I read thay raise that to 60 minutes when the ship has unlimited internet.

[Annefran]

Remember also that you will get at least 45 minutes of free internet for your D+ coupon. I believe I read thay raise that to 60 minutes when the ship has unlimited internet.

 

Yes Bob I forgot to mention that in my posting. Love having those free minutes. I just don't feel like using their computers if I don't have to. Using my own IPhone would be much easier around the ship. Plus I have the Tapatalk app on my phone and can post photos so much easier. ;)

Edited July 21, 2014 by Annefran

[dancinman66]

You won't pay roaming charges unless you make text or calls or have a stupid package

 

Put the phone setting to turn off data roaming and leave rest as us

Oh careful of answering calls they are roaming and expensive

 

 

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[steveru621]

Yes Bob I forgot to mention that in my posting. Love having those free minutes. I just don't feel like using their computers if I don't have to. Using my own IPhone would be much easier around the ship. Plus I have the Tapatalk app on my phone and can post photos so much easier. ;)

 

You can use your free minutes for WiFi. Just create an account using their PCs.

[Annefran]

Thanks for all the information, very helpful. I know how to turn my phone to airplace mode but not sure how to turn off the data?

[Clarea]

Thanks for all the information, very helpful. I know how to turn my phone to airplace mode but not sure how to turn off the data?

When you put the phone into airplane mode, it will also turn off WiFi. So you will have to manually turn on WiFi.

[Redsfan]

Not sure if money is an issue or not but I would suggest buying a tablet if you regularly want to check emails, message boards, etc. The iPhone screen is so darn small it's really not a good mini pc. You can pick up a very good tablet nowadays for under $200 and you won't have to worry about any extra charges...otherwise, others have good options with using your phone for wifi only.

[gordiej]

Not sure if money is an issue or not but I would suggest buying a tablet if you regularly want to check emails, message boards, etc. The iPhone screen is so darn small it's really not a good mini pc.

Some of us don't have any problem using our phones for email, message boards, etc. and think tablets are just extra weight. ;) (Though some of us might have Android phones with larger screens than iPads...)

 

Separately, anyone on Verizon have any luck using the cellular data on board the ship? Voice/SMS was working for me on my recent Oasis cruise, but the data wouldn't work on board, and it wouldn't work in Labadee or Falmouth either. The data roaming on the ship is considered part of the regular international data roaming, so you can get 100 Mb of data for $25 which is plenty for checking emails over the course of a week, and some light web browsing.

[Redsfan]

Was just a comment... Tablets are great travel ideas for pics and internet

[dancinman66]

Thanks for all the information, very helpful. I know how to turn my phone to airplace mode but not sure how to turn off the data?

 

 

Push settings then cellular then will show the menu for data roaming

If it is green push it and it will go blank

Done

 

 

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[sky0000547]

There is no need to switch to 'airplane mode'. All you need to do is switch off 'Cellular/Mobile Data' this will in turn automatically switch off your 'Data Roaming'. This can be accessed via Settings>Cellular/Mobile>Cellular/Mobile Data.

 

Doing it this way, you will still be able to receive or make calls or receive and send text messages. Calling and texting are more controllable compare to data, if you don't want to answer the call then just let it ring. Receiving text messages should be free but check with your service provider first. When at sea your phone will be subscribed to 'Cellular at Sea' network, this will provide you the phone signals you need for calling and text messaging. You can treat this service as you are at home with Verizon.

Edited July 22, 2014 by sky0000547

[WestfieldTraveler]

In general, you can call Verizon and ask them to turn off all "international" data on your plan, so no matter what, you will only use up your data while in the US. If you keep your phone on, you may still "roam" (and even receive texts at a per-text charge) if you do not also turn off roaming (which is done by NOT having your phone in a "global" mode, or whatever an iphone would call that).

 

Once you do the above (I don't have an Iphone 5 so check with Verizon) you will only be using your phone with wifi.

[Clarea]

There is no need to switch to 'airplane mode'. All you need to do is switch off 'Cellular/Mobile Data' this will in turn automatically switch off your 'Data Roaming'. This can be accessed via Settings>Cellular/Mobile>Cellular/Mobile Data.

 

Doing it this way, you will still be able to receive or make calls or receive and send text messages. Calling and texting are more controllable compare to data, if you don't want to answer the call then just let it ring. Receiving text messages should be free but check with your service provider first. When at sea your phone will be subscribed to 'Cellular at Sea' network, this will provide you the phone signals you need for calling and text messaging. You can treat this service as you are at home with Verizon.

Just so the OP knows, if the phone rings, they are charged $2.49 per minute, whether the call is answered or not.

[sky0000547]

Just so the OP knows, if the phone rings, they are charged $2.49 per minute, whether the call is answered or not.

 

 

Worth double checking with the network provider as I'm not convinced that is true. Different network provider maybe different though so it might be true for Verizon.

Edited July 22, 2014 by sky0000547

[Clarea]

Worth double checking with the network provider as I'm not convinced that is true. Different network provider maybe different though so it might be true for Verizon.

Very true. We have AT&T and can avoid the charge for ringing by setting our calls to go directly to voicemail.

[seaofwonder]

AT&T does not charge for the phone ringing.However, you do get charged if it goes to voicemail. I travel overseas every summer and use the AT&T plan. I've never been charged for a ringing phone. To avoid the voicemail you can either instruct ppl not to leave a message ( to reduce the number of minutes charged), turn off voicemail, or you can manually block calls from individuals in your contact list.

 

A search on AT&T's FAQ confirms this to be true.

 

 

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[seaofwonder]

Very true. We have AT&T and can avoid the charge for ringing by setting our calls to go directly to voicemail.

 

 

See my other post....according to AT&T you will still get charged as this is using international roaming.

 

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/faq.jsp?locale=es_US

 

 

 

 

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[Clarea]

See my other post....according to AT&T you will still get charged as this is using international roaming.

 

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/faq.jsp?locale=es_US

 

 

I believe the rules for charges using cellular at sea are different (or were different) than for International Roaming. I've been charged for the phone ringing while at sea.

[Annefran]

Was just a comment... Tablets are great travel ideas for pics and internet

 

I appreciate your suggestion. I think I'm going to just stick to my IPhone for now. Hey it took me I don't know how many years to buy the IPhone....baby steps. :p

 

There is no need to switch to 'airplane mode'. All you need to do is switch off 'Cellular/Mobile Data' this will in turn automatically switch off your 'Data Roaming'. This can be accessed via Settings>Cellular/Mobile>Cellular/Mobile Data.

 

Doing it this way, you will still be able to receive or make calls or receive and send text messages. Calling and texting are more controllable compare to data, if you don't want to answer the call then just let it ring. Receiving text messages should be free but check with your service provider first. When at sea your phone will be subscribed to 'Cellular at Sea' network, this will provide you the phone signals you need for calling and text messaging. You can treat this service as you are at home with Verizon.

 

Thanks so much, I just looked at my phone and saw how to do this. So glad I came to CC and asked all these questions since I'm not WiFi/Cell phone savy, yet. Definitely calling Verizon today to inquire about plans. But I'm thinking I will just not call or text while away unless necessary. I'll stick to just email using the data plan etc. Thanks so much everyone, you have all very been extremely helpful, you have no idea!

[Southerngal410]

How do you find out about a ship and their internet/wifi capabilities? We are sailing on the Enchantment in September and need to be able to touch base back home each day. We are with Tmobile. Thanks!

 

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[mil76]

Another thing to help with your decision is Cellular at Sea data can be brutally slow and unreliable. So even if you pay for a data package with Verizon, that does not guarantee that you can check your email whenever you want using your phone and your phone's data. I have an unlimited international data plan on my phone which includes Cellular at Sea, so I leave data roaming on all the time while cruising. But I find that during any waking hours, which on a ship is about 6:00am-3:00am, the data hardly ever works, and my email usually only updates between 3-5 in the morning. Meanwhile my wife uses our free wifi vouchers with her ipad and she'll be able to get online and do email anytime. Not sure if they are able to set things up so the ship's Wifi gets first priority with bandwidth, but in my experience that seems to be the case. I was on Navigator since the refurb and experienced the same issue, so I'm assuming most of the ships (except Allure and maybe Oasis) still will have this problem until the new satellite system comes online. It was a bit better a few years ago before everyone brought Ipads on board and signed up for Wifi packages, but Cellular at Sea is pretty worthless nowadays. I haven't been on Allure since they upgraded, so I hope it's better when we go over Halloween.

 

So my advice is to go for the ship's wifi package rather than trying to use Cellular at Sea. It will probably save you quite a bit of frustration. If you still want to go the phone data route, it does work great while in port as most places have 4G/LTE, although as others have pointed out, it's not hard to find bars/restaurants/stores with free wifi while in port.

 

My phone is Android so I always reboot when we get into port to reset the networks and clear out all the bad mojo of trying to connect to Cellular at Sea for days, and everyone with me (DW, 2 teenagers and usually in-laws) fights over the phone so they can check Facebook, Email, etc. I also like to run the navigation to see where our tours are actually taking us.

[Clarea]

How do you find out about a ship and their internet/wifi capabilities? We are sailing on the Enchantment in September and need to be able to touch base back home each day. We are with Tmobile. Thanks!

Enchantment as shipwide WiFi, but internet access is not free. You would have to purchase a package. You cannot purchase in advance. Details will be available at the guest computer area on deck 6 near the centrum.