doncolleen Posted November 1, 2015 #1 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Verizon added service ($40.) to my plan so that I can use my phone while at sea and in the various ports of call. Just wondering how well it will work? On the Star in one week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieshops Posted November 1, 2015 #2 Share Posted November 1, 2015 (edited) you can go to the verizon site and enter the ship and device using and they will give you pricing Edited November 1, 2015 by pieshops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted November 1, 2015 #3 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Verizon added service ($40.) to my plan so that I can use my phone while at sea and in the various ports of call. Just wondering how well it will work? On the Star in one week! It will work fine, since the cell tower is onboard. Verizon is $1.79/minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted November 1, 2015 #4 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Phone service on the ship at sea will depend on satellite reception. We were 100 miles off the Spanish coast last week and had periods of bad service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted November 1, 2015 #5 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Phone service on the ship at sea will depend on satellite reception. We were 100 miles off the Spanish coast last week and had periods of bad service. That's fairly rare unless the weather is really bad, especially in that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickev99 Posted November 2, 2015 #6 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I would love it if you would report how it worked after your cruise. I have Verizon and would like to be able to text with the kids on the ship when we cruise in December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvsullivan Posted November 2, 2015 #7 Share Posted November 2, 2015 And do understand that what you pay Verizon has nothing to do with the additional charges you will have to pay NCL for using their service on the ship. It's a little expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted November 2, 2015 #8 Share Posted November 2, 2015 And do understand that what you pay Verizon has nothing to do with the additional charges you will have to pay NCL for using their service on the ship. It's a little expensive. Actually, you pay the contract rate with Verizon (voice and data). There is no additional charges by NCL. Unless you buy wifi services from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvtheships Posted November 2, 2015 #9 Share Posted November 2, 2015 That's fairly rare unless the weather is really bad, especially in that area. The ba had poor service for a few hours both ways going to and from the Carib from NYC 12 day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted November 2, 2015 #10 Share Posted November 2, 2015 (edited) I would love it if you would report how it worked after your cruise. I have Verizon and would like to be able to text with the kids on the ship when we cruise in December. So member of our family have iPhones, so we use iMessage (internet text messaging vs. telephone company text services) to text back and forth. We have been on multiple NCL ships this year and have purchased wifi plans that allow us to text (via iMessage) back home to the US. Satellite-based internet works fine for texting and email. Kinda slow for surfing the web. We actually buy one wifi plan and successfully cycle 4 phones (personal and work) and 2 iPads using the single plan throughout the day. Edited November 2, 2015 by BirdTravels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doncolleen Posted November 2, 2015 Author #11 Share Posted November 2, 2015 The $40. plan with Verizon included 100 voice minutes, 100 outgoing texts and unlimited incoming texts. We also have internet included with our suite. I'll let you know how it goes mickev99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherofTrips Posted November 2, 2015 #12 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Do of you purchase the plan with Verizon can you use your phone for calling or texting without using NCL wifi service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper45maru Posted November 2, 2015 #13 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Do of you purchase the plan with Verizon can you use your phone for calling or texting without using NCL wifi service? I bought the $40 Verizon plan with 100 mins, outgoing texts, and MBs of data for a Western Med Epic cruise a couple of months ago, and it worked in ports and at sea for calling and texting without having to pay for any NCL Internet services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherofTrips Posted November 2, 2015 #14 Share Posted November 2, 2015 How much data? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper45maru Posted November 2, 2015 #15 Share Posted November 2, 2015 How much data? It's 100 each--100 minutes, 100 outgoing texts, and 100 MB data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txagfan Posted November 2, 2015 #16 Share Posted November 2, 2015 (edited) How do you know you are on the Verizon service, like when in port on the boat, for example? Edited November 2, 2015 by txagfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper45maru Posted November 2, 2015 #17 Share Posted November 2, 2015 You won't technically be on Verizon service. You'll be on a local carrier that Verizon partners with. You also get a free text message (if you ha debt turned that option off through your account) when you enter a new country. As far as how you tell, I'm sure it varies by phone, but on my iPhone up in the left corner, it says "Verizon" and then either LTE, 3G, etc. In Europe, it gave the name of the local carrier instead of Verizon. So, however you normally tell what service you have/what your signal strength is will remain the same. I also turned off wifi while I was on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txagfan Posted November 2, 2015 #18 Share Posted November 2, 2015 You won't technically be on Verizon service. You'll be on a local carrier that Verizon partners with. You also get a free text message (if you ha debt turned that option off through your account) when you enter a new country. As far as how you tell, I'm sure it varies by phone, but on my iPhone up in the left corner, it says "Verizon" and then either LTE, 3G, etc. In Europe, it gave the name of the local carrier instead of Verizon. So, however you normally tell what service you have/what your signal strength is will remain the same. I also turned off wifi while I was on the ship. Fair enough. I've traveled internationally as well and am familiar with what you're discussing. Just seemed like with the service being specific to cruise lines it seemed relevant that you would need to remain on a Verizon service. Worst yet is if I called Verizon they are just AWFUL to explain anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper45maru Posted November 2, 2015 #19 Share Posted November 2, 2015 You also get a free text message (if you ha debt turned that option off through your account) when you enter a new country. So, I was on my iPhone, and apparently it decided to autocorrect "haven't" to "ha debt". Sorry about that! Fair enough. I've traveled internationally as well and am familiar with what you're discussing. Just seemed like with the service being specific to cruise lines it seemed relevant that you would need to remain on a Verizon service. Worst yet is if I called Verizon they are just AWFUL to explain anything. I don't think the Verizon international service is specific to a cruise line. There were times that I would get a text saying welcome to "cruise ship" but I just took that to mean that we had meandered away from any country's specific service and were on sat service. I didn't take it to mean I was on Norwegian's service specifically. And to further ensure this, like I said, I made sure that wifi was always off so not to incur even an accidental charge from NCL. And Verizon customer service is THE WORST! When I was researching the international plans before I left for my Epic voyage, all I could find were examples of many, many people reporting that talking to a live person about the plan was pointless and frustrating. So, ultimately, I decided to trust what was on their website, brace myself for a shocking bill if that wasn't true, and then armed with my research, be prepared to fight (which is so not me!). I was pleasantly surprised when everything came through as expected. As a matter of fact, it was so easy that I just switched my Verizon plan today to deal with my upcoming 4-day cruise to the Bahamas. I wasn't going to bother since it's only 4 days, but then I realized it might be nice to post pics of GSC and be able to contact family if needed. Had I not had a simple/good experience (for a change!) with Verizon on the Epic, I'd never even consider this, as I consider my phone on vacation as rather an albatross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickev99 Posted November 2, 2015 #20 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I bought the $40 Verizon plan with 100 mins, outgoing texts, and MBs of data for a Western Med Epic cruise a couple of months ago, and it worked in ports and at sea for calling and texting without having to pay for any NCL Internet services. Awesome! My kids are 11, 11, and 12 and we want to give them a LITTLE bit of freedom on this cruise (I'm a little paranoid) so we want to give them one of our phones and keep the other with us (husband's and mine) so we can text them on the ship. We don't want to have to buy wifi so we will definitely be signing up for this. On the last cruise they enjoyed hanging with us, but they might want to do a few different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger001 Posted November 2, 2015 #21 Share Posted November 2, 2015 (edited) Do of you purchase the plan with Verizon can you use your phone for calling or texting without using NCL wifi service? With Verizon while at sea, without any plan, the ship's "cellular at sea" lets you text for .50c each sent and receive for .05c. That's SMS text only, no pictures. And you can call for what was $2.50 a minute, but on the Verizon site appears to be $1.79 a minute now. However, for data use you would have to buy a plan (or it will cost you fortune). And for wifi on board, you purchase it through the ship. At port stops you may be able to find some free wifi. Edited November 2, 2015 by roger001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txagfan Posted November 2, 2015 #22 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Awesome! My kids are 11, 11, and 12 and we want to give them a LITTLE bit of freedom on this cruise (I'm a little paranoid) so we want to give them one of our phones and keep the other with us (husband's and mine) so we can text them on the ship. We don't want to have to buy wifi so we will definitely be signing up for this. On the last cruise they enjoyed hanging with us, but they might want to do a few different things. Turn off the cellular data option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancydow Posted December 10, 2015 #23 Share Posted December 10, 2015 What's the word? How did it work out for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponcruising Posted December 10, 2015 #24 Share Posted December 10, 2015 I bought the $40 Verizon plan for my Escape cruise I took last week. I really only received texts and missed all texts the day in Tortola. I had someone tell me after the cruise that they texted me on Wednesday, but I never received the text. Also, the email did not work either. My phone did ring one day with a solicitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulh84 Posted December 10, 2015 #25 Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) I wish CC would publish an accurate up to date to article on this topic. There is so much misinformation on some of these threads. I bought the $40 Verizon plan for my Escape cruise I took last week. I really only received texts and missed all texts the day in Tortola. I had someone tell me after the cruise that they texted me on Wednesday, but I never received the text. Also, the email did not work either. My phone did ring one day with a solicitor. If you had purchased the Verizon cruise ship package, you would not have had coverage in Tortola to receive any texts. The ship will turn off the satellite coverage while in/near port. You would have needed an International Package to have coverage while on land. Edited December 10, 2015 by paulh84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now