Anthem - How to communicate with others in your party

[HoundMom4]

We are sailing in July and are worried how to communicate with each other while on the ship. From what we have read - the RoyalIQ does not work and you pay a lot of money for it. Any suggestions?

[Clarea]

You can purchase the ship's WiFi for your devices and use an internet based messaging app, such as iMessage or WhatsApp.

[cynt]

Everyone has a phone in their cabin you can call. Leave post its on your cabin door w/ your location. When I traveled in a group we pretty much staked out a spot on deck that was our spot on sea days. Everyone knew to go there and someone in our party was usually there and could relate any messages or whereabouts. We had the kids, 15, 15 & 17 tell us where they were going to be and if they changed locations to come and let us know. We didn't find it necessary to be joined at the hip w/ a walkie talkie or phone.

[grouchomarx]

We are sailing in July and are worried how to communicate with each other while on the ship. From what we have read - the RoyalIQ does not work and you pay a lot of money for it. Any suggestions?

 

The Royal IQ app does not cost any money and it works fine. It is the wifi you pay for. Wifi worked quite well on our 12 day cruise.

[dedosr]

When we were on the Quantum., the Royal IQ App worked great for us. Aside from having all your info about the cruise, You could add everyone in your party to your contacts, and then text them. That feature was free then. I hope it still is. To make it work properly for texting, everyone had to keep the app open. If the app was closed the texts would not go through.

[Cayman Turtle]

The Royal IQ app is free to download but you do have to pay to connect. Royal has two options - unlimited wifi where you can access all your email, Facebook, etc. or you can go with the cheaper messenger option where you can iMessage/text anyone in your group who is signed up.

 

You can use the phones in your room as suggested above or the notes on the door. I've done both but you will find your favorite spots on board and everyone will know that they will most likely find you there. You'll probably make your plans when you get your cruise compass and let everyone know in advance where you're planning on going. Don't worry, it's very easy to find your party, unless they don't want to be found. :D

[dedosr]

The Royal IQ app is free to download but you do have to pay to connect. Royal has two options - unlimited wifi where you can access all your email, Facebook, etc. or you can go with the cheaper messenger option where you can iMessage/text anyone in your group who is signed up.

 

You can use the phones in your room as suggested above or the notes on the door. I've done both but you will find your favorite spots on board and everyone will know that they will most likely find you there. You'll probably make your plans when you get your cruise compass and let everyone know in advance where you're planning on going. Don't worry, it's very easy to find your party, unless they don't want to be found. :D

 

 

This was free on our Quantum Cruise. What is the cost now?

[fred30]

Another option would be just texting using your phones. Cost vary with each providers. With AT&T it's $.50 to send a text and free to receive. Each provider also has packages.

[jenfromjersey]

I believe it was $14.95 per stateroom when we were on Anthem in January. We didn't use it as my MIL had purchased a two device plan and we used that to text between her and my husband. We read bad reviews about the RoyalIQ messaging service so we didn't bother with that.

[cb at sea]

If you tell each other your plans for the day, everyone will know where to look for the others....it's really not as hard as you're imagining to find each other!

[gaylemh]

The price was changed for my March cruise. It was only $7.95. I paid $14.95 in January. That was for the whole cruise.

 

Royal IQ is free to download. You can check reservations, your account, cruise compass on it.

 

The $7.95 is if you want to keep in touch with others. You can text or phone anyone else that also has it. Both have to pay. You can also call a cabin from your cell phone. For me it was well worth less than a dollar a day (12 night cruise). I was able to find out where they were sitting on deck or in the WJ to meet up with them, or to find out if someone wanted to meet up to do something last minute, or to let them know I was running late.

[dedosr]

Another option would be just texting using your phones. Cost vary with each providers. With AT&T it's $.50 to send a text and free to receive. Each provider also has packages.

 

One cautionary note here on the provider packages. I fell victim to one of the plans. I bought the international texting plan which included xx many texts for $xx. Sorry I don't remember the # of texts or the $ amount. I figured it would be a good deal to keep in touch with children and grandchildren. The problem came to light when I was billed. Not only was I billed for the package, but I was then charged 50 cents per text sent while on the ship. Most of the texts sent were while we were on the ship. When I called AT&T after I got the bill, they said the package only covers texts while on land. When texting on the ship, you are using there network and that is not covered under the international texting package. After talking with AT&T Customer service, we reached an amicable settlement regarding the charges.

[dedosr]

The price was changed for my March cruise. It was only $7.95. I paid $14.95 in January. That was for the whole cruise.

 

Royal IQ is free to download. You can check reservations, your account, cruise compass on it.

 

The $7.95 is if you want to keep in touch with others. You can text or phone anyone else that also has it. Both have to pay. You can also call a cabin from your cell phone. For me it was well worth less than a dollar a day (12 night cruise). I was able to find out where they were sitting on deck or in the WJ to meet up with them, or to find out if someone wanted to meet up to do something last minute, or to let them know I was running late.

 

Is it $7.95 per phone, or for 2 phones per stateroom?

[gaylemh]

Is it $7.95 per phone, or for 2 phones per stateroom?

 

Per phone. Anyone you want to keep in touch with as to pay the $7.95. It $7.95 for the whole cruise, not per day. It is also not wifi to get the internet.

Edited March 31, 2016 by gaylemh

[dedosr]

Per phone. Anyone you want to keep in touch with as to pay the $7.95. It $7.95 for the whole cruise, not per day. It is also not wifi to get the internet.

 

Thank you

[fred30]

One cautionary note here on the provider packages. I fell victim to one of the plans. I bought the international texting plan which included xx many texts for $xx. Sorry I don't remember the # of texts or the $ amount. I figured it would be a good deal to keep in touch with children and grandchildren. The problem came to light when I was billed. Not only was I billed for the package, but I was then charged 50 cents per text sent while on the ship. Most of the texts sent were while we were on the ship. When I called AT&T after I got the bill, they said the package only covers texts while on land. When texting on the ship, you are using there network and that is not covered under the international texting package. After talking with AT&T Customer service, we reached an amicable settlement regarding the charges.

 

If you get a plan it needs to be a Cruise Ship Plan not the International plan. But you can still text without a plan.

[HoundMom4]

Thank you everyone so much for all the valuable info.