Cell Phone Question

[ScoobySue2]

Hey everyone.. I have a question. I'm sailing out of Miami and the first stop is Key West the very next day. Can I keep my Verizon cell phone ON (not in airplane mode) the entire time we set sail until we reach Key West without incurring additional fees through Verizon?

 

I'm not a person addicted to my phone but I thought if it doesn't cost any extra to keep it "ON", I must as well do it... :D

[originalgeek]

A cell phone can reach a cell tower at most about 40 miles away and, depending on conditions, most likely less. All your cell towers will be on land so the farther out the ship is the less likely it will be to work. Although in port at KW should be no problem.

 

NB - I haven't been on my first cruise yet and I have no idea if there are any protocols in place from Carnival that would thwart your cell reception or how far off-shore they sail. I am providing my opinion from a telecom worker's point of view (and not even a mobile carrier employee. I work on land-lines). But I figure the bump can't hurt so someone with Carnival experience can chime in. :)

[loxley]

As soon as they set sail the ships towers will be on. Turn your phone off.

[jamesr3939]

We sailed Galveston with first stop at Key West. I have ATT and left mine on. You will be a lot closer to shore so will probably still be able to hit the Verizon towers. We were further out so the only service I had until we got close to Key West was the ships Cellular at Sea. I never used CAS, just stayed on WiFi so never saw any extra charges.

 

After Key West we went around to Nassau and Freeport. I was still hitting ATT towers through most of the time until we got close to Freeport.

[jac-3]

If you leave cell service on, I would make sure to turn roaming off. That should prevent you from connecting to the ship's cell network.

I cruised Pride out of Baltimore last year, first port call was Canaveral. I put it in Airplane mode until we docked, and then put it back on until we were back in the Chesapeake.

[cruisecraze96]

First cruise was on the freedom and our first stop was Key West. As soon as we lost site of land they turned on the he cellular at sea and so if you had data still in then you would be getting a nice bill. I leave my cell on but turn data off as soon as I get on the ship so I don't have any surprise bills.

[crzndeb]

Easiest thing to do is put in airplane mode, but turn Wifi on...my phone, when put in airplane mode, automatically shuts down wifi and data roaming, so I have to manually turn wifi back on

 

It's better to be safe than sorry regarding data charges. When you get to Key West, take off airplane mode if you need to use something that uses data.

 

Voice calls and texts do not use data...it's things like emails, notifications, etc. that use data.

[NikkiJ1983]

I agree with the leaving phone on but turn roaming off. I have always left my wifi and phone on (not in airplane mode). I have my data roaming turned off so it won't allow me to receive any push notifications or access any webpages without turning my roaming back on. When you go to the Virgin Islands I was able to use my phone normally without any extra charges.