Has anyone used Verizon International short term plan

[Uncwrn93]

I am cruising on the Caribbean Princess in Feb and am trying to decide if I want to purchase internet access or use the Verizon International short term plan?

 

I am traveling with girl friends so will want to touch base with my husband twice a day and maybe send some pictures via text and/or upload to Facebook.

 

Thoughts?

[fishywood]

The Verizon plan is for use while the ship is in port--assuming all your ports are even included. If it is essential to contact home from the ship on every sea day unless you can confine yourself to text messaging the purchase of an internet plan is usually a better buy that what Verizon will charge you for voice (a lot) and data (a stupendous amount) roaming thru Cellular At Sea. Plus it lets you keep to a set budget for your communication.

[Thrak]

Not sure which of the three Caribbean Princess cruises you are on that run in February but two have 3 ports and one has 6 ports. You can almost certainly get decent WiFi in port so, on those days, you can text for free.

 

Verizon is rolling out phone calls by WiFi at the moment. I know my phone is now eligible. Check with Verizon and you may well be able to make phone calls from the ship and in port using the free WiFi. It's definitely worth the effort to look into the possibility.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Thrak

[Hlitner]

With Verizon you first need to make sure you have a GSM enabled phone (as opposed to the old CDMA phones used by Verizon). GSM is the only standard that works around the world. Personally, we got tired of all the baloney with Verizon, ATT, etc. and finally switched to T-Mobile. If we were writing an ad for T mobile it would be, "Switch to T-Mobile....it just works!" And it does. Just about everywhere be it in the Caribbean, Europe, North America, etc. No need to get any short term plan, extra plan, pay extra, etc... it just works. Just arrived in Mexico (where we live during the winter) and here is the typical text we received on our phone, " Welcome to Mexico, Don't Worry: Your T-Mobile plan works just like at home. Call text and browse like your used go - at no extra cost."

 

And that is similar to messages we got last month on 7 Caribbean Islands and last summer throughout Europe (although they do charge 20 cents a min for phone calls in Europe).

 

Hank

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Not sure which of the three Caribbean Princess cruises you are on that run in February but two have 3 ports and one has 6 ports. You can almost certainly get decent WiFi in port so, on those days, you can text for free.

 

Verizon is rolling out phone calls by WiFi at the moment. I know my phone is now eligible. Check with Verizon and you may well be able to make phone calls from the ship and in port using the free WiFi. It's definitely worth the effort to look into the possibility.

 

I've never heard of phone calls by WiFi. How does that work? How do you know if your phone is eligible?

[Mary Ann 2]

Yes, we used it two years ago and it worked great on our iPhones. Just bought one month and then they took it off. Planning on doing it again this coming summer.

[robbinsca]

We used the plan in Mexico with no problem last year. It was only $2 per day per line- very reasonable. Not sure where you are headed, but countries other than Mexico and Canada are listed at $10 per day. You only get charged for the days you actually use- and you get a text reminder prior to first use each day.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[cr8tiv1]

Not sure which of the three Caribbean Princess cruises you are on that run in February but two have 3 ports and one has 6 ports. You can almost certainly get decent WiFi in port so, on those days, you can text for free.

 

Verizon is rolling out phone calls by WiFi at the moment. I know my phone is now eligible. Check with Verizon and you may well be able to make phone calls from the ship and in port using the free WiFi. It's definitely worth the effort to look into the possibility.

 

I learned about this feature at the Apple Store this past November. I asked Verizon about it and they tried to make it sound sketchy. Asked my personal IT advisor (my son-in-law). He said there was no way to "charge" you for your wi-fi call since they don't have your account information; say you were at a Starbucks or McDonalds. I have an iPhone6.

 

So I just tried it today. Turned airplane mode on (no cellular data available). Made a call using wi-fi only. Interesting that my private/unlisted number did not accept wi-fi calls, but the call connected to my friend and we chatted for about 15 minutes.

 

Apple Genius said that he used it to call home from Japan and other foreign places. He said as long as you are calling the US. Don't know if it would work for someone calling you...don't think so.

 

Go to settings - (scroll down to) phone - turn on wi-fi calling (It is the fifth set of groups / not in cellular).

[trvlwrld]

we used the verizon $10 per day plan in september when we were on the caribbean princess. you need to be in port, but if you are careful when you call, you can double up every other day and save half the money because it goes by 24 hour periods starting when you make a call-all calls in any given 24 period are $10---you need to call in advance for them to activate it

[easyboy]

I am cruising on the Caribbean Princess in Feb and am trying to decide if I want to purchase internet access or use the Verizon International short term plan?

 

I am traveling with girl friends so will want to touch base with my husband twice a day and maybe send some pictures via text and/or upload to Facebook.

 

Thoughts?

If it's not an emergency, you can find free wifi spots on ports where you can do your internet activities. Just ask the crews about the location a day before being in port.

[Coral]

With Verizon you first need to make sure you have a GSM enabled phone (as opposed to the old CDMA phones used by Verizon). GSM is the only standard that works around the world. Personally, we got tired of all the baloney with Verizon, ATT, etc. and finally switched to T-Mobile. If we were writing an ad for T mobile it would be, "Switch to T-Mobile....it just works!" And it does. Just about everywhere be it in the Caribbean, Europe, North America, etc. No need to get any short term plan, extra plan, pay extra, etc... it just works. Just arrived in Mexico (where we live during the winter) and here is the typical text we received on our phone, " Welcome to Mexico, Don't Worry: Your T-Mobile plan works just like at home. Call text and browse like your used go - at no extra cost."

 

And that is similar to messages we got last month on 7 Caribbean Islands and last summer throughout Europe (although they do charge 20 cents a min for phone calls in Europe).

 

Hank

 

Unfortunately - I have awful T-Mobile coverage where I live. I just looked at the map and it is better but mostly "partner coverage" but in a city of almost 300,000, we don't even have a T-Mobile store in my city. We only have 1 T-Mobile store in our state.

 

For us, I have to stick with Verizon because it has coverage where I live.

[ar1950]

I am cruising on the Caribbean Princess in Feb and am trying to decide if I want to purchase internet access or use the Verizon International short term plan?

 

I am traveling with girl friends so will want to touch base with my husband twice a day and maybe send some pictures via text and/or upload to Facebook.

 

Thoughts?

 

I did the Verizon plan last year on our Panama Canal cruise when it was $40.00 per month. It worked fine in all of the ports that we visited (I only have a CDMA phone). As far as for calling, the type of 4G protocol that your phone uses is not very important. Most countries do use GSM vs CDMA for 4G service. If your phone is like mine with only GSM then it simply uses 2G, although that means your Internet and texting speeds will be much slower. (I think Verizon has a list of what you get in each country).

 

EDIT: Be aware that any mobile calls made using the ships cellular/satellite is quite expensive. The ship's Internet service is more economical.

 

As far as calling over Wifi, check out the Vonage mobile app.

Edited January 12, 2017 by ar1950

[Hlitner]

I've never heard of phone calls by WiFi. How does that work? How do you know if your phone is eligible?

 

T-Mobile has had that option for several years (on both iPhones and Androids) and it works in a seamless way...once it is set-up. For example, when we are in our own home our iPhone will automatically utilize are high speed WiFi for phone calls and data. But if our WiFi were to be down the phone would simply use the nearest cell. It is possible to manually override these functions but most of the time we simply forget the phone is using that capability. As we said in our other post, "it just works...everywhere."

 

We think that both ATT and Verizon will quickly have to change their plans (and system) to duplicate the T-Mobile model. Bottom line is that folks now want a phone that works everywhere, without needing a PhD to figure it out...or worrying about modifying plans to use a phone in one place or another.

 

Hank

[WisCruiser2]

I just added Verizon's International Pay-as-you-go to my plan. You can call from the ship & other Caribbean countries for $1.79/min, Mexico is .99/min. I did it in case I needed to make any emergency calls. Will find out if there is an additional charge by the ship if used. Otherwise, I'll use Messenger when I have free wi-fi, as well as checking for any messages with the ship internet. There's also Vonage but the people you are calling/messaging also have to have the app installed.

[Thrak]

Verizon WiFi calling FAQ located HERE

 

Verizon WiFi calling activation located HERE

 

My phone is eligible (Droid Turbo 2) but my wife's old phone (Droid Mini) doesn't have this option. Of course her phone is dying anyway so will be replaced soon.

 

I rarely make calls from my cell phone. I mostly use it for texting, Internet access, and books. I actually don't make many phone calls period. :D

[j0el]

TL;DR Use FaceTime or Skype or WhatsApp.

 

I have a fair amount of experience with international calling and texting, both on cruises and on land travel. But will limit this note to your specific question.

 

As mentioned before, using the cell provided on the ship is expensive and you should limit that to emergencies. It does not matter what Verizon charges, it is what the ship charges that matters. And if you accidentally have your phone set up for international data roaming you could wind up getting huge bills. An unintentional backup of all your photos or a download of a major update could ruin your day when the bill came in. Just listening to a few voicemails can use up a lot of minutes.

 

Some people mentioned WiFi calling and that is the best solution. If you and your other party have iPhones and/or iPads and/or Macs, you can use Facetime over WiFi. That works great although it may not work well on the ship because of the number of people trying to use a spotty satellite link. And unless you get free internet minutes on the ship, that can run up a bill too. But you certainly can use Apple iMessage to text from the ship. And in port you can use Facetime just fine from a free WiFi hotspot or an internet cafe. Facetime will allow video, or if there is not enough capacity you can default to only voice. If you do not both have Apple gear, there are a lot of free alternatives. Skype, WhatsApp and WeChat are very popular and easy to set up for voice calls over WiFi. I prefer WhatsApp, but have used them all. Facebook also allows voice calls and it is one of the most efficient systems using a megabyte every 3 minutes. So even a 100MB data plan will give you at least 250 minutes of talk.

 

If the WiFi calling confuses you, there is another reasonable option. Buy an unlocked GSM phone on Amazon (under $20). Make sure it supports these 4 frequencies - 850/900/1800/1900 MHz - it will be called a quadband or a WorldPhone. Then buy a monthly plan with international capabilities from T-Mobile. You can cancel it when you return and you will have a number that only will be known to the few people you give it to. If you cruise more than a few times, buying the phone is well worth it. If it is just for one cruise you may find that the phone plus the TMOBILE plan for a month is still cheaper than the Verizon plan. You could also buy a tourist SIM card at any port and put that into the phone, they are sold everywhere and since they are prepaid, you cannot spend more than what you paid. They start at around $5 usually.

[Steelers0854]

Some people mentioned WiFi calling and that is the best solution. If you and your other party have iPhones and/or iPads and/or Macs, you can use Facetime over WiFi. That works great although it may not work well on the ship because of the number of people trying to use a spotty satellite link. And unless you get free internet minutes on the ship, that can run up a bill too. But you certainly can use Apple iMessage to text from the ship. And in port you can use Facetime just fine from a free WiFi hotspot or an internet cafe. Facetime will allow video, or if there is not enough capacity you can default to only voice. If you do not both have Apple gear, there are a lot of free alternatives. Skype, WhatsApp and WeChat are very popular and easy to set up for voice calls over WiFi. I prefer WhatsApp, but have used them all. Facebook also allows voice calls and it is one of the most efficient systems using a megabyte every 3 minutes. So even a 100MB data plan will give you at least 250 minutes of talk.

 

 

I would be careful in the use of terminology as it can get confusing, AT&T offers Wifi calling that uses your phone exactly as if you were connected to their cell tower over a Wifi network. You can both receive and make phone calls as you normally would do so. I know you can do this on a iPhone after a short setup process.

[Thrak]

Verizon claims the same thing. I haven't tried it out though. Perhaps I should kill my data and try calling over my home WiFi as a test.

[Steelers0854]

Verizon claims the same thing. I haven't tried it out though. Perhaps I should kill my data and try calling over my home WiFi as a test.

 

 

 

I have tried it on ATT. They just started allowing it via domestic wifi a few months ago, when it originally launched it was limited to international wifi. I did the same thing you said and it worked just fine for incoming and outgoing calls. I didnt check to see if SMS would work though.

[Onagh]

Verizon Travel Pass only works in Ports. I use it every time I Cruise.

 

On Board, At Sea, there are times you can pick up Cellular At Sea which is part of the Travel Pass, but it all depends on how close to the Shore the Ship is sailing.

 

Unfortunately, at sea you need to use the Ship WiFi and pay the fees.

 

Good Luck

[Uncwrn93]

THank you everyone. Sounds like I will skip it since our port days I can use the free wifi. I don't need or want tons of data just enough to touch base daily with my husband. Looks like I will get the minimum data on the ship.

[Daniel1313]

TL;DR Use FaceTime or Skype or WhatsApp.

 

I have a fair amount of experience with international calling and texting, both on cruises and on land travel. But will limit this note to your specific question.

 

As mentioned before, using the cell provided on the ship is expensive and you should limit that to emergencies. It does not matter what Verizon charges, it is what the ship charges that matters. And if you accidentally have your phone set up for international data roaming you could wind up getting huge bills. An unintentional backup of all your photos or a download of a major update could ruin your day when the bill came in. Just listening to a few voicemails can use up a lot of minutes.

 

Some people mentioned WiFi calling and that is the best solution. If you and your other party have iPhones and/or iPads and/or Macs, you can use Facetime over WiFi. That works great although it may not work well on the ship because of the number of people trying to use a spotty satellite link. And unless you get free internet minutes on the ship, that can run up a bill too. But you certainly can use Apple iMessage to text from the ship. And in port you can use Facetime just fine from a free WiFi hotspot or an internet cafe. Facetime will allow video, or if there is not enough capacity you can default to only voice. If you do not both have Apple gear, there are a lot of free alternatives. Skype, WhatsApp and WeChat are very popular and easy to set up for voice calls over WiFi. I prefer WhatsApp, but have used them all. Facebook also allows voice calls and it is one of the most efficient systems using a megabyte every 3 minutes. So even a 100MB data plan will give you at least 250 minutes of talk.

 

If the WiFi calling confuses you, there is another reasonable option. Buy an unlocked GSM phone on Amazon (under $20). Make sure it supports these 4 frequencies - 850/900/1800/1900 MHz - it will be called a quadband or a WorldPhone. Then buy a monthly plan with international capabilities from T-Mobile. You can cancel it when you return and you will have a number that only will be known to the few people you give it to. If you cruise more than a few times, buying the phone is well worth it. If it is just for one cruise you may find that the phone plus the TMOBILE plan for a month is still cheaper than the Verizon plan. You could also buy a tourist SIM card at any port and put that into the phone, they are sold everywhere and since they are prepaid, you cannot spend more than what you paid. They start at around $5 usually.

 

Verizon says to use the wifi calling you need to update your emergency 911 address. When trying to do this, it asks what your US address is. It doesn't say how you do it if you are in a foreign county. Anyone have any ideas? It says if you don't update your address you can't use wifi calling..

[Schnauzerguy]

Another option if you have a non-carrier locked phone (any newer let Verizon phone should be unlocked) and you don't mind changing out the SIM card, is to get a FreedomPop SIM they have free plans that work in most of Europe with 500 texts and 200 minutes as well as 200Mb of data per month. You can also get more data with a little effort through their "friends" program. You can also pay a little extra per month for more calls, texts, and or data. I used it last year on a med cruise for my phone and my iPad you do get a different phone number but it is no problem to get a US number. Calls from Europe to the US are local with a US number and you can get 100 free minutes of international calls to make a call to a European number.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[sweetsleep]

Check out Viber,it is a VOIP free service and you can talk and text from anywhere in the world so long as you are on WiFi and the person you call/text is also on WiFi. You will need to have anyone you want to call sign up for Viber-but again it is free.

There are other free VOIP apps besides Viber.

Have had incredible sound when people have called me in the US from both Sweden and Barcelona.So is does work very well. Sounds like you are on a crisp speaker phone. Amazing.

This will not work on any ship while you are at sea though. But not sure why you need to check in if your loved ones have your itinerary and know you are at sea unless there is someone ill?

[Crystabel]

I have an older iPhone 5s with Verizon. I'll be traveling to Europe and would like to know the least expensive way to make phone calls or text in Italy. I'll only need it for about a week. Im not very tech savvy, but any help would be appreciated.