WiFi Advice

[Sailingkidswine]

We have the unlimited wifi package. We have reasons for needing to be as connected as possible (I realize the wifi will possibly be spotty.) If I want to be able to receive iMessages at will (but not off the ship) what is my best bet on settings on my phone? Likewise, our kids have limited wifi so I'd like my tween to be able to communicate with us if she changes her plans on the ship, but I don't want her to blow through her 40 min with nonsense from home (she, unlike the adults, does not need to be connected outside of communication onboard with us.)

[Alakegirl]

40 minutes will be used in a flash. She is better off leaving you notes in the room.

[shayelle]

We're just off a cruise with the same wifi situation. We had 2 unlimited and 2 40 minutes packages. The 40 minutes go quick. One thing we did realize though, is that the unlimited can be used on any device, just one at a time. So I let my kids log in and do what they needed to do (gotta keep those snapchat streaks!)

[killsport]

First, make sure you have all phones in Airplane mode (to avoid crazy roaming charges). THEN, turn on Wi-Fi. For the unlimited plans, leave WiFi on. If you only really want one-way communication (hi Mom, I'm leaving the pool and heading to the room) from the 40-minute plan, have that device turn WiFi on and send the iMessage, then turn WiFi off on that device. Each time it connects, it will use a minimum of 1 minute of the 40.

The alternative (as mentioned by others) is to have ONE of your two unlimited packages used by your tween during the day and the OTHER used by you. In the evenings, the other unlimited can be used by your spouse, since it is login-based, not device based. Only one user can be logged in using ONE of the plan at a time. But you can log out of device A (tween's iPhone) and then log in to device B (spouse's iPad) with one of the unlimited plan's userIDs.

Good luck!