What cell phone companies cover the Royal Princess?

[Winga7212]

It appears that the Royal Princess and one other Princess ship (the Regal?) have a different cell phone contractor. While AT&T covers almost all Princess ships, the Royal is not included.

[skynight]

It appears that the Royal Princess and one other Princess ship (the Regal?) have a different cell phone contractor. While AT&T covers almost all Princess ships, the Royal is not included.

If you use cellular service on board doesn't it go through Cellular @ Sea and then connect to your provider?

[Winga7212]

I’m guessing not, since they specifically call out the Royal Princess as not having coverage on the AT&T website. I’m wondering if recent cruisers on the ship were able to use Verizon, Sprint, etc.

[Steelers0854]

It’s my understanding that none of the Princess ships are covered under any of the major carriers plans, even those that offer special cruise ship add ons.

 

You should be able to connect to the ships cell signal no matter what service you use. But this will be insanely expensive.

 

Were you looking at placing and receiving phone calls while out to sea, or is it something you can get away with just using the Wi-Fi?

[Winga7212]

I just want to be able to quickly connect to home. It’s odd that AT&T lists every other Princess ship except the Royal and Regal. There must be something different about those vessels and their communication systems.

[Guest arowe6]

I just checked the ATT cruise plans and found it odd that the Royal and Regal are not listed (but the Majestic is). If all you’re looking to do is touch base at home, I might suggest purchasing a small internet package and using Skype voice calls.

 

Prior to fast WiFi on the Regal, I used the painfully slow internet on the Royal to make a few Skype calls. There was a bit of a delay, but it worked. Especially early or late in the day.

 

Just a thought...

 

-Andrew :)

[fishywood]

It’s my understanding that none of the Princess ships are covered under any of the major carriers plans, even those that offer special cruise ship add ons.

 

You should be able to connect to the ships cell signal no matter what service you use. But this will be insanely expensive.

 

OP knows that there will be roaming charges. But there are different cellular-at-sea providers and not every US carrier can connect to the ships cell signal of all of them. AT&T will not connect on Royal and Regal Princess. At all.

[Winga7212]

Thank you. That’s correct. I’m just wondering if other services do connect with those ships. Thank you.

[satxdiver]

There are two maritime wireless providers. One or the other will be installed on your ship. WMS cellularatsea is partially owned by AT&T and is installed on all Princess ships except Royal and Regal. So the plans AT&T has will work with all the ships except Royal and Regal.

 

Maritime Communications Partner, MCP (now called Telenor Maritime) is the provider on Royal and Regal. You should be able to use your cellphone on the Royal or Regal but AT&T does not have a special plan for those ships.

 

All major US cellphones should work on any ship whether WMS or TM has the equipment. Always check with your provider. As to why Princess uses WMS on all their ships except Royal/Regal is a good question. Carnival Corp signed an agreement with WMS to provide cellular service on most of their ships so why Royal/Regal was left out I have no idea. I have been on the Royal and Regal but never use the cell tower services. Most new smart phones will allow you to make calls over WiFi which would incur $$$ to use the ships WiFi.

[skynight]

Doesn't it cost about $2.50/min plus roaming, if any, to make a cell call from the ship?

[Ngamtns706]

Doesn't it cost about $2.50/min plus roaming, if any, to make a cell call from the ship?

 

Different providers are different. Verizon is 2.99/min. T-Mobile was a lot more than that. It’s cheaper to use WiFi calling/Skype/FaceTime/Facebook messenger calls.

[Winga7212]

Thanks so much. It’s still a mystery as to why those two ships are different but it makes more sense now.

[pjs9876]

When in port I use Verizon. It is $10 for 24 hour total access-I use it like I am at home. I call and text and check email, etc. I am Elite so at sea I email.

[thinfool]

Thanks so much. It’s still a mystery as to why those two ships are different but it makes more sense now.

 

Your phone will function on the Regal and Royal, but you will pay the going rate ($3.00/min) because there is no ATT package rate available.

 

From the ATT site, "Everywhere else (including where "Cellular at Sea", “Nor-18” or “901-18” is not displayed), pay-per-use rates apply, unless an additional current package offer applicable to country visited is active on the line of service."

[Hlitner]

The last time we were on the Regal we simply used our T-Mobile WiFi phone option which let us make free calls and text over the ship's WiFi system. Since we get lots of free WiFi minutes this is a terrific bargain :). We would not consider using regular cell service via Cellular at Sea because the cost is ridiculous.

 

Hank

[Steelers0854]

OP knows that there will be roaming charges. But there are different cellular-at-sea providers and not every US carrier can connect to the ships cell signal of all of them. AT&T will not connect on Royal and Regal Princess. At all.

 

 

 

Actually the OP never stated that they knew they would be roaming or not.

 

Also, I was not referring to AT&T’s service, I simply said no matter what service you use you will be able to connect to the tower the ship uses, which is correct. No, you may not be able to connect to AT&T, but you will be able to connect to the tower and use the service.

 

I wasn’t aware AT&T had a plan that covered any Princess ship, so that’s good to know going forward. Although I’m sure it’s totally cost prohibitive.

[Ngamtns706]

Actually the OP never stated that they knew they would be roaming or not.

 

Also, I was not referring to AT&T’s service, I simply said no matter what service you use you will be able to connect to the tower the ship uses, which is correct. No, you may not be able to connect to AT&T, but you will be able to connect to the tower and use the service.

 

I wasn’t aware AT&T had a plan that covered any Princess ship, so that’s good to know going forward. Although I’m sure it’s totally cost prohibitive.

 

I think what is trying to be said is that ATT won’t work at all like no signal. No cellular to make calls on be like airplane mode on those two ships. No cellular at sea (probably can use the app on the ships WiFi like normal.)

[kywildcatfanone]

It appears that the Royal Princess and one other Princess ship (the Regal?) have a different cell phone contractor. While AT&T covers almost all Princess ships, the Royal is not included.

 

Cell costs at sea are quite expensive, and even though AT&T offers Caribbean packages for vacationers it doesn't cover the ship. What I did was used my computer and connected to wifi and did skype calls. That worked for what I needed.

[biochemgrl02]

I have AT&T and used it on the Golden in Alaska. I’m grandfathered in to unlimited data so I get free data and text and calls anywhere in North America. I connected to cellular at sea and was able to call out and receive calls. The rep asked what ship I would be on because I probably wouldn’t be able to get coverage on certain ones.

 

 

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[firecrewcapt]

The money you've spent on cruise fare, gratuities, drinks, excursions, onboard shopping, casino, etc. makes cell minutes expenditures miniscule. Apple to apple I phones Facetime using wifi is free, we do it all the time. We do get free wifi.

[lhsail]

The last time we were on the Regal we simply used our T-Mobile WiFi phone option which let us make free calls and text over the ship's WiFi system. Since we get lots of free WiFi minutes this is a terrific bargain :). We would not consider using regular cell service via Cellular at Sea because the cost is ridiculous.

 

Hank

 

We just recently switched to T-Mobile. Will be sailing on the Regal for 14 days in September. Did you have to have any special settings on your phone to have this work? I had mixed results with our previous carrier and I really like for our son to be able to get in touch if needed.

[thinfool]

We just recently switched to T-Mobile. Will be sailing on the Regal for 14 days in September. Did you have to have any special settings on your phone to have this work? I had mixed results with our previous carrier and I really like for our son to be able to get in touch if needed.

 

No special settings, but you would need to have your phone on all the time. Learn how to turn roaming off. T-mobile states that voice calls on the Regal are $5.99/min.

 

Take the time now to learn how to make wifi calls so that a voice call won't result in bankruptcy.

[Steelers0854]

I think what is trying to be said is that ATT won’t work at all like no signal. No cellular to make calls on be like airplane mode on those two ships. No cellular at sea (probably can use the app on the ships WiFi like normal.)

 

 

 

And I don’t think that’s correct. The ship should still have network capabilities for a phone that normally runs on ATT but it will not connect to an ATT network. If they didn’t have this capability you wouldn’t be able to use the majority of smartphones on the market because they run off the same system.

 

The way I read it is that it won’t work with that plan that covers a lower cost.

[lhsail]

No special settings, but you would need to have your phone on all the time. Learn how to turn roaming off. T-mobile states that voice calls on the Regal are $5.99/min.

 

Take the time now to learn how to make wifi calls so that a voice call won't result in bankruptcy.

 

Always have data roaming off. Thank you for the information.

[polmcs]

Always have data roaming off. Thank you for the information.

 

You will also need to make sure that you have call roaming turned off too. If not, you will connect to the ships cellular connection. It's best to turn on airplane mode and then turn on wifi (and Bluetooth if you have a Fitbit, or other tracker device) and then enable wifi calling. That way you should avoid any unsuspecting cell charges.

 

When onboard, I usually make sure that I've eneabled call forwarding on my cell phone so that any calls to the cell phone ring at home. If a voicemail is left, a text is sent to my cell. Incoming texts on t-mobile are free, even if they come through the ship's cellular connection, so I know that someone has called, so I can connect to wifi on the ship and review the voicemail and call back via wifi if a response is needed.

 

The other good thing about T-Mobile is that a lot of the countries I visit have free international data and texting if you have the right post paid plan