Texting on ship

[fozzy1975]

So my kids will be 14 and 13 when we cruise. I told them this trip they will get a bit of freedom with very STRICT rules! (They are excellent boys so I am not concerned) My question is I know there is some kind of texting plan but do not know much about it. Is it done via the hub app? I dont want facebook or internet or anything like that! ONLY texting on ship with the kids. How much is it? Is it priced per person? Per cabin? Any information would be very helpful! Thanks in advance!

[BENHANDEL]

My first cruise is coming up in December so I am certainly not an expert... But from what I understand we can download the Hub app with the chat feature for $5 for each device. Seems like a good deal for peace of mind. We use a similar feature on the Disney cruise app 2 years ago, but it was free. If it's anything like Disney it was just what we needed to stay in touch.

[coevan]

OP, you are talking about texting on the ship, not to states right?

[asalligo]

Yes, 5 dollars per person for the entirety of the cruise for texting only. Please be aware that it has a terrible tendency of hanging though and looking like it sent your texts when it did not. Your kids are probably telling the truth when they say we did not get your text. Restarting the app daily appears to solve this.

[pacruise804]

So my kids will be 14 and 13 when we cruise. I told them this trip they will get a bit of freedom with very STRICT rules! (They are excellent boys so I am not concerned) My question is I know there is some kind of texting plan but do not know much about it. Is it done via the hub app? I dont want facebook or internet or anything like that! ONLY texting on ship with the kids. How much is it? Is it priced per person? Per cabin? Any information would be very helpful! Thanks in advance!

 

There is a $5 per folio chat feature that allows messaging between others on the ship who also have the chat feature. It is accessed through the Hub app and the app must remain open to receive messages. The $5 cost is for the length of the cruise and can only be accessed by one device at a time. My understanding of what you need is:

• Hub app installed on all mobile devices you wish to use
  
• Chat feature purchased for $5 (total for length of cruise) for each person who wants to communicate (so your group might need only 1 if the boys are sharing a device and chatting with other kids but not you; 2 if boys share and parents share; 3 if boys have each and parents share (or parents each/boys share); 4 if each passenger has - assuming Mom, Dad, 14 yo, 13 yo)
  
• A folio (passenger id) can only be active on one device at a time. If you have both a tablet and a phone, the chat can only be used by one and will disconnect from the other.
  

I think those in the same cabin are automatically able to chat, but I'm not familiar with how you access other passengers. There should be tech support (likely near guest services) to help with any questions.

 

 

Hope that helps:)

[rucingok]

I was interested in this feature also. I did some looking on the boards and seems like I saw a post saying how terrible it was and not even worth the $5. Seems like it was in a post talking about internet speeds.

[fozzy1975]

OP, you are talking about texting on the ship, not to states right?

 

 

yes

[fozzy1975]

There is a $5 per folio chat feature that allows messaging between others on the ship who also have the chat feature. It is accessed through the Hub app and the app must remain open to receive messages. The $5 cost is for the length of the cruise and can only be accessed by one device at a time. My understanding of what you need is:

• Hub app installed on all mobile devices you wish to use
  
• Chat feature purchased for $5 (total for length of cruise) for each person who wants to communicate (so your group might need only 1 if the boys are sharing a device and chatting with other kids but not you; 2 if boys share and parents share; 3 if boys have each and parents share (or parents each/boys share); 4 if each passenger has - assuming Mom, Dad, 14 yo, 13 yo)
  
• A folio (passenger id) can only be active on one device at a time. If you have both a tablet and a phone, the chat can only be used by one and will disconnect from the other.
  

I think those in the same cabin are automatically able to chat, but I'm not familiar with how you access other passengers. There should be tech support (likely near guest services) to help with any questions.

 

 

Hope that helps:)

 

Yes Thank you very much!

[Cruisin Trkrs]

I was interested in this feature also. I did some looking on the boards and seems like I saw a post saying how terrible it was and not even worth the $5. Seems like it was in a post talking about internet speeds.

We've used the Hub in-app chat feature on our last 3 cruises. We REALLY love it when we're cruisin with others OR even when it's just us 2 alone in lieu of the stickie notes thingie. There WAS a problem with messages being not delivered OR very very late. Lol fortunately for us I learned here on CC just how important it is to NOT close the app. Apparently it needs to be opened (just don't exit it, is all) in order for the messaging to go thru. ALSO, refreshing it periodically seems to help. All in all it's a good app. We've got 3 more booked for Sept, Feb, and Aug and will be using it on all 3[emoji3]

sn: It's Soooo much better than those annoying walkie-talkies!

Hahaha we DID use those, years ago...

 

[emoji924]️ Cruisin Trkrs [emoji597]

[Cruisin Trkrs]

There is a $5 per folio chat feature that allows messaging between others on the ship who also have the chat feature. It is accessed through the Hub app and the app must remain open to receive messages. The $5 cost is for the length of the cruise and can only be accessed by one device at a time. My understanding of what you need is:

• Hub app installed on all mobile devices you wish to use
  
• Chat feature purchased for $5 (total for length of cruise) for each person who wants to communicate (so your group might need only 1 if the boys are sharing a device and chatting with other kids but not you; 2 if boys share and parents share; 3 if boys have each and parents share (or parents each/boys share); 4 if each passenger has - assuming Mom, Dad, 14 yo, 13 yo)
  
• A folio (passenger id) can only be active on one device at a time. If you have both a tablet and a phone, the chat can only be used by one and will disconnect from the other.
  

I think those in the same cabin are automatically able to chat, but I'm not familiar with how you access other passengers. There should be tech support (likely near guest services) to help with any questions.

 

 

Hope that helps:)

To chat with others you're cruisin with, OR those you've just met, you only need to put their folio number in and it looks them up. Kinda like a ship- directory. Most of the time now it works great. Back when Carnival introduced this for the masses, not so much.

 

[emoji924]️ Cruisin Trkrs [emoji597]

[coevan]

I was interested in this feature also. I did some looking on the boards and seems like I saw a post saying how terrible it was and not even worth the $5. Seems like it was in a post talking about internet speeds.

 

 

Worked great for us last 3 cruises. Of course it has nothing to do with internet speed. Keep the App open and it works fine

[VeeCee43]

Just off the Valor today. I will probably never use this app again for texting. Before my trip, I read the responses posted by others about the issues they had and responses from those with good tips. Keeping the app open on our devices did not help.We did enjoy having the schedule of events available on the app but not worth $10 we paid.

[CraftyCoffeeCruiser]

I’ve used it on 2 sailing , it was very useful , $5 per device and yes you want to keep in open if you want instant messaging, once I figured out not to close it I had zero issues [emoji106]

I suggest downloading the app on all the devices you plan to use it on so your ready and it will only work in airplane mode [emoji106]

[Purvis1231]

I was interested in this feature also. I did some looking on the boards and seems like I saw a post saying how terrible it was and not even worth the $5. Seems like it was in a post talking about internet speeds.

 

We found on the Dream the text feature worked fine as long as we keep the app open on both devices. It certainly worked better than walkie-talkies.

[Hoosierpop]

Yes, 5 dollars per person for the entirety of the cruise for texting only. Please be aware that it has a terrible tendency of hanging though and looking like it sent your texts when it did not. Your kids are probably telling the truth when they say we did not get your text. Restarting the app daily appears to solve this.

 

 

 

This has been my experience. Sometimes, the chat just stops working. I log back in and get texts from a good bit before. Just something to keep in mind for whoever uses it.

 

 

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[dmdiver]

I always use the hub app to track ship activities & my account expenses. I've only used it once or twice & that was 3 years ago. We did have problems with getting messages at times, but now I think it was because we kept closing the app. While the app itself is free, it will cost $5 per device to use the messaging feature. I may try the messaging again on our 2019 trip, as there will be 10 of us and I doubt we will be together 24/7. It will be nice to let the others know where we are when it's time to meet up for a show or go to dinner.

[ABCGreys]

DH and I have used it on previous cruises and my entire family (15 of us) used it on the Fascination in July, 2017. We had the delayed texts issue that others have mentioned above. Not sure if this is part of the issue, but I'm an android (Samsung Galaxy) user and DH and most other family members are Iphone users. On the family cruise, I found I wasn't receiving texts that other people were. One night in the dining room as a test, my brother texted me and I didn't receive it until several hours later. It's OK for DH and I on our own though and we're normally together or have a predetermined meeting place/time.

[2MORECRUISERS]

So my kids will be 14 and 13 when we cruise. I told them this trip they will get a bit of freedom with very STRICT rules! (They are excellent boys so I am not concerned) My question is I know there is some kind of texting plan but do not know much about it. Is it done via the hub app? I dont want facebook or internet or anything like that! ONLY texting on ship with the kids. How much is it? Is it priced per person? Per cabin? Any information would be very helpful! Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Not always reliable. Make sure you stress to your kids NOT to take their phones out of airplane mode. I have read many horror stories about teenagers and incredibly large cell phone bills (thousands $$$) that appear after cruises. Make sure everyone understands the cell phone carriers rules before your trip. Also, have you thought about the small handheld walkie talkie radios? We see lots of passengers using these. They seem to work better when the volume is at a lower setting.

 

 

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