Voom packages- share?

[CRUISEFAN0001]

8 minutes ago, carmenOH said:

So if I have the basic Voom package all I need to do when I get on the ship is turn off my cellular and turn on my Wi-Fi calling and then I can make and receive phone calls and send and receive text messages?

...as long as you have your phone set to WIFI calling (recommend turning that on ahead of time). iPhones and Android phones both have this feature in their settings menu.

 

Note: Most carriers support this feature, so the best place to check is on your carrier's website.

 

This is the Verizon setup process.

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/wifi-calling-faqs/

Edited March 26, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[carmenOH]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Correct, as long as your phone, carrier, and software version support WiFi calling.

 Excellent. Thank you 

[jean-lynd]

3 hours ago, carmenOH said:

So if I have the basic Voom package all I need to do when I get on the ship is turn off my cellular and turn on my Wi-Fi calling and then I can make and receive phone calls and send and receive text messages?

Yes - set up wifi calling at home then when you get on the ship put your phone in airplane mode and turn on wifi and connect to Voom. That's all there is to it.

[ShillyShally]

25 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

Yes - set up wifi calling at home then when you get on the ship put your phone in airplane mode and turn on wifi and connect to Voom. That's all there is to it.

Agreed, if I ever try to set it up when needing it I get nowhere!  

[brillohead]

14 hours ago, carmenOH said:

So if I have the basic Voom package all I need to do when I get on the ship is turn off my cellular and turn on my Wi-Fi calling and then I can make and receive phone calls and send and receive text messages?

 

14 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

Correct, as long as your phone, carrier, and software version support WiFi calling.

Has anyone done voice calls on Basic Voom with consistent success?

I'd feel much more confident in VOIP calls using Voom Surf and Stream instead of Basic Surf. 

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, brillohead said:

Has anyone done voice calls on Basic Voom with consistent success?

I'd feel much more confident in VOIP calls using Voom Surf and Stream instead of Basic Surf. 

If you want consistency, look for a ship with O3B, that's more important than the VOOM tier.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

11 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

Has anyone done voice calls on Basic Voom with consistent success?

I'd feel much more confident in VOIP calls using Voom Surf and Stream instead of Basic Surf. 

Used both Voom and Voom Surf & Stream.

 

Fundamentally...Surf & Stream takes the guess work out of working well with VOIP calls, as well as VPN connections. It's even a greater performance difference on ships with the latest 03b satellite internet service...but you'd notice a difference on any ship.

[vacationlover_mn]

On 3/26/2019 at 6:15 AM, carmenOH said:

 Excellent. Thank you 

Also, we always double check that our data is off, because we are paranoid 🙂

[jaredwynter]

Any one use travel routers since 2020? Do they still work?

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, jaredwynter said:

Any one use travel routers since 2020? Do they still work?

Yes, they should work.

[RobTheGob]

9 hours ago, jaredwynter said:

Any one use travel routers since 2020? Do they still work?

 

I don't see why a properly setup travel router will ever have issues. It's pretty easy to get them to clone your computing device's MAC address - so to the network, it appears to be just another client.

[SRF]

On 3/24/2019 at 9:49 AM, brillohead said:

I still don't see the benefit of a travel router.... but then, I'm not one to spend hours and hours in my room with other people all playing on their phones at the same time.  

 

The benefit is more than one person can be online at the same time, but only paying for one device package.

 

But, everyone has to be reasonably close together.   But you are not limited to the room, you can carry the router to the pool and it will work fine there.

 

So my GF and I could have access at the same time.  95% of the time, we are fine with sharing the single device connection, but sometimes it would be nice to both be on at the same time.

 

A two device package would only allow us to message each other, but with the messaging in the app now, that is moot.

[MississippiMom]

Our college junior just advised us yesterday that her academic advisor is recommending that she take one class this summer.  I know it isn't ideal to have to log in to class from the sea, but if that's what has to happen, then I guess we will need a Surf & Stream package.  I don't want to pay for it in advance, though, if it turns out she won't need it.  (We "unplug" on family cruises.)

 

Is there going to be a high cost to add an internet package on the ship?  I know that I have seen it on my cruise planner, but with RCCL's "sales," I have no idea what a reasonable price looks like.

[Lane Hog]

I think you can buy the Voom package by the day as opposed to the whole cruise.  If she or someone else in the cabin is a soda drinker, there's a bubbles and internet package available that we found to be a decent deal compared to the two independently.

Sample size of one, my daughter was able to stream Amazon Prime Video and YouTube with no issues on the lower end internet package.  If the coursework is simply reading and submitting form based data or something like Google Docs, that should be more than sufficient.  Using Zoom or something else might be more of a challenge.

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by Lane Hog

[SRF]

You can always book it at a nice price and cancel later if it is not needed.

 

IIRC, you can cancel up to 72 hours before your cruise.