Intra ship communications

[cublet]

Hello,

 

My brother, sister-in-law and niece are booked on the Iona.

 

My brother is a wheelchair user and has other problems. My sister-in-law and niece will be acting as his carers.

 

If my niece is off somewhere by herself but is needed urgently, is there a limited mobile/phone package just for intra ship communications on which she may be called? Buying a package to call the shore only for the message to be relayed back to the ship strikes me as a terrible waste - and could include inherent delays.

 

Reading previous threads with suggestions like 'use the shore based wifi' or 'leave post-it notes on cabin doors' don't help us that much when the time and location of the need cannot be planned or foreseen.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[jeanlyon]

So if you both have mobiles, you could text each other.  It's only 50p for a text.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

So if you both have mobiles, you could text each other.  It's only 50p for a text.

I believe that if you are in Europe the cost of a text is the same as in the UK, which I think is only 5p a text  (PAYG).

[majortom10]

7 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I believe that if you are in Europe the cost of a text is the same as in the UK, which I think is only 5p a text  (PAYG).

5p for a text on PAYG what company are you with it costcs me I think about 17p on T-mobile(EE).

[jeanlyon]

No I was meaning on the ship.  It's £3 per minute for a call, but only 50p for a text.  I believe they are thinking about being in different parts of the ship?

 

By the way I am O2 Classic PAYG.  3p for a call, 2p for a text - per minute.  I swapped from Vodafone at 20p per minute!!

[Selbourne]

Don’t really understand the original post as using ship based phone and/or internet is unnecessary these days, unless you are at sea. I have a £7.50 a month plan with GiffGaff and when in Europe all my texts and data usage is free. I think even my calls are included within my call plan minutes, though I tend not to make phone calls when away unless really necessary. Even in the USA and Canada I was amazed how cheap it was. Other than sea days (when family members would contact us if there was an emergency) we remain fully in contact with family, emails and the web whilst on cruises and it costs us nothing. It’s also significantly faster and more reliable that the setup that some passengers pay P&O a small fortune for!

[terrierjohn]

46 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

No I was meaning on the ship.  It's £3 per minute for a call, but only 50p for a text.  I believe they are thinking about being in different parts of the ship?

 

By the way I am O2 Classic PAYG.  3p for a call, 2p for a text - per minute.  I swapped from Vodafone at 20p per minute!!

Sorry Jean I was forgetting about the maritime service fees,

[Selbourne]

20 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Don’t really understand the original post as using ship based phone and/or internet is unnecessary these days, unless you are at sea. I have a £7.50 a month plan with GiffGaff and when in Europe all my texts and data usage is free. I think even my calls are included within my call plan minutes, though I tend not to make phone calls when away unless really necessary. Even in the USA and Canada I was amazed how cheap it was. Other than sea days (when family members would contact us if there was an emergency) we remain fully in contact with family, emails and the web whilst on cruises and it costs us nothing. It’s also significantly faster and more reliable that the setup that some passengers pay P&O a small fortune for!

 

EDIT - Apologies, I now realise that you were referring to communication around the ship, so my answer still applies when in port but not at sea. I have seen one or two people with walkie talkie systems over the years and a cheap one of those might provide reassurance. Just a thought. 

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I think I'll try again.

 

Ship is at sea, not in port nor anywhere near land so unable to use ordinary mobile 'roaming'.

 

Cheapest / easiest / quickest way for party #1 to contact party #2 both of whom are somewhere on the ship.

 

I understand that the three criteria above may be mutually exclusive but in this particular case time will be of the essence.

 

Buy a package or use PAYG over the ship's maritime signal?

 

I'm guessing from some of the responses that there isn't an 'intra-ship' package (ie restricted to the confines of the ship).

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[pete14]

3 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

I think I'll try again.

 

Ship is at sea, not in port nor anywhere near land so unable to use ordinary mobile 'roaming'.

 

Cheapest / easiest / quickest way for party #1 to contact party #2 both of whom are somewhere on the ship.

 

I understand that the three criteria above may be mutually exclusive but in this particular case time will be of the essence.

 

Buy a package or use PAYG over the ship's maritime signal?

 

I'm guessing from some of the responses that there isn't an 'intra-ship' package (ie restricted to the confines of the ship).

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

I believe it is possible to call the phone provided in the cabin from another phone onboard such as in another cabin or in a public area free of charge. Less helpful though if a person in a cabin wants to phone someone in a public area.

[the english lady]

If you have mobiles on to text, make sure data roaming is OFF, or you may find the mobiles doing downloads. Another thought. If you contact a member of staff and say its urgent, they should be able to find out where the other parties card was last used, so would give you an idea. still a delay though..I would go with the text scenario.

 

[cublet]

16 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

No I was meaning on the ship.  It's £3 per minute for a call, but only 50p for a text.  I believe they are thinking about being in different parts of the ship?

 

By the way I am O2 Classic PAYG.  3p for a call, 2p for a text - per minute.  I swapped from Vodafone at 20p per minute!!

Hello,

 

Thank you for your helpful response.

 

I presume this is not using a package but a sort of 'PAYG' over the ship's maritime satellite system?

 

Do you know what the time gap is between person #1 sending a text and person #2 receiving it?

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[kerryincork]

It should be the same as at home. I have used the text messages on board at sea but to someone who was on land, it cost me €1. If it is a true emergency you can call each other using your mobile phone, as if it is an emergency you will not care about the cost (about €3.50 per min).

 

But as other people have said, make sure you have mobile data switched off, or else you could come home with €1000, bill.