Jade wifi calling?

[erdoran]

Can the highest speed wifi pkg support wifi calling using a non-NCL wifi calling app?  Ring Central, if it matters which.  Is the speed sufficient?  TIA

[tjt52545]

I am on the same cruise as you and was on the Jade in October. I was able to use WiFi calling to keep in touch with my office. It was more than sufficient. See you tomorrow!

[mking8288]

@erdoran - NCL ship's basic WiFi plans, including those by the minutes and the 250 "Free" at Sea promo minutes/MB package are more than sufficient for WiFi (VoIP calling, I sometimes used "Ooma" onboard & abroad via our ported home #) HD voice calling ... (you might recall, Skype worked well 10+ years ago during the Blackberry era with a good 3G connection, actually 2.5G would work & is supported, as bandwidth requirement is minimal)  Just avoid video conferencing unless it's a must & try to keep that short - since satelite at sea latency is very high,  

 

Have a backup plan, better yet, 2 or 3 options... keep in mind, during difficult times while away, costs is the least of your worries, stay in touch & be reachable is priceless.  Know & understand your options and resources at sea and while on this cruise.  A few quick suggestions & steps below:

 

Have your smartphone enabled & plans activated for international calling/roaming, if not already.  Have the oversea support # for your carrier available to call in for help, typicall a toll-free # & easiest to find before leaving home.  After the first week, once you are in Europe/Ireland, except for 1 sea days, more easily reachable for hours until the ship sail to the next port - be mindful of time zones & for caregivers/those staying at home.  Maybe have a designated quick check-in time, once or twice a day.

 

Texting is always cheaper & easiest, simple & inexpensive even when roaming, no worries about high data charges, keep it simple & direct.  This can be maintained while onboard at sea, for AT&T or T-Mo, it's at most $1 per message send & less to SEND, 50 or 25 cents to receive - even when roaming, as long as cellular data is turned OFF.  

 

Have your ship's stateroom # and shore-to-ship cabin calling info available & shared with whoever is at home, for emergencies when you cannot be reached otherwise.  i.e. leave a 30 to 45 seconds message/VM to call back ... worst case, $8 for that minute + taxes/fees, if any, billed to whoever is calling on their credit card used. 

 

Ship's WiFi calling - over NCL's latest , updated "Cruise" App - download & pre-install on iOS or Android before you leave, and, if needed - pay 79 cents a minute to call out, as it is cheaper (in-bound call to that same 8 digit # is more expensive, might be less than $8 a minute, when directly diailed to the stateroom, maybe not ... )   Make a test call before sailing out of Brooklyn, NY on Sunday (on the Jade, if I am reading things correctly) to also confirm the "working" assigned number at sea for whomever on "home's end" to keep in touch with - not your regular or Ring Central # (not familiar how RC worked, sorry)

 

Have your Ring Central calling tested before sailing, while connected to ship's WiFi instead of waiting until the ship is in open/int'l waters, beyond the VZ Bridge & heading out to sea.  If you use also FaceTime, FB Message, WhatsApp, Google Voice/Hangouts or Duos, Skype or any other VoIP and/or messaging apps - work them now & know how to use it ... in case 1 or 2 are blocked, the others might still go thru, using ship's satellite WiFi.  

 

If you have the "free" 250 minutes plan already, it might be sufficient - I last sailed on a 15 days/14 nights and managed to make it worked with 7 of those being sea days.  If you run low, buy another 250 minutes - or, trade-up to the unlimited (non-premium plan should do, that's why I recommend testing it once onboard tomorrow) - $25/day x 14 days @ $350 total, less a $125 trade-up credit for a net of $225; or if you wait till day 3 or 4 to buy, you only get charged for the unlimited, remaining days (especially if situations at home are touch-n-go and ... / hopefully not)   If you wait until day 3, your cost is $300 - minus tradeup credit of $125 for adjusted total of $175 only.  This scheme is only good & worthwhile if you will doing a lot of calls and the satellite WiFi is solid & reliable enough to work, useless if calls fade & drop, or the App is somehow blocked.  It's never going to be 98% reliable,  

 

Lastly, if your smartphone/iPhone stayed on - it can drain the batter faster on the ship, remember to check & get it recharged as needed, or, have an external USB power pack available.  

 

Best of luck & happy sailing.  

[erdoran]

thanks, guys!  Very encouraging!  Folks at home know email is going to be most reliable to reach me, but it will be good to be able to call home every day to check in and make sure everything is ok.  mking, thanks for that wealth of info!  Yes, I remember using skype over 2G in the Caribbean in 2009 and it was fine; I suspect Ring Central voice will be just fine as well.  Haven't used wifi during a TA before, never sure how good - but backup plan is the $10 for the NCL app calling.

[firstimecruiseronncl]

1 minute ago, erdoran said:

thanks, guys!  Very encouraging!  Folks at home know email is going to be most reliable to reach me, but it will be good to be able to call home every day to check in and make sure everything is ok.  mking, thanks for that wealth of info!  Yes, I remember using skype over 2G in the Caribbean in 2009 and it was fine; I suspect Ring Central voice will be just fine as well.  Haven't used wifi during a TA before, never sure how good - but backup plan is the $10 for the NCL app calling.

I've never had a problem calling, and receiving calls, with Whatsapp. The Wifi for my regular calls and regular text messaging didn't work on the last two days of my cruise (not sure why), but I just used Whatsapp. 

[BirdTravels]

We do multiple NCL cruises a year and Wi-Fi calling is hit and miss. Lots of breakup and dropped calls.