WiFi calling onboard ship

[erni]

We will be going on a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral that has medallion Net.  We are traveling with another couple.  The husband is going to have to make calls home during the cruise.  I had told him that he should be able to do it by putting his phone on airplane mode and connecting to the ships WiFi.  His phone will be WiFi enabled to make and receive calls.   He wants verification from experienced travelers/ those that have actually done this as to whether this is possible.   

Thanks

[wrongwaywatson]

Not sure of that, but I always called my elderly Dad thru Facebook Messenger.  It was great, because I could see him besides hearing his voice, to make sure he looked healthy.  It always worked for me.

[RSF Cruiser]

14 minutes ago, erni said:

We will be going on a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral that has medallion Net.  We are traveling with another couple.  The husband is going to have to make calls home during the cruise.  I had told him that he should be able to do it by putting his phone on airplane mode and connecting to the ships WiFi.  His phone will be WiFi enabled to make and receive calls.   He wants verification from experienced travelers/ those that have actually done this as to whether this is possible.   

Thanks

Even on ships without MedallionNet, I've been able to make wifi calls with no problems.

[erni]

Now he thinks there will be a cost for the calls.  He will have purchased the unlimited internet package.   I tried to tell him NO COST but needs verification AGAIN!

[Thrak]

I can't see why there would be a cost. I haven't done it from the ship - I almost never make phone calls - but have done it from hotel WiFi in Canada. Worked just like regular calling. They have no idea what you are doing. It's just a connection to the WiFi. RSF Cruiser has said above that it has always worked fine.

[joepeka]

7 minutes ago, erni said:

Now he thinks there will be a cost for the calls.  He will have purchased the unlimited internet package.   I tried to tell him NO COST but needs verification AGAIN!

I've made wifi calls from a cruise ship and there was no charge - not from the cruise line or my cell carrier. If the phone is in airplane mode, then wifi only turned on to make calls, there is nothing to be charged (beyond what has already been paid for the internet package).

[erni]

Thanks all of you.  This is what I have been telling him but now he can look at what has been written from those that have done it.   For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how there could be charges except as stated for the internet package.

[Haboob]

Alas, you've only covered half the issue.

 

If you have a WiFi Calling-capable phone, an unlimited-minutes package afloat, a ship that uplinks to the O3b satellite constellation, and does not stray north of Seattle / Southampton, your calls and texts can get onto and off the ship at no extra cost beyond paying for the ship's internet package.

 

The other half of the equation is your cellphone provider.  It needs to have a "Generic Access Network" port open on the internet. Whether folks with whatever contract you have with them are allowed to use that port is up to them.  Whether and what they charge for its use is also up to them.  The good news is that most major US cellphone providers allow the use of their GAN port for no extra charge, but YMMV.  Ask your cellphone provider.

[tillys mom]

We use What’s App to call using ship’s WiFi. Our family all have the app so no problem.

[Thrak]

22 minutes ago, tillys mom said:

We use What’s App to call using ship’s WiFi. Our family all have the app so no problem.

 

WhatsApp is owned by FB. Nope, nope, nope. Don't want anything to do with FB.

[Steelers36]

12 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

WhatsApp is owned by FB. Nope, nope, nope. Don't want anything to do with FB.

I guess I can understand that, but it works well and so many people are on it, including virtually all private tour operators I have booked with in foreign countries so it was handy to text and talk if necessary.

 

[Haboob]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

WhatsApp is owned by FB. Nope, nope, nope. Don't want anything to do with FB.

 

"If it's on the internet and it's free, you are the product being sold."

[LeeW]

Lots of carriers/phones use wifi calling as a default.  But you may have to turn it on in the phone settings if yours does not.  Make sure you do this in your home area - carrier needs to set a "reverse 911" option for the phone (even though you are not anywhere near where you will be cruising).  And try a few calls from and to the phone from another phone before you go.  Took a couple of tries to get it activated on Metro PCS.  You WILL need to be logged in to the ship network and ship internet (cost for this).  And expect delays in the call - takes around 1/2 second for the call to bounce from the ship up to the satellites and back down again.

[jagoffee]

By the way if it is not clear, you should turn off cellular and be hooked up to WiFi when you are testing it.

[SiliconCruiser]

If there is a grave concern and your provider does not provide low cost service in some of the countries, and you are situated in the U.S., get a Google voice number and make your wi-fi calls from/to the Google voice number.  It is solely on VoIP, just like many business lines these days, and does not rely on your cell carrier nor does it entail any roaming charges.

 

[cr8tiv1]

I do not have a landline any longer.  I use my mobile phone for all my calls.  I am on "limited" mobile minutes so while I am home, I have my phone set on Wi-Fi calling only. iPhone (Turn on WiFi Calling/Turn on Airplane mode/Turn WiFi on).  I had many concerns when I first started this.  But then I realized that my carrier has NO log of any of my WiFi calls.  Hence the conclusion that it is not going through their cell towers.

 

I have never tried to do while on a moving ship.  My concern is that you need to log in to your account.  I do recall (I could be wrong) that the WiFi symbol does show up on your device.  That's all you need.  Make sure your phone is set to Airplane mode.  My iPhone has, in the upper left corner, an airplane, carrier name-WiFi, triangle signal strength.  

 

On an iPhone (go to):  

Settings/Cellular Data/WiFi calling...on

 

Disclaimer....I have had numerous dropped calls because my internet speed was insufficient to maintain a strong signal.  Sometimes there is an echo or a voice lag.  

 

I also have a Google Voice (VoIP) number.  Never figured out how to make calls via that number (which is linked to my mobile device).  It's great for texting (free) and picking up voice messages (free).

[hobbyfarmer2]

Try using the Fongo app for WiFi calling if you don't have or approve of FB.  It will actually ring the target phone number (landline or cell) and is no charge if the source and target have the same area code.  Skype is also a great alternative.

[coo359a2]

We have an IPhone with AT&T and followed their directions to enable wi-fi calling.  As long as you connect to the internet (either ship's, hotel, or friend's home) you can dial any U.S. number from anywhere overseas  - at least we can.  Did set the wi-fi calling  up while in the US . I make Facetime or regular phone calls while on the ship and never have had a problem.   Depending on the length of the cruise and number of minutes in my internet package, I figure up how many minutes I can have for these calls.

[neverbeenhere]

If all else fails... bring a lot of string

[Go-Bucks!]

On 9/26/2019 at 6:14 PM, erni said:

I had told him that he should be able to do it by putting his phone on airplane mode and connecting to the ships WiFi.  His phone will be WiFi enabled to make and receive calls.   He wants verification from experienced travelers/ those that have actually done this as to whether this is possible. 

 

I called home over Wifi and on Messenger for the 7 months that I lived on a ship (a world cruise plus the next 3 cruises after it). Worked every time...totally back. And I could receive calls too if the person also called over Wifi. 

 

Only issue I had was having calls drop if our crappy ship internet disconnected. But I just called the person back.

 

I have a Samsung Galaxy phone with Verizon. 

Edited September 28, 2019 by Go-Bucks!

[EmilyColwell]

Question for any iPhone users.

 

I'm aware that imessage/facetime are wifi/data based, but I was curious is INTRANET is enough to use imessage instead of buying the INTERNET package. To message family with iPhones and to be able to get a hold of my DH to track each other since he has an iPhone as well.

 

If my ship had unlimited minutes I  would buy the package, but only has set minutes for purchase which is not worth my while.

 

Thanks!

Edited September 28, 2019 by EmilyColwell

[erni]

Again thanks to all of you for your information.  Did try out calling over wifi from home. Worked perfect.  Airplane mode on/ wifi on.  

Liked the cup and string.  Made me laugh.  Brought back childhood memories.

[polmcs]

44 minutes ago, EmilyColwell said:

Question for any iPhone users.

 

I'm aware that imessage/facetime are wifi/data based, but I was curious is INTRANET is enough to use imessage instead of buying the INTERNET package. To message family with iPhones and to be able to get a hold of my DH to track each other since he has an iPhone as well.

 

If my ship had unlimited minutes I  would buy the package, but only has set minutes for purchase which is not worth my while.

 

Thanks!

 

Princess has a messaging app available that makes use of the ships Intranet. It’s a little limited in that it doesn’t let you know that a new message has arrived, so you have to check your phone sporadically.

 

The social media messaging services bounce the message off their own servers, so you would need full Internet connectivity (or at least access to the ports they use) to make use of those services.

[Hlitner]

Yes, you can make WiFi calls (if your phone is enabled)…..but this depends on having a good enough Internet connection (via WiFi) to handle the call.  On cruise ships the Wifi/Internet connection can vary from pretty good to zero.  There are many factors such as the location of the ship vis-à-vis the satellite, weather, atmospherics, and even the amount of usage (on your ship) happening at the same time.  We have often used Facetime with Medallion Net, but there are days when it does not work (because of a lousy Internet connection).  Forty + years of cruising has taught us to never be dependent on onboard WiFi/Internet.  Our family knows that we will "try" to contact them and they can "try" to contact us.  But they are used to going days without any communication.

 

Since we have T-Mobile as our phone provider we do know that our phone will work in over 120 countries.  So when we do not have any working onboard communications we will usually text or call as soon as we are within range of shoreside cells (usually about 10 miles off shore.

 

Hank