Island/Phone Calls Wifi

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, lstone19 said:

It works the same if you have the four device package but I did not see anyway to tell it what device to log off - I guess it picks one at random.

Each device had a nickname label.  As long as you have distinct names, you can select the "right" one.  It doesn't pick one at random - you do.

 

[leck57]

23 hours ago, Elitein85days said:

Do not listen to this advice! 
 

1. Set up your phone to enable Wi-Fi calling. Most cell companies support it and you just need to turn it on in settings in your iPhone. 

 

2. Once on the boat put your phone in airplane mode and keep Wi-Fi turned on. 
 

3. Connect to the ship's Wi-Fi. 
 

4. Your phone will make and receive calls, texts, Internet etc. just like you’re at home. 
 

Whatever you do make sure your phone is in airplane mode and connected to Wi-Fi when on the boat! You won’t incur unexpected charges this way. 

 

My advice is as equally valid as yours. If you want to go the wifi route as you suggest then fine. My observation from posts here over recent years is that people are scared off by the potential for large bills, but many also are not yet really aware wifi calling and that is why I made my comments which are correct.

All the people that need to reach me know to call via Skype or Google Duo but I was trying to help those that don't use these methods. Many people are scared off and just put their phones in the safe. It is better to give all options so that people can keep their phone operable and in touch if they want to be contactable.

[lstone19]

3 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

My advice is as equally valid as yours. If you want to go the wifi route as you suggest then fine. My observation from posts here over recent years is that people are scared off by the potential for large bills, but many also are not yet really aware wifi calling and that is why I made my comments which are correct.

All the people that need to reach me know to call via Skype or Google Duo but I was trying to help those that don't use these methods. Many people are scared off and just put their phones in the safe. It is better to give all options so that people can keep their phone operable and in touch if they want to be contactable.

 

Sorry but no, your advice is not equally as valid. Most people would prefer to incur no roaming charges involving the ship's cell tower. If you follow your advice and leave the phone on connected to the ship's cell tower, you are very likely to incur voice roaming charges even if you never answer a call. It has been well documented elsewhere (search for it) that letting a roaming call go to voicemail can incur double roaming charges (once for the call to the ship and a second for the redirect to the voicemail server - I mentioned it above and it happened to me on land where my roaming rate was only $0.25/minute rather than the $5.99/minute my carrier charges for roaming to/from the ship). While so long as your phone has data roaming off, you shouldn't incur any data roaming charges and run up thousands of dollars in charges (fortunately, if I make a mistake, T-Mobile no longer even allows data roaming from Princess ships (no idea about other cruise line)), you might still incur tens or hundreds of dollars in voice roaming charges depending on how many calls you receive.

 

At least on my iPhone with T-Mobile, setting up Wi-Fi calling is no more difficult than just turning it on in Settings.

[PaperSniper4]

On 11/13/2019 at 5:02 AM, Elitein85days said:

Do not listen to this advice! 
 

1. Set up your phone to enable Wi-Fi calling. Most cell companies support it and you just need to turn it on in settings in your iPhone. 

 

2. Once on the boat put your phone in airplane mode and keep Wi-Fi turned on. 
 

3. Connect to the ship's Wi-Fi. 
 

4. Your phone will make and receive calls, texts, Internet etc. just like you’re at home. 
 

Whatever you do make sure your phone is in airplane mode and connected to Wi-Fi when on the boat! You won’t incur unexpected charges this way. 

 

Stupid question: We are platinum status so have 500 WiFi minutes between the two of us. We're on the Crown Princess later this month. We are NOT getting any additional WiFi plan as we can't imagine going over our 500 minutes.

 

I don't see much need for texts or phone calls, but I do want to check maybe once or twice a day. Also maybe a check for emails on my laptop. After that quick check  on my AT&T Android phone I will turn off my phone (and laptop) until the next time I need to check. I am planning to disconnect from the ship's WiFi each time, but do I really need to if I turn off the phone and laptop? Anyone know?

[lstone19]

1 minute ago, PaperSniper4 said:

 

Stupid question: We are platinum status so have 500 WiFi minutes between the two of us. We're on the Crown Princess later this month. We are NOT getting any additional WiFi plan as we can't imagine going over our 500 minutes.

 

I don't see much need for texts or phone calls, but I do want to check maybe once or twice a day. Also maybe a check for emails on my laptop. After that quick check  on my AT&T Android phone I will turn off my phone (and laptop) until the next time I need to check. I am planning to disconnect from the ship's WiFi each time, but do I really need to if I turn off the phone and laptop? Anyone know?

 

No, you do not need to turn them off. Disconnect from the ship's Internet (no need to disconnect from the Wi-Fi* so you can still use the ship's Intranet to check your balance, check the ship's event schedule, etc. and if a Medallion ship, use the Medallion app). Easiest way to insure you're disconnected from Internet is to go to logout.com in your browser. 

 

* One of the things that causes confusion in these discussions is too many people use "Wi-Fi" as a synonym for "Internet". Wi-Fi is a network protocol for connecting wirelessly to a router. It may or may not get you to the Internet. On Princess ships, Wi-Fi initially gets you to the ship's intranet** where you can then log in to get access to the Internet. You need only logout of Internet access to stop the clock - no need to turn off Wi-Fi or the device (and note that doing either of those without first logging out of Internet access does not immediately stop the clock).

 

** Even if not logged into Internet access, you can still get to princess.com when connected to the ship's Wi-Fi.

[leck57]

6 hours ago, lstone19 said:

 

Sorry but no, your advice is not equally as valid. Most people would prefer to incur no roaming charges involving the ship's cell tower. If you follow your advice and leave the phone on connected to the ship's cell tower, you are very likely to incur voice roaming charges even if you never answer a call. It has been well documented elsewhere (search for it) that letting a roaming call go to voicemail can incur double roaming charges (once for the call to the ship and a second for the redirect to the voicemail server - I mentioned it above and it happened to me on land where my roaming rate was only $0.25/minute rather than the $5.99/minute my carrier charges for roaming to/from the ship). While so long as your phone has data roaming off, you shouldn't incur any data roaming charges and run up thousands of dollars in charges (fortunately, if I make a mistake, T-Mobile no longer even allows data roaming from Princess ships (no idea about other cruise line)), you might still incur tens or hundreds of dollars in voice roaming charges depending on how many calls you receive.

 

At least on my iPhone with T-Mobile, setting up Wi-Fi calling is no more difficult than just turning it on in Settings.

 

My last word on this.  I don't get mobile roaming charges. All I can say is I switch mobile data off and have done so for the last 10 years when I have been overseas and my phone can still be used as normal (albeit if I make/receive a call the costs are higher) and I have never incurred anything other than a standard bill.

As I acknowledge, wifi is another option. I'll leave it at that.

[Potstech]

6 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

 

Stupid question: We are platinum status so have 500 WiFi minutes between the two of us. We're on the Crown Princess later this month. We are NOT getting any additional WiFi plan as we can't imagine going over our 500 minutes.

 

I don't see much need for texts or phone calls, but I do want to check maybe once or twice a day. Also maybe a check for emails on my laptop. After that quick check  on my AT&T Android phone I will turn off my phone (and laptop) until the next time I need to check. I am planning to disconnect from the ship's WiFi each time, but do I really need to if I turn off the phone and laptop? Anyone know?

If you do not log out of the "INTERNET" not WIFI and you shut off your phone you will still be using your free minutes. Be sure to log off the INTERNET when you are done checking for you emails or surfing the web.  You can then use the ships free wifi, with no loss of your free minutes, to use the phone to look at on ship items.

[lstone19]

38 minutes ago, leck57 said:

 

My last word on this.  I don't get mobile roaming charges. All I can say is I switch mobile data off and have done so for the last 10 years when I have been overseas and my phone can still be used as normal (albeit if I make/receive a call the costs are higher) and I have never incurred anything other than a standard bill.

 

 

If your costs are higher when you make or receive a call, then you are incurring roaming charges. Not sure how you can says you don't get roaming charges and then in the next sentence say the cost is higher when you make or receive a voice call on the ship.

[Kamloops50]

On 11/11/2019 at 2:36 AM, leck57 said:

 

Your phone does NOT need to be in flight mode, otherwise you cannot make or receive calls or make/receive texts. Many people put their phones in flight mode as it is the simplest but when you do that you essentially do not have a working phone in the traditional sense. What you should do is simply disable mobile data. Go to settings>connections>data usage>mobile data>select disable. That will stop your phone updating apps etc which are the causes of large bills.

You still have to turn cellular onboard if you want to use WiFi calling. If you don't the cell tower on the ship pings your phone constantly.

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, Potstech said:

If you do not log out of the "INTERNET" not WIFI and you shut off your phone you will still be using your free minutes. Be sure to log off the INTERNET when you are done checking for you emails or surfing the web.  You can then use the ships free wifi, with no loss of your free minutes, to use the phone to look at on ship items.

 

I am sure I am confusing the two" WiFi and Internet. I am assuming that there will be some indication that I've logged onto and off of the ship's internet, correct? I have never done that on a ship before. In the past, when I have rarely used "free WiFi" like in a Starbucks, etc, I physically log onto that WiFi server, but never bother to log off. I don't believe I've used there internet, have I? I just leave when I'm done checking my emails. So on the ship there is another step I am guessing? Probably more like in many hotels where they give you their password? But still, when I go to "the internet", I just open my browser and away we go. There must be another step where I actually log onto the internet also?

 

I'm just a poor ol' country boy in Tennessee.🤪

[lstone19]

2 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

 

I am sure I am confusing the two" WiFi and Internet. I am assuming that there will be some indication that I've logged onto and off of the ship's internet, correct? I have never done that on a ship before. In the past, when I have rarely used "free WiFi" like in a Starbucks, etc, I physically log onto that WiFi server, but never bother to log off. I don't believe I've used there internet, have I? I just leave when I'm done checking my emails. So on the ship there is another step I am guessing? Probably more like in many hotels where they give you their password? But still, when I go to "the internet", I just open my browser and away we go. There must be another step where I actually log onto the internet also?

 

Once you connect to the ship's Wi-Fi, you can log into your account on the ship with your cabin number and date of birth. From there, one of the options will be to connect to the Internet. The first time it will give you the choice of what package you want. It will vary depending on your status (Platinums and Elites see the option to redeem their complimentary minutes) and whether or not the ship has Medallion Net (the new higher speed Internet). After that will be a button to actually connect. If you're on an unlimited plan (like the hotels you referenced), there's no need to worry about disconnecting from the Internet unless you want to connect a different device. But if you're on a minutes plan, you need to disconnect to stop the clock on your minutes.

 

Unfortunately, there really is no indication of whether you're connected or not. If you're on a minutes plan, make sure you disconnect and see the screen saying you've disconnected. If you're not connected and try to go to an Internet site, you'll get an error. That's about the extent of indication.

[PaperSniper4]

16 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

 

Once you connect to the ship's Wi-Fi, you can log into your account on the ship with your cabin number and date of birth. From there, one of the options will be to connect to the Internet. The first time it will give you the choice of what package you want. It will vary depending on your status (Platinums and Elites see the option to redeem their complimentary minutes) and whether or not the ship has Medallion Net (the new higher speed Internet). After that will be a button to actually connect. If you're on an unlimited plan (like the hotels you referenced), there's no need to worry about disconnecting from the Internet unless you want to connect a different device. But if you're on a minutes plan, you need to disconnect to stop the clock on your minutes.

 

Unfortunately, there really is no indication of whether you're connected or not. If you're on a minutes plan, make sure you disconnect and see the screen saying you've disconnected. If you're not connected and try to go to an Internet site, you'll get an error. That's about the extent of indication.

 

Thank you very much! I have a much better understanding of how this works. The end part is bold will be my guide for disconnecting and stop those minutes from continuing to draw down my Platinum account. Our ship is Medallion, so I'm looking forward to using that. But other than checking emails and texts, I don't plan much else. I assume using the phone (for texts or emails only) will be the same as the laptop, correct?

[lstone19]

32 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

 

Thank you very much! I have a much better understanding of how this works. The end part is bold will be my guide for disconnecting and stop those minutes from continuing to draw down my Platinum account. Our ship is Medallion, so I'm looking forward to using that. But other than checking emails and texts, I don't plan much else. I assume using the phone (for texts or emails only) will be the same as the laptop, correct?

 

Connecting to the Internet while on the ship is done through a web browser whether on your phone or a laptop.

 

The surest way to disconnect (should have said this above) is to go to "logout.com" in your browser. Although there is a real logout.com on the Internet, that's a special name to the ship's router and it intercepts it and forces a disconnect from the Internet.

 

[PaperSniper4]

12 hours ago, lstone19 said:

 

Connecting to the Internet while on the ship is done through a web browser whether on your phone or a laptop.

 

The surest way to disconnect (should have said this above) is to go to "logout.com" in your browser. Although there is a real logout.com on the Internet, that's a special name to the ship's router and it intercepts it and forces a disconnect from the Internet.

 

 

Thanks, I will add that to what you sent yesterday. I'm printing it off this morning to take with my cruise documents.

 

Doug

[metairiegal]

Thanks for all the great info!

[ecs66]

On 11/11/2019 at 5:36 AM, leck57 said:

Your phone does NOT need to be in flight mode, otherwise you cannot make or receive calls or make/receive texts. Many people put their phones in flight mode as it is the simplest but when you do that you essentially do not have a working phone in the traditional sense. What you should do is simply disable mobile data. Go to settings>connections>data usage>mobile data>select disable. That will stop your phone updating apps etc which are the causes of large bills.

I was wondering about that.  On another thread a cruiser said she keeps both wi-fi calling and mobile calling on.  The setting is to prefer wi-fi, but use mobile if no wi-fi is available.  (Mobile wouldn't be possible if in airplane mode.)  She said that even when in port, the ship's wi-fi is active.  If she left the ship the phone would automatically seek out cellular in that location, and the transition was seamless.  (Costs money, depending on your provider.)

 

In past years, pre-Medallion, we've relied on "Cellular At Sea" on board for keeping in touch back home.  Texts are cheap, and calls are not so cheap.  But it worked when necessary.  In order to avoid an enormous bill, we turn OFF "data while roaming" and turn OFF all automatic updates.

 

On "Island" this February (pre-Medallion), all communication options were dreadful -- practically non-existent.  Even in FLL port on the last day, nobody's cell phone was working at ALL.  We assumed we could call friends and family with travel updates, but there was nothing.  Even 20 years ago, you could call while in port.

 

Anyhow ... FWIW.

[ecs66]

On 11/13/2019 at 5:01 PM, rlk2018 said:

This will be on the Island Princess on the Panama Canal transit in March.

We did that last March and it was a wonderful cruise -- EXCEPT for the cellular and internet on "Island".  Since then, the ship has gone Medallion so I hope you'll have better luck.

[ecs66]

On 11/10/2019 at 3:16 PM, Seacreature101 said:

I have to be able to call sitter who is staying with my dementia parent.

We're in a similar situation with my 95-year-old mother, and need to be in touch with her caretakers at all times.  We also like to be available to our pet/house sitter in case of emergencies.  And Hubby needs to be available for work reasons.  BOTH of us need to be able to send and receive texts and calls 24/7.

 

So, if I'm understanding this new technology, each of us will need to have a separate unlimited account, since we'll both have to be able to do wi-fi calling/texting possibly simultaneously.  We're both Platinum, but those free minutes wouldn't cover 24/7 calling.  I understand that it's best to set this up on Day One of the cruise -- forfeit the free Platinum minutes and get a better deal on an unlimited plan.  [sigh]  Does it really need to be this complicated?  I guess so.

[PaperSniper4]

12 hours ago, ecs66 said:

..........We're both Platinum, but those free minutes wouldn't cover 24/7 calling.  I understand that it's best to set this up on Day One of the cruise -- forfeit the free Platinum minutes and get a better deal on an unlimited plan. .....

 

We are both Platinum like you, and I planned to use our benefit 250+250 minutes on our 10 day cruise on the Crown, which is Medallion class. However, I had difficulty getting texts sent/received turning my phone to Airplane ON, WiFi ON, and WiFi Calling ON. Also, using the benefit minutes, I had to sign on and off each time I wanted to send or check for a message (a real PITA; I am very lazy), which I told our house sitter and family I'd do for a few minutes each morning. In the end I just got the "WiFi Special" available for $60 for unlimited WiFi/internet use for our 10 days. I just logged on (laptop) and never logged off. (We are not active "smart phone users", so I found my laptop much easier). I just put the laptop to sleep mode when not needed. Internet access for mail, checking weather, airlines, etc was very good except for one day maybe 4-6 hours.

 

So, my recommendation is to just buy their unlimited WiFi/internet to made things simple. That's my plan from now on. 😎

 

Oh, forgot to mention I changed the properties on the ship's WiFi to "metered", which kept the laptop from doing automatic downloads for things like Window's updating, etc. I did that just so I didn't hog any bandwidth while on board.

Edited December 4, 2019 by PaperSniper4

[ecs66]

35 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

So, my recommendation is to just buy their unlimited WiFi/internet to made things simple. That's my plan from now on. 😎

 

Oh, forgot to mention I changed the properties on the ship's WiFi to "metered", which kept the laptop from doing automatic downloads for things like Window's updating, etc. I did that just so I didn't hog any bandwidth while on board

All good ideas.  Thank you.  Had not considered the "metered" option, which I have never heard of, but will learn how to do it and see if it'll work for me.  I have all Windows auto updates turned off, anyhow

[PaperSniper4]

56 minutes ago, ecs66 said:

All good ideas.  Thank you.  Had not considered the "metered" option, which I have never heard of, but will learn how to do it and see if it'll work for me.  I have all Windows auto updates turned off, anyhow

 

You're in good shape then.