Satellite Phone

[travelwell]

We are leaving a 94 year old and two 85 year old parents (all with no health problems and living independently) while we are on the 2021 WC. Seriously considering buying a Satellite phone to keep in touch with parents, particularly during the long route from South America and Australia. We are of course going to contact Regent but wonder whether anyone else has done this. Looking at google it seems people have done it. Internet is so spotty and slow we thought this might be an acceptable work around. 
 

Edited January 13, 2020 by travelwell

[Kwaj girl]

13 minutes ago, travelwell said:

We are leaving a 94 year old and two 85 year old parents (all with no health problems and living independently) while we are on the 2021 WC. Seriously considering buying a Satellite phone to keep in touch with parents, particularly during the long route from South America and Australia. We are of course going to contact Regent but wonder whether anyone else has done this. Looking at google it seems people have done it. Internet is so spotty and slow we thought this might be an acceptable work around. 
 

You will have internet onboard. Just use Wifi calling.  That's what we do.  They can call you and you can call them.  Set your cellphone to airplane mode once you are onboard, log onto the ship's internet.  Set your phone for wifi calling.  Voila

[travelwell]

Wow, my computer genius husband totally missed this. He knew it was maybe possible but never tried it before. We just did a “test run” at home and it works like a charm. Thanks!

[Kwaj girl]

8 minutes ago, travelwell said:

Wow, my computer genius husband totally missed this. He knew it was maybe possible but never tried it before. We just did a “test run” at home and it works like a charm. Thanks!

👍

BTW -  we are on the '21 WC with you, too!  Going to start paying toward the balance this month.  Big chunk-o-cash.

Edited January 14, 2020 by Kwaj girl

[cruiseluv]

I totally empathize as I have very old parents... I usually use whatsapp ( your parents also need to have wifi communication at their end for this), but also use the free phone time provided by Regent. We're Gold, so get 3 hours per trip/ segment. Dont know how that would be calculated if I was in a World cruise. 

[JMARINER]

Also, consider buying a Google Project FI phone and service. It is a little known, but Google actually has an international cell phone and cell service.  You know really need their brand of phones, but they service seems to work better with them. The service cost $20.00 per month and then $10.00 per gig of data (in $1.00 increments/ 100meg). Service works in 200+ countries.  And when you get home, you can suspend the service for 3 months at a time, without penalty. Far cheaper that the international plans of ATT and Verizon, plus way better support.

 

For me it is nice to leave my expensive iphone back on  the ship and use the FI phone.I like to be able to surf when I am in the bus going on excursion. When in port, it is much faster than the ships service often at the fastest 4g speeds. If I need to I can tether my laptop or tablet to the phone to work.  Their phones will also hook up to the ship wifi to make totaly free call/video chat.

 

J

 

 

[rallydave]

14 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

You will have internet onboard. Just use Wifi calling.  That's what we do.  They can call you and you can call them.  Set your cellphone to airplane mode once you are onboard, log onto the ship's internet.  Set your phone for wifi calling.  Voila

This does work and work well if you have an adequate internet connection onboard which according to recent reports is extremely spotty.  If internet comes and goes your calls will probably be dropped.  And, not sure about others phoning you and any added cost for them if applicable.   Also in order to receive a call you will need to be connected to the internet for which onboard you pay by the minute for the connection so extremely difficult if wifi calling to you works to know at what time to connect your phone to wifi.

[Kwaj girl]

2 minutes ago, rallydave said:

This does work and work well if you have an adequate internet connection onboard which according to recent reports is extremely spotty.  If internet comes and goes your calls will probably be dropped.  And, not sure about others phoning you and any added cost for them if applicable.   Also in order to receive a call you will need to be connected to the internet for which onboard you pay by the minute for the connection so extremely difficult if wifi calling to you works to know at what time to connect your phone to wifi.

 

I have used it on Navigator and Explorer in the last few months with no dropped calls.  No cost to someone calling me, either.  Don't understand the comment about being charged by the minute- even those without higher-status accommodations or SSS level will still have one device per suite at no cost for internet service.

[rallydave]

1 minute ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

I have used it on Navigator and Explorer in the last few months with no dropped calls.  No cost to someone calling me, either.  Don't understand the comment about being charged by the minute- even those without higher-status accommodations or SSS level will still have one device per suite at no cost for internet service.

Sorry forgot internet on Regent is included..  Still have to keep your phone connected to the internet and have a good internet connection to use wifi calling.

 

Thanks for the question and correction.  The reports of extremely slow internet connections recently can impact phone via internet.

[Hambagahle]

Depending on your SSS level free ship to shore phone time is included.  We are Gold and we get 3 hours of free ship to shore phone time.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

Depending on your SSS level free ship to shore phone time is included.  We are Gold and we get 3 hours of free ship to shore phone time.

 

Yes, I was going to mention this too.  We'll be Platinum when we step onboard that cruise (currently Gold), and will get something like 9 hours?  Of course, I don't know how someone can call you.  But if they can text you, or get message to you via whatsapp, or whatever, then you can call them back.  You'll be Gold, minimum, when you board.

[DaveFr]

41 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Yes, I was going to mention this too.  We'll be Platinum when we step onboard that cruise (currently Gold), and will get something like 9 hours?  Of course, I don't know how someone can call you.  But if they can text you, or get message to you via whatsapp, or whatever, then you can call them back.  You'll be Gold, minimum, when you board.

Wendy,

 

You may get nine hours per segment. When we turned Platinum, we were on a b2b cruise. At the start of the second segment, I checked to see how much phone time we had left. I was told that our phone time had been reinitialized at nine hours for the new segment. YMMV.

 

Dave

[Wendy The Wanderer]

5 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

Wendy,

 

You may get nine hours per segment. When we turned Platinum, we were on a b2b cruise. At the start of the second segment, I checked to see how much phone time we had left. I was told that our phone time had been reinitialized at nine hours for the new segment. YMMV.

 

Dave

 

Wow, even better.  So for Gold, it might be 3 hours per, great for travelwell.  And I can always lend her some of mine--in all our years on R we've never used a minute!

[Hambagahle]

Not sure you can lend it unless she comes to your suite to use the phone.

And I am not sure about in-coming calls.  Out-going - no worries.

[Hambagahle]

How to call one of the ships?  In the cruise docs you get from Regent there is a number listed to call.  Looks like a US number - prefix 1 - and that gets through to the ship.

[rallydave]

3 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

How to call one of the ships?  In the cruise docs you get from Regent there is a number listed to call.  Looks like a US number - prefix 1 - and that gets through to the ship.

And if you check further, last time I looked it was about $7.50 per minute to phone the ship so even though a US number, the phone call has to go thru ship to shore phoning and really really expensive.

[Hambagahle]

Which makes the 3 hours of free phone time an even better "perk".   3 hrs @ $7.50 per minute is $1'350.00 .  !!

 

..."don't call me - I'll call you!!"

Edited January 15, 2020 by Hambagahle

[rallydave]

30 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

Which makes the 3 hours of free phone time an even better "perk".   3 hrs @ $7.50 per minute is $1'350.00 .  !!

 

..."don't call me - I'll call you!!"

Gerry, I am talking about the charges in the US to phone a ship at sea.  Not the costs to call from the ship and not sure if the prices are the same or even if the phone calls from the ship go out on the same ways cals to the ship come in so impossible to put a specific value on the phone time from the ship.

 

For instance they might be using internet calling to phone from the ship so cost would be minimal.  Also since the managers on board have to contact Miami quite a bit there might be a behind the scenes vehicle for those numerous calls that is also used  for calls from passenger suites.  Sincerely doubt they are paying anything close to the $7.50 per minute for shore to ship phoning.  As I said, an apples vs oranges comparison that may or may not ve valid.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Well all your family member has to do is get in touch with you, somehow or other, and then you can phone them back to use your ship phone time.

[travelwell]

Wendy, Thanks for your offer to use a phone minute or two. Generous but would never ask that of you. 
I have more research to do. Under our WC room description we get 15 minutes of cellphone. I believe we will automatically be gold at the start of the WC. So I guess more. For routine communication WhatsApp and text will be great. Now the challenge of teaching  the 93 year old these applications. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

36 minutes ago, travelwell said:

Wendy, Thanks for your offer to use a phone minute or two. Generous but would never ask that of you. 
I have more research to do. Under our WC room description we get 15 minutes of cellphone. I believe we will automatically be gold at the start of the WC. So I guess more. For routine communication WhatsApp and text will be great. Now the challenge of teaching  the 93 year old these applications. 

 

Don't know about cellphone. I'm talking about the ship's phone service, not sure how it operates, but definitely not cellular. Gold gets 3 hours I think.

[travelwell]

Correct regarding cellphone. I needed to say ship’s phone service. Thanks for correcting. It does avoid confusion.

[UUNetBill]

There are quite a few options to stay in touch as others have said.  We've found that the 3 hours of time for Gold is usually MORE than sufficient for staying in touch, but if you don't have that perk the internet calling is a great option.  I've been dropped a few times but for the most part it's pretty reliable.

 

I also don't think you can 'gift' any phone time to other people but someone can definitely use your phone.  I know on Explorer you could easily let a friend use the wireless handset by the bed and they could sit on the balcony for privacy if necessary.

 

And yes, calling the ship from a US landline (or any landline, for that matter) is crazy expensive.  If anyone ever needs to get in touch with you, have them text or message you somehow and call them back, or at the very least if they call get their number and call them right back.  No need to blow a ton of money on calls in this day and age.

[flyau98]

The satellite phone won't work very well for your intended use anyways.  Their antenna needs a clear view of the sky to place or receive calls.    Unless you kept it outside on your balcony, you likely won't have much luck using it as a way for them to call you... I doubt it would work consistently even if you sat it just inside the glass door.

 

It absolutely wouldn't work carrying it around inside the ship.

 

We've had good luck with iPhone's FaceTime onboard, while connected to the ship's wireless internet.  

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by flyau98

[gb58]

On our recent Voyager cruise in Asia, I was able to use Skype to call my Dad's landline in the UK every week. Even with the abysmal Internet onboard, it worked fine.