Texting

[Goofyisme]

What do I need to be able to text to each other on the Anthem?  Do we need an internet package or is it just a setting on the phone.  Knew how to do this 2 years ago on our last cruise before Covid but the info has slipped thru the cracks in my brain.

[AustinCruise]

What do you mean by texting?

 

SMS text messages would go through, but your phone company would charge for outbound texts. (Most carriers).

 

if you get wifi, you should be able to iMessage, WhatsApp, etc

 

you can also message within the royal app. I believe it’s $1.99 per day. Everyone would need to subscribe. 
 

 

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, AustinCruise said:

if you get wifi, you should be able to iMessage,

On most ships, Anthem probably included, if folks have iPhones, iMessage works without a VOOM package.

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, Biker19 said:

On most ships, Anthem probably included, if folks have iPhones, iMessage works without a VOOM package.

I thought I heard that they had closed the port that allowed that?

[crzndeb]

4 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I thought I heard that they had closed the port that allowed that?

Just off the Ovation, and friend was able to text with her iphone, both to me on ship, and family on land. She didn’t have a Voom plan.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I thought I heard that they had closed the port that allowed that?

True, in late 2019 most reporting suggested that, but I think the new texting function within the RCI app requires them to open the port that lets iMessages to sneak by. 

[brillohead]

1 minute ago, crzndeb said:

Just off the Ovation, and friend was able to text with her iphone, both to me on ship, and family on land. She didn’t have a Voom plan.

Good to know.  I'm surprised that after all this time, Royal still hasn't plugged that hole!

 

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

Good to know.  I'm surprised that after all this time, Royal still hasn't plugged that hole!

 

 BTW, it’s not just iMessages that work. Also, while somewhat random, some app inbound notifications also worked. I could get the first two lines of inbound emails to show up in notifications, though you couldn’t do anything else with it. 

[flamingos]

We paid the $1.99 per day for the app messages, but we all got random updates from news sites, facebook, or other message apps.  It was completely random and never lasted long, so don't depend on it.  🙂

[AustinCruise]

iMessage didn't work on Independence w/o zoom.

 

I'm sure it's a trick to get the right ports open so folks can download the royal app and the phones are willing to stay online when at sea instead of complaining about no internet and dropping the wifi.

 

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, AustinCruise said:

I'm sure it's a trick to get the right ports open so folks can download the royal app and the phones are willing to stay online when at sea instead of complaining about no internet and dropping the wifi.

That's another thing that may work - you get one time access for about 15 min to Stream if you click on the App store for iOS or Google Play store for Android.

[pthjudy]

Several years ago on Anthem I was able to text to other iPhone users on the ship and online and receive texts too. I didn’t need a Voom package and I believe I read it was a glitch in the system. When we were last on Anthem in December 2019, that hole was plugged and we purchased a plan. All I need is ability to communicate with my kids. If this availability exists again, I will save a lot of money. I long for the days where I paid by the minute because I read and composed offline and used maybe 5 minutes a day. Can anyone recently on Anthem explain exactly if we can text for free and how this is done. I don’t want to incur costs with Verizon, my provider. 

[Biker19]

14 minutes ago, pthjudy said:

Can anyone recently on Anthem explain exactly if we can text for free and how this is done.

You may not get that confirmation until she starts sailing from Bayonne next month. You should set up WiFi calling before getting on the ship. Once there, put your phone in plane mode, turn on WiFi and connect to the ship's WiFi.

Edited October 21, 2021 by Biker19

[pthjudy]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

You may not get that confirmation until she starts sailing from Bayonne next month. You should set up WiFi calling before getting on the ship. Once there, put your phone in plane mode, turn on WiFi and connect to the ship's WiFi.

I believe that’s what we did when it was working like that. Thanks. 

[pthjudy]

11 hours ago, Heymarco said:

Cheapest option if free option doesn’t work is to message through the Royal Caribbean app. Just click on the chat bubble in the corner once onboard. 1.99/day per device

 

 

 

Does that work only to those onboard or can it text to those at home?

[brillohead]

2 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

Just onboard. To text home you would need at least the surf internet package. Even then, that would not allow SMS, just web based messaging such as iMessage or WhatsApp.

I have Verizon, and I've enabled Wi-Fi calling.  I get SMS texts via Wi-Fi on my Android phone.  

[brillohead]

8 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

Good call out, totally forgot about Wi-Fi calling. The major US carriers will support this and some of the MVNOs.

 

I didn't even know it was a thing until I found out about it from someone here a few years ago -- Verizon sure doesn't go out of their way to let you know about it!

It's worked out really well for me at my current house, b/c I'm in a dead spot for Verizon and calls would drop or not even go through all the time.  I enabled WiFi calling and now I have no problems with calls or texts when I'm at home.  

[Ashland]

On 10/20/2021 at 12:59 PM, crzndeb said:

Just off the Ovation, and friend was able to text with her iphone, both to me on ship, and family on land. She didn’t have a Voom plan.

So our extended family all of who have iPhone's will be able to text each other onboard with no charge?

[brillohead]

27 minutes ago, Ashland said:

So our extended family all of who have iPhone's will be able to text each other onboard with no charge?

POSSIBLY -- not guaranteed.  

Works for some people, not for others. Works sometimes, sometimes doesn't. Works for some ships, not for others.  

If you only need intermittent messaging, you can wait until you're on board and try it, but just be aware that it might not work at all, or it might work in the morning and not in the afternoon, or it might work on Monday but not on Tuesday, etc.

If you need definite messaging, you'll want to use the App Chat function or get Voom.

[Goofyisme]

7 hours ago, pthjudy said:

Does that work only to those onboard or can it text to those at home?

How functional is this texting?  Is in pretty much instantaneous or do the messages hang out in cyberspace for a few minutes/hours before being delivered?  Also is the typing normal or do you have to wait as each letter is typed before you can type another?  Thank you just trying to weigh the options.

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, Goofyisme said:

How functional is this texting?  Is in pretty much instantaneous or do the messages hang out in cyberspace for a few minutes/hours before being delivered?  Also is the typing normal or do you have to wait as each letter is typed before you can type another?  Thank you just trying to weigh the options.

Are you talking about the Royal Chat feature, the "freebie iMessage" thing, or SMS texting with Voom and WiFi calling enabled?

 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Goofyisme said:

How functional is this texting?  Is in pretty much instantaneous or do the messages hang out in cyberspace for a few minutes/hours before being delivered?  Also is the typing normal or do you have to wait as each letter is typed before you can type another? 

Assuming you have a connection and it is functional, it works the same way as on land.

[crzndeb]

8 hours ago, Ashland said:

So our extended family all of who have iPhone's will be able to text each other onboard with no charge?

Brillohead pretty much covered it. From other responses, there are really no absolute answers. I have heard other talk about updated satellite equipment on certain ships, but whether that has anything to do with it, I have no idea. The only way to know for sure is to try it once onboard. Airplane mode and wifi on.

[SRF]

The only absolute answer is, you can use wifi calling and texting WITH a Voom package.

 

You can message using the Royal App for $1.99 per day.

 

Anything is subject to change.

[Ashland]

10 hours ago, SRF said:

The only absolute answer is, you can use wifi calling and texting WITH a Voom package.

 

You can message using the Royal App for $1.99 per day.

 

Anything is subject to change.

Good to know...We'll all be in suites and will get/have Voom Surf-n-Stream on Harmony.