Wifi

[Slyfox16]

If you have the wifi through Princess Plus does that mean that you can text people on the ship and people back in the States?

[caribill]

It means you can do anything with your phone over WIFI on the ship that you can do at home via WIFI from your phone.

 

It does not mean you can do everything on the ship you do through cell phone service (not WIFI) at home.

[1965]

8 hours ago, Slyfox16 said:

If you have the wifi through Princess Plus does that mean that you can text people on the ship and people back in the States?

Also interested in this. 

[coo359a2]

8 hours ago, Slyfox16 said:

If you have the wifi through Princess Plus does that mean that you can text people on the ship and people back in the States?

Pre pandemic, you could also Facetime while on the ship.  Guessing you can still do this now.

[skynight]

If by text you mean cell service then no. Cell service has a separate charge which is high. However, you can do most things you would normally do using your home wi-fi (internet). There is also an on ship intranet service, no charge, which allows you to send messages to others that are specified in your account. The message is received without a beep or ring indicating a message is there for you to review.  

[Lizabu]

You’re going to want to use messenger or what’s app or another application that works with wifi

[Rick&Jeannie]

Another vote for WhatsApp.

[coo359a2]

13 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Another vote for WhatsApp.

What is WhatsApp for?

[Cruise Raider]

We have terrible cell reception at our home so we are connected to WiFi for all our iPhone needs.  Nothing really changed for us. 

You need to turn off your roaming and set your phone to airplane mode (that first step may not be needed but we do it anyway to be on the safe side).  Then, we hook up to the ship's WiFi and we are good to go.  We can even FaceTime (for Apple users) on our cell or iPad.  Funny thing is, it is tough to send photos via text ... you won't be charged, it is just that they come back undelivered.  You may be more successful than I was.  

 

 

[Marelaine]

5 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

What is WhatsApp for?

It's an app that you download to your cell phone from your Play Store, similar to Facebook Messenger. WhatsApp and Messenger work over the wi-fi system. 

All my family members have Facebook messenger so that is what I use  to text, send a picture or two,  and occasionally to make a voice phone call. It's all I need to keep in touch with my family.

I also activate Verizon travel plan, just in case I decide to make a phone call in port, away from the ship. But truly, that is my back up plan. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

16 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

What is WhatsApp for?

You got a pretty good explanation from Maralaine above, but one thing that was left out is that while you can do normal "text" as well as video calls like Facetime, anybody you "talk" or text with must be using the app as well. I use it quite a bit with my Android phone. Those with iPhone have a slight advantage in that those services operate natively over wifi so they work well via the ship's system.

[coo359a2]

20 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

You got a pretty good explanation from Maralaine above, but one thing that was left out is that while you can do normal "text" as well as video calls like Facetime, anybody you "talk" or text with must be using the app as well. I use it quite a bit with my Android phone. Those with iPhone have a slight advantage in that those services operate natively over wifi so they work well via the ship's system.

Since family all have iPhones, guess that is why I've never thought about using it.  We don't have an international calling plan, so kids set us up with wi-fi calling which lets us call any US phone number as long as we are on any wi-fi connection.   Course can't call international numbers but so far haven't had a need to do that in 17 years of cruising.

[Steelers36]

Many international tour providers are on WhatsApp as well which makes it easy to keep in touch as port calls come up.

[Neil_c]

Hi

On upcoming cruise have Wi-Fi for 1 device, I was thinking of linking my phone then using it as a hotspot for kindle and iPad, is this allowed?