USING VERIZON AT SEA

[victory2020]

Has anyone used their Verizon cell phone while out to sea? Wondering how much it is for one day.

[TBfrPH]

Was told by Verizon that I could in roaming mode.   Tried just to see what it's like but was never able to get a good enough signal.  Per Verizon, you will pay the international "pay as you go" rates, assuming that your phone will get a signal.  It's something like $2 a minute for calls, and $0.25 to send a text.   And a large amount of money for a very small amount of data for internet access.

 

You will most likely be better off buying the ship's WIFI and use internet calling. 

 

[Married15]

If you have the ship wifi, you can turn your wifi calling on, put phone in airplane mode, turn on phone wifi and send and receive calls and texts. Of course this only works when you have wifi. My husband  is business as usual on a cruise and his clients don't even know he is out of his office. Shhh, don't tell. 

[Potstech]

Also I think, for cell phone use, you would also pay a ship per minute connection fee because you would need to use their system instead of a cell phone tower.  Could be a very expensive phone call.  Would agree that wifi calling would be much cheaper.

[riffatsea]

Agree that it is not agood idea c to b try to n use your phone while at Sea

If you can do b wifi calling on your phone v that's good

I use whatsapp when traveling allover t h ecworl

You can call text or video call to any ot h er person who also has whatsapp

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I use the ships Wi-Fi and use either phone or video on Facebook messenger. That way I don’t have to worry about unexpected phone bills.  

[mellon1]

13 hours ago, TBfrPH said:

Was told by Verizon that I could in roaming mode.   Tried just to see what it's like but was never able to get a good enough signal.  Per Verizon, you will pay the international "pay as you go" rates, assuming that your phone will get a signal.  It's something like $2 a minute for calls, and $0.25 to send a text.   And a large amount of money for a very small amount of data for internet access.

 

You will most likely be better off buying the ship's WIFI and use internet calling. 

 

So, we have Verizon and I am still learning Iphone with Verizon service.  We have the package, so can I text without charge and call while at sea for free?  Anything I need to do special.   

[hllwdcruiser]

15 hours ago, Married15 said:

If you have the ship wifi, you can turn your wifi calling on, put phone in airplane mode, turn on phone wifi and send and receive calls and texts. Of course this only works when you have wifi. 

 

We just did this on the Enchanted - iPhone 13, Verizon Carrier. I was surprised one day when my phone rang and I received a call from my dog's vet confirming an appointment!

 

2 hours ago, mellon1 said:

So, we have Verizon and I am still learning Iphone with Verizon service.  We have the package, so can I text without charge and call while at sea for free?  Anything I need to do special.   

 

Please see my response above - the only issue I had was trying to text two of my kids who don't have iPhones. None of my messages got through to them - but since none of the messages were important I didn't bother to delve deeper into the issue. I'm sure there's an easy fix though - someone on these boards may be willing to chime in.

Just make sure you put your phone on Airplane Mode (you DON'T want to keep your cellular turned on) and turn on wifi calling if you want to make and receive calls.

Edited March 20, 2022 by hllwdcruiser

[TBfrPH]

9 hours ago, mellon1 said:

So, we have Verizon and I am still learning Iphone with Verizon service.  We have the package, so can I text without charge and call while at sea for free?  Anything I need to do special.   

What Hllwdcruiser suggests should work without doing anything else "special." 

 

What others have mentioned also is to get the Whatsapp phone app.  Turn on your phone Wifi and open this app.  You will then be able to text, call, video chat everyone in your contact folder who also has Whatsapp on your phone.  The beauty of this app is that it doesn't matter where the people you call are located, provided that they also have the app on their phones.  That is the big drawback of this app.  Before you leave for your trip, you need to invite the people in your social circle to also put this app on their phones.

 

[WAvoyager]

Verizon fully supports WiFi Calling.  Here’s some info I put in another post.  It’ll spare you from some potentially large roaming, call and data charges.

 

it’s called WiFi calling, and your phone looks to the WiFi connection to send and receive the calls/texts, instead of looking for a cell tower.  Make sure you disable voice and data  roaming on your phone:

• Go to Settings>Phone and turn on wifi calling
• Go into Settings and turn on Airplane Mode
• Go into Settings>Wi-Fi and turn wifi back to ON
• Go to Settings>Bluetooth and turn bluetooth ON (optional - only needed if you’re using Bluetooth for anything like headphones, etc)

Your carrier has to allow it - but the big ones all do I believe.  Here are details from Verizon for example:

https://www.verizon.com/support/wifi-calling-faqs/

Edited March 20, 2022 by WAvoyager

[mellon1]

On 3/20/2022 at 5:39 PM, TBfrPH said:

What Hllwdcruiser suggests should work without doing anything else "special." 

 

What others have mentioned also is to get the Whatsapp phone app.  Turn on your phone Wifi and open this app.  You will then be able to text, call, video chat everyone in your contact folder who also has Whatsapp on your phone.  The beauty of this app is that it doesn't matter where the people you call are located, provided that they also have the app on their phones.  That is the big drawback of this app.  Before you leave for your trip, you need to invite the people in your social circle to also put this app on their phones.

 

Thanks for this information!  Very much appreciated.

[mellon1]

On 3/20/2022 at 6:42 PM, WAvoyager said:

Verizon fully supports WiFi Calling.  Here’s some info I put in another post.  It’ll spare you from some potentially large roaming, call and data charges.

 

it’s called WiFi calling, and your phone looks to the WiFi connection to send and receive the calls/texts, instead of looking for a cell tower.  Make sure you disable voice and data  roaming on your phone:

• Go to Settings>Phone and turn on wifi calling
• Go into Settings and turn on Airplane Mode
• Go into Settings>Wi-Fi and turn wifi back to ON
• Go to Settings>Bluetooth and turn bluetooth ON (optional - only needed if you’re using Bluetooth for anything like headphones, etc)

Your carrier has to allow it - but the big ones all do I believe.  Here are details from Verizon for example:

https://www.verizon.com/support/wifi-calling-faqs/

great instructions for a newbie like me.  Thanks.  Is there charges if you don't use what's app though.  Can I just do what you have and use the ship's wifi and call home from the ship for free or are there charges?

[WAvoyager]

As long as you don’t enable cellular roaming, you should be good.

WiFi calling takes your call connection and sends it through your WiFi connection, so you’re responsible for any charges to get the call (data) to the internet.  If you have Princess Plus, you’re already paying for that connection and the data transfer.

 

on the other end, your carrier picks up the call (data) being sent through the internet, and converts it to a call.  Verizon indicates it’s included in their service, so you’re good there too.

 

What’s App is good if your cell provider doesn’t support WiFi calling, or if you’re trying to reach people outside your normal calling area.