Phone

[ULCajunCruiser]

We will be travelling to Coco Cay, St Thomas, St Martin, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.   Do any of you know if my iPhone will work everywhere, and how expensive will it be?  I have an ATT Unlimited plan and tried talking to them, but I swear I trust most of you more than I do her!!!   Normally don't worry about this stuff, but this time I've got excursions on St Thomas, St Martin, Costa Maya & Roatan where I'm required to call them or arrange for a returning taxi!!   Thanks

[smokeybandit]

Your phone will work in St Thomas and the Mexican ports with no extra fees. For $10 per day it'll work in Coco Cay, St Martin and Roatan

Edited July 4, 2022 by smokeybandit

[not-enough-cruising]

I have ATT unlimited plan as well.

 

In St Thomas and Mexico , your phone will work just as if you were at home.

 

You will need an international plan for St Martin and Honduras (or find a WIFI hot spot and use WIFI calling) You can sign up for "International Day Pass" which will give you coverage in those countries.  The nice thing about it is, if you are able to accomplish the WIFI calling, you won't be charged anything by ATT. You are only charged a $10 fee IF you connect to the cellular system in that country, if you don't connect, there is no charge.

[ULCajunCruiser]

Thank you very much smokeybandit and not-enough-cruising.   That was more information than I got on a 30 minute phone call to ATT

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

We will be travelling to Coco Cay, St Thomas, St Martin, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.   Do any of you know if my iPhone will work everywhere, and how expensive will it be?  I have an ATT Unlimited plan and tried talking to them, but I swear I trust most of you more than I do her!!!   Normally don't worry about this stuff, but this time I've got excursions on St Thomas, St Martin, Costa Maya & Roatan where I'm required to call them or arrange for a returning taxi!!   Thanks

St Thomas, Cozumel, and Costa Maya are included with most AT&T international plans. If you have a true unlimited plan, you're good to go there (voice and data).

 

For CocoCay, St. Martin, Roatan, you can Opt In for the AT&T International Day Pass. You have to Opt In for each phone on your account. If you do so, you get charged a flat rate $10 per day to allow you to use your unlimited plan (voice and data). If you do not opt in, you will be paying standard international roaming charges (which will rack up $100's in charges). 

 

You need to be very careful to enable roaming while on shore, and disable it (or go into airplane mode) while on the ship. If you roam on the ship's cellular network, you will be paying by the megabyte which will rack up $100's of dollars in charges. When we get on the ship, we turn off roaming and then turn on airplane mode to be double sure.

 

If you have a wifi plan on the ship, most ships allow you do make wifi calls. You have to enable that before you get on the ship. One ship recently, Wonder of the Seas, was not allowing AT&T wifi calling. 

 

While on shore, you could seek out "free wifi" and make wifi calls and not pay the $10/day. However, from a cybersecurity perspective, nothing is ever "free" and anticipate that some of those "free wifi" spots are set up to steal and sell your personal information. We never, ever consider using an untrusted "free wifi" spot. 

[smokeybandit]

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You need to be very careful to enable roaming while on shore, and disable it (or go into airplane mode) while on the ship. If you roam on the ship's cellular network, you will be paying by the megabyte which will rack up $100's of dollars in charges. When we get on the ship, we turn off roaming and then turn on airplane mode to be double sure

One thing to remember is that the ship's radio won't be on when in port, so it's not an urgent thing to go back to airplane mode. You know that but for others that are casually reading this

Edited July 4, 2022 by smokeybandit

[ULCajunCruiser]

14 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

St Thomas, Cozumel, and Costa Maya are included with most AT&T international plans. If you have a true unlimited plan, you're good to go there (voice and data).

 

For CocoCay, St. Martin, Roatan, you can Opt In for the AT&T International Day Pass. You have to Opt In for each phone on your account. If you do so, you get charged a flat rate $10 per day to allow you to use your unlimited plan (voice and data). If you do not opt in, you will be paying standard international roaming charges (which will rack up $100's in charges). 

 

You need to be very careful to enable roaming while on shore, and disable it (or go into airplane mode) while on the ship. If you roam on the ship's cellular network, you will be paying by the megabyte which will rack up $100's of dollars in charges. When we get on the ship, we turn off roaming and then turn on airplane mode to be double sure.

 

If you have a wifi plan on the ship, most ships allow you do make wifi calls. You have to enable that before you get on the ship. One ship recently, Wonder of the Seas, was not allowing AT&T wifi calling. 

 

While on shore, you could seek out "free wifi" and make wifi calls and not pay the $10/day. However, from a cybersecurity perspective, nothing is ever "free" and anticipate that some of those "free wifi" spots are set up to steal and sell your personal information. We never, ever consider using an untrusted "free wifi" spot. 

Thank you, appreciate your comments!!

[JsMom2]

On 7/4/2022 at 8:25 AM, ULCajunCruiser said:

We will be travelling to Coco Cay, St Thomas, St Martin, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.   Do any of you know if my iPhone will work everywhere, and how expensive will it be?  I have an ATT Unlimited plan and tried talking to them, but I swear I trust most of you more than I do her!!!   Normally don't worry about this stuff, but this time I've got excursions on St Thomas, St Martin, Costa Maya & Roatan where I'm required to call them or arrange for a returning taxi!!   Thanks

 

Pull up your account on the ATT website, and make sure that your plan includes calling in Mexico and Canada.  If so, your phone will work in Mexico, just as it does in the States.  

 

Then go to the International Calling area of the website and sign up for the plan that allows you to pay $10 per day in international locations.  You are only charged $10 IF you turn your phone on in, and your "Day Pass" will be good for 24 hours.  So if you are in Grand Cayman on Tuesday and Jamaica on Wednesday, you can turn your phone in at noon on Tuesday and will only pay $10 until noon on Wednesday.  Does that make sense?  

 

So given the above, in your scenario you'll pay $10 in St Martin, and $10 in Roatan.  Costa Maya and St Thomas would be included in your plan.

 

When you are onboard, do the following to make sure your phone doesn't accidentally get turned on:

 

1.  Turn off Roaming

2.  Turn off Cellular Data

3.  Put your phone in Airplane Mode

 

If you have internet on the ship, then you;ll want to enable wifi calling.  If you do that you can make and receive phone calls onboard, but make sure you are in airplane mode and that your call is using wifi.

 

 

[ULCajunCruiser]

Thank you very much JsMom2   Exactly the info I needed, you took me by the hand and walked me through it, really appreciate it!