WhatsApp Calling on the Edge in Europe

[brookmill18]

My mom is on the Edge right now and is able to use WhatsApp for texting but the phone calls aren't working at all. She has the included WiFi. Has anyone had any luck calling on WhatsApp or another app? She expected it to be temperamental and sometimes out of reach, but this has been consistent with no calling at all.

Thanks!

[Jim_Iain]

I believe you have to have the Premium Internet to be able to make Voice calls with WhatsApp.   I always have premium and have never had a problem using WhatsApp for voice phone calls.  

 

Can you confirm which level internet service she has.

[RichYak]

13 minutes ago, brookmill18 said:

She has the included WiFi. Has anyone had any luck calling on WhatsApp or another app?

I suspect one would need the premium internet to do what your mom is attempting.

[brookmill18]

Thank you! From looking at her documents, it's listed as "Surf Wifi"--it was included in her bundle of gratuities, WiFi, classic drink package. We have never been on Celebrity, but as of last April, we were able to use WiFi calling on RCCL's  Anthem and Oasis class ships with surf and stream. Wonder if they are blocking it now if you don't have the Premium WiFi?

Edited October 4, 2022 by brookmill18

[Jim_Iain]

I've heard that some have been successful using  WhatsApp with surf on a couple of the ships.  Not sure if it's the way it's configured or with the fuller ships the bandwidth just isn't there.   Has she tried FaceTime (if on iPhone)?   Some have reported they can use it with surf.

 

She also may be able to use a hotspot at the pier to make the calls.   That's what much of the crew do.  Almost all terminals have free wifi these days.  

[RichYak]

11 minutes ago, brookmill18 said:

we were able to use WiFi calling on RCCL's  Anthem and Oasis class ships with surf and stream. Wonder if they are blocking it now if you don't have the Premium WiFi?

On Celebrity, Premium Wifi = "Stream"

[brookmill18]

Thank you both so much. I'm going to text her tonight with the suggestions. She has TMobile so while docked she can prob call a US number without issues, but it was occasionally on the ship that she was attempting. Thank you again!

[MamaFej]

On Constellation and Summit this year, WhatsApp texting worked fine on Surf. I had to switch to my Stream minutes to make or receive calls. 

 

That is, my kids would call, I would reply with a text that I needed to switch. I would switch, then call them back. I switched back to Surf afterwards. 

 

We had to go to Innovations in order to have access to the ability to switch between Surf and Stream enabled. The techs agreed that it would be much better if the ability to switch were the default. We suspect that X wants people to use up their Stream minutes first, whether Stream was necessary for what they are doing or not, so they can sell more onboard Stream packages. 

 

We also suspect that Surf simply blocks certain streaming sites, such as YouTube, Hulu, and other streaming services. Stream really isn't any faster on other sites, in my experience. My sons both stream on Twitch, and I can access it without any problem whilst on Surf. I imagine X doesn't bother blocking Twitch, as it isn't a service the majority of their passenger demographic is likely to use. To be fair, I generally don't actually watch, I just log on when my sons are streaming to boost their viewer numbers when I get an alert that they are Live. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

26 minutes ago, brookmill18 said:

Thank you both so much. I'm going to text her tonight with the suggestions. She has TMobile so while docked she can prob call a US number without issues, but it was occasionally on the ship that she was attempting. Thank you again!

Your Mom can call a USA number for free when connected to Wi-Fi.   While on Summit from Iceland to Boston we called simply using the Surf (basic Wi-Fi) on board when near Iceland and again when we were a day out of Newfoundland.   Obviously in port she can simply connect to the local phone system and make free outgoing calls, texts and use data on the net.  Do remind her that incoming calls when outside North America are not free when using TMobile WI-FI.  Strange but not expensive usually 10-20 cents a minute.  We simply did not answer then called friends back.

We found calling late until very early mornings worked best from the ship.  Less usage.

[brookmill18]

Thank you--so you made sure you were in airplane mode and had ship wifi on and were able to use your phone as though you were at home? Just made sure it said WiFI calling? She's having trouble getting it to go thru but I'll have her try again. Thanks so much!