AT&T cruise package instead of Voom?

[Bruin Steve]

Typically, of late, when cruising on Celebrity or Princess, we've booked "all-inclusive" deals so we haven't worried about WiFi onboard.  But, when cruising on Royal Caribbean, of late, all we've done are 7 or 8 night cruises.  And, being Diamond Plus Crown and Anchor, my wife and I each get "2 Days" of free WiFi.  And, how it's worked out, it's been enough for us.  After all, we don't stream stuff...or live on our cell phones.  We just use it to check email and visit a few regular websites--like CruiseCritic.com, for example...We're too busy relaxing, eating, drinking and enjoying the cruise to deal with a lot of internet stuff.

 

So, ordinarily, on a 7-night cruise, one of us signs onto the internet for a couple of 24-hour periods early in the cruise and the other nuys a package for the "remainder of the cruise" about 3 days from the end.  We get one day credit charged for each of those first days and we get the other two day credit applied to that "rest of cruise" package--which, surprisingly, covers the entire cost...so, basically, five of seven days are covered with no charge.  Then we take turns sharing the accounts--one logging on when the other is finished using it.  Supplement that by grabbing a little free WiFi in port when we find it--often in restaurants, often in the cruise terminal.  So, never really a problem.  

 

But, coming up next July/August (2024), we've got an unusual situation.  We will be on B2B segments of the Serenade "World Cruise" in Europe--15 night followed by 9 nights.  The people going on the entire World Cruise get free Voom included in their deal--but those of us on shorter segments do not.  AND, the C&A Diamond Plus perk doesn't care if your cruise is 3 nights, 7 nights, 15 or 24...It's 2 free days per cruise no matter the length of the cruise.  And, currently, on sale, the only package I can purchase is $18 per night...So, purchasing WiFi for the entire 24 nights would run $432 total for a package.  I believe I could get the C&A perk deducted from that on each segment--so, remove about $72.  Still a cost of approximately $360 for one device for the voyage.

 

Now, we have our cell phone service with AT&T and I see they now offer a package on various cruise ships--including the Serenade of the Seas.  It's a 30-day deal.  Only good while ON the cruise ship and at least 12 miles out to sea (otherwise, you need a separate more expensive international package for land).  Cost is $60 for "Basic"--100 minutes of "talk", unlimited text and 100MB of data...or $100 for "Plus"--unlimited text and talk and 1 GB of data.

 

We have a fairly port-intensive itinerary--only 3 at sea days in 24 nights of cruising, all in the Baltic and Norwegian Fjords--so I am not sure if that 12 mile restriction will cause a problem.  And, instead of being able to access the internet on our laptops or iPads, we'd be restricted to just using our AT&T connected cell phones (and, unless we buy two packages, we'd have to share one cell phone for access).  Also, I have no clue how much "data" we use--or would use under these circumstances--there are substantial charges for going over the allowance ($10 for each 100MB or frction threof over the allowance--and my wife may play some online games for which I have no clue if they eat up data--none of it makes a difference here at home).  And there appear to be a few inconveniences with remembering to turn on and off "data roaming" when on the ship and off.

 

Sounds like a good alternative to the high priced ship WiFi...but I'm not sure...

 

Anyone have any experience using this service?  What are your thoughts and comments?  Any other issues I'm not seeing?  Thanks.

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

What are your thoughts and comments? 

Don't change your usual plans (use D+ days at the start for a couple of days and the remainder at the end) other than to buy the $10/day package from AT&T in the port(s) you think will really need it (when you don't have Voom on board).

Edited June 22, 2023 by Biker19

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

the $10/day package from AT&T in the port(s) you think will really need it (when you don't have Voom on board).

Look at an eSim packages for the ports from maybe t-mobile or a group plan. Might run you $30 for the month. Assuming you have an eSim capable phone (most decent phones are nowadays) and you are not locked from using it. $10 a day is nuts.

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by RedIguana

[smokeybandit]

Cruise cellular plans are look a lot better than they are in the smartphone era.

Plus 1/3 of RC ships still only give you 3G

[jwlane]

6 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

What are your thoughts and comments? 

Ya' lost me about the 1st line of the 2nd paragraph....

[Bruin Steve]

22 minutes ago, jwlane said:

Ya' lost me about the 1st line of the 2nd paragraph....

If you got lost reading that, you probably will never be able to read AT&T's website and understand that in any case, so you'd likely be of no help anyway.  🙂

[JsMom2]

Use Royal wifi on ship, and turn on wifi calling.  Then sign up for international day pass with ATT to use your phone ashore.  If you purchase wifi ahead of time, you can still get your free days onboard. It will allow you to access additional devices for those free days. 

[pcur]

I'm concerned about roaming charges.  Your signal will still go through RCCL's tower, I'm thinking, and that can be a boatload of charges.

 

I used Mobal for several international trips.  They sell international phones as well as international SIM cards if your phone is compatible. 

 

Be sure to keep an eye on your Cruise Planners for discounted wifi packages.  The 9 night cruise is doable with your free internet for 4 days.  That and pre-planning wifi ports should get you through.  That might be when you want to turn on the $10/day plan, and look at your carrier's web site for international hotspots.

[Tlbecker1]

2 hours ago, JsMom2 said:

  If you purchase wifi ahead of time, you can still get your free days onboard. It will allow you to access additional devices for those free days. 

This is what I thought also when I purchased the Voom package, but I was never able to access my 2 days of internet.  They told me that is was due to me purchasing the Voom. 😞  That is what happened on the Rhapsody in May.

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

If you got lost reading that, you probably will never be able to read AT&T's website and understand that in any case, so you'd likely be of no help anyway.  🙂

The AT&T cruise plan might be good for passengers who only use voice and text. If you use data I could forsee going over. Smartphones use alot of data and a lot of apps use data in the background. I have background data turned off but some apps like the weather app don't turn off data. 

[crzndeb]

22 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

This is what I thought also when I purchased the Voom package, but I was never able to access my 2 days of internet.  They told me that is was due to me purchasing the Voom. 😞  That is what happened on the Rhapsody in May.

You don’t get free days credited if you pre purchase Voom. It is already discounted. If you don’t pre purchase, you can use your free days, and then purchase, at the ship’s price, for remainder of days. Or don’t use free days and buy Voom  on ship, minus the price of the free days, usually about $55-56

[Charles4515]

5 hours ago, RedIguana said:

Assuming you have an eSim capable phone (most decent phones are nowadays)

If the phone has an esim there are a number of esim providers for the ports. Airalo is a good one. The only problem is you won't be using your own phone number. 

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, pcur said:

I'm concerned about roaming charges.  Your signal will still go through RCCL's tower, I'm thinking, and that can be a boatload of charges.

 

I used Mobal for several international trips.  They sell international phones as well as international SIM cards if your phone is compatible. 

The AT&T cruise plan is on Cellular at Sea so no problem with roaming charges. The reason AT&T can offer a cruise plan is that AT&T owns Cellular at Sea.

 

If your phone has esims I suggest looking into Airalo. Mobal might do esimns too. You can use your phone and you don't need physical sim cards. Newer phones have esims and my newest phone only has two esims. This has turned out to be much better than swapping physical sim cards. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Charles4515

[jeh10641]

Do VPNs affect this discussion?

 

Jim

[crzndeb]

2 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

Do VPNs affect this discussion?

 

Jim

This is my personal history, but I have had issues getting on the app, when on my VPN (on ship).  For the most part, there was no issue accessing my games, websites, emails, etc. when on my VPN. I have Nord, so not sure if all VPN’s will act the same on the ship.

[Monkey0313]

Since you sailing is very port intensive, I would sign up for the International Day Pass through ATT. It includes talk, text and unlimited data. I just used it in March/April for my European trip. You pay $10 a day for a max of 10 days per billing cycle and if you have a second phone it is $5 a day for that phone. If you are gone over 2 billing cycles then the $10 a day will restart and you will start paying the $10 a day again for the max of 10 days on the next billing cycle.  

 

On the days you are at sea then use your Diamond+ free Internet. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Monkey0313

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, Monkey0313 said:

Since you sailing is very port intensive, I would sign up for the International Day Pass through ATT. It includes talk, text and unlimited data. I just used it in March/April for my European trip. You pay $10 a day for a max of 10 days per billing cycle and if you have a second phone it is $5 a day for that phone. If you are gone over 2 billing cycles then the $10 a day will restart and you will start paying the $10 a day again for the max of 10 days on the next billing cycle.  

 

On the days you are at sea then use your Diamond+ free Internet. 

That is a good point about the $10 a day maxing out at 10 days per billing cycle.

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, jeh10641 said:

Do VPNs affect this discussion?

 

Jim

I don't think so. I don't see how. Could you give a hint as what you are thinking?

[steveru621]

I'd be concerned the amount of data is insufficient.

[Bruin Steve]

1 hour ago, steveru621 said:

I'd be concerned the amount of data is insufficient.

I'm going to call AT&T and try to find out how much data we normally use.  We have an unlimited plan so it otherwise doesn't matter, but I'm sure they have records. 

 

My other concern would be how often it's not usable.  Can't use it while in port...but also can't use it if not far enough out at sea (the website says 9-11 miles in one place and 12 miles in another).  With our itinerary--Southampton-Bruges-Skagen-Warnemunde-Riga-Tallinn-Helsinki-Stockholm (overnight)-Visby-Klaipeda-Ronne-Kiel-Copenhagen-Aarhus-Oslo-Kristiansand-Haugesund-Olden-Alesund-Bergen-Amsterdam--will we all too often just be too close to shore?  Yes, I assume they'll want to be in international waters in order to open the shops and casino--but, when most of that is closed, what keeps them form being close to shore?

Edited June 23, 2023 by Bruin Steve

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

I'm going to call AT&T and try to find out how much data we normally use

You can look this up on your phone.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

You can look this up on your phone.

On the MyAT&T app. I have an unlimited plan with one line and it shows 4.35 Gigabytes with 9 days left. And that is with most of my internet use being on my home WiFi. 

[Ocean Boy]

18 hours ago, JsMom2 said:

 If you purchase wifi ahead of time, you can still get your free days onboard. It will allow you to access additional devices for those free days. 

That most certainly has not been my experience. If you pre-purchase ahead of time you loose the free days. This is why people are frequently asking what the price is on the ships. It is so they can figure out if it is better to buy in the cruise planner or wait until boarding the ship.

[lovesthebeach2]

We’re also doing 2 segments of the WC and during those 2 cruises there’s only 1 sea day, all the rest are in a port.  We have TMobile so we get free data and texting in all the countries we’re visiting while in port, so we’ll only be without service at night and that 1 sea day. Since we each get the 2 days, we’re thinking we won’t really need them except for that one sea day.

I wasn’t sure if the plan you’re looking at gives you the service on the ship or while in port?

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We’re also doing 2 segments of the WC and during those 2 cruises there’s only 1 sea day, all the rest are in a port.  We have TMobile so we get free data and texting in all the countries we’re visiting while in port, so we’ll only be without service at night and that 1 sea day. Since we each get the 2 days, we’re thinking we won’t really need them except for that one sea day.

I wasn’t sure if the plan you’re looking at gives you the service on the ship or while in port?

The plan OP is looking at only works on the ship when at sea.