Princess mediallion.net versus AT&T cellular at sea.

[Seaworthy71]

 Hello all fellow cruisers, Any one had past experiences or opinions would be greatly appreciated.  I will use on ship for the purpose of texting once a day to let family know I am alright.

Thanks,

seaworthy

[capriccio]

AT&T is our carrier.  Just make sure you are on WiFi calling (not cellular or cellular roaming).  We were on a 28 day cruise around Australia a year ago and it worked great for texting and face timing.  Our daughter had to have emergency surgery while we were half a world - and 12 time zones - away and it was very reassuring to be able to talk to her while she was in the hospital for a few days.

[Seaworthy71]

Capriccio, thank You for Your information. 

[kamelia]

Also, make sure you are in Airplane Mode before turning WiFi service on.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Unless on a TA or TP cruise you will likely have a port call about every other day.  Pretty simple to use the WIFI in the port.

If you gave a family emergency,  just ask Guest Relations to help.  They gave us free daily for a week when 95 year old MIL was hospitalized.

[capriccio]

14 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Unless on a TA or TP cruise you will likely have a port call about every other day.  Pretty simple to use the WIFI in the port.

If you gave a family emergency,  just ask Guest Relations to help.  They gave us free daily for a week when 95 year old MIL was hospitalized.

But the OP already has an AT&T account so will not incur any additional costs using WiFi calling and won’t be limited to specific days and times while in port.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Unless on a TA or TP cruise you will likely have a port call about every other day.  Pretty simple to use the WIFI in the port.

If you gave a family emergency,  just ask Guest Relations to help.  They gave us free daily for a week when 95 year old MIL was hospitalized.

If you are talking Trans Atlantic and Trans Pacific cruises then there will be at least one stretch of 5-8 days at sea with no ports 
 

[cynbar]

I also have ATT cellular and have been pondering my options for my June 15 cruise. I already have the International Day Plan, it kicks in when I am in a foreign country and costs $10/day for full service. I'm traveling with my daughter and her family, so it's a benefit to have easy access to them as well as people back home. To get full service while at sea, I will need to add their Sea Pass program . If I don't get it, I will have connection to everyone through email but no texting. How do all of you keep in touch with your fellow cruisers while at sea if you don't buy a cruise connection plan from your carrier?

[capriccio]

Last year we used WiFi calling on board to text with 4 different couples with various providers without any issues.  When off the ship we’d go somewhere with WiFi and send them a text.

[Mike A]

On the ship I use the medallion net internet using Wi-Fi calling for telephone calls, texting, FaceTime and streaming. As stated above make sure you are in Airplane Mode and turn on Wi-Fi calling. In port I have the $10.00 per day AT&T International Day cellular plan. Just need to make sure that you can use the plan in the country you are visiting. I’ve used it in Canada, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Bermuda and The Bahamas. 

Edited April 16 by Mike A

[memoak]

Just now, Mike A said:

On the ship I use the medallion net internet using Wi-Fi calling for telephone calls, texting, FaceTime and streaming. As stated above make sure you are in Airplane Mode and turn on Wi-Fi calling. In port I have the $10.00 per day AT&T International Day cellular plan. Just need to make sure that you can use the plan in the country you are visiting. I’ve used it in Canada, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Bermuda and The Bahamas. 

I have yet to find a country I. Old not use the ATT International day plan in. On ship we just stick to email 

[dpalmquist]

We just use ship wifi. On airplane mode if texting iPhone to iPhone you just text as normal. Since I have an Android I use Messenger or Signal to keep in touch with my family back home. In the port I have free texting and data with TMobile.

[cynbar]

Thank you all, as always you are a wealth of information. Wi-fi calling seems the way to go, especially since I'll already be paying for internet. My iPhone is enabled for Wi-fi calling and I have noted to make sure it is in airplane mode. Do I also need to turn off cellular or roaming or anything else?

[capriccio]

28 minutes ago, cynbar said:

Thank you all, as always you are a wealth of information. Wi-fi calling seems the way to go, especially since I'll already be paying for internet. My iPhone is enabled for Wi-fi calling and I have noted to make sure it is in airplane mode. Do I also need to turn off cellular or roaming or anything else?

Turn off cellular.

 

Here's AT&T's instructions in case you haven't found them yet.

 

https://www.att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1063258 (intro)

 

https://www.att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1359697/ (setup)

 

Try it from home before the cruise to make sure it works.

[Arizona Wildcat]

17 hours ago, memoak said:

If you are talking Trans Atlantic and Trans Pacific cruises then there will be at least one stretch of 5-8 days at sea with no ports 
 

Thank you for restating my post.  On TA and TP. cruises there are obviously no.ports in the middle of the ocean for WIFI

[Senga]

We are Canadian and use Telus.  We got a good offer but it specifically says it is NOT available on a cruise so best check.