Texting from Panorama

[MamaToMany]

Hello all, first time Carnival cruiser here. I’ve sailed many other lines and am an experienced cruiser, however.

 

Can anyone share recent experiences with texting from the ship, please? I know I can text from NCL while just connected to ship WiFi with no plan, as long as I only text folks with iMessage. I’ve never had success with that on Royal or Celebrity.

 

I’ve read mixed reports about doing this on Carnival. I’ve got zero problem paying for a plan, but it sounds like folks have had pretty good luck messaging while connected to shop WiFi without a plan. 
 

What information can you give me? Again- I will ABSOLUTELY buy a plan if that’s what I need to stay connected. I don’t need access to anything except text. Not even to send pictures. Just need to talk to my hubby back on land, as I’m sailing solo with a kiddo and will need some adult sanity. How should I go about this in the best way?
 

Thanks in advance! 

 

 

 

[mamiamjo]

If you have the WiFi plan you can text using imessage

[jsglow]

Your best bet is the bottom level 'Social WiFi Plan'. And while you use the word 'texting' (a cell based system) I trust that you are comfortable using IMs (WiFi based). There are anecdotal stories about folks sometimes being able to do it without a plan but those are invariably system hacks of some sort. Your intended usage is exactly what Social Plan WiFi was designed for giving you Facebook access along with other limited Social Media ONLY.

[tonit964]

When I was on the Panorama last October, I didn’t purchase a plan and was able to text friends & family back home with no problems. We all have iPhones. 

[MamaToMany]

Thanks for the info, everyone! I appreciate it.

[vwwolfe]

Carnival may be starting to block this.  On my Panorama cruise and my Firenze cruise recently, the iMessage texting no longer worked without a plan.  It used to be so convenient.

[bar1068]

On the last 6 Carnival ships we cruised on, imessaging without an internet plan was unreliable at best. Three of those ships we're the Excel ships over the last year, it did not work all. The only "success" we had was on the Horizon a couple of years ago. Worked at the start of the cruise, part way through stopped working. Not at all something I'd rely on.