Texting shipmates on Celebrity Beyond

[Purple Gallinule]

We are new to Celebrity (Elite on Princess). We will be on Celebrity Beyond with 20 others and want to know if we will be able to text other members of our group while onboard.

 

I am sure we will all be in airplane mode, but not always using wifi on our phones since we can only have one device at a time logged in.

 

Any advice from Celebrity pros would be appreciated.

[Liao]

2 minutes ago, Purple Gallinule said:

We are new to Celebrity (Elite on Princess). We will be on Celebrity Beyond with 20 others and want to know if we will be able to text other members of our group while onboard.

 

I am sure we will all be in airplane mode, but not always using wifi on our phones since we can only have one device at a time logged in.

 

Any advice from Celebrity pros would be appreciated.

The app has a texting feature and you can also use WhatsApp,

[wrk2cruise]

The wifi package is not required to use the Celebrity APP messaging feature.  You just have to be connected to wifi but the device doesn't need to be "logged in" to the internet package.   To use standard iMessage and WhatsApp you have to be logged in to the package.  To use standard SMS you have to be logged in and your phone must have a Wifi calling with your provider and it must be enabled.

[storfie]

Does texting and WhatsApp on the App need WIFI minutes?

6 minutes ago, Liao said:

The app has a texting feature and you can also use 

[storfie]

“The wifi package is not required to use the Celebrity APP messaging feature.  You just have to be connected to wifi but the device doesn't need to be "logged in" to the internet package. “

 

I have never used the App messaging feature, please explain how it works and what we can do with it. 
Thanks.

[Tigermad]

The built in message service doesn’t send notifications and the messages can be delayed so I read. 

[Liao]

12 minutes ago, storfie said:

Does texting and WhatsApp on the App need WIFI minutes?

Celebrity app does not, WhatsApp does.

[High on the Seas]

40 minutes ago, storfie said:

Does texting and WhatsApp on the App need WIFI minutes?

WhatsApp requires WiFi so you would need to buy Internet time from the cruise ship. The Celebrity app texting feature is no charge.  I could never get the Celebrity app to notify me, vibrate or noise. You need to constantly open the app to check for an inbound message. Maybe someone on this board has had better luck. 

[canderson]

Now there's an odd thought.

 

Book a veranda, no WiFi, no beverage package.

Win MoveUp to a suite.

Try to contact your butler using the new WhatsApp method that Celebrity now recommends.

 

Anyone else notice the disconnect here?

 

[jelayne]

10 minutes ago, canderson said:

Now there's an odd thought.

 

Book a veranda, no WiFi, no beverage package.

Win MoveUp to a suite.

Try to contact your butler using the new WhatsApp method that Celebrity now recommends.

 

Anyone else notice the disconnect here?

 

We were on the beyond a month ago, never saw or heard a word about using WhatsApp to reach the butler.  I even had DH download the app but the only contact info we had for the butler was a phone extension, which he promptly answered.

[Alakegirl]

1 hour ago, Tigermad said:

The built in message service doesn’t send notifications and the messages can be delayed so I read. 

New feature—now it DOES send notifications but messages are still delayed sometimes

[canderson]

6 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We were on the beyond a month ago, never saw or heard a word about using WhatsApp to reach the butler.  I even had DH download the app but the only contact info we had for the butler was a phone extension, which he promptly answered.

They call it Butler Chat.  Surprised it hasn't been rolled out on Beyond yet.  Would have thought the newer ships would see this first.

 

Exclusive services and amenities

• Contact your butler wherever you are with Butler Chat

 

[kathynorth]

2 hours ago, storfie said:

“The wifi package is not required to use the Celebrity APP messaging feature.  You just have to be connected to wifi but the device doesn't need to be "logged in" to the internet package. “

 

I have never used the App messaging feature, please explain how it works and what we can do with it. 
Thanks.

 

For those who don't have a wifi package and do use the Celebrity app to text. You set your phone to airplane mode. Then you turn your wifi on. Select Celebrity guest. log in the same way to use the app to access activities, menus, etc. To access the text/chat feature you click the bubble with 3 dots located in the upper right part of the screen. You need to add the passengers you want to text/chat with. The app sends them a chat request and they need to click on their end in order for the 2 of you to be able to communicate using the app. We found it very easy to text once we used it a couple of times. 

[SEC Man]

A potential hack is to send an iMessage from iPhone to another iPhone when not on Wi-fi as sometimes this seems

to available for the crew to use.  Of course as mentioned the Celebrity app has a messaging feature that does not require wi-fi but I have found this hot and miss at times  and as also mentioned there is no notification feature so not as functional as it could be.

[miched]

If you plan on using the X app for messaging you have to keep checking it as it send no notifications.    Almost useless.  
 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅