Royal2000H Posted August 19, 2007 #1 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Hey we're going on the POH this coming up week and are wondering if there is cell phone reception at sea there with verizon or at least in the ports. We have a plan where we can be anywhere in the US (incl Hawaii) without paying roaming fees, etc.... the question is, does the ship cruise close enough to land to get reception. Thanks! So excited!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fw2007 Posted August 19, 2007 #2 Share Posted August 19, 2007 We sailed POH 08/6 through 08/13 and also have Verizon. Some of the time we were out to sea the phones would lose reception but that mostly occurred late at night. The ship is docked or sailing close to islands so much of the time that we rarely were without phone service. There were also a few dead spots on the ship - the gift shop and theater come to mind. Have fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachchick Posted August 19, 2007 #3 Share Posted August 19, 2007 We had good service on PoH throughout the islands as long as we were close enough to land to pick up the cell towers. We even had good reception around the back of the Na Pali coast. beachchick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof5js Posted August 19, 2007 #4 Share Posted August 19, 2007 We have Verizon also with nationwide roaming. We sailed the week of July 23rd & seemed to have service all the time. However we tried to use our phone only while off the ship. I had read on here that if you use your phone on ship then it's routed thru the ship cell tower. And you pay $4.95 per minute. We haven't got our new bill yet, so I'm waiting to see if we have those charges or not. So be careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakechef Posted August 19, 2007 #5 Share Posted August 19, 2007 We have Verizon also with nationwide roaming. We sailed the week of July 23rd & seemed to have service all the time. However we tried to use our phone only while off the ship. I had read on here that if you use your phone on ship then it's routed thru the ship cell tower. And you pay $4.95 per minute. We haven't got our new bill yet, so I'm waiting to see if we have those charges or not. So be careful. Actually, if the ship has cell service, verizon charges $2.49 per minute, as does most other cell carriers, the exception being T-mobile that charges $4.99 per minute. I don't believe that NCLA ships have cell towers. So any signal you get will be from land, so no roaming should be charged. MAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royal2000H Posted August 20, 2007 Author #6 Share Posted August 20, 2007 how can we know if we're connected through a regular tower or the ship's tower? wouldn't want to be using the phone for an hour of internet (or talking) to later find out that I spent $150 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatLakes Posted August 20, 2007 #7 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I stopped into the Verizon store and specifically asked about service while cruising Hawaii. They informed me I would have service while in ports, but to not keep the phone on while at sea since they did not have towers on the ship and I would be charged a hefty fee for the cell phone use. I will just keep my phone turned off while cruising, and turn it on when off the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakechef Posted August 20, 2007 #8 Share Posted August 20, 2007 how can we know if we're connected through a regular tower or the ship's tower? wouldn't want to be using the phone for an hour of internet (or talking) to later find out that I spent $150 You should see a SOLID roam indicator. A blinking roam indicator would mean you are roaming for free. I don't believe ships towers offer the internet side of the service. If your banner says Verizon Wireless you should be OK. Call Verizon for further clarification. MAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachchick Posted August 20, 2007 #9 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Actually, if the ship has cell service, verizon charges $2.49 per minute, as does most other cell carriers, the exception being T-mobile that charges $4.99 per minute. I don't believe that NCLA ships have cell towers. So any signal you get will be from land, so no roaming should be charged. MAC That's correct. The NCLA Pride of X ships do not have cell towers onboard. Any signal you get is from one of the land towers. The good: No "roaming at sea" charges--Thank goodness. The bad (well, for others; I'm happy about it): No service when too far from the islands to have a signal. If you're on one of the ships that have cell towers onboard, you can expect at least $2.49 per minute roaming on top of whatever your normal charges might be. It doesn't matter whether your phone says "roaming" because the "X-phone-company at sea" is the roaming indicator. The company which operates the cell tower at sea will charge for the service, no matter who your phone carrier is. And be careful about using your phone in port while on the ship because often/usually, the onboard carrier "nabs" the call and routes it through the ship tower--so you get dinged for the "at sea" charges even though you think you're picking up service from a land tower. (No personal experience with this, but have heard easily 50 reports from others who got surprised with a nasty bill when they returned home.) beachchick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Rare CC Help Michell Posted August 20, 2007 Administrators #10 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I stopped into the Verizon store and specifically asked about service while cruising Hawaii. They informed me I would have service while in ports, but to not keep the phone on while at sea since they did not have towers on the ship and I would be charged a hefty fee for the cell phone use. I will just keep my phone turned off while cruising, and turn it on when off the ship. Another good reason to keep the phone off while cruising is that there are no towers, but your phone wants to find one. We couldn't figure out why we were having to recharge our batteries so often the first couple of days, until we realized that since we'd left the phones on, the poor things were working their little hearts out trying to find a signal! Once we turned them off on the ship, the battery depletion returned to normal rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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