iPhone

[MsJ]

Hi, does anyone know if an iPhone works on the Crown? Marianne

[shellbeachjim]

I'll assume by "work" you mean email/web access. My DW and I used our iPhones on the Star Princess in October without problems. The procedure is fairly simple:

-Set up your internet account on the ship. It's best to do this in the internet cafe.

-When you want to access the internet, open up Safari and go to IP address 1.1.1.1 and log on to your ship account.

-Check your mail, surf the net...

-When you're done open up Safari again and go back to IP address 1.1.1. and log off.

 

We did not have to change any of our email settings to be able to send or receive mail, but this may be depend on your internet provider. We did lose our connections once (we were sitting next to each other and it happened simultaneously to us). We simply went back to Safari and signed back in.

 

I hope this helps.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I'll assume by "work" you mean email/web access. My DW and I used our iPhones on the Star Princess in October without problems. The procedure is fairly simple:

-Set up your internet account on the ship. It's best to do this in the internet cafe.

-When you want to access the internet, open up Safari and go to IP address 1.1.1.1 and log on to your ship account.

-Check your mail, surf the net...

-When you're done open up Safari again and go back to IP address 1.1.1. and log off.

 

We did not have to change any of our email settings to be able to send or receive mail, but this may be depend on your internet provider. We did lose our connections once (we were sitting next to each other and it happened simultaneously to us). We simply went back to Safari and signed back in.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Did you purchase the wireless package or go off of 3G? How was your phone bill?

[-Lew-]

Did you purchase the wireless package or go off of 3G? How was your phone bill?

Using wireless web access on the ship does not involve your cell carrier at all. There is no 3G access or any effect on the user's cell phone bill.

 

Lew

[jalpert]

This is VERY important: When cruising with the iPhone:

 

goto Settings --> General --> Network and turn data roaming OFF!

 

There are horror stories of $5,000+ bills when people get home. since the iPhone uses data to communicate (emails, apps, maps, safari) international roaming data is crazy expensive. Make sure you turn it off, even if you don't think you're going to use it, you still might.

[shellbeachjim]

Did you purchase the wireless package or go off of 3G? How was your phone bill?

Our cruise was to the Mexican Riviera, outside the range of our AT&T Wireless coverage, so we turned data roaming off on our phones. We only used the ship's wireless internet system. As -Lew- mentioned, there is no impact to your cell phone bill this way.

[MsJ]

Yikes!!!! 5000.00 dollars...maybe I will skip the iPhone use:) .......this would be my first cruise with an iPhone and I am still learning things about it.... plus I am not high tech savy AT ALL .....I am in internet addict and really should take a break while on vacation anyway:)

Thanks for all the info..I appreciate it

I had ATT for a plan and it was just transfered when I got the iPhone..we have the bill for the set up etc.....but havent gotten a regular monthly bill yet iPhone was a Christmas present......the bill for the setup and transfer etc was about 90.00

 

just wanted to clarify...if I want to use iPhone to make 1 phone call home while at sea ..should I still turn off roaming button???? Thanks Marianne

[shellbeachjim]

Yikes!!!! 5000.00 dollars...maybe I will skip the iPhone use:) .......this would be my first cruise with an iPhone and I am still learning things about it.... plus I am not high tech savy AT ALL .....I am in internet addict and really should take a break while on vacation anyway:)

Thanks for all the info..I appreciate it

I had ATT for a plan and it was just transfered when I got the iPhone..we have the bill for the set up etc.....but havent gotten a regular monthly bill yet iPhone was a Christmas present......the bill for the setup and transfer etc was about 90.00

 

just wanted to clarify...if I want to use iPhone to make 1 phone call home while at sea ..should I still turn off roaming button???? Thanks Marianne

Marianne,

With so-called "smart phones", you have to separate the voice and data services used. "Voice" is straight-forward - it's talking on the phone, checking voice mail, etc. "Data" can include email, web browsing, checking the weather or stocks, searching Google, or anything else which accesses the internet.

 

The $5000 bill was someone who was data roaming internationally - in other words accessing the internet from their phone, not necessarily making phone calls. There were a number of these types of stories shortly after the iPhone first came out in 2007. The iPhone has 2 ways to access the internet. The first is using the phone company provider's services. In the US that's AT&T - whether you're using their 3G or EDGE network. The other way is through a wireless network such as what you might set up at home for your computers to use or a public accessible network such as you might find at Starbucks, a public library or some other internet cafe, etc.

 

You will NOT be able to make phone calls while at sea. While your iPhone can access the internet aboard the ship, it's using the ship's wireless internet system. You won't get a signal from a provider while you're out at sea, so no phone calls.

 

In port you will get a signal and you will be able to make calls on your phone, although it will be at the international voice roaming rates. You probably should look to see what international roaming plans AT&T has for the countries you're visiting.

 

International data roaming can get expensive, so make sure you turn it off on your trip. Turning data roaming off does not impact your ability to make phone calls.

 

I hope this helps.

[delco]

Marianne,

With so-called "smart phones", you have to separate the voice and data services used. "Voice" is straight-forward - it's talking on the phone, checking voice mail, etc. "Data" can include email, web browsing, checking the weather or stocks, searching Google, or anything else which accesses the internet.

 

The $5000 bill was someone who was data roaming internationally - in other words accessing the internet from their phone, not necessarily making phone calls. There were a number of these types of stories shortly after the iPhone first came out in 2007. The iPhone has 2 ways to access the internet. The first is using the phone company provider's services. In the US that's AT&T - whether you're using their 3G or EDGE network. The other way is through a wireless network such as what you might set up at home for your computers to use or a public accessible network such as you might find at Starbucks, a public library or some other internet cafe, etc.

 

You will NOT be able to make phone calls while at sea. While your iPhone can access the internet aboard the ship, it's using the ship's wireless internet system. You won't get a signal from a provider while you're out at sea, so no phone calls.

 

In port you will get a signal and you will be able to make calls on your phone, although it will be at the international voice roaming rates. You probably should look to see what international roaming plans AT&T has for the countries you're visiting.

 

International data roaming can get expensive, so make sure you turn it off on your trip. Turning data roaming off does not impact your ability to make phone calls.

 

I hope this helps.

Yes, you will get a signal while at sea. It is through Cellular-At-Sea, set up in part by AT&T. Every cell company can charge what they want. Most, including AT&T charges $2.49/min while TMobile charges $4.99/min.

You may also want to add International Roaming to your account to lessen the cost per minute while in port in foreign countries.

[shellbeachjim]

Yes, you will get a signal while at sea. It is through Cellular-At-Sea, set up in part by AT&T. Every cell company can charge what they want. Most, including AT&T charges $2.49/min while TMobile charges $4.99/min.

You may also want to add International Roaming to your account to lessen the cost per minute while in port in foreign countries.

My mistake. Since I want no part of these outrageous rates I pretend that this service doesn't actually exist. ;)

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

Yes, you will get a signal while at sea. It is through Cellular-At-Sea, set up in part by AT&T. Every cell company can charge what they want. Most, including AT&T charges $2.49/min while TMobile charges $4.99/min.

You may also want to add International Roaming to your account to lessen the cost per minute while in port in foreign countries.

 

The Cellular @ Sea service is provided by a company called MCP, they are in Norway. AT&T is not involved they only have a roaming agreement with MCP as do other US & Country Mobile Phone providers.

 

Alan

[delco]

The Cellular @ Sea service is provided by a company called MCP, they are in Norway. AT&T is not involved they only have a roaming agreement with MCP as do other US & Country Mobile Phone providers.

 

Alan

Well, you are correct as for service on Princess and some others. CellAtAea is different than CellularAtSea. AT&T is a partner and major developer in CellularAtSea.

[sixkidsmom]

I also got an iPhone for Christmas and didn't know some of this. Thanks so much for this info. We're going to Alaska in June and I know I'll need to call home. I "might" be able to go without internet for a week, but we'll see ;)

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

Well, you are correct as for service on Princess and some others. CellAtAea is different than CellularAtSea. AT&T is a partner and major developer in CellularAtSea.

 

I got them backwards

 

Cellular @ Sea is WMS which is partnered with AT&T

 

CellAtSea is MCP which has contract with Princess Cruises

 

Thanks

Alan

[jalpert]

On an iPhone you can turn data roaming off and still make calls fine without having to worry about it. I will be taking my spare iPhone on my cruise, and with data roaming off I can use all my apps without having to worry about crazy data charges. Crazy voice charges are still your responsibility though :-)

[delco]

I downloaded Truphone from the app store. It gives you a phone connection through wifi at 6 cents per minute. I plan to buy the wifi connection onboard and give it a try.

[Host CJSKIDS]

This is VERY important: When cruising with the iPhone:

 

goto Settings --> General --> Network and turn data roaming OFF!

 

There are horror stories of $5,000+ bills when people get home. since the iPhone uses data to communicate (emails, apps, maps, safari) international roaming data is crazy expensive. Make sure you turn it off, even if you don't think you're going to use it, you still might.

 

That is true. We did make sure to turn off the international data roaming when we went to Cancun in October. We still used to phone for calls during the day but didn't have to worry about data roaming. We had internet in our suite at the Ritz and would turn on the wifi only when in the room and then be sure to turn it off as soon as we were done.

 

I also purchased the international calling plan. For Mexico it was $4.99 per month and then brought the minute charge down about $0.40 per minute. Considering my husband had a few hours of personal business calls for a new job he was pursuing it was well worth the $4.99.

[MsJ]

Marianne,

With so-called "smart phones", you have to separate the voice and data services used. "Voice" is straight-forward - it's talking on the phone, checking voice mail, etc. "Data" can include email, web browsing, checking the weather or stocks, searching Google, or anything else which accesses the internet.

 

The $5000 bill was someone who was data roaming internationally - in other words accessing the internet from their phone, not necessarily making phone calls. There were a number of these types of stories shortly after the iPhone first came out in 2007. The iPhone has 2 ways to access the internet. The first is using the phone company provider's services. In the US that's AT&T - whether you're using their 3G or EDGE network. The other way is through a wireless network such as what you might set up at home for your computers to use or a public accessible network such as you might find at Starbucks, a public library or some other internet cafe, etc.

 

You will NOT be able to make phone calls while at sea. While your iPhone can access the internet aboard the ship, it's using the ship's wireless internet system. You won't get a signal from a provider while you're out at sea, so no phone calls.

 

In port you will get a signal and you will be able to make calls on your phone, although it will be at the international voice roaming rates. You probably should look to see what international roaming plans AT&T has for the countries you're visiting.

 

International data roaming can get expensive, so make sure you turn it off on your trip. Turning data roaming off does not impact your ability to make phone calls.

 

I hope this helps.

 

thank you so much..this is very helpful....it was nice of you to take the time to tell me this.....

[MsJ]

thanks everyone....your responses have been very helpful...i will be taking a vacation from the internet while on the Crown......this will be our second trip on the Crown.....its almost here!!!!