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iMessage on board ships that have new Royal Caribbean App


ntodd

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I have read and experienced the imessage functioning on ships with RoyalIQ without actually paying for VOOM or the chat feature of the App. Does anyone know if this is the case with the ships that are using the Royal Caribbean App that don't yet have the "chat" feature?

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To piggy back on this, I don't really understand the App chat. Do you need VOOM for it to work, or no?

The ship I am going on doesn't have the app, but it's also getting amplified later this year before my sailing so I am guessing it might get it after that similar to what Navigator did. 

But if it doesn't, how does one get imessage to work without VOOM as well? 

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1 hour ago, Vanessa77 said:

To piggy back on this, I don't really understand the App chat. Do you need VOOM for it to work, or no?

The ship I am going on doesn't have the app, but it's also getting amplified later this year before my sailing so I am guessing it might get it after that similar to what Navigator did. 

But if it doesn't, how does one get imessage to work without VOOM as well? 

The app chat, once it is deployed on more ships and moves out of beta or testing phase, will not require a paid Voom plan.  The app itself does not require a paid Voom plan.  You connect to the ship's wifi signal and use that app "for free".

On ships that used to use the RoyalIQ app it was possible to get free iMessages which worked because iMessage piggy backed on communication required to make the RoyalIQ app work.  That wasn't the intention and it wasn't a published feature, but guests figured it out and you could iMessage "for free" without buying Voom.  On ships that use the new app, you can't get free iMessages.  You must pay for a Voom plan to get iMessage to work on these ships.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am getting ready to sail on the Allure of the Seas.  I am still unclear about texting while on the ship.  I found info today that leads me to believe the the chat feature is now available on the allure using the RCL app.  Is this true or do I still have to but the VOOM package?

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9 minutes ago, CAMAM said:

I am getting ready to sail on the Allure of the Seas.  I am still unclear about texting while on the ship.  I found info today that leads me to believe the the chat feature is now available on the allure using the RCL app.  Is this true or do I still have to but the VOOM package?

Welcome to the message boards!

Allure does have the chat feature enabled in the new app, but it's in 'beta' phase meaning it may not function 100% as they trial it on a couple ships.

You don't have to purchase a Voom plan to use the app or chat.  The chat only works with other guests on the ship, it does not work off the ship to anyone on land.

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33 minutes ago, CAMAM said:

Thanks. The other people will be on the ship with me. Just need to stay in touch with teenagers on the ship!  I wonder if it’s good enough to rely on or if I should get VOOM to be safe and avoid frustration?! 

I would absolutely get Voom to be safe and avoid frustration. Here is one big problem I find about chat feature in the app. Unless you have the app open you don't know your getting a message. And who keeps an app open all the time.. Its very frustrating. I was just on a family cruise over New Years Eve on Harmony. We were a group of 14 people. We all got VOOM and it was great because we could all text each other and make Wi-Fi calls. I know it costs more but that would be what I recommend. 

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5 hours ago, tiny260 said:

+1 on this, it gets very frustrating, having to constantly remember to keep checking the APP.

We are sailing March 29, 2019 on the Harmony.  The Royal app has had the chat feature in the upper corner but it said "beta".  Today the "beta" is gone and it appears that it is ready to use once we get on the ship's WiFi.

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/11/2019 at 6:26 PM, HawkeyeFan said:

We are sailing March 29, 2019 on the Harmony.  The Royal app has had the chat feature in the upper corner but it said "beta".  Today the "beta" is gone and it appears that it is ready to use once we get on the ship's WiFi.

I would be interested to know how/if it worked for you.  We are on Harmony later this year.

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On 3/11/2019 at 11:28 AM, CAMAM said:

Thanks. The other people will be on the ship with me. Just need to stay in touch with teenagers on the ship!  I wonder if it’s good enough to rely on or if I should get VOOM to be safe and avoid frustration?! 

I was on allure in March.  It was sorta useful but the messages didn't always get delivered until much later.  They have also started doing push notifications... But those were only sometimes.  We had more luck using 1 device voom and Facebook messenger and just booting each other off and checking messages that way.  If it is vital to be reachable, I would not rely totally on the app.  If you don't mind it being ok and sometimes occasionally glitching, then it is better than nothing and you can totally not buy voom.  Hope this helps, Jane

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