Question on RC App

[AllPhilly]

For the Royal Caribbean app that i am using on my phone...in order for me to message my family members, do they also need to get the app on their phones and log in with my name/password or do they create their own account and we sync them in when we get on the ship?

Thanks

[Rob&Ana]

Yes, they would need the app also but not all ships offer this feature yet. You would all have to be on the ships wifi (not the internet, only the ships wifi) 

[AllPhilly]

14 hours ago, Rob&Ana said:

Yes, they would need the app also but not all ships offer this feature yet. You would all have to be on the ships wifi (not the internet, only the ships wifi) 

Thanks for the reply...I understand we will be on the ships free wifi (Harmony of the Sea) for texting/messaging purposes throughout the day by using the Royal Caribbean App, but my question is after my family download the RC App on their phone, which they have done...they need to register/log into the App...so do they log in under my master username/password or do they register themselves and then after we board the ship link up with each other somehow on the app?

[AshleyDillo]

1 minute ago, AllPhilly said:

Thanks for the reply...I understand we will be on the ships free wifi (Harmony of the Sea) for texting/messaging purposes throughout the day by using the Royal Caribbean App, but my question is after my family download the RC App on their phone, which they have done...they need to register/log into the App...so do they log in under my master username/password or do they register themselves and then after we board the ship link up with each other somehow on the app?

They need their own logins.  When you link up to Harmony's wifi you will go into the messaging portion of the app and then you have to search for each person by name to add them to your contacts.  Then you will be able to message them.  You may even be able to hit the wifi from the terminal at boarding time.  Just remember that the only way to know you have a message waiting is to log into the app and check.  There aren't push notifications that will let you know there's a message waiting.

[AllPhilly]

1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

They need their own logins.  When you link up to Harmony's wifi you will go into the messaging portion of the app and then you have to search for each person by name to add them to your contacts.  Then you will be able to message them.  You may even be able to hit the wifi from the terminal at boarding time.  Just remember that the only way to know you have a message waiting is to log into the app and check.  There aren't push notifications that will let you know there's a message waiting.

Ashley....perfect thanks!

So we don't plan on using any data on our iphones so I guess the best thing is just to keep all 3 phones in airplane mode and then we can just use the RC App for messaging each other (we will have to go into the app to see messages but that's fine) and maybe once in a while get some wifi spots when we port somewhere so we'd be able to do normal text I guess on the iphones...does all this sound about right?

Thanks again!

[AshleyDillo]

Correct..switch to airplane mode and connect to the ship's wifi.  You will have access to the app and the messaging feature within.  iMessage on the iPhones may or may not work..so you can test that amongst yourselves to see if that loophole exists for Harmony.  I don't have an iPhone, so no personal experience there.  But if you find it does work, definitely use that over the app's messaging to keep in touch with everyone onboard.  I don't know if it will let you text message people not on the ship though..someone may chime in with their experience.

Don't be alarmed if some push notifications come through from apps and such..that's another loophole.  If you click on the notifications it won't be able to connect.  

You may want to check with your cell phone carrier to see if your plan offers coverage at any of the ports.  I have Sprint and I have coverage in a lot of the ports and it's included in my plan if I opt-in.  You should be able to find wifi though if you look hard enough on land.

[AllPhilly]

3 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Correct..switch to airplane mode and connect to the ship's wifi.  You will have access to the app and the messaging feature within.  iMessage on the iPhones may or may not work..so you can test that amongst yourselves to see if that loophole exists for Harmony.  I don't have an iPhone, so no personal experience there.  But if you find it does work, definitely use that over the app's messaging to keep in touch with everyone onboard.  I don't know if it will let you text message people not on the ship though..someone may chime in with their experience.

Don't be alarmed if some push notifications come through from apps and such..that's another loophole.  If you click on the notifications it won't be able to connect.  

You may want to check with your cell phone carrier to see if your plan offers coverage at any of the ports.  I have Sprint and I have coverage in a lot of the ports and it's included in my plan if I opt-in.  You should be able to find wifi though if you look hard enough on land.

Ashley...great info...thanks again! I will check with Verizon too.

[Biff215]

We used it on Harmony last week without buying a wifi package.  It worked well for the most part between my wife and me.  We usually did get push notifications as long as you keep the app open (don't force quit it).  I ran into some issues where I couldn't send a message or receive them so I would restart the app and sometimes turn wifi off and then back on.  It was fine if I encountered this while trying to send a message but I wouldn't realize it if my wife was trying to message me.  My wife didn't experience these issues though.

It seems that the iMessage loophole has indeed been closed, no luck sending or receiving those to people on or off the ship.  We were appreciative to have the option in the app though on those rare occasions where we split up, it's better than nothing and certainly better than paying the insane wifi prices.  We enjoyed being disconnected most of the week, other than St. Thomas and included wifi on a St. Maarten beach.