Cell coverage/app

[Eduardo]

Hi, 

I can't wait to board Anthem of the Seas to the Bahamas. Quick questions as a first time cruiser: 

- When does the local cellular connection cut off at the port of origin exactly? As you board while the ship is docked or only when the ship starts sailing? We are boarding very early and plan to explore the i-Fly and the pool etc while docked. 

- We plan to cut off my kids from social media until the third day. Does the Royal Caribbean app work without signing up for the cruise's Wifi?

- Will this app allow the booking of all entertainment? Do I have to report at a desk upon boarding. No advance booking possible due to Covid related (what?) restrictions as per their site. 

Thanks fellow travelers. 

 

 

 

[MuttMutt]

Local cellular connection cuts of when you are out of range of a land based tower. Then you will switch to the ships cell tower if your carrier has an agreement with the ship to provide services but they are not cheap from my understanding. You could end up using the ships connection at any point though so if you don't have a plan that includes coverage i would hit airplane mode in the terminal. 

 

The Royal App is supposed to work fine without an internet plan while onboard the ship. Just connect to the wifi and you will get a page where you can then just use the app. The app also does most of the booking but the main dining room didn't seem to work very well on Liberty so if you are doing my time dining book the whole week ahead as soon as you hit the ship or talk to the staff for the dining room. 

 

Personally for traveling I love my Google Fi service. The only extra cost is phone calls while abroad, data and texting is included for free and while on the ship we used wifi calling and Signal for texting. 

[smokeybandit]

I believe the ship's cellular reception can only be turned on 12 miles away from land. Then again I'd never recommend using anything but ship wifi for calls

[twangster]

The 3rd party, Cellular@Sea scans for any land cell towers before it activates.  Once away from land it turns on.  That’s typically beteeen 6 to 9 pm from Bayonne.  You would be wise to have phones in airplane mode before then or you’ll likely have very high roaming charges.  If the point with the kids is to disconnect you may want to set a milestone like when the ship pulls away from the pier phones go into airplane mode.  

If one of them discovers they have a cell signal with Cellular@Sea you’ll likely pay more in roaming charges compared to the cost of the cruise.  That isn’t Royal but courtesy of your cell company.

The Royal app does not require a purchased Voom internet plan for most features.  The built in chat function costs $2 per day per device and only works on the ship with other guests on the ship that also purchase the chat function.