ruhtra09 Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 I will be sailing on the Symphony Of The Seas this December. I believe you can message guests during the cruise using the App without purchasing a VOOM SURF Internet Package for a price of $1.99 per device per day. Is that correct? if yes, I can't find any info. on this on RCI's website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 This article should bee super helpful https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/02/24/how-communicate-someone-cruise-ship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruhtra09 Posted March 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 12 minutes ago, Matt said: This article should bee super helpful https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/02/24/how-communicate-someone-cruise-ship Thank you for the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrinkm Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 Follow up questions that I don't see in the article - if you have Voom, can you use the chat feature in the Royal app for free? I only see alternate messaging apps listed there. We purchased 2 Voom packages for a family of 4. My husband needs one for work and the other will rotate between me and the kids. When they are not with us, I wanted one of them to be logged in in case we need to reach them but was considering some other options, like the $1.99 Royal messaging in the app. But my son will be 2 weeks shy of 13 on this cruise and apparently can't have the app because of his age, so that won't help him (and he is much more responsive to messages on his phone than his older sibling, and they'll be together at all times when not with us.) The Royal messaging in the app won't help us at all if Voom doesn't allow free access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 20 minutes ago, jbrinkm said: Follow up questions that I don't see in the article - if you have Voom, can you use the chat feature in the Royal app for free? I only see alternate messaging apps listed there. Not at this time. jbrinkm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristiZ Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 30 minutes ago, jbrinkm said: Follow up questions that I don't see in the article - if you have Voom, can you use the chat feature in the Royal app for free? I only see alternate messaging apps listed there. We purchased 2 Voom packages for a family of 4. My husband needs one for work and the other will rotate between me and the kids. When they are not with us, I wanted one of them to be logged in in case we need to reach them but was considering some other options, like the $1.99 Royal messaging in the app. But my son will be 2 weeks shy of 13 on this cruise and apparently can't have the app because of his age, so that won't help him (and he is much more responsive to messages on his phone than his older sibling, and they'll be together at all times when not with us.) The Royal messaging in the app won't help us at all if Voom doesn't allow free access. In this case you would just have the responsible child logged into Voom and use whatever messaging app you like -- Messenger, WhatsApp, Signal, etc. If you normally text/SMS, that should still work as well, provided wifi calling features are enabled. jbrinkm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruhtra09 Posted March 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 So I believe a child needs to be at least 13 in order to have a RCI account. If yes, how do I get my child to use the $1.99 messaging option on their phone without an account short of fudging the birth date? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMatl Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 10 hours ago, ruhtra09 said: I will be sailing on the Symphony Of The Seas this December. I believe you can message guests during the cruise using the App without purchasing a VOOM SURF Internet Package for a price of $1.99 per device per day. Is that correct? if yes, I can't find any info. on this on RCI's website. We were on the Harmony recently and that’s what we paid for the messaging app—$1.99 day. If one person has the Internet package they still need to purchase the messaging app to communicate with the other person who also has the messaging app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen W Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 Is there really an age limit on who can use the in app chat for $1.99? My son has his own Apple account (14 yrs) and my daughter is 11 and linked to my Apple ID but with her own email under family. Or do they create their own ID on Royal App? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrinkm Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 A child needs to be 13 in order to have an account with Royal Caribbean and an account is needed to log into the app. Jen W 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 IMHO you should just use a free app. I have my travel party download WhatsApp and we communicate that way. KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrinkm Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 17 hours ago, ruhtra09 said: So I believe a child needs to be at least 13 in order to have a RCI account. If yes, how do I get my child to use the $1.99 messaging option on their phone without an account short of fudging the birth date? I'm not sure that is possible since Royal will have your child's birthdate from official documents when they are cruising. 2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said: IMHO you should just use a free app. I have my travel party download WhatsApp and we communicate that way. yes, I think this is the route we'll need to go. We do text with the kids (obviously) and hoping I can figure out the phone settings onboard to keep this working, as well as wifi calling (I know to put on airplane mode and then re-activate wifi, but I've seen some other settings that might need to be turned on or off for messaging and wifi calling to work - I'll have to tinker with that once on board if it doesn't work). I already have WhatsApp and I guess that I could get the kids on it also but I'm very hesitant because I don't trust the company that owns it and their privacy practices, especially with kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantix2000 Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 35 minutes ago, jbrinkm said: yes, I think this is the route we'll need to go. We do text with the kids (obviously) and hoping I can figure out the phone settings onboard to keep this working, as well as wifi calling (I know to put on airplane mode and then re-activate wifi, but I've seen some other settings that might need to be turned on or off for messaging and wifi calling to work - I'll have to tinker with that once on board if it doesn't work). Thankfully, this is something that can be fully tested now while you are at home. Get all the phones set for Wifi Calling (which includes text messaging). Then, put all the phones in airplane mode and turn on WiFi. Then, text everyone from each phone. If it works at home, it will work on the ship. If not, there's some setting not right but at least it will be obvious which phone needs fixing. jbrinkm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruhtra09 Posted March 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said: IMHO you should just use a free app. I have my travel party download WhatsApp and we communicate that way. WhatsApp works with access to the Internet, which costs more than $1.99 per device per day using RCI’s internal messaging app. Am I correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristiZ Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 20 minutes ago, ruhtra09 said: WhatsApp works with access to the Internet, which costs more than $1.99 per device per day using RCI’s internal messaging app. Am I correct? Correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrinkm Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 36 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said: Thankfully, this is something that can be fully tested now while you are at home. Get all the phones set for Wifi Calling (which includes text messaging). Then, put all the phones in airplane mode and turn on WiFi. Then, text everyone from each phone. If it works at home, it will work on the ship. If not, there's some setting not right but at least it will be obvious which phone needs fixing. I guess that's true, LOL! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted March 3, 2022 Report Share Posted March 3, 2022 5 hours ago, ruhtra09 said: WhatsApp works with access to the Internet, which costs more than $1.99 per device per day using RCI’s internal messaging app. Am I correct? Are you plaining only to use the message service? I thought, correct me if I am wrong, it required Voom for use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristiZ Posted March 3, 2022 Report Share Posted March 3, 2022 3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said: Are you plaining only to use the message service? I thought, correct me if I am wrong, it required Voom for use? The only requirement for the $1.99 messaging service is that the person you are messaging also subscribes to the service. No VOOM needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted March 3, 2022 Report Share Posted March 3, 2022 10 hours ago, KristiZ said: The only requirement for the $1.99 messaging service is that the person you are messaging also subscribes to the service. No VOOM needed. Thanks for clearing that up. I was unsure if the service worked on the free ship Wi-Fi or not. KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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