internet/cell phone question

[Gingy5]

I will be purchasing the internet package on Navigator of the Seas for our cruise this month.  Has anyone been able to Face Time with it and do I need to get an international package for my cell phone in addition?  I have two children at home I would like to be in contact with while sailing. 

 

Thank you.

[monorailmedic]

Hi Gingy5,

 

Navigator isn't known for having the fastest Voom, but I can't speak to whether or not facetime would work.  If you purchase Voom, you won't be needing cellular data (and in fact, you'll want to disable roaming or turn on airplane mode to avoid a giant bill).  Matt and I have some good info on what you'll need to know at the below link.  Give that a read and then let me know if you have any questions.  Hopefully someone can chime in and let us know if they had success with Facetime on Navi.

 

http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/27/how-stay-touch-someone-your-royal-caribbean-cruise

[clmsnskr]

Both Facetime and Wifi Calling with my iPhone worked wonderfully the last time I was on Oasis of the Seas.  Different ships may have different VOOM results though.

[WAAAYTOOO]

On Nav now and while I have not tried to stream or a FaceTime, the internet is dependable but slow. I would imagine streaming and/or FaceTime would be problematic if not impossible. I definitely wouldn't count on it.

[Gingy5]

Are you able to text message with little issue? Thank you so much for the responses!

[sulross]

Texting is not a problem on any ship as long as you have Wi-Fi connection

[monorailmedic]

Are you able to text message with little issue? Thank you so much for the responses!

So long as your carrier provides WiFi calling features and your phone supports this, you should be able to text using Voom.  Most things will work fine, it's really only streaming video that is a problem - and even then it depends on the ship and a bit of luck.

[Christie]

For what it's worth, even when I can't live stream video onboard, I've always been able to Facetime.  Must be something with the compression or something.  Hopefully it will work for you!

[Matt]

For what it's worth, even when I can't live stream video onboard, I've always been able to Facetime.  Must be something with the compression or something.  Hopefully it will work for you!

I've had similar experiences

[Browneyedangel]

Verizon is my carrier and since I have the 12GB plan, my phone is automatically covered in Mexico so, when I cruise I will be able to call/text/facetime etc to my teenagers 3 of the 6 days I am cruising!

[DocLC]

Verizon is my carrier and since I have the 12GB plan, my phone is automatically covered in Mexico so, when I cruise I will be able to call/text/facetime etc to my teenagers 3 of the 6 days I am cruising!

You likely won't have coverage while sailing, only while in port and when sailing in and out.

[Browneyedangel]

Yeah, that's why I told them 3 of the 6 days I will be checking on them lol

[iamjohnbamber]

Some areas of the ship will have better WiFi coverage than others. When I was on Freedom, WiFi wasn't great in my cabin but was better in public areas and around the ship. Generally speaking you should be able to e-mail/text/wifi-call just fine, but video streaming may not be crystal clear but it does largely depend on the ship and also its position.