Batman71 Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 Cruising inside passage next week and it looks like my carrier (AT&T Wireless) has decent coverage in the Inside Passage, Skagway and Juneau. I have read numerous threads on this forum on the importance of turning on "Airplane Mode" at a minimum and perhaps also turning off mobile data or the just keeping the phone turned off, all in the interests of avoiding exorbitant roaming charges. Not one of those threads suggested just disabling "Roaming". If Roaming is disabled on my phone, isn't it then impossible for my phone to connect to any network other than AT&T? My thought is that with my phone turned on but roaming disabled, I will be able to see when I have service via AT&T's network while at the same time avoiding any possibility of roaming charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjcruisers Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 I've always just turned Roaming off, have never put it in airplane mode Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neesa Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 24 minutes ago, tjcruisers said: I've always just turned Roaming off, have never put it in airplane mode This is what we do. It seems when we put our Samsungs on airplane mode we couldn't text. With a teen we like to have the texting feature. tjcruisers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 57 minutes ago, Neesa said: This is what we do. It seems when we put our Samsungs on airplane mode we couldn't text. With a teen we like to have the texting feature. You need to have wifi calling enabled to text using SMS Neesa and FSUFAN 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 The newer the phone, the less likely just turning roaming off will work 100%. Airplane mode is the only surefire way to ensure that while at sea you don't get any charges. Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lkg276 Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 Airplane mode then we use Facebook messaging to text back home. We will be trying the "Whatsapp" next time also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 So...I'm the person who turns off mobile data, roaming AND puts my phone in airplane mode as soon as we start drifting away from dock (if not earlier). I wouldn't want to risk it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billdauterive Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 3 hours ago, Batman71 said: Cruising inside passage next week and it looks like my carrier (AT&T Wireless) has decent coverage in the Inside Passage, Skagway and Juneau. I have read numerous threads on this forum on the importance of turning on "Airplane Mode" at a minimum and perhaps also turning off mobile data or the just keeping the phone turned off, all in the interests of avoiding exorbitant roaming charges. Not one of those threads suggested just disabling "Roaming". If Roaming is disabled on my phone, isn't it then impossible for my phone to connect to any network other than AT&T? My thought is that with my phone turned on but roaming disabled, I will be able to see when I have service via AT&T's network while at the same time avoiding any possibility of roaming charges. Yes this should work as I don't believe it would connect to the ships "cellular at sea", only to the land based att towers that are accessible. I would still be careful though as I've personally never tried it so I'm not 100% certain it works as expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandTuercks Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 On 9/20/2022 at 3:35 PM, lkg276 said: Airplane mode then we use Facebook messaging to text back home. We will be trying the "Whatsapp" next time also. Please excuse my naiveté, but you're able to do this without purchasing VOOM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 2 hours ago, GrandTuercks said: Please excuse my naiveté, but you're able to do this without purchasing VOOM? Nope. You definitely need an internet package to use web-enabled messaging services. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffporfirio Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 What would be the best course of action while cruising the Med, with a European (French) sim? - Airplane mode on, until at port? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUFAN Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 WhatsApp is easy and allows calls over the internet. I prefer WiFi calling, but not all phones/plans are capable. We had Straight Talk Samsung Galaxy phones that ran on the Verizon network. We move to an area where we had no cellular coverage. There was no WiFi calling option. I called Straight Talk support and for .99 I got a T-Mobile SIM card that took my phone off of Verizon and on T-Mobile. Rebooted the phone and had WiFi calling capability. Same phone, same number, still with Straight Talk, just a different network. I've since switched Mrs Fan's phone (iPhone 13 pro) and mine, Samsung S20 FE 5G (I think) over to T-Mobile proper. Still use WiFi calling every day from the house and cellular coverage once we get closer to town. The phones do the WiFi to network switching automatically. If your phone does not have WiFi calling capability, download WhatsApp. My youngest spent 2 years in Switzerland going to grad school. We used WhatsApp to call him during those years. It is simple and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandTuercks Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 1 hour ago, CrimsonCruiser said: Nope. You definitely need an internet package to use web-enabled messaging services. Yeah. As soon as I posted, I kind of felt dumb and answered my own question. lol CrimsonCruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 3 hours ago, GrandTuercks said: Yeah. As soon as I posted, I kind of felt dumb and answered my own question. lol Honestly if I was answering this before my cruise last month, my answer would have been different. Somehow, when we first boarded Odyssey and I had my phone on airplane mode, connected to the WiFi but BEFORE we could access the room to get login instructions for our package...I was still able to get FB messenger notifications. It blew my mind and I have no idea if it was a glitch or miracle but...didn't have the same luck on Allure last month so whatever it was is gone now Lol steverk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted September 23, 2022 Report Share Posted September 23, 2022 The inside passage is an odd place as far as cell phone. Generally speaking, the ship will not turn on its cell tower when you are close to land. Since you are surrounded by land in the inside passage, it is possible they would never turn it on and you would never have a problem. That said, I wouldn't take the chance. If the ship heads out to international waters, then you could rack up tremendous bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycho and Barb Posted September 23, 2022 Report Share Posted September 23, 2022 2 hours ago, steverk said: The inside passage is an odd place as far as cell phone. Generally speaking, the ship will not turn on its cell tower when you are close to land. Since you are surrounded by land in the inside passage, it is possible they would never turn it on and you would never have a problem. During our June inside passage, we sometimes got better service using land towers then the Radiance Wi-Fi in several areas on the inside passage. We have Verizon and our plan includes roaming and Canada...We would switched it off Airplane and as long as we didn't see the dreaded cellular at sea we were good to go. Didn't have any cost added to our Verizon bill. steverk and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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