NorCalJL Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Do all the rooms have phones on the Indy? Also, is there a phone number people could call me on the ship from land if they need to reach me? Finally, regarding cell phones, does it cost anything if I receive a phone call? I know it's a lot of money for someone during that phone call when we are out at sea. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieCoasterKing Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 From there website FAQ Your friends and family can contact the ship by calling (888) 724-7447. Or from outside the U.S. they can call (321) 953-9003. The cost is $7.95 USD a minute and can be charged to their MasterCard® or Visa®. From outside the U.S. additional long distance charges will also apply. You can make ship-to-shore calls from your stateroom, 24 hours a day. The cost is $7.95 USD per minute and will be automatically charged to your SeaPass account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorCalJL Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 From there website FAQ Your friends and family can contact the ship by calling (888) 724-7447. Or from outside the U.S. they can call (321) 953-9003. The cost is $7.95 USD a minute and can be charged to their MasterCard® or Visa®. From outside the U.S. additional long distance charges will also apply. You can make ship-to-shore calls from your stateroom, 24 hours a day. The cost is $7.95 USD per minute and will be automatically charged to your SeaPass account. Awesome Luke! Thanks, yeah I should have just looked at the RCL Faq page. I will use text messaging when I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 If you have a cell phone, use that. Even with data roaming turned off, texts run about 50 cents for MMS. Phone calls are roughly $2.49-$2.99 per minute, so that's much cheaper than the cruise line option. Plus, my father-in-law was never able to reach us through the toll free number; he eventually resorted to texting us. If you have AT&T, they have $30 cruise package which gives you 50 minutes of calling. I believe other cell providers might offer something similar, so it's worth checking. NorCalJL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galveston Steve Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 AT&T does charge $0.50/text sent while onboard. They bill incoming texts at your home rate plan, so if you have unlimited texting, you will not pay extra for incoming texts from travelers who are onboard the ship or from people back home. We have found texting to be a reasonable way to communicate if you are smart about it (maximize the amount of information you put in each outgoing text and don't reply unless you really need to). I agree the cell phone voice charges are much less than using the ship's phone, and cellular at sea is SLOWLY dropping in price every year or so. AT&T is $2.50/minute for voice when using the ship's cellular service (unless you have a package which DocLC points out). AT&T data is still insanely expensive while onboard at $19.97/MB, so the Royal Caribbean internet packages are more affordable, although still pretty costly. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruise-y Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 AT&T does charge $0.50/text sent while onboard. They bill incoming texts at your home rate plan, so if you have unlimited texting, you will not pay extra for incoming texts from travelers who are onboard the ship or from people back home. We have found texting to be a reasonable way to communicate if you are smart about it (maximize the amount of information you put in each outgoing text and don't reply unless you really need to). I agree the cell phone voice charges are much less than using the ship's phone, and cellular at sea is SLOWLY dropping in price every year or so. AT&T is $2.50/minute for voice when using the ship's cellular service (unless you have a package which DocLC points out). AT&T data is still insanely expensive while onboard at $19.97/MB, so the Royal Caribbean internet packages are more affordable, although still pretty costly. Thank you for this very informative post. Sorry to be dumb, but if you want to just receive texts (and no email) do you leave your data and roaming on or off? Do you just not open your email? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galveston Steve Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thank you for this very informative post. Sorry to be dumb, but if you want to just receive texts (and no email) do you leave your data and roaming on or off? Do you just not open your email? Thank youMake sure data roaming is turned off in your phone settings. That will prevent you from accidentally running up a huge data bill. You will still be able to send and receive texts and use your phone. If you don't want to pay for phone calls just don't answer the phone. Remember there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Steve is correct. Turn data roaming off or you'll in cure a large bill. SMS works even with data roaming turned off. If you have an iPhone, the default is to use the data connection, so with data roaming turned off you'll be forcing it to use SMS rather than Internet-based iMessage. Also, if you're going to a US territory, most cellular providers consider this to be within your coverage plan. Galveston Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 My advice with cell phones on cruise ships is to be certain there are no data charges is to turn on airplane mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Airplane mode is definitely a fail safe plan; however, as you know you're then unable to receive texts. I've used an iPhone on 13 cruises and have never had any surprise data charges simply by keeping "data roaming" turned off. I checked today after getting off the Brilliance and used 0 MB of my international data allowance. Galveston Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Airplane mode is definitely a fail safe plan; however, as you know you're then unable to receive texts. SMS yes, iMessage no. If you have airplane mode on and you are connected to WiFi, iMessage will still come through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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