Blackberry Charge

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

This one is for the Blackberry users out there. Any tips? Do you leave the Blackberry on and get email? If it is on but you make/receive no calls will you get charged by the ship for the phone? I'd love to be able to get my email but do not want to pay through the nose to get it and would love to be able to be reached on my phone in case of emergency. Disney Black Lab is 13 and staying with the house sitter but for some strange reason is not alowed on the boat.

 

[daisygirl902]

I kept mine turned off, because I have heard nightmarish stories of being charged roaming charges for any emails received on the ship. I just paid by the minute to check emails once in a while, and only used my BB from land.

 

[shelbell77]

International data roaming isn't cheap. If your data is on there is a cost. The isn't who charges you, your cell carrier does. So you will want to talk to them about what the roaming costs would be to have international data roaming enabled. Personnaly, I leave the blackberry ( work phone) at home on vaca and keep my iPhone in airplane mode. My petsitter (for the cats) and kennel (for the dog) have an alternate emergency contact fir when I can't be reached. But thankfully it's not been needed. Anyway-I can't tell you the costs from personal experience because I choose to forgo it.

To see disneys site on this ( which recommends talking to your cell provider) see: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/services/internet-cellular-services/

 

[Tracykim]

When you say that you only used your BB from land, what "land" was that?? US land or the islands that you visited??

When we went to Jamaica (not on a cruise) we rented a phone and a mess load of mins for the 12 days that we were there. (WAY cheap) We got hit with roaming charges when ever we even turned our BB's on!! I STILL came home to a HUGE cell bill just from turning it on to get emails.

 

[SnowWhite2]

If you keep your phone/BB on during your cruise, you will have a big bill as the roaming charges and international charges will add up quickly. We came home to a $500 bill for my two kids cell phone. They had awhile to work off that debt

 

[aldapl]

I have a BB through Verizon and used it on the Mediterranean cruise in May. I added on 2 things before I left that they prorated for the 2 weeks that I used it. I don't remember the exact details, but one was a voice plan, that was $4.99(I think, then prorated) which provided lower rates for the countries we visited and an unlimited international data plan that was $14.99(again, I think, then prorated). The voice plan did not include calls on the ship since those go through cellular at sea, but the data was unlimited even on the ship. I kept my phone on until around 2:00 everyday, because of the time change and then I would just turn it on every few hours to check my email or access the internet. Overall it cost less then $20 for the 2 weeks.

I just looked through my email, I added the Global Value Plan and the Unlimited Global Data Plan.

 

[mrosen]

I have a blackberry with AT&T service. I have used it internationally for both personal and work travel. I always add a Global Data plan before I go out of the country. There are several options and I've been able to manage fine with the 20MB global data plan. For me, it is always a smart small investment. I can get my work and personal mail and not pay any extra but the flat fee.

If you text, you will pay extra for each text message. And then if you place calls you will pay roaming. AT&T has some plans to help curb these costs some that are something else to consider.

We were on the Disney ship for Med cruise in Spring. I never had my phone on when on the ship. I waited til we got into port and got off ship and then turned on it. That was done to avoid other roaming charges to manage costs to being minimal.

 

[Big L.E.E]

I have T-Mobile. They have an international Blackberry Enterprise plan, that for a flat fee lets you get and send unlimited e-mails through your BES server. I left my Blackberry on, and was able to send and receive work e-mails. But I removed my other e-mail accounts so they wouldn't be checked. I did have certain e-mails from my personal account forwarded to my work account, so I wouldn't miss them.

Otherwise, unless you find free WiFi, leave the Blackberry off.

 

[Tink2300]

I also have Verizon and I have the corporate plan on my blackberry where I get my work e-mail straight to my phone. I am leaving next week for the Med cruise and just called Verizon to set up my international plan. For around 2.17 a day, I get unlimited data and e-mail. That means I can look on the internet all day long if I wanted to and I will receive e-mails as well. Texts are .50 to send and .05 to receive. Calls I make from the ship are like 2.49 a minute and calls from land are .99 a minute! I think it's a great deal! My total for two weeks is coming out to be around $25! They also sent me an email confirming everything, so if for some reason they come back and try to charge me for more later (which I don't anticipate happening - I bought the BB Tour because it was an international phone for purposes like this) I will have documentation of that so that I only get charged my $25.

 

[BarbossasWench]

Is it possible to buy a pre-paid cell phone in the U.S. that can be used in Europe?

 

[1st Cruise]

Thanks for the info guys. I will make sure that I only use mine on land so I don't get hit with big charges.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Um, just to confirm... I think that I had to read (unless I'm remembering wrong?) that on iphone you can turn off the cellular data, not make calls or text- but use the ship's wifi (ofcourse you have to pay for that- but I usually do for laptop anyway) for emails and internet and not be charged extra because you're using wifi instead of the cellular data.

If that is not correct, please let me know.

But if it is correct, can the same thing be done with the blackberry? Use the ships wifi, turn off the cell data on the phone so you won't be charged by the provider you're using on the phone?

 

[shelbell77]

Technically that is true. I don't do it. I tried with my iPad this summer and couldn't get it connected to the wifi, haven't tried sit my iPhone. You would only want to turn the wifi on selectively because its certsinly not free. If you just turn your phone wifi on and leave it on youll end up withvquite a bill. Plus, it's woefully slow (the wifi) which I know from hem I was cruising the magic while still in grad school. I may go into the Internet lingo and use one of their computers for 5 minutes once or twice to check email make sure there is no family or pet emergency.

Also-not all blackberry models are wifi capable. Mine is not. So that would not be an option for everyone with a blackberry.