Disney Fantasy Recieve Text msg free

[Mirco]

I'm trying to figure out how much roaming fees are on the Disney Fantasy for receiving text messages. I have a US based T-Mobile phone. Does anyone know if Disney adds a roaming fee or other usage fee to the T-Mobile rates. According to what I read from the T-Mobile site, received text messages are free. The Disney site says to check with the carrier, but does not mention additional fees. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[JohnDS]

http://www.t-mobile.com/International/RoamingOverview.aspx

Scroll through the countries to get to the cruise lines.

 

[Mirco]

Thanks - that's where I was according to the site:

•Receiving: Deducted from your domestic plan’s allotment (if you do not have a domestic texting plan, messages received are 20 cents each; if you have an unlimited texting plan, messages received are free)

Since I have the unlimited texting plan, I read it as the incoming messages are free. Seems too good to be true. Has anyone experienced this?

 

[DahliaRW]

What I see on their DCL Fantasy page:

Roaming Rates — Disney: Fantasy
Talking: While roaming in this country, the following charges apply:
Calls to the US:
Cellular calls:Up to $5.99 per minute
Wi-Fi calls: FREE
Calls to countries other than the US:
Cellular calls:Up to $5.99 per minute
Wi-Fi calls:Up to $5.99 per minute
Calls received from any country:
Cellular calls:Up to $5.99 per minute
Wi-Fi calls: FREE
Roaming charges do not include local tolls or long distance charges.
Country code:
Texting:
Sending: 50 cents per text message (no charge for Wi-Fi texts to US); 20 cents per text message sent from Canada (unless on qualifying Simple Choice plan)
Receiving: Deducted from your domestic plan’s allotment (if you do not have a domestic texting plan, messages received are 20 cents each; if you have an unlimited texting plan, messages received are free)
Rates include text, picture, video, and instant messages

So it's 50 cents per text message you send, UNLESS you are hooked up to the ship's wifi (seperate charge through DCL) and in that case it is free. It looks like incoming are free, but not sure. I would call t-mobile and ask.

If you have a simple choice plan, you can text and use data for free as well as free wifi calling (i.e. if you connect to free network like Starbucks).

 

[SuperDry]

Does anyone know if Disney adds a roaming fee or other usage fee to the T-Mobile rates.

Neither Disney nor anyone else adds anything to the cost of the "cellular at sea" system for voice, text, or data. The charges incurred are only the ones that your home provider bills you. In the case of SMS, based on what was quoted above, they will be totally free to receive. I have an AT&T plan that has the same wording about SMS cost, and I can verify that it is indeed free.

If you don't want unexpected charges, be sure to turn off data roaming. Also, you may want to turn on unconditional call forwarding, to avoid receiving voice calls. Some people report that in some cases, if your phone rings while on the ship, you don't answer, and the call goes to voice mail, that you get billed for a 1-minute call on the ship. To prevent this, you can turn on immediate call forwarding to another number (perhaps your home phone if you have one) so that incoming calls don't ring your cellphone. Or, your carrier can probably provide you a 10-digit number that you can forward immediately to your cellphone's voice mail. Note that the standard suggestion here of "put it in airplane mode" won't work since that will also prevent SMS from being received.

 

[tweis]

Disclaimer: I do not have T-Mobile but I do have AT&T and I did receive either 2 or 3 texts while on a cruise last year and did send one text. The texts I received were free and the text I sent was .50 I think. I was very worried about my bill but was very pleased when I saw it.

 

[Mirco]

SuperDry - thanks.

I like your idea about immediate call forwarding.

What about turning voice mail off? If it rings, and I do not answer and it does not go to voicemail is there a roaming or other charge?

It would be nice to have a missed call with the calling number displayed without charges - but that might be asking too much.

 

[DahliaRW]

If you turn off data, then you won't get your texts, though, right? Because I know with data roaming off mine would not connect on the ship (which is what I wanted) which means the only way to receive texts is through wifi which I didn't have either.

So maybe they're free because they are expecting you'll end up paying for data in order to use the feature?

 

[SuperDry]

If you turn off data, then you won't get your texts, though, right?

That's not right. Genuine text messages (SMS) don't use cellular data - they use the control channel of the voice side of the cellular system. So if data roaming is turned off, SMS still works. I say "genuine" because there are many "text-like" things on phones these days that are not true SMS (such as various app you install that do text-like things other than the native one that comes with the phone).

One thing to note is that the ship does NOT support MMS. So, you can't send or receive pictures, nor send a message addressed to more than one person at a time.

 

[DahliaRW]

That's not right. Genuine text messages (SMS) don't use cellular data - they use the control channel of the voice side of the cellular system. So if data roaming is turned off, SMS still works. I say "genuine" because there are many "text-like" things on phones these days that are not true SMS (such as various app you install that do text-like things other than the native one that comes with the phone).

One thing to note is that the ship does NOT support MMS. So, you can't send or receive pictures, nor send a message addressed to more than one person at a time.

Ok, gotcha. So leave phone on, but turn off data roaming and you'll get text messages still. I had mine in airplane mode to be safe, and always had my texts come through when I turned the data back on in ports.

 

[su_A_ve]

Some clarification...

TXT/SMS messages are sent/received using the cellular network. By having data roaming or data completely off, you will be able to send/receive TXT/SMS messages.

iMessage or WhatsUp type applications send messages via the data network. These will not work if you have data roaming off.

WiFi on board, is sold by DCL and this is only good for Data services such as iMessage or WhatsUp. This is NOT good for cellular phone calls or TXT/SMS.

Note that some services like iMessage will revert to TXT/SMS if it cannot establish a connection via it's data service. Since you will more than likely have data roaming off, if someone tries to send you a message, it will more than likely revert to TXT/SMS and will come in via the cell network.

While at sea, the company cellular-at-sea is the cellular carrier. They will charge via pre-negotiated agreements with your carrier. You should be aware that certain carriers charge for both send and receive.

For example, Verizon charges 5c per TXT message received. They charge 25c per TXT sent per recipient.

Many deals or alert type messages come via TXT. And unless you are in airplane mode, these will continue to come in. Further, most carriers will cache the messages for a few days. So if you turn off airplane mode for a quick call, all those cached messages will rush in.

There is NO WAY TO TURN OFF TXT ROAMING. If you allow cellular roaming, txt will also be allowed. Very different than data roaming, which you have control over.

BTW, while on the port, you are bound by the local cellular companies. You should check with your carrier for information about charges. These will vary depending on the country.

Hope this helps...