Do you remove the SIM from your phone when on the ship?

[orum]

I used to do it when I travelled internationally and would just connect to wifi. I know I can turn on airplane mode, but if it turns off, I think the phone will register and incoming calls would trigger cruise ship charges. On our first cruises, we just put the phones in the safe, but now we will need to use them more while connected to ship wifi (menus, queues, etc.)

I might put it back in for some destinations, and would most likely do it for ports covered under my plan (US - Including USVI, Mexico, and Canada).

Just curious what everyone else does.

 

[Cheburashka]

I used to do it when I travelled internationally and would just connect to wifi. I know I can turn on airplane mode, but if it turns off, I think the phone will register and incoming calls would trigger cruise ship charges. On our first cruises, we just put the phones in the safe, but now we will need to use them more while connected to ship wifi (menus, queues, etc.)

I might put it back in for some destinations, and would most likely do it for ports covered under my plan (US - Including USVI, Mexico, and Canada).

Just curious what everyone else does.

I always took my phone to the tech person on deck 3 who would adjust the settings for the ship. I wonder if they're going to keep offering that service now. You'd think they would- even if the guy won't touch your phone anymore, he could at least tell the neophytes like me what to do. Otherwise some people are going to end up with crazy charges, due to not knowing how to set up their phone properly for daily use during the cruise.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It is possible to turn on airplane mode and still keep wifi on. You can also turn off cellular data.

 

[KashasMom]

We don't have to. We have T-Mobile - free international text/data. Smartest thing we ever did was switch from Verizon!

 

[sethschroeder]

Never have and never would.

Also I am not sure if incoming calls would do anything if you don't answer but not sure. My phone is covered by work and with my wifes phone we simply have international turned off on the plan so it just simply won't work.

 

[JWelch62]

One trick that I do (unrelated to sim cards) is to configure the on-board Wi-Fi as "metered". Then, I restrict background data access to a very few apps. When I turn on the data saver mode this will prevent a lot of data "leakage" when connected to the on-board Wi-Fi. I do this on top of the usual things like turning off app updates. This is for Android, but I suspect iOS may have something similar.

 

[Starwind]

I used to do it when I travelled internationally and would just connect to wifi. I know I can turn on airplane mode, but if it turns off, I think the phone will register and incoming calls would trigger cruise ship charges. On our first cruises, we just put the phones in the safe, but now we will need to use them more while connected to ship wifi (menus, queues, etc.)

I might put it back in for some destinations, and would most likely do it for ports covered under my plan (US - Including USVI, Mexico, and Canada).

Just curious what everyone else does.

We do not.

We turn Cellular Data Roaming OFF.

We turn Cellular Data OFF.

This way if Airplane Mode accidentally gets turned on cellular data is still turned off, usually the most expensive part of cellular service at sea.

If a voice call does make it through - DO NOT ANSWER IT. And do not PLACE any voice calls. And do not check voicemail on the cell phone. Those are actions YOU control that will cost you money if you do them while the phone is not in Airplane Mode.

Now, if we plan to use any paid ship WiFi (or the 50 MB free WiFi they give you if you sign up the first day), then we also do some other settings so that apps aren't sucking data in tbe background. This is a good guide for other settings you may also want to change: https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...-cruise-lines-connectsea-internet-data-plans/ Note that with newer IOS/Android versions things may be in slightly different locations to change them.

Once The above are done we turn on Airplane Mode.

THEN we turn on *only* WiFi and connect to the ship WiFi as needed.

SW

 

[tvguy]

Cell phone goes in the safe and stays there for the duration of the cruise. Clearly if the latest protocols continue, that won't be an option anymore.

 

[sethschroeder]

Cell phone goes in the safe and stays there for the duration of the cruise. Clearly if the latest protocols continue, that won't be an option anymore.

Just carry around an iPad hahaha

(also I read you can request a paper menu)

 

[tvguy]

Just carry around an iPad hahaha

(also I read you can request a paper menu)

View attachment 593238

No thanks. No iPad. I do have a Google tablet

 

[squirk]

I have never bothered taking a SIM out. I do pretty much the same thing as @Starwind, and I’ve yet to have a problem.

I would LOVE to turn off the phone, and put it in the safe for the entirety of the cruise. However, the chat feature on the DCL app, even with its problems, still comes in handy when trying to communicate with various family members around the ship.

 

[vrneuroh]

If you have a smart watch with cellular, make sure you put it in airplane mode as well. I changed the setting on my iPhone to automatically turn cellular off when I do on the phone. I also set a reminder on our sail date to double-check the watch.

 

[71 Truck]

This is what we do.
Our regular phones are turned off and put in the safe as soon as we depart the port.
We have an older but up to date smart phone that does not have a sim card, phone or data service, it has WIFI only.
We still do put the old phone on airplane mode.
This is what we bring onboard for using the cruise line navigator app.
This is what has worked for us in the past, not sure if it is the same or how it would work with everyone else's phone/service.
We also would bring this old phone with us in ports in case we found free WIFI to connect to.

 

[bex7583]

Yes bot just in cruises but anytime we are abroad internationally. Especially my 3 teenagers !!
We all just use wi-fi services and no worry about unexpected charges