Facetime on Wifi v. Cellular at Sea Plan

[pbb322]

Does anyone have experience using FaceTime via Wifi on the ship (and an idea of how much data that would be) for short calls? I am trying to decide which is less expensive: buying a large data package once on board v. calling now and adding the ATT cellular at sea option for our cruise departing 12/16. And please no comments about how I should disconnect on vacation. My husband has to stay home from the trip for work and the kids will want to check in with him each day, and my grandmother is on hospice and gravely ill so I have to check in with my mother frequently, so "disconnecting completely" is NOT an option on this trip. Thanks for any help!!!!

 

[MunFam]

Well, I would not use Facetime because it is a data hog. I would use something like Google Hangouts and just use the call feature and skip the video. Perhaps there is a version of Facetime that has voice only? I would buy the data package on the ship. Or even just use the ship's phone to call out. Its not really that expensive. We run our own business and made calls from the ship phone as well as purchase a date package.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I did some Googling on this before our trip. I remember that depending on the app you used, voice calls were like 0.5- 1 MB per minute, and video was more, but I forget how much more. It does vary depending on which video app you use. How much does the Cellular at Sea option cost?

 

[NS8VN]

FaceTime uses about 3MB/minute, so the 100 MB package should get you about a half hour of strictly FaceTime use. This is assuming there is enough bandwidth for that which is far from guaranteed on a ship at sea.

 

[pbb322]

I did some Googling on this before our trip. I remember that depending on the app you used, voice calls were like 0.5- 1 MB per minute, and video was more, but I forget how much more. It does vary depending on which video app you use. How much does the Cellular at Sea option cost?

For AT&T it is $60 for 50 minutes of calls and up to 100 text messages. My existing phone plan already includes service in Mexico, and we will be there for 2 port days, so I only need to use the plan for the other days.

 

[minorthr]

do not under any circumstances use the data on cellular as a matter of fact shut it off completely. My phone somehow used 11MBs even though I was attached to wifi the whole time and it cost $114 luckily it was my company phone so I did not have to pay that bill this was with a cellular at sea package with ATT.

 

[pbb322]

do not under any circumstances use the data on cellular as a matter of fact shut it off completely. My phone somehow used 11MBs even though I was attached to wifi the whole time and it cost $114 luckily it was my company phone so I did not have to pay that bill this was with a cellular at sea package with ATT.
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thanks for the tip, I will definitely shut off the data on cellular option

 

[SillyInventor]

Well, I would not use Facetime because it is a data hog. I would use something like Google Hangouts and just use the call feature and skip the video. Perhaps there is a version of Facetime that has voice only?

Face-time can be uses as audio-only too. It's a standard feature. WhatsApp has the same feature to make audio calls over data.
On your iPhone you can see the data usage per app (settings --> Mobile Network), so you could give it a try, reset the usage data, make a 30s test call and see how much data is uses and then do the math.

 

[RAD]

We used FaceTime from the Magic on a Med cruise a couple years ago and was surprised how well it worked.

We're on Oasis of the Seas right now and love their Voom internet service. For about what I pay DCL for the 1GB package I get unlimited usage on one device at a time and have been streaming video with no problems like love it. DCL IMHO needs to look into a service option like this.

 

[pbb322]

We used FaceTime from the Magic on a Med cruise a couple years ago and was surprised how well it worked.

We're on Oasis of the Seas right now and love their Voom internet service. For about what I pay DCL for the 1GB package I get unlimited usage on one device at a time and have been streaming video with no problems like love it. DCL IMHO needs to look into a service option like this.

Thank you! And I agree with you, we will be on RCL in March and will enjoy having Voom!

 

[BartmanLA]

Of course if you're looking to be able to do WiFi streaming at sea the Cellular at Sea is pretty much your only option, however if you're okay with doing it in port, at many ports of call you can find free WiFi (Starbucks, pubs or coffee shops) on land that you could use, another alternative I'm considering myself is SkyRoam they offer a Hotspot device that lets you connect up to 5 devices at once, it ONLY works when you're in port but you can do it as long as there's a cell signal available, it works in over 100 countries and you buy day passes that let you choose exactly how often you use it. If you don't you don't pay, only once you authorize another day pass (they sell in blocks as cheap as $8 per day). Anyway I don't get any kind of compensation for mentioning this I just wanted to share the option.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We were on the fantasy in nov. Used FaceTime every day via wifi to connect with our daughter. It worked great. I never checked on the MBs used. We have also used the voice only version of skype via wifi which worked great.

 

[SuperDry]

Or even just use the ship's phone to call out. Its not really that expensive.

It's $7 a minute - definitely the most expensive way to call from the ship.

 

[xlxo]

Depending on where you are cruising to..... are there opportunities to doing "some" of the calls when in port where it will be cheaper? For frequent cruisers, getting a spot satellite phone maybe another option.
https://www.findmespot.ca/en/index.php?cid=126