Help with Cell usage while cruising.

[NoelleCagle]

I am trying to convince my brother in law to join our 14 day Panama Canal cruise out of SD in December, but he HAS to work the first 5 days making phone calls during our sea days.
He has Verizon. Does anyone have experience with this? The pay per minute option won’t work since he will be on the phone 8+ hours a day. My sister doesn’t want to go without him, so I am trying to find a solution. I was thinking he could just use my phone and I’ll get the unlimited AT&T cruise calling package? Anyone use that before?
Thanks for your insight.

 

[71 Truck]

I am not sure but don't people still have the ability to use some sort of phone over the internet?
Not sure of the internet packages on Disney so he might have to look into the cost to see if is worth it.

 

[Sykes]

I am a huge advocate for working on cruise ships (it allows me to do 2x+ the number of cruises I would otherwise be able to do), but I'll be the first to say that you can not rely on real-time communication with the outside world during at-sea days. It does work most of the time, but cruise operators do not maintain the internet and cell phone capabilities like mission-critical infrastructure, so it is not uncommon to encounter periods of downtime. Your brother-in-law should only join if it won't be a disaster if he loses those 5 work days.

I've used VOIP services on cruise ships via the Internet with success, but sadly don't have any experience with the AT&T package so can't comment on that. If you really want to try, though, one option that may be reasonable is to plan to use the AT&T package as the primary method of communicating, but rent a satellite phone as a backup plan in case the on-ship infrastructure doesn't work well. Globalstar has some plans that offer unlimited minutes if you're sailing within their coverage area, although in my experience the audio quality on satphones is mostly terrible.

 

[happycamper47]

Just remember that the AT&T plan is only good for the US & MEXICO, it doesn't work in the other countries on those sea days. Also it needs cell towers as once the ship is 9-12 nautical miles from shore they normally turn off their on-board cell network. Or at least that's how it use to be.

 

[Girl of the South]

Could he fly and meet the ship at a port five days in? Not sure DCL would allow it but he’d still get a long enough vacation.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Could he fly and meet the ship at a port five days in? Not sure DCL would allow it but he’d still get a long enough vacation.

Most cruise lines do not allow boarding at a later port.

Five days into that cruise the ship will be heading into the Panama Canal. If he's not onboard before that, the next stop after that would be in Cartagena, and he'd have to fly there to board, if they would allow it.

 

[Girl of the South]

I figured it may not be allowed . . But can’t imagine the cost of an 8 hour ship to shore phone call? If it really is $2.99 a minute that would be $1,440. Times 5 days is $7,200!!

 

[NoelleCagle]

Almost the cost of a Disney Cruise

 

[msmama]

I know most (if not all) ships have updated their connectivity since, but our PC cruise, there was essentially NO outside communication, even on the part of the CM's. They blamed the positioning of the satellite and said there was nothing they could do, they just had to wait until they were in a spot where it would connect again. I don't think it lasted the whole cruise, but a good chunk of sailing south out of San Diego.

 

[pindecisive]

I use Google Fi and they have amazing coverage internationally (it automatically switches over without you doing anything). I've never used it while cruising, but you could easily buy a $199 Moto g and do a month by month plan just in case.

True story, I had a backup Moto-g phone for work that I held on to, and for some trips I'd just turn on my Google Fi month by month plan for it to have an emergency phone if I needed it. I've used it in Turkey, Greece, and Jamaica, and have had none of the issues I dealt with when I had Verizon (just going to Mexico was a pain with them).

 

[starry_solo]

Have you considered a satellite phone?

 

[insureman]

You should have no issues with with wifi calling with the top tier wifi package. I was able to video call our daughters in the middle of the Atlantic last year a few times. From the DCL website below.

Premium Surf​

Experience faster connection speeds and access to music platforms such as Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music – plus, all the benefits of the Basic Surf plan. With this plan, you can:

• Enjoy faster connection speeds
• Make video phone calls on platforms FaceTime, Zoom and more
• Listen to your favorite music streaming platforms like Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music
• View short-form on platforms like YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok
• Surf the web, read the news, check the weather and visit your other favorite websites
• Send and receive emails
• Post text and pictures on popular websites and applications like Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Linkedln and Tumblr

 

[insureman]

Have you considered a satellite phone?

Per minute cost is very high.

 

[starry_solo]

Per minute cost is very high.

True.

Not as much as the $2.99/minute if you get a plan, but still, about $1.50/minute

OP: is there an unlimited Wi-Fi plan on DCL? Have you actually tried using AT&T's unlimited cruise package on DCL before? I know we tried Verizon and that didn't work well.

I don't think any cell phone works on a cruise ship, unless near a port or buy the cruise line's plan.

 

[DCLMP]

DCL Wi-Fi can be awful. I would never tell someone that won't have issues. I would never want to be dependent on DCL wi-fi for work.

 

[DCLMP]

I know most (if not all) ships have updated their connectivity since, but our PC cruise, there was essentially NO outside communication, even on the part of the CM's. They blamed the positioning of the satellite and said there was nothing they could do, they just had to wait until they were in a spot where it would connect again. I don't think it lasted the whole cruise, but a good chunk of sailing south out of San Diego.

Same on the Wish in January. I had great Wi-Fi on Royal. Was able to stream everything and did not lose connectivity all 12 days. DCL Wi-Fi is more expensive than other cruise lines so I'm not sure why it only works half the time. I've visited guest services numerous times to get refunds.

 

[Cheburashka]

I'll be the bad guy and state the fact that trying to convince your brother-in-law to join your vacation, which will require him to spend 8 hours per day for 5 days on the phone for work during a Panama Canal cruise, is a really bad idea and probably will not work out.

In the likely event that connectivity issues substantially interfere with his calls, it might even endanger his job. That would put a bit of a damper on things for him and your sister.

Please stop trying to convince him to join your cruise. He has to work and it isn't a good time for him to go.