iMessage is "free" on the Fantasy nowadays, isn't it?

[squirk]

I have not sailed since Feb. 2020, but my understanding is that when you connect to DCL-GUEST on the Fantasy (and maybe all four ships?), you now can send and receive iMessages to and from anybody (even land-based) for free, without signing up for a Connect@Sea package. Is this indeed still the case?

Plz and thanks.

 

[happycamper47]

Yes.

 

[Marc D]

Yes, but text only. Multimedia messages do not go through.

 

[squirk]

Thanks to you both.

 

[Birklej]

Does the person you are messaging have to have the app?
Apple only?

 

[Marc D]

Does the person you are messaging have to have the app?
Apple only?

iMessage is the built-in Apple messaging app, available on all Macs, iPhones and iPads.

 

[Calantha]

(and maybe all four ships?), you now can send and receive iMessages to and from anybody (even land-based) for free

I could not send iMessages to land while on the Dream in January. I contacted guest services, and they said “working as intended”

 

[mmouse37]

Was able to imessage from the Dream in September and from the Magic last month.

MJ

 

[Marc D]

I could not send iMessages to land while on the Dream in January. I contacted guest services, and they said “working as intended”

Since iMessages integrates many components that are not available on the ship, like SMS, apps and multemedia content, there are many things that it can do on land that will not work onboard.

Pictures, videos, non-standardized emojis or text messages to non-Apple devices (aka green bubbles) will not go through. The only thing that does is a iMessage text-only (aka blue bubble) post. If you tried sending anything but that and it did not go through, it was indeed working “as intended”.

 

[cvjw]

We have had no issues with iMessage working on the Dream or the fantasy. But, others in our FB groups did. Seems it works better on newer phones.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We used it in January on Magic.

 

[Calantha]

Hard to say. I didn't do anything differently than I did in 2019 on the Fantasy. Plain iMessages to the same people as last time. I do have an iPhone 12 now instead of an XR...but that's the only difference.

 

[ebockelman]

It’s not officially supported. I would not expect to rely on it as a way to communicate during your cruise, as even when it works it can be very spotty.

 

[Pooh93]

I could not send iMessages to land while on the Dream in January. I contacted guest services, and they said “working as intended”

My IMessage and my daughter's literally worked for a day on the Magic in December. We have new phones and they were up to date on Apple updates. My husband and other daughter's worked perfectly. The only reason I needed IMessage was if our pet sitter needed to get a hold of me, but I made it work using our working phones in the family. Daughter "needed" to keep in contact with her boyfriend and was not happy. lol

I also contacted guest services and basically received the same response and was told it was an Apple problem.

 

[katmigordon]

Do you know if we can make phone calls onboard?

I have not sailed since Feb. 2020, but my understanding is that when you connect to DCL-GUEST on the Fantasy (and maybe all four ships?), you now can send and receive iMessages to and from anybody (even land-based) for free, without signing up for a Connect@Sea package. Is this indeed still the case?

Plz and thanks.

 

[princessmommyx3]

Hard to say. I didn't do anything differently than I did in 2019 on the Fantasy. Plain iMessages to the same people as last time. I do have an iPhone 12 now instead of an XR...but that's the only difference.

Is it possible that those people have since changed to non-apple devices? Just trying to think of all of the possibilities.

 

[tvguy]

Do you know if we can make phone calls onboard?

I wondered too, DCL website says they still offer Cellular at Sea, so it appears the answer is yes. It's not free. And of course you can always make and received calls on your stateroom phone, but that is even pricier than Cellular at Sea. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/internet-phone-services/

 

[Husker Mike]

Just a reminder that iMessage falls back to SMS text messages if iMessage doesn't think someone is an iMessage user (or can't tell), and when that happens, you get the green box instead of blue. One suggestion is that as you depart, turn off the SMS/MMS options in your settings so that it doesn't fall back to standard text messaging. (And then turn it back on the morning you return to port!) https://mobileinternist.com/why-are-imessages-green

 

[CM Dad]

Do you know if we can make phone calls onboard?

I have not tried this on a DCL cruise, but recently went on our first Royal Caribbean cruise. We had the internet package and I made/received calls using the phones WiFi calling ability. I would guess that this would work in Disney's ships as well, but I don't know how much data it would use. Note: The Royal internet package I had was unlimited.

 

[freshmanjs]

It worked on my kids' phones, but not on my wife's phone or mine. Nothing was different that we could figure out. They were also getting notifications from other apps...we were not.