Medical emergency at home while cruising

[Flcruising]

Yeah but the OP is talking about a cruise which changes things. Wifi is pretty normal these days but wifi only goes so far with a ship out on the ocean.

In a few months we'll be in Italy, Montenegro, Croatia and Greece as well as airports (so not really concerned there) in France and England, in the ports I'm not entirely certain what coverage we'll have TBH and we'll need to review with our cell carriers what options we have. From what I understand the ship we'll be on the wifi is adequate but every so often people have found issues, it's still a ship in the middle of waters.

You can buy wifi on the plane but we just flew back from Cancun last week and the plane we were on the wifi wasn't working (it had been on and off all day as advised by the FAs and for our leg which was the last of the night it was not working at all).

In Mexico both my husband and I were roaming and I tended to have better coverage (with T-Mobile) than he did but near Chichen Itza it was more or less a dead zone for a bit. We did have wifi at the resort and it worked pretty well with the exception of a few places where it was unable to get out text messaging for me (inside one of the restaurants for example) as well as my phone only had Emergency Only signal in another restaurant and the wifi not strong enough at that spot. Also in Mexico my husband's family found out that with Verizon it was not automatically adding the +1 for international calling and messaging and therefore they were not getting any calls OR texts receiving or sending until they figured that out. If they connected to wifi they could at least facetime/FB message call.

In Puerto Rico in January I had full signal but my husband struggled more for his (Verizon), there was only 1 dead spot where both of us lost signal driving back at night to our hotel.

All to say tech is there but tech does not mean connection to back home.

Some of what you mentioned happens in my own travels in the US.
What is the longest you have been totally out of touch because of phone or internet being down?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Some of what you mentioned happens in my own travels in the US.
What is the longest you have been totally out of touch because of phone or internet being down?

About 10 days. And anyone who has been through severe weather (be it tornadoes or ice storms or hurricanes) can tell you stories about things like that as well.

And def. things happen domestically. No one disputing that. Going to the Lake of the Ozarks there's a known dead spot for just about everyone, thankfully it's a quick one.

Regardless it's pretty hard these days not to have experienced some disruption in connection, tech is not impervious to issues.

 

[DCLMP]

Yeah but the OP is talking about a cruise which changes things. Wifi is pretty normal these days but wifi only goes so far with a ship out on the ocean.

In a few months we'll be in Italy, Montenegro, Croatia and Greece as well as airports (so not really concerned there) in France and England, in the ports I'm not entirely certain what coverage we'll have TBH and we'll need to review with our cell carriers what options we have. From what I understand the ship we'll be on the wifi is adequate but every so often people have found issues, it's still a ship in the middle of waters.

You can buy wifi on the plane but we just flew back from Cancun last week and the plane we were on the wifi wasn't working (it had been on and off all day as advised by the FAs and for our leg which was the last of the night it was not working at all).

In Mexico both my husband and I were roaming and I tended to have better coverage (with T-Mobile) than he did but near Chichen Itza it was more or less a dead zone for a bit. We did have wifi at the resort and it worked pretty well with the exception of a few places where it was unable to get out text messaging for me (inside one of the restaurants for example) as well as my phone only had Emergency Only signal in another restaurant and the wifi not strong enough at that spot. Also in Mexico my husband's family found out that with Verizon it was not automatically adding the +1 for international calling and messaging and therefore they were not getting any calls OR texts receiving or sending until they figured that out. If they connected to wifi they could at least facetime/FB message call.

In Puerto Rico in January I had full signal but my husband struggled more for his (Verizon), there was only 1 dead spot where both of us lost signal driving back at night to our hotel.

All to say tech is there but tech does not mean connection to back home.

I have never had an issue emailing, or making a call from a cruise ship. I've never had an issue in any country. Maybe you need a better cell service provider. There are dead zones in the US too that's just normal.

If it gives the OP anxiety then I would say it's not worth it, but since they asked they question I would assume they are looking for some reassurance.

 

[DCLMP]

We do, but it will weigh on our minds if something happens.

That's no something anyone can help you with.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have never had an issue emailing, or making a call from a cruise ship. I've never had an issue in any country. Maybe you need a better cell service provider. There are dead zones in the US too that's just normal.

If it gives the OP anxiety then I would say it's not worth it, but since they asked they question I would assume they are looking for some reassurance.

Well considering I've not been to those countries I don't know what our cell service will get us. At home and so far in Puerto Rico and Mexico T-Mobile has been superior to Verizon. When we were in Jamaica my husband chose not to add service to Verizon as it was cheaper for me to just add it to my plan with Sprint.

The OP is on (looking at) a cruise, didn't say where, or for how long. IDK it's a fairly normal thing to wonder about if you're going to be off the ship at ports and on excursions what service you may have in case someone wants to reach you or you want to reach others. Maybe not to you though

In the case of Chichen Itza it was an all-day tour where there were times of good enough roaming and times of zero signal. I'm not going to knock that when I'm in the interior of a country but if you want to go right ahead. It's entitlement and naivety to assume you will always be in connection 24/7 especially when outside of your home country.

As for your last statement it's more or less better to discuss connection concerns IF you have concerns about things that could happen back home than just assume you'll have it. I fail to see an issue in discussing cell service, roaming, wifi, etc. (and that wasn't even getting into SIM cards like what we likely will do for our Japan trip next year and what comes up in topic for international posters on the Boards when they plan to come here for Disney).

 

[Flcruising]

About 10 days. And anyone who has been through severe weather (be it tornadoes or ice storms or hurricanes) can tell you stories about things like that as well.

And def. things happen domestically. No one disputing that. Going to the Lake of the Ozarks there's a known dead spot for just about everyone, thankfully it's a quick one.

Regardless it's pretty hard these days not to have experienced some disruption in connection, tech is not impervious to issues.

About 10 days. And anyone who has been through severe weather (be it tornadoes or ice storms or hurricanes) can tell you stories about things like that as well.

And def. things happen domestically. No one disputing that. Going to the Lake of the Ozarks there's a known dead spot for just about everyone, thankfully it's a quick one.

Regardless it's pretty hard these days not to have experienced some disruption in connection, tech is not impervious to issues.

I'm sorry I didn't really phrase my question well. I'm wondering how long you have been totally disconnected on a Disney cruise, since that is probably most relevant to the OP?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm sorry I didn't really phrase my question well. I'm wondering how long you have been totally disconnected on a Disney cruise, since that is probably most relevant to the OP?

Oh sorry yes I did misunderstand your question. I haven't take a DCL cruise yet, from what I hear the wifi is adequate as well. You have a good point that unlikely prolonged inability to be in contact. I think my point was more about "in the moment" attempt like if the wifi was spotty or you were off the ship at the mercy of whatever was available in the port so probably just a talking past each other conversation

 

[Snowwhyt]

Trying not to. It has been a chaotic few years, and we've had several trips interrupted already. Seriously debating taking cruise funds and buying AP's because we can always get home the next day, at the latest.

Book them both and then prior to PIF day a decisions can be made. The price is only going to go up while you make a decision. And if you can get 100% refund before paid in full day, there’s nothing to keep you from you dream vacation.
Today is not decision day. Today is still about opportunity. You are not sure what will happen and that’s going to drive anyone crazy. Accept that later, is your real decision day and move forward with plans.
You can still move forward with insurance by telling them that you were going to stay part of the time at AP and part of the time on a cruise. Insurance companies allow changes to your itinerary without penalty. What they won’t do is let you get that a few weeks before you leave. You usually have to get the insurance anywhere from three days to two weeks after you make the plans. So sign up for them both today.