New cruiser with Navigator question

[dizanimator]

My Dad and I are thinking about taking a cruise early next year. I've been reading a lot of threads to get some ideas about what I might want to do on the cruise, but can't decide on anything until I know which itinerary we will book.
I've been considering buying myself a tablet, and would want to be able touse it for MyMagicPlus at Disney World. With the idea of a cruise, I'd want the tablet to work with the navigator app as well. I do not have a smartphone to use the apps, and don't want to have to have a dataplan when I should be fine with Wi-Fi internet most places I go.
Does anyone have experience with using the Kindle Fire for the Navigator app? Or any other suggestions for a smaller tablet I should look into?
I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but this is something I can start looking into now.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Ipad works with the DCL Navigator App.

 

[Seamama]

Not to take over the thread, but I some related questions. DH and I have iPhones, and our kids have iPods. We all have the App on our devices. So just making sure I got this right...

When we get to the terminal (or the ship if no time at the terminal), we put our devices in Airplane Mode and then connect to the ship's free wifi (i.e. their intranet). Is there a password to do this? Where do I get that?

Then we link our devices so they can text w/ each other. How do we do that?

Once we're all set up, we can use the App to read the schedule and also text each other at no charge. Do I have that right? What about calling- can we also call each other?

If we wanted to use the ship's wifi for anything else (checking email/disboards, for example), we'd need to have a paid plan. Is it obvious if you're going to get charged? Like a screen pops up that says, "To continue, you're going to be paying us." or something like that?

When we're in port, we can switch our phones from Airplane Mode to our 4G and then check email/disboards for "free", right? (Not technically free but I mean free in the sense that we're already paying for a data plan w/ our cell provider and would be using what's included in our plan).

Thanks!

 

[kiford]

Not to take over the thread, but I some related questions. DH and I have iPhones, and our kids have iPods. We all have the App on our devices. So just making sure I got this right...

When we get to the terminal (or the ship if no time at the terminal), we put our devices in Airplane Mode and then connect to the ship's free wifi (i.e. their intranet). Is there a password to do this? Where do I get that?

Then we link our devices so they can text w/ each other. How do we do that?

Once we're all set up, we can use the App to read the schedule and also text each other at no charge. Do I have that right? What about calling- can we also call each other?

If we wanted to use the ship's wifi for anything else (checking email/disboards, for example), we'd need to have a paid plan. Is it obvious if you're going to get charged? Like a screen pops up that says, "To continue, you're going to be paying us." or something like that?

When we're in port, we can switch our phones from Airplane Mode to our 4G and then check email/disboards for "free", right? (Not technically free but I mean free in the sense that we're already paying for a data plan w/ our cell provider and would be using what's included in our plan).

Thanks!

No password for connecting to DCL-Guest if I recall correctly. Put your phone in airplane mode but make sure that Wi-Fi is enabled.

You cannot call each other using the Navigator, only text. Each person who has the app will be given a unique code - for anyone who is not in the same stateroom, they have to share their code with everyone they want to be able to connect with. If you're in the same stateroom, they will automatically come up as a contact and then you just have to connect the first time. I discovered that, if you have multiple devices (i.e., iPhone and iPad) you have to do this on each device separately. They don't synchronize.

Yes, it's obvious you'll get charged as you have to pick a plan. If you sign in on the first day, you'll get 50MB for free (at least we did on the Northern European cruise - I assume it's the same on all cruises).

If you have a data plan, then, yes, you can use your phone in port. You may be subject to roaming charges, however, depending on your plan. Also make sure that you are actually connected to a service provider in the port and not using Cellular at Sea as that is a very large charge.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

In addition to what other people said, keep in mind that unless you are cruising to a U.S. port, like on the Alaska sailings, your data will be not be "free" unless you have signed up for international coverage. Your typical run-of-the-mill data plan would not cover data in the Bahamas at the same rate as in the U.S.

 

[dizanimator]

Anyone have experience with using the Navigator app on a Kindle Fire? Or suggestions of other smaller tablets that work reasonably well for on a cruise and at Disney World. I don't want to spend a lot, but would like to get something reasonable.
I don't have a tablet or smartphone, but was looking for something to use with Wi-Fi when I'm at home or somewhere with free internet, but not have to pay for a dataplan I don't plan on using.
Another question I just thought about: can the app text a Wave phone, and can a Wave phone text the app?

 

[squirk]

One of the problems with the Kindle Fire is that while the OS is technically Android, Amazon customizes the heck out of it so that not all Android apps will run on a Fire. I believe that the DCL Navigator app is an example of this, unfortunately.

There are plenty of wifi-only Android tablets on the market. If you want something priced along the lines of the Fire with similar quality, you might consider looking at the Samsung Galaxy Tab series of tablets. That will give you more of a pure Android experience without Amazon's interference, and I think it will most likely allow you to use the Navigator app.

To your second question - no, the Wave phones and the Navigator app can't "talk" to each other.

 

[bumbershoot]

Anyone have experience with using the Navigator app on a Kindle Fire? Or suggestions of other smaller tablets that work reasonably well for on a cruise and at Disney World. I don't want to spend a lot, but would like to get something reasonable.
I don't have a tablet or smartphone, but was looking for something to use with Wi-Fi when I'm at home or somewhere with free internet, but not have to pay for a dataplan I don't plan on using.
Another question I just thought about: can the app text a Wave phone, and can a Wave phone text the app?

DH works as a product tester for that department, and he started shaking his head "no" as I read your question. His first question is "can you even get the Navigator app through amazon?" He could work it out, he could "side load" it, but he works in that department. His abilities with it might differ from the average person.


The Navigator app can even be used with an ipOd. Anything that gets wifi. No need even for a tablet.


And as squirk said, Wave doesn't communicate with the app at all.

 

[squirk]

Yeah, side-loading is a pain, and if the OP currently has neither a smartphone nor a tablet, my hunch is that this isn't something (s)he wants to mess with. I'd say that unless you have some compelling reason to stick specifically with a Fire, just get a Samsung Galaxy Tab. There's a bunch on Amazon, many under $150 new, and several refurbished ones under $100.

 

[dizanimator]

Thanks for the input. I seen a few cheap tablets at Walmart, but when I researched them online I found they weren't very good. I was thinking of the Fire as probably a good tablet, but hadn't done a lot of research yet. I'll look into the Samsung Galaxy, thanks for the suggestion.
I have a Nintendo 3DS that does Wifi, but I don't think the Navigator works with that.

 

[squirk]

No. The app is just for iOS and Android. If you were prepared to drop the money on a Fire, then you could probably pick up something comparable or better from Google (their Nexus tablets), Samsung, ASUS or Acer for the same price. They all make good stuff, so you would not be compromising quality.

 

[Seamama]

Thanks to those who replied to my app connection and use questions. Appreciate it!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks to those who replied to my app connection and use questions. Appreciate it!

If kiford hadn't answered you perfectly straight away more would have replied to your questions.

While I didn't take notes as we did it, I'll tell you that it was all very simple, obvious, and user friendly to activate the app when we were on the ship.

Apart from specific funkiness with receiving texts ( it's not always automatic. You need to open the app and open the text option to sort of manually check for texts bc they don't always push through) the app itself is possibly the best bit of tech Disney has ever created.

 

[over50visits]

Does anyone have experience with using the Kindle Fire for the Navigator app?

Sorry, the DCL Navigator App is not available on the Kindle (Amazon) app store.