New sim card with phone?

[SL6827]

My daughter told me to buy a sim card to put in your phone before a cruise. Would that really circumvent Disney's WiFi charges or your carriers charges?

 

[OKW Lover]

No. And many of today's latest cell phones don't even use Sim cards.

 

[Mommb]

Installing a Sim card wouldn't circumvent Disney's WiFi charges, which will occur on any device if you sign up for paid WiFi and then log in.
A new Sim card could prevent your phone from connecting automatically to your phone company's network and incurring charges from their "cell at sea" services. But so could simply putting your phone in Airplane mode.

 

[RedHead0186]

This is strange advice. First of all, your phone already has a sim card (the way you worded it made it sound like your daughter suggested you put in a sim card, not replace the one that's already there). Secondly, many newer phones don't even have physical sim cards anymore, they're esims. Thirdly, a sim card (physical or electronic) has nothing to do with wifi. Sim cards are how your phone connects to the network so you can make basic calls and texts. As PP noted, putting in a new sim card but not activating it would avoid your phone trying to connect to your carrier's network and incurring charges; however, as PP also noted there are other easier, cheaper ways to do that.

The best way to avoid incurring international/roaming charges is to leave your phone in airplane mode for the entire cruise- that way it can't connect to any local (international) networks. The best way to avoid DCL wifi charges is to just not sign up for the paid wifi-you'll have to connect to the free wifi to use the app, but there will be instructions on how to do that and there's no way to 'accidentally' connect to the paid wifi-it will clearly ask you and tell you what the charges would be.

 

[DonnerB]

Supposedly Gigsky has an eSIM designed for land & sea and lists all the Disney ships as being compatible. Looks like they're data only.

I'm with AT&T, I've used an eSIM abroad before but they require your phone to be unlocked. I assume all major carriers are the same. Worked fine for surfing the internet and using iMessage/WhatsApp. I could also make WiFi calls. But I wasn't receiving calls or SMS texts (the green ones on an iPhone) because I hadn't paid for an eSIM with cellular included.

 

[RedHead0186]

This is strange advice. First of all, your phone already has a sim card (the way you worded it made it sound like your daughter suggested you put in a sim card, not replace the one that's already there). Secondly, many newer phones don't even have physical sim cards anymore, they're esims. Thirdly, a sim card (physical or electronic) has nothing to do with wifi. Sim cards are how your phone connects to the network so you can make basic calls and texts. As PP noted, putting in a new sim card but not activating it would avoid your phone trying to connect to your carrier's network and incurring charges; however, as PP also noted there are other easier, cheaper ways to do that.

The best way to avoid incurring international/roaming charges is to leave your phone in airplane mode for the entire cruise- that way it can't connect to any local (international) networks. The best way to avoid DCL wifi charges is to just not sign up for the paid wifi-you'll have to connect to the free wifi to use the app, but there will be instructions on how to do that and there's no way to 'accidentally' connect to the paid wifi-it will clearly ask you and tell you what the charges would be.

As a follow up to my previous comment: if you're looking to have international connectivity but don't want to get hit with roaming charges, then you can get an sim card (or esim) that has international coverage. There are lots of companies that do this, I've used Sim Local in the past. Also check your phone provider to be sure they don't already have international coverage included (I have a GoogleFi plan, for example, that automatically has coverage in lots of areas).

The way you worded your original post made it sound like you were trying to avoid extraneous charges; however, if you're actually looking to get international coverage, than a different sim might be the way to go.