Using phones on the ship

[swimfin]

WhatsApp will also possibly work. I know a lot of the crew use that to communicate with family and friends at home.

THANK YOU for this reminder!!!!

 

[swimfin]

Just got off the Fantasy yesterday. Did the following with my iPhone:
Turn off cellular data
Turn off cellular data roaming
Turn off background app refresh (general)
Turn off send as SMS
Close every app
Put in airplane mode (wi-fi on)
Connect to DCL wi-fi network

I had iMessage working throughout the cruise, and no unexpected data losses (mine and my wife’s free 50MB each lasted me the whole cruise checking email daily).

THANK YOU for such a detailed step by step reply!! THIS is PERFECT!

 

[FLPrincessMom]

Just got off the dream. Three of us in total and no one’s iMessage worked. One of us got the free data package and no one used manual time update. We have never had this problem but we were unable to send a single message the entire cruise

 

[Dug720]

Just got off the dream. Three of us in total and no one’s iMessage worked. One of us got the free data package and no one used manual time update. We have never had this problem but we were unable to send a single message the entire cruise

Honestly it's not uncommon. That's why most of the crew used WhatsApp - it's a lot more consistent than iMessage.

 

[plasmo]

@gatordoc - THANKS for these steps. Someone should sticky these steps-

Change under iPhone Settings:
1. Turn off cellular data (Cellular Settings)
2. Turn off cellular data roaming (Cellular Settings)
3. Turn off background app refresh (General Settings)
4. Turn off send as SMS (Messages Settings)
5. Close every app (swipe up on main screen and swipe up to close each app)
6. Put in airplane mode (Keep Wi-Fi on)
7. Connect to DCL wi-fi network

 

[dianerroy]

I was on the Dream last week and between the 5 of us only 2 could iMessage. It kept disabling for some reason-def a glitch.

 

[MomOTwins]

@gatordoc - THANKS for these steps. Someone should sticky these steps-

Change under iPhone Settings:
1. Turn off cellular data (Cellular Settings)
2. Turn off cellular data roaming (Cellular Settings)
3. Turn off background app refresh (General Settings)
4. Turn off send as SMS (Messages Settings)
5. Close every app (swipe up on main screen and swipe up to close each app)
6. Put in airplane mode (Keep Wi-Fi on)
7. Connect to DCL wi-fi network

Don’t forget to also turn off these two things, which are also big data users:

• Automatic App Updates (Settings > iTunes & App Store)
• Location Services (Settings > Privacy)

 

[gatordoc]

Don’t forget to also turn off these two things, which are also big data users:

• Automatic App Updates (Settings > iTunes & App Store)
• Location Services (Settings > Privacy)

Actually, if you turn off location services, the DCL app won’t work correctly on the ship’s wi-fi. So you can turn it off for other apps, but you need to leave it on for DCL.
You’re correct about automatic app updates, though. Sorry I didn’t include that - I keep it off at all times so it wasn’t necessary for me.

 

[mjr0483]

If you want to use the 50mb for emails, you’ll need to modify multiple settings on your phone to make sure you don’t burn through the data package because of the background apps updating the second you connect to the Internet. There are posts here, and guides online, about what settings to modify. You can also visit the help desk on the ship. They will modify the settings for you.

Regarding this. One thing I read about the iPhone was to turn location services off. But when you do this you break the navigotor app. So I left it on. I wasn't going to go through and turn everythig but the navigator app off. I didn't purchase WiFi.

 

[mjr0483]

Don’t forget to also turn off these two things, which are also big data users:

• Automatic App Updates (Settings > iTunes & App Store)
• Location Services (Settings > Privacy)

If you turn off Location Services it breaks the Navigator App.

 

[mjr0483]

Honestly it's not uncommon. That's why most of the crew used WhatsApp - it's a lot more consistent than iMessage.

We just got off the Magic and iMessage worked great for all 4 of us for the entire cruise.

 

[Girl of the South]

All you really need to do is put your iPhone on "Low Battery Mode" - it will turn off the refresh stuff.

"Any kind of constant checks or refreshes that your phone does drains its battery. Going into low power mode means your phone will run these tasks less often—for incoming emails or updated news stories, for example. Your phone will also disable background uploading and downloading in most apps, so your photos and videos won’t sync with the cloud while battery-saving measures are in effect. You won’t be able to use a “Hey Siri” or a “Hey Google” voice command, either."

And Airplane mode and turn on wifi. IF you want to use wifi. It was a tip I got from tech support on the ship when I used up my 50 allotment in about 5 minutes. When you go to charge your phone, turn wifi OFF and go to regular battery mode for faster charging, then go back to Low Battery Mode.

 

[MomOTwins]

Actually, if you turn off location services, the DCL app won’t work correctly on the ship’s wi-fi. So you can turn it off for other apps, but you need to leave it on for DCL.
You’re correct about automatic app updates, though. Sorry I didn’t include that - I keep it off at all times so it wasn’t necessary for me.

Regarding this. One thing I read about the iPhone was to turn location services off. But when you do this you break the navigotor app. So I left it on. I wasn't going to go through and turn everythig but the navigator app off. I didn't purchase WiFi.

If you turn off Location Services it breaks the Navigator App.

Really? How so? I have always turned it off for our cruises and the app worked fine for me. As long as I was connected in airplane mode to DCL wifi, I could use the DCL app without a problem and all the features worked.

 

[Dug720]

We just got off the Magic and iMessage worked great for all 4 of us for the entire cruise.

When it works, it's great. But I know that it doesn't always work because my sister is a CM and while she'll try to use iMessage often those don't get through and she defaults to WhatsApp.

It's just good to know there's an option that is generally more reliable if you're depending on texting for the cruise.

 

[gatordoc]

Really? How so? I have always turned it off for our cruises and the app worked fine for me. As long as I was connected in airplane mode to DCL wifi, I could use the DCL app without a problem and all the features worked.

The DCL app will appear to work with location services off, but will have trouble connecting and receiving updates.
And just to clarify, turning everything off isn’t necessary if you’re just using the ship’s wi-fi to connect to the navigator app (airplane mode is fine for that). But as soon as you connect to an account with the free 50MB (or pay) wi-fi, having everything turned off will prevent your data from pretty immediately being chewed up.

 

[n2mm]

We just got off over a week ago and had no problem with iPhone messaging . We’ve used it onboard many times. We messaged each other and messaged home. I didn’t get fancy like others. I turned it to airplane mode and chose wifi/DCL and done. Easy peasy. We’ve used this feature on every cruise since 2019 with no problem. on our recent cruise, my husband did have a problem with his app,but stopped by guest relations and they made a quick change to the settings and all was fine.

 

[Calantha]

We just got off over a week ago and had no problem with iPhone messaging

Which ship?

 

[n2mm]

Which ship?

Fantasy, but didn’t have any problem on the Dream in September either.

 

[FLPrincessMom]

That had been our exact experience up until this cruise on the dream. We were on the Dream in November with zero issues. But again, three of us all with no ability to use imessage of any kind on this weekend's cruise on the Dream.

 

[plasmo]

In order to use the free 50MB wifi, do you need to have the Disney cruise app downloaded on your iPhone ? Just wondering if everyone in our party need to install this. Thanks