CELL PHONE USAGE ON A DISNEY CRUISE You can direct dial, receive phone calls, or text anywhere in the world right from your stateroom. Ship-to-shore rates apply and will be posted in your stateroom.
It's possible to send and receive text messages at sea on a cellular signal, as long as you have a signal through your ship's roaming network. (Just make sure you turn on data roaming in your settings.) Texting costs a lot less than a voice call -- usually in line with standard, international "pay as you go" rates.
Disney Cruise ships offer Cellular at Sea, an advanced onboard network that allows Guests using most wireless providers to use their cell phones and tablets while at sea. Prices vary depending upon your cellular provider and usually include international roaming charges.
iMessage usage
Speaking of texting, anyone with an iPhone can use iMessage to chat with anyone else that has an iPhone, whether onboard the ship or not. You must be connected to DCL-Guest. This is a completely free feature on a Disney cruise.
1. iConcierge, Norwegian Cruise Line. Among other capabilities, Norwegian Cruise Line's iConcierge app allows passengers to text and call people onboard the same ship without having to use their cell phone service providers' roaming service.
Regretfully imessage activation on the phone is requiring to send text message (yes real life SMS) to Apple server and receive a response. So unless you can get to a country where your text messaging will work you will not be able to activate it.
Once you're on the Disney Cruise Line app, you'll see the options to Connect@Sea. Then you'll need to set up an account if you don't already have one. What is this? Again, the Disney Cruise Line wifi packages are per device, and not per stateroom.
Disney Cruise Premium Surf
With this plan, you can: Enjoy faster connection speeds. Make video phone calls on platforms FaceTime, Zoom and more. Listen to your favorite music streaming platforms like Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music.
Through the wi-fi offered on your cruise ship, you should be able to connect and use your phone just as you would on land. This includes web browsing, messaging, and calls through wi-fi.
Connect to the ship's wifi and use a messaging app
If you have a wifi connection, you won't be able to use it to send regular SMS text messages, but you can use it to send texts via WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Telegram or other messaging services.
You'll use this app onboard to view menus, the daily activity schedule, and more. You can even use the app to chat with your fellow sailing crew. If you need to send messages to friends and family that aren't sailing with you, you will have access to free texting using WhatsApp or iMessage while onboard.
Disney Character Greetings are completely unscripted, allowing you to take photos, receive autographs and share hugs with some of your favorite Disney friends.
Can you track my children with the Oceaneer Band? A: We can tell which area of Disney's Oceaneer Club or Disney's Oceaneer Lab your child is playing in because each band has a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip inside. However, the band does not provide ship-wide GPS tracking of your child.
Unlimited Premium WiFi package gives you access to everything the Unlimited WiFi plan gives, as well as video streaming options, such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Audible, Hulu etc. So get your popcorn ready.
If you're not able to wait for ports of call (or don't have international data on your phone), it might be worthwhile to pay for a Wi-Fi package. Although prices have decreased over the years, it can still be pretty costly to purchase Wi-Fi for your cruise. But there are a few ways you can help lower the overall cost.
It's about time for you to step onboard the ship! I'm happy to share that drinking water is free and available in many locations around the ship.
Keep a watchful eye on your “airplane mode” setting, ensuring it's always on when you're on board your cruise ship. If you forget, you won't be charged for incoming calls you don't accept, but some service providers will charge for unread text messages that arrive while your phone is roaming.
Do cell phones work on cruise ships? It's a common question with varying answers. Guests are free to utilize their cellular data or connect to our onboard Wi-Fi on any ship. But, please be aware that cellular data used on the ship or in certain ports of call will result in charges from your cell phone provider.
The majority of cruise lines have official accounts on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where they share information about their ships, destinations, and special offers.
Out at sea, there are no cell towers. That's why cruise ships utilize at-sea providers like Wireless Maritime Services or Cellular at Sea. Guests can use their mobile devices and ship-to-shore services. However, sending and receiving texts and using your phone can be very expensive using these services.
You won't incur a charge from your provider. However, you may incur one from the ship. And, they may or may not restrict such things.
Is WhatsApp free on a cruise ship? By default, WhatsApp is not free on a cruise ship. You need to be online, and most cruise lines charge for internet access, unless you have a special fare that includes WiFi access.