What are roaming charges on a cruise ship?

[gogreen1]

For roaming on a cruise ship, are message fees added to the $1.79/minute charge? Also, what is the difference between message fees and MMS message fees?

[Weth]

Message fees are separate. The $1.79/minute is for voice only. Also be very careful of data, those fees can make $1.79 per minute seem cheap.

You have a phone that has wifi calling. This can save you lots of money. I recommend you get onboard wifi if it is a reasonable price. Then set up wifi calling on your phone before you leave. Then when you get on the ship, put your phone in airplane mode and then turn on only wifi (and Bluetooth if you need it). You should see VZW Wi-Fi in the upper left where Verizon usually is. This means you are in wifi calling mode. Now you can call plus send and receive messages for no added cost over the cost of the wifi.

[gogreen1]

Thank you, Weth, for this information. Unfortunately, wifi will be expensive--$20/day, $200 for the cruise. Do I have any alternatives? What about just going with the Verizon plan and not using wifi--can I do that?

[TamaraH_VZW]

A cruise sounds pretty good to me right now. I don't want you to have to worry about any extra charges as a result of your fantastic voyage. The best way to check plans & pricing is to visit vzw.com/tripplanner.

Have you been there yet?

TamaraH_VZW

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If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

[Weth]

You can do that, but make sure you go turn off cellular data. Cellular data is extremely expensive and we have seen thousands of dollars in inadvertent charges.  You can turn cellular data off at settings - cellular - turn cellular data off.

You can send straight text messages and make phone calls, but no MMS messages (multimedia messages).

Text 50 cents to send and 5 cents to receive

Phone $1.79/minute

[lasinah_vzw · Accepted solution]

gogreen1, we want wireless charges to be the least of your worries when you're vacationing on a cruise ship. When placing/receiving calls and checking your voice mail, you will be billed $1.79 per minute. Standard text messages are $0.50 to send and $0.05 to receive. Multimedia messages are $0.50 to send and $0.25 to receive. A multimedia message is message sent or received on your mobile device that contains a picture, video or other multimedia file attached. Group messages are also considered multimedia messages. Multimedia files include:

•Pictures

•Videos (with sound)

•Voice Memo

•Street address (i.e., your location or a point of interest like a store or restaurant)

•vCard

For more information regarding our Global Plans and rates, click International Travel Plan | Verizon Wireless

Lasina_VZW