Guest complaint about high cell phone bill

[FrankB]

Regarding Carnival's John Heald's claim, in his response, that Carnival receives no money from the cell phone companies: I think this needs to be challenged. Why would Carnival spend money installing and maintaining cell equipment on their ships if it generates no revenue?? Makes no sense. Just omit that the next time they build a new ship. On existing ships, next time the cell equipment needs repair, don't repair it, turn it off. Then no one gets hit by a high cell phone bill because they forgot to turn on airplane mode. 

[RoadTravelled]

@FrankB  Here's a great article about how to stay connected (or not) while on a cruise and in particular how to avoid those surprise roaming charge bills.  Bottom-line, you should always put your phone in airplane mode as an easy way to insure best results.  You can fiddle with settings to fine-tune your approach, if you wish as the article states, in order to take advantage of various plans.

But, it's still up to you to insure you have researched your own mobile carrier's plans, the ship's services and their costs, and how foreign countries will charge you based on your own phone equipment.  There are just too many variables between all of these items to risk otherwise or for Carnival to be expected to walk you through it.

But, John Heald is correct in that cell service roaming charges are all managed and owned by the respective cell carriers based on your usage and to their pockets — not Carnival.  The equipment I think you are referring to is to provide wi-fi data service using satellites which you purchase and of course Carnival benefits from.  It's not the same as cell service provided by the various carriers.

So your options are to go back to your carrier and explain your situation and get them to revise your bill, or always remember to put your phone in airplane mode.  Lesson learned kind of thing.

 

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@FrankB Thanks for your input here. It's a really valid argument you bring up. I do wonder about the cell towers and if CCL gets a kickback or incentive for installing such equipment. I wonder if cell phone companies pay for the installation and maintenance of cell equipment onboard each ship. This is a message to all cruise guests; turn your phone on airplane mode while cruising to avoid unnecessary/unexpected fees. You can also call your phone company ahead of time and ask for assistance in preventing theses extra fees from occurring! I have done this in the past, alerting the phone company I will be traveling certain dates and I don't want to pay an extra fees for service those dates.

[RoadTravelled]

@Kendall James-Vargas  Cell towers are land-based equipment installed and maintained by the cell carriers.  They are not on cruise ships.  Carnival has no involvement in those as I mentioned above, especially in foreign countries.  They have no reason to have this as Cruise ships use satellite technology that they pay for and maintain and charge passengers for the wi-fi service to recoup their expense.  Don't confuse cell service with wi-fi — two different things.  Again, the cell carriers are the ones who manage all costs to users and CCL is totally out of the loop on this.

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@RoadTravelled Thanks for all of this great info! I was unaware whether cell service equipment was actually installed onboard cruise ships or not. I'm not the type to use my phone while cruising, and I'm happy to put it on airplane mode for the duration of my sailing! I assumed that the ship itself has some sort of enhanced connectivity for cell users, just like the wifi service offered onboard. I'm glad you clarified that wifi and cell service are very different things. Even if I were to turn my cell phone on while at sea, unless I connect to the wifi on my phone, I wont be able to call and/or send/receive any messages. Although this initial post is a bit confusing, guests should be very cautious to avoid extra cell service fees.  I do recommend that guests take care of this beforehand and are proactively ensuring the optimal outcome of assuming minimal to no extra carrier fees while on vacation.

[JoeWellsUSA]

By having your phone’s cell service on instead of in airplane mode and by also having the roaming setting set to yes, you are acknowledging that you will be paying for any roaming charges outside your primary cell provider’s coverage area.

The cruise lines don’t deal directly with cell phone companies. They deal with the satellite communications companies. More than likely, there is a contract where the cruise ship gets the data for a specified rate and then “sells” it to the passengers.  Cell phone charges are passed through from the satellite company to the cell phone users service provider. 
 

Some cell phone providers have contracts with the cellular at sea company. Check with your cellular provider to see if that plan can save you some money while providing the same service you would be getting the ships!

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@JoeWellsUSA That's a great tip! Those roaming charges are no joke. I think the only way to truly avoid them is by putting your phone on airplane mode. That's a very interesting assumption you have on provider contracts with cruise lines. I didn't even think of satellite companies being a middle man. It's very intriguing. I haven't even heard of a cellular at sea program! This is all great info. Do you think cruise lines get incentives for this? If so, do you think it's fair that cruise lines get a kickback from guests' roaming usage while onboard?