United-Mobile on Cruise ship
 

I am traveling to Europe from the USA on a cruise ship. The ship provides cell service for $2.99 a minute.

If I use my United-Mobile sim on this trip, will I be charged UM rates (approx 40c outgoing) or the Cruise-ship rate of $2.99?

Last cruise, the ship did not offer cell service. My UM worked continuously picking up the signal from each country we traveled to, even while at sea.

I have been reading other posts that if your phone displays "cruise ship roaming" watch out because you are charged $2.99 @ min

Hi Ukap. Till I know the system in the ship is a special roaming agreement with few companies, like Cingular, Manx Telecom, and TIM Italy (in those websites you find it) controled by the operator MCP (Maritime Communication Partner) the say everything and only in some cruise.
The Ship has an MCP Erb that is turn on when it is far of the seaport. Those Erb make calls by satellity, that is why it is so expensive. Usually you pay the $2.99 to make or receive call. I will be very suprised if any of this prepaid system has agreement with those people.
What shows in the display is very different from operator to operator, in the MCP could apears MCP or 901-12, in the Manx will be 310730or Seamobile. So don't follow your display.
Check the website www.mcp.com

Good luck and let me know if it works, because I will be surprised but happy.

Use caution.

You may be charged as if you were in the country the vessels "home" network is.

E.g. If you are in the middle of the Med and the vessel uses a US network and you are out of mobile range but locked on the the vessels network, you may be charged as if you were in the US. Plus any other charges the vessel may like to charge.

Check you balance, make a call over 1 minute long and check your babalnce afterwards to see what the approximate charge is.

Do the same for incoming.

AS I posted in the thread below, I was charged exactly the US rate listed on their website when I used my IOM sim. Carriers have specific rates listed on their websites for cruise ship roaming. But with these prepaid sims like UM+, yackie, etc. may be it depends on the country provider of the service is registered in. In my case it was provided by WMS which I think is US based.

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/crui...ing-t3159.html

My question is this (and I'm not a technology geek)....

Let's say you're crusing in Europe....can't you set the phone to manual selection of carrier and if you're within range say in Norwegian waters of a Norwegian roaming partner, wouldn't you get the UM+ rates of free reception of calls????

Absolutely! Also the ships turn off their network (They have to by law) once they get within certain miles of a port. Since they do not have roaming agreements at any ports...just at sea. So, in my case once we got close to Aruba, St Marteen, etc. the local networks show up. Once we set sail, the ships also turn on their network once they reach certain miles from the port. But, I sometimes noticed I can still get the ship and the local networks, so I just manually select the local one before making a call. However, if a call comes in during this time, it's no telling which network you will be on. So, it could either be free, or very expensive. :-)

so I just manually select the local one before making a call. However, if a call comes in during this time, it's no telling which network you will be on. So, it could either be free, or very expensive.

Bossman, to my knowledge if you are logged into a local network but still on the ship you are logged into that network and can't receive calls through the ships network.

On most phone's if you set the network selection to manual and select the local network. Ones out of range you would have to select the ships network manually.
when set to automatic than you would indeed have the risk of the phone switching to the ships network.

That's definitely correct. I was actually refering to the fact that if the network selection was on auto.

In my experience, even up to 1 - 2 hrs after leaving some ports, the signal from the local network is sometimes stronger than the ship's. Also, some of these islands are so close to each other, so most of the time one will get a local network.

I think I understand what you mean. I just checked UM rates to/from the US and it is $2.15 instead of the 40c from Europe to US.

I am traveling on NCL Jewel (registry Bahama's if that means anything).
Anyone else had experience with UM on cruise ships? I don't travel until April so I am thoroughly doing my research ahead of time

Port/country of registry will have no relevance to what GSM network is on the vessel.

I agree.

If anything, the prepaid sims such as UM+, yackie, etc. will charge the rates quoted for the home of the network provider. So, for example WMS which provides the network for a lot of ships including the one I was on, RCCL, is US based. So, maybe that's why UM+ charged US rates. If you really want to find out, you may well just ask your sim card provider.

I could have tested it out when I go on my next cruise to the caribbean in March. However, the cruise line I will be going on (princess), just signed an agreement at ehe beginning of the year with a Norway based company MCP, to install the network on their ships. So, it will be very unlikely that it's done before then. Being a Norway based company, one would think the Norway rates will be charge by the prepaid sims...but you never know.

Is Cellular at Sea US?

http://www.cellularatsea.com/technology.htm

I checked this on their website. I do not understand the technology though.

Cellular at sea - AT&T Cingular

CellAtSea - MCP - MCP owned by Telenor

Navitas owned by Jersey Telecom

Geolink Oceancell - SeaMobile - uses Manx

On Waves - Siminn (Iceland)

From Gt sim site:


As you may be aware, there are GSM providers, who offer extended network coverage on Cruise Ships and
Ferries around the world, allowing the passengers on these vessels to use their mobile phones whilst at sea.
We, through its own roaming provider, have access to these networks and they are being used regularly, but
this is causing billing problems with you, our Customer. This is because the "GSM Cell" on these vessels is
provided by a GSM Provider who may not be from where the vessel is currently sailing, and this means that
the rate charged for making or receiving a call per minute is likely to be more expensive than expected.
For instance, if you are on a ferry from Spain to Italy and you make a call, the GSM Cell on the ferry could
have a home country number of the USA, and you will be charged accordingly. You are then likely to
complain to us that you have been charged for a call in the USA when you were not in the USA.
From our perspective the system is performing correctly and charging according to the number allocated by
the GSM Cell, in this case, the USA. This in turn also means that we ourselves are being charged the home
country rates by its roaming provider, and as the number of these type of calls continues to grow, we are
unable to sustain a position of absorbing the cost of these calls, whilst being expected to refund our Customers.
If you are on one of these vessels and enjoying the provision of GSM service, you should accept that you
have to pay for the charges.
There are simply too many of these vessels with GSM Cells onboard, sailing around the world, that we
cannot provide you with a list of all the Cruise Ships and Ferries.
Going forward, if you are close to one of these vessels or onboard, you should take the precautions of changing
the network to one of our network partners, turning your phone off or accepting the
charges that will incur.

As per my previous post...

"Use caution.

You may be charged as if you were in the country the vessels "home" network is.

E.g. If you are in the middle of the Med and the vessel uses a US network and you are out of mobile range but locked on the the vessels network, you may be charged as if you were in the US. Plus any other charges the vessel may like to charge.

Check you balance, make a call over 1 minute long and check your babalnce afterwards to see what the approximate charge is."

Do the same for incoming.

To exercise caution set network selection to manual and keep an eye on what it's saying.