Verizon Smartphones And Cruise Ships Don't Mix

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebe...-cruise-ships/

Verizon Smartphones And Cruise Ships Don't Mix

Don’t plan on sending or receiving emails with your Verizon iPhone,
Android, or Blackberry on a cruise ship.

If you are a Verizon customer and are planning on traveling on a
cruise ship or to a foreign venue with your smartphone, you will
generally always be able to make and receive phone calls and send and
receive messages via SMS, but data, including emails, may be
unavailable because of the way Verizon programs its phones. I have
been on five different Holland America cruise ships, and in every
instance since 2009 my Verizon smartphone blocks access to emails and
prohibits me from selecting the Sea Mobile carrier that is provided by
MTN. This system offers micro-cell sites on most of the ships around
the world and is connected, via satellite, with the U.S. to replicate
voice and data services as well as WiFi internet access.


This Verizon iPhone 4S will work in virtually any port while roaming
overseas, but will not allow you to send or receive emails while out
to sea. Verizon has programmed their handsets to prefer CDMA systems
and block any access to the GSM network on board, even when the CDMA
network will not support a data connection.

For the past three years I have complained to tech support and high
level spokesmen at Verizon about their policy of denying the use of
data services, especially onboard cruise ships, but also in other
locations that have both CDMA and GSM carriers. While virtually every
cruise ship offers cellular and email services to passengers, if you
are a Verizon customer that does not mean your phone will work.

Here is the problem: Verizon has a Preferred Roaming List (PRL) built
into every phone that preselects preferred carriers throughout the
world with which they have roaming agreements (and optimum rates to
the carrier). When your Verizon handset sees a CDMA carrier, it will
lock onto that system and prevent you from roaming onto another
provider, even if the CDMA carrier does not offer data capability,
which means emails and attachments. There is generally no data
capability with the CDMA systems on cruise ships and in many other
locations as well. So while the phone may have GSM network access on
shore (because no CDMA signal is found), that is not the case when you
are on a ship because ships provide both GSM and CDMA cell sites.

This is especially frustrating with the iPhone 4S because the Verizon
software, with its locked U.S. SIM card, prevents access to other
carriers in manual mode to get around this issue. In Android devices
you can access the carrier menu and display all of the GSM networks
that are available, but you may not be able to register on one of the
systems and thus are prevented from using it. A Blackberry provided by
Verizon has the same issue. The net result: forget email service
unless you use another carrier or WiFi to get to the Internet, which
is available on most ships including Holland America Line.

In order to get my emails, I carry a T-Mobile Blackberry that works
everywhere and on virtually all cruise ships. Presently I am on the
Holland America Noordam in Tunisia. Whether it is through the micro-
cell site when we are at sea, or the local carrier in port, I have no
problem accessing local GSM networks on T-Mobile. My Verizon phones
will not work until we dock.

T-Mobile also offers to some customers a twenty-dollar a month feature
to turn on unlimited International email. So, for that paltry sum
(which I only activate when I am overseas) I am able to send and
receive unlimited emails anywhere in the world. This includes
attachments such as pictures which would, on Verizon or AT&T, cost
around $15-$30 each to transmit or receive unless you purchase a
global data package from the carrier.

Verizon has refused to acknowledge or address the issue, saying they
are unaware of it. I provided them with documentation two years ago
and was told their lab was evaluating the problem. They would never
respond to any follow-up inquiries. There is no rational reason they
will not allow customers to select a carrier that will provide data
service unless it is simply about their revenues. While you can always
insert a local SIM card into your phone for use when you are in port,
this will not help you if you are on a cruise ship at sea and out of
range of a local carrier.

My advice: use another carrier other than Verizon if you intend on
traveling internationally on cruise ships and in any venue that offers
CDMA services with which Verizon has a roaming agreement. Otherwise,
you may not have data access. Don’t forget that your iPad or Android
tablet will also connect to 3G or Wifi networks and can also access
your email.

Go Fig wrote:

that are available, but you may not be able to
you may not have data access. Dont forget that your iPad or Android
tablet will also connect to 3G or Wifi networks and can also access
your email.

Yes it is a glitch but none wants to use cell data on a cruise ship. The
roaming rates are humongous! I have AT&T and I have data roaming off and
cell data off when on a cruise ship and international ports. So this is
only a real problem for wealthy people who don't mind bills of several
thousand dollars.
--
Charles

Text messages only cost about 50 cents each.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Charles" wrote in message ...
Go Fig wrote:

that are available, but you may not be able to
you may not have data access. Dont forget that your iPad or Android
tablet will also connect to 3G or Wifi networks and can also access
your email.

Yes it is a glitch but none wants to use cell data on a cruise ship. The
roaming rates are humongous! I have AT&T and I have data roaming off and
cell data off when on a cruise ship and international ports. So this is
only a real problem for wealthy people who don't mind bills of several
thousand dollars.
--
Charles

"Dick Miles" wrote:
Text messages only cost about 50 cents each.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Charles" wrote in message
...
Go Fig wrote:

that are available, but you may not be able to
you may not have data access. Dont forget that your iPad or Android
tablet will also connect to 3G or Wifi networks and can also access
your email.

Yes it is a glitch but none wants to use cell data on a cruise ship. The
roaming rates are humongous! I have AT&T and I have data roaming off and
cell data off when on a cruise ship and international ports. So this is
only a real problem for wealthy people who don't mind bills of several
thousand dollars.
--
Charles

The glitch does not affect text messages. The author of the article says
that voice and SMS were available. (SMS is text messaging) They were unable
to do email which is a data service.

--
Charles

On 8/25/2012 3:06 PM, Charles wrote:
"Dick Miles" wrote:
Text messages only cost about 50 cents each.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Charles" wrote in message
...
Go Fig wrote:

that are available, but you may not be able to
you may not have data access. Dont forget that your iPad or Android
tablet will also connect to 3G or Wifi networks and can also access
your email.

Yes it is a glitch but none wants to use cell data on a cruise ship. The
roaming rates are humongous! I have AT&T and I have data roaming off and
cell data off when on a cruise ship and international ports. So this is
only a real problem for wealthy people who don't mind bills of several
thousand dollars.
--
Charles

The glitch does not affect text messages. The author of the article says
that voice and SMS were available. (SMS is text messaging) They were unable
to do email which is a data service.


From what I know of the international roaming rates, it's probably
cheaper to put the phone on WiFi and pay the ship.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.