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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. |
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Verizon Smartphones And Cruise Ships Don't Mix
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 |
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Verizon Smartphones And Cruise Ships Don't Mix
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 |
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Verizon Smartphones And Cruise Ships Don't Mix
"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 |
#5
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Verizon Smartphones And Cruise Ships Don't Mix
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. |
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