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Technically, you can, but it's not always possible. Depending on where your ship is at any given moment, you might or might not have a phone signal. When you do have one, it's coming through an at-sea provider (CellAtSea for Norwegian Cruise Line and Cellular At Sea for Royal Caribbean, as examples) and is considered a roaming charge by your cell carrier.
Rates are typically exceptionally high, with phone calls often costing upwards of $2.50 per minute. Verizon, for example, charges $2.99/minute for voice calls, while T-Mobile charges a whopping $5.99/minute. AT&T charges $3.00/minute, or you can purchase one of two cruise ship calling packages if you're sailing with one of more than 20 cruise lines.
When you're in port, your cell signal will typically switch to a carrier from the country or island you're visiting. Roaming charges in these areas vary; you'll want to check with your carrier for the pricing for each country you're visiting. If you've got T-Mobile, check to see if the destination visited is included in the Simple Choice plan. If it is, making phone calls will only be $0.25/minute. (Calls from Mexico and Canada using T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan are free. Other carriers offer discounts in these countries, depending on your plan.)
It's possible to send and receive text messages at sea, as long as you have a signal through your ship's roaming network. (Just make sure you turn off data roaming in your settings.) Texting costs a lot less than a voice call -- usually in line with standard, international "pay as you go" rates. Most major carriers charge $0.50 to send a message or deduct messages from your monthly allotment.
Many carriers also offer discounted international packages, where you can either prepay a flat fee for a set amount of text messages and/or data to use overseas or pay a flat daily fee for unlimited text messages and data usage. Check with your specific provider for details. On the flip side, you have no control over incoming text messages, so if you receive any while you are using your phone via the ship's signal, you will be charged. (Note: Internet is not required to send and receive text messages.)
Data use onboard is ridiculously expensive, especially because it tends to add up quickly. Always remember to put your phone in airplane mode or turn off data roaming before you head out to sea.
Even in port, the rates get pretty high. Most carriers, however, offer special plans or travel passes (for an additional fee) that allow you to use your domestic plan allowances while in port. Most T-Mobile plans include unlimited texting and data at up to 2G speeds in 210-plus countries. On the other hand, Verizon's TravelPass and AT&T's International Day Pass charge $5 to $10 per day for travelers to text, call and use data based on the plan they have at home. Without the pass, pay-per-use data rates for both carriers costs more than $2.00/MB on land.
Bear in mind that there also might be a limit to how much data you can use, per day, while in port, and you'll be charged an overage fee each time you exceed it. If your plan doesn't include international data and you don't want to purchase a travel pass, you can always look for Wi-Fi at a local restaurant or bar.
If you do wish to access the internet while onboard, you can connect to the ship's Wi-Fi. Note that most ships charge for Wi-Fi usage, so you'll need to compare data roaming prices against the ship's internet charges to see which is a better deal.
To ensure you are not charged by your phone company, you have two choices: turn off your phone as soon as your cruise ship leaves port, or, if you want to use offline applications, put your phone into airplane mode.
You won't pay extra for using any app that does not require data or is not connected to the internet. Apps such as games, food diaries and music players that have music already downloaded onto the phone can be used while your phone is in airplane mode without racking up any charges. You also can use your phone as an alarm clock, but you'll have to manually set the time if the time onboard changes. You can use your phone to take pictures, but they won't be backed up to the cloud. Any apps that must be connected to the internet to work -- such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Spotify and Pandora -- won't work without data or Wi-Fi, and if they're connected to data, they will quickly rack up charges you don't want to pay.
Cruising The World
