Can I text on Carnival cruise?

Stay Connected While At Sea On Your Cruise! WMS offers an advanced roaming network onboard cruise ships allowing you to use your phone just like you do at home. Service for voice calls, texting (SMS) and data is available onboard while the ship is at sea.



Yes, you can text on a Carnival cruise, but the method depends on how much you are willing to pay. The most popular option is the Carnival HUB App's Chat Feature, which costs a flat fee of $5 USD (or approximately $8 AUD on some itineraries) for the entire duration of the cruise. This allows you to text other passengers on the ship who also have the feature activated. However, this is internal-only and does not work for people back home. If you want to use standard texting apps like iMessage or WhatsApp to reach the outside world, you must purchase an onboard Wi-Fi plan. The "Social" or "Value" plans are typically required for this. Without a Wi-Fi plan, your phone will stay in Airplane Mode, and standard cellular SMS will not work unless you use the ship's expensive "Cellular at Sea" roaming, which can lead to hundreds of dollars in unexpected charges. The HUB app is the best way to coordinate with your group on board, though users frequently note that push notifications can be hit-or-miss depending on your phone's power-saving settings.

People Also Ask

Out at sea, there are no cell towers. That's why cruise ships utilize at-sea providers like Wireless Maritime Services or Cellular at Sea. Guests can use their mobile devices and ship-to-shore services. However, sending and receiving texts and using your phone can be very expensive using these services.

MORE DETAILS

Prepare Your Loved Ones if Texting Is Limited Most cruisers tell their family that regular text will not work at sea and will use airplane mode. They can use a messaging app if they need to contact you. Cruise lines usually have a designated phone number to be used in emergencies.

MORE DETAILS

Can you iMessage with Carnival Wi-Fi? iMessage is classified as a social app and so you only need the basic Social WiFi package on your cruise to be able to use it. If you're planning on sending images or video clips via iMessage, it may struggle if you don't pay for the Premium tier package.

MORE DETAILS

It's a common question with varying answers. Guests are free to utilize their cellular data or connect to our onboard Wi-Fi on any ship. But, please be aware that cellular data used on the ship or in certain ports of call will result in charges from your cell phone provider.

MORE DETAILS

Keep a watchful eye on your airplane mode setting, ensuring it's always on when you're on board your cruise ship. If you forget, you won't be charged for incoming calls you don't accept, but some service providers will charge for unread text messages that arrive while your phone is roaming.

MORE DETAILS

To avoid unwanted charges, your safest bet onboard your cruise ship is to switch to airplane mode, reactivate your wireless feature and log in to the ship's Wi-Fi network. (Note: Switching to airplane mode will turn off wireless until you manually reactivate it.)

MORE DETAILS

The price of Wi-Fi on a cruise ship can range from $15 to $30 and more per device per day. On luxury cruise lines or even some premium lines there is free Wi-Fi included in the cost of the cruise fare.

MORE DETAILS

Cruise ships have cellular service that you can connect to. However, it's usually considered international roaming and means you'll be charged high rates to access. You likely know that instead of using a cell signal, you can hook your phone up to wi-fi and use the Internet to make calls, send texts, and surf the web.

MORE DETAILS

If you are trying to reach a guest onboard the ship, you can make a call to their stateroom and optionally leave a message. Use of the phones for calls to a guest's stateroom is complimentary. Of course, it requires the guest to be in the room to answer the call and/or check the voicemail.

MORE DETAILS

Consequently, guests must use earphones when listening to music or watching shows/movies on personal devices in public spaces. Bluetooth, portable and wireless speakers are only permitted within your stateroom and must be used respectfully and at reasonable sound levels and times of day.

MORE DETAILS

In general, you can expect streaming to be allowed if you purchase the top-tier wi-fi package. But even though Netflix is largely allowed, it's no guarantee that it will work well. While the technology has advanced, Internet on a cruise can still be spotty.

MORE DETAILS

How much will it cost to make calls? Making calls on-board a cruise ship is a luxury service and the costs associated with it reflect that ranging from $2.50 – $10/minute, however it is often cheaper to make calls once you arrive at port using the local networks.

MORE DETAILS

How to prevent roaming charges while at sea
  1. Turn off your phone. The easiest, but by no means the nicest, is to turn off your phone. ...
  2. Use airplane mode. Many of us can't go more than a few hours without our phones, so it's more likely you will opt for these other options such as using airplane mode. ...
  3. Use the ship's wifi.


MORE DETAILS