Data

[Isobelle]

I'm going on a cruise and want to know if I can use my data

[63johnw]

Hi @Isobelle  on the cruise ship itself will be very expensive. You will be able to use your phone on land but costs vary, around Europe and a few other destinations is £2 per 24 hours use (local calls are charged at international rates) or if other parts of the world it can cost over £2000 per gig of data, so depends where you are travelling. 

[TimmyBGood]

@Isobelle 

Basically, no.  There isn't any cellular service at sea because land-based masts have a limited broadcast range, so cruise ships use a two-way satellite link for internet access which isn't covered by any roaming arrangements (orbital data transit is far too expensive for that)

For reference, £2 per day roaming only applies to cellphone signal in the EU/EEA plus the countries listed in bold below. 

The vast majority of global destinations are 'rest of world' rate and consequently extremely expensive.

Aruba (Netherlands Antilles)
Austria
Australia
Azores
Belgium
Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles)
Bulgaria
Canada
Canary Islands (Spain)
Christmas Islands (Australia)
Cocos Islands (Australia)
Croatia
Curacao (Netherlands Antilles)
Cyprus (Incl. Northern Cyprus)
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
French Guiana (French West Indies)
Germany
Gibraltar (UK)
Greece
Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madeira (Spain)
Malta
Martinique (French West Indies)
Mayotte (French Territories in the Indian Ocean)
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Reunion (French Territories in the Indian Ocean)
Romania
Saba (Netherlands Antilles)
Sint Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles)
Sint Maarten (Netherlands Antilles)
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
St Barthelemy (French West Indies)
St Martin (French West Indies)
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand

Turkey
USA
Vietnam
United Arab Emirates