I came back from France on DFDS a week back, Dunkirk to Dover.
In the new world I didn't bother turn off data roaming as your minutes and data all work in Europe, certainly with Vodafone, and that worked well - 4G pretty much everywhere throughout Germany, also visited France, Belgium and Czech Rep.
However on my way back I happened to be looking at my phone and it connected to the ship's network. I immediately turned off roaming, but I just checked my Vodafone bill and there is a £6 charge for " Data: Using mobile data whilst abroad", and detailed on the bill was "Maritime/Ferries 0.037 No £6.000 out of scope £6.000".
To be fair, after a quite difficult conversation with an offshore call centre, they have reversed the charge. I guess the data was just something sync'ing in background (email?) after a bit of time offline, but it was an inconvenience you can avoid by turning off data roaming on cross-channel ferries.
On the plus side they have a £3 bolt on to call numbers throughout Europe for a specific period, can't remember how long, but I put that on and was able to therefore call European mates to arrange a meet up at the Nurburgring and other stuff.
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>> However on my way back I happened to be looking at my phone and it
>> connected to the ship's network.
The ships 4G network or the Ships WiFi?. Automatically logging you into the ships wifi and then billing you without authorisation is illegal on many counts.
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....ships mobile network (which, I believe, tends to be billed as if you are in the US).
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...missed the edit, so:
I always thought it was US(non-inclusive roaming)-like tariffs, but maybe not.
The provider is:
www.skybridge-corp.com/
....I think.
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ISTR my phone connecting to some on board maritime/shipping network on a DFDS ferry some years ago. No calls and no charge.
Presumably it's system that connects (or can connect) via satellite if at sea and out of normal coverage. Not necessary on channel crossings where there is substantial overlap between UK and French networks*. Crossing out on P&O last Sunday I stayed on EE until almost in Calais. On other occasions I've been on Orange France while walking on Dover's White Cliffs.
*Except I suppose it provides a service in on board spaces where structures block land based signals.
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It is Skybridge.
Current advice from Brittany Ferries can be summed up as "we recommend you do not use the service we provide".
[From their website]
............Despite a recent decision to no longer charge data roaming charges in EU countries, as of June 2017, this does not apply to the satellite network available on board. To avoid paying high data roaming charges, we recommend that you turn data roaming off on your mobile devices.
Skybridge is a satellite-based marine mobile provider and charges will be considerably higher than your standard tariff.............."
When Brexit hits I assume that the UK will no longer be party to these deals and will go back to paying data roaming charges.
Still, price worth paying and all that......
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 26 Jul 17 at 16:04
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>> It is Skybridge.
>> Current advice from Brittany Ferries can be summed up as "we recommend you do not
>> use the service we provide".
>> [From their website]
That information's not just on their website, but included with the tickets. It was certainly very clear to me when I sailed with them earlier this month.
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Some data usage on phones may be unintentional and un-requested, e.g. emails coming in or Faceache updates. I wasn't using my phone when it racked up the data usage.
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If AT&T hadn't sent me a welcome text I'd have not spotted this straightaway. Lucky for me the data connection for the onboard cell did not seem to work otherwise I'd have racked up some cost.
I switched off data but left roaming on - what if someone needed to call. I did the same coming back.
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" what if someone needed to call"
What call could not wait until you reached port? Curious this modern fear of being disconnected from the grid for a few hours. However did people manage when it took six days to cross the Atlantic?
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>> What call could not wait until you reached port?
My Mother is 91. If my mobile goes with either her number or my sister's outside times I'd expect a social call (and with Mum that's 09:30 on Saturday) then I'd want to take it immediately.
Happened this evening while I was in a French restaurant. Mum was indignant at getting me as she was sure she'd dialled my sis's number.........
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I understand that but you can't actually do anything in the middle of the Channel except ring someone else. Progress I suppose. Most airlines seem to be going the wifi route these days. Can't even escape Facebook at 35,000 feet any more.l
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>> I understand that but you can't actually do anything in the middle of the Channel
>> except ring someone else.
True but....
Advice can be offered over phone, a problem shared is a problem halved and all that. In extremis call might be a family case conference about DNR or similar. It might give me and Mrs B time while still at sea to plot out how to work out onward travel from Dover to make hospital visit or relieve Sis from caring responsibility.
We've moved on from era c1972 where news of my maternal grandmother's serious illness reached us at our Mallorcan resort by telegram....
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>> We've moved on from era c1972 where news of my maternal grandmother's serious illness reached
>> us at our Mallorcan resort by telegram....
Telegrams were a regular occurrence at our home. The ole man was notified about any BR shift changes by a PO dispatch rider appearing outside on his red and white BSA bantam.
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...were they in code, Z?
I think I still have a railway telegraph/gram code book somewhere around.
(they weren't used to keep messages secret, simply to reduce the number of words/letters for commonly used content, and thus minimise the cost).
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>> ...were they in code, Z?
Not really, there was no operational info in them, merely stuff like
RPRT STRATFORD TMD 26JUL 13:00 ACK
The "ACK" meant the DR had to wait for a signature to confirm receipt and acceptance of order
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 26 Jul 17 at 22:51
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> We've moved on from era c1972 where news of my maternal grandmother's serious illness reached
>> us at our Mallorcan resort by telegram....
>>
Not using your example for any particular reason but I wonder if you went home for an emergency as soon as you found out and then the same today I wonder if there'd be a big difference timewise?
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>> What call could not wait until you reached port?
Father-in-law is 86 and although step-son was around he sometimes calls our mobiles and would be confused if we didn't answer. He has been known to call the police and ambulances too which he might do if he didn't get hold of us.
He called us one day last October with chest pains.... we rushed around. He was having a heart attack. So yes sometimes it is important to take calls and if it's possible at sea (it never used to be) a bonus.
How many calls do I get on my mobile each month...? Very few.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 26 Jul 17 at 21:32
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>> Not necessary on channel crossings where there is substantial overlap between UK
>> and French networks*.
Maybe I was caught out by your qualification of this comment. Certainly it didn't happen on the way out, and I was sitting in the same seat most of the time in both directions. So on the strength of that, it's still worth being aware of... (and of course Dover Dunkirk is a longer crossing and you get to be a bit further from the coast than Dover Calais.)
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@smokie,
Sorry wasn't having a dig at you for mentioning it, it's well worth being aware of.
My impression on/observing DFDS Dunkerque ferries is that they cross main shipping lanes on broadly similar track Calais crossings but slightly up channel to prevent conflictions between routes. They then turn parallel to French coast and head east(ish) to Dunkerque.
In fact Calais sailings cross towards Cap Blanc Nez and do a similar up channel turn to coast in.
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There did seem to be an amount of chugging along the coast...
I worked for P&O for a while some years back and we were trying to properly computerise the duty free ships etc. One problem we had was getting the data off the boat. Cell phones seemed the answer until it was realized that we'd lose signal quite frequently as they manoeuvre the boat at the ports. We needed rock solid comms back then.
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I was on a P&O Ferry last week and also got connected to the ships cellular network when I lost the connection to on-shore. I got a text to tell me the costs etc. so I switched off roaming. It didn't seem to have data anyway (lucky for me) because I'd have been caught out by the £6 charge straightaway.
The calls would have been £2 a minute got making a call and £1.50 a minute to receive. It also messed with the phones time because the roaming and home times were GMT and we're on BST at the moment.
I think the phone displayed something about CELLULAR AT SEA or similar as the network. Run by AT&T.
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Mrs FC has a 3 PAYG Sim which gives standard rates in the US. Last year she went to New York. Plane dropped into Gander in Newfoundland to pick up some crew. Wondered where her allowance disappeared to ??? Had briefly switched her phone on. Found she had been charged £30 odd to send a message. Canada is not in the standard rate agreement. Managed to get a rebate though. :)
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If you need your phone in Canada buy a $10 PAYG sim card from any Petro Canada filling station
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Can I just confirm that
1. Now it is free to roam in EU for all UK networks. The calls/data will come out of UK allowance.
2. Within EU, calls to UK numbers will be free (within allowance) but any calls to any local numbers (to any EU country) will be chargeable (as it would be chargeable if you had dialled from UK).
3. In ferry, roaming can be outside EU rule so best to switch off roaming.
Please confirm whether 1,2 & 3 are all correct.
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Movi,
That's certainly my understanding as regards 1. I'm currently in France and using my phone as a hotspot for laptop. UK data allowance is used followed by top ups at UK rate if I bust the limit on my package. UK calls including to friends we've joined here and Mrs B are at UK rates as are calls to (eg) my Mother in UK.
I think 2 is right but I'm not likely to test it.
3. Some ferries have a satellite based maritime service feeding on board micro/pico cells. This is a premium product (as it works out of range of land based networks) and charged appropriately. Provided you're OK with possibility of being out of signal on board you can switch off roaming until in France.
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For 2, you will not pay for calls back to the UK nor for calls in the country you are roaming in providing you've got free minutes remaining. But you will pay to call another EU country. So if say in France, you can call home and call French numbers but you couldn't call Germany.
At least that's what I get with Vodafone.
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Vodafone didn't tell me that when I signed up for their £3 package. I understood calls within Germany would cost me the foreign rates. Worth clarifying.
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I have unlimited minutes/texts and 16GB Data (for £19pm) and now of course EU roaming is standard. Previously I had less data and a separate 4GB monthly allowance for the EU.
Calls back home were/are included. Calls within country are included. Calls to somewhere other country in the EU is not. This is a pay monthly contract.
But if you were in France just off the ferry you could not call any other European country. I suppose once you've switched to say Belgium you can call Belgian numbers but not French, etc.
The £3 bolt on sounds like it lets you call other European countries.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 27 Jul 17 at 22:08
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I'm not going to do the research for anyone else's deal, but Giffgaff seems quite straightforward:
They bundle every EU country in with a small number of other destinations for both allowance and roaming purposes.
Within these bounds, then data use is always against your allowance (though Ts&Cs apply) as are all calls and texts to UK or the other destinations in the bundle.
If you are Pay as you Go, then all the above will be charged on the meter at the same rates as equivalent usage wholly in the UK.
i.e. the whole of the designated area is treated as if it were an extension to the UK.
Calls and texts to destinations outside the above areas will attract a premium.
www.giffgaff.com/data/giffgaff_roaming_EU_and_EEA.pdf
....which is rather what you want, really.
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Yeah I too am on a monthly, through e2save and with cashback it works out less than £8 for unlimited minutes/texts and 8Gb (plus 500mb free when roaming). Which was just as well, as my phone broke on day 1 and I used about 5Gb just putting a new phone back to where I started!!
I signed up for £3 worth of International Saver, not realising that if I called in-country it wouldn't cost me. I only really added it so I could contact buddies or call ahead if running late to AirBNBs. www.vodafone.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/consumer/internationalsaver/index.htm. I cancelled it when I got back, so there will be no recurring charge. Guess I just misunderstood roaming...
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 27 Jul 17 at 23:49
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>> 8Gb (plus 500mb free when roaming)
Don't you get access to the full 8GB when roaming now?
I used to have a tariff that gave me 1GB for roaming then upped it (and no extra cost) to 4GB. I'd never normally use it but it pushed out the contract and included spotify. And then I re-did the contract when they had 16GB on offer for less than I was paying and it was included in roaming before the June change.
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Nowadays when I go abroad I turn my phone, tablet etc off. When in a town I head for a coffee shop with a "Free WiFi" sign outside. There I read and reply to emails, do any Googling etc.
I don't make phone calls, although I haven't been abroad since the new inclusive deals have been in place. I don't need to phone anyone - well not so urgent that it can't wait until I get home again.
YMMV.
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I turn roaming off and leave it off. If someone wants to speak to me urgently, they can text and then if needed I will turn on data roaming or as Duncan does head for a wifi cafe.
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Always had roaming for calls in Europe back to our first hols there after children were born. Ageing Mothers etc meant we preferred to be easily contactable. When data came along with smart phones used to just turn it on occasionally to pick up email in absence of wi fi. Got a bit sloppy later using phone as hotspot and got large bills. EE supposed bundles only worked if I had time/patience to explain to their Indian call centre and get charge corected.
Much easier now, just use phone as at home but much more data as using hotspot. Should still keeo in my allowance but any bust is charged at UK rates.
Used a 3 payg card in states but hospotting is prohibited with that otherwise excellent deal. Not an issue as wi fi is universal in hotels.
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... in states ... wi fi is universal in hotels.
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Free WiFi that is. Still reasonably rare in UK hotels.
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>> Free WiFi that is. Still reasonably rare in UK hotels.
Indeed. I've repeatedly made point on feedback questionnaires that wi-fi now is where the en-suite shower/loo was 25years ago; an expectation not a premium product.
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>> I turn roaming off and leave it off. If someone wants to speak to me
>> urgently, they can text and then if needed I will turn on data roaming or> as Duncan does head for a wifi cafe.
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Same here, never bother with them too much when I'm away with work or personal holidays. I just use whatsapp when on wifi in the hotel or similar.
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>> Don't you get access to the full 8GB when roaming now?
Yes, but everyone on a monthly also gets 500mb free as well for some reason. I think you used to have 500 mb for free and they haven't removed it since the new roaming arrangements.
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EU data roaming and ferries - beware - Zero
