Here they come. Earlier this year we heard the first buzz (or should I say "vibrate"?) about cell phone service at sea, but now the buzz has become loud as a bunch of commuters shouting "I'm on the train!" Cellular service on ships is here, and getting more pervasive every week.
It all started in late 2003, when Costa Cruises (tel. 800/GO-COSTA; www.costacruises.com) and the Italian telecommunications firm TIM signed an agreement to introduce cellular service aboard the new Costa Fortuna. Then, in July 2004, Royal Caribbean's European subsidiary Island Cruises hooked up with Wireless Maritime Services, a joint venture of AT&T Wireless and Maritime Telecommunications Network, to provide service on its vessel Island Escape.
Costa Cruises has already expanded cell service beyond Fortuna to its vessels Atlantica, Europa, Romantica, and Tropicale, and other lines are jumping on the bandwagon faster than you can say "I'm losing you!"
In August, Norwegian Cruise Line (tel. 800/327-7030; www.ncl.com) announced that it was introducing cellular service immediately aboard its 1,960-passenger Norwegian Sun, and expects to have the rest of its fleet wired by December 2005. Now this week, sister lines Royal Caribbean (tel. 800/398-9819; www.royalcaribbean.com) and Celebrity Cruises (tel. 800/437-3111; www.celebrity.com) have announced that their combined 29-ship fleet will be cellular-ready within the next twelve months.
Get ready: Your boss will be calling you in the hot tub any minute now.
Wireless Maritime's service is available to most passengers with GSM phones that operate at 900 MHz and 1900 MHz, which are common in the United States. In addition to regular voice and text messaging, the service -- which kicks in once a ship sails beyond range of shoreside towers -- lets passengers with data-capable GSM/GPRS devices access data services like e-mail and picture messaging. Passengers are billed by the carrier to which they subscribe at roaming rates set by that carrier, just as if they were roaming on land instead of at sea.
Though each user's carrier sets its own rates, expect charges of roughly $1.70 per minute. That ain't cheap, but it's nowhere near the average $8 or $9 per minute cruise lines typically charge for in-cabin satellite-phone service.
According to NCL's Heather Krasnow, that's one reason her line decided to take the cellular plunge. "People don't typically take advantage of the satellite service because it's cost prohibitive. The cell phone service will be considerably less."
At present, industry big-gun Carnival hasn't made a firm decision on the cellular issue, though its sister-line Holland America is investigating the possibilities. Among the luxury lines, Crystal Cruises (tel. 866/446-6625, www.crystalcruises.com) expects phones to be ringing aboard Crystal Serenity by early 2005. Silversea is also looking to offer service but has not yet decided on a provider.
All this begs the question: Will the cruise lines be publishing etiquette guidelines or otherwise encouraging cellular courtesy? Most say they have no plans in this regard, though Crystal's VP of Onboard Guest Services, Alexandra Don, admits there's been some discussion.
"We go back and forth about that," she says, "but haven't decided yet which parts of the ship to make into hot spots. For instance, maybe we won't wire up some public spaces, such as the theater or the library."
So maybe we should take matters into our own hands. Cell phone users, repeat after me: I will have mercy on my fellow passengers. I will turn off my ringer. I will speak in soft tones. I will keep my conversations short and conduct them whenever possible in the privacy of my own cabin. I swear.
Cellular service is only the latest communications trend in the cruise industry. Beginning in the late 1990s, Internet cafes became de rigueur aboard all new vessels, and now even the oldest vessel sailing from the U.S. -- Imperial Majesty's 1953-built Regal Empress -- has a small Internet center.
Decentralization followed, with many ships built over the past several years (including the newest Celebrity, Crystal, Costa, Holland America, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Cunard, Radisson, and Silversea ships) wired with dataports in all, most, or some of their cabins and suites.
But, really, who wants wires anymore? For a few bucks more you can rent a wireless card and use your laptop in any of the hot zones aboard a number of ships. All the Carnival, Holland America, NCL, and Princess vessels are currently wired for wi-fi, but luxe line Seabourn (tel. 800/929-9391; www.seabourn.com) goes them all once better: Since their three vessels are all small and intimate, carrying only 208 passengers apiece, each ship comprises one big hot zone, with no dead spots.
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