AT&T (and maybe other carriers) have colluded with cruise lines to charge exorbitant rates for telephone service aboard ship even when still in sight of land. The Cruise Roaming charges occur without notification whenever the cruise line has the system active. I called AT&T customer service and questioned them about the service and they assured me there was no way to decline or avoid the charges and no way to set the phone to avoid roaming.in my case the charges were about $60 for 20 minutes or so (for calls made within sight of Los Angeles). I can imagine some people getting billed for hundreds (or even thousands) for a service they never requested. As soon as my contract is up (pretty soon now) I'm going to get a prepaid phone so I will be able to limit my losses as the phone companies get creative with new ways to rip me off. For now, I suggest people turn their phone off whenever they are within 100 yards of a cruise ship (even if it is at dock) and not use the phone aboard ship at all.
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