iMessage on recent Dream sailings

[markhei]

I can relate to above, I was just on the Fantasy. iMessage worked for people in our group for a while then quit working. When checking with guest services, i got the same response that if it had worked or working it is an error on their part and its not supported. What is also really annoying is that it was working for me for a while and I was in a middle of texting and it quit working.. When checking settings somehow my imessage setting got turned off. I know it was on before as I had checked this. This was consistent with others in my group. When it "quit" working the 'imessage" setting had been turned off.. Does Disney have malware to do that through the DCL-guest wi-fi? And then the only way to turn imessage back on and connect is with Full Wi-fi.

 

[squirk]

I really like to disconnect from shoreside issues when on a cruise, so I’d prefer not to get notified about texts other than my family members on the cruise with me and our house sitter.

I’m curious - did anyone who used iMessage utilize the Focus feature so you only received notifications for messages from a select group of people?

 

[oohykitten]

I can relate to above, I was just on the Fantasy. iMessage worked for people in our group for a while then quit working. When checking with guest services, i got the same response that if it had worked or working it is an error on their part and its not supported. What is also really annoying is that it was working for me for a while and I was in a middle of texting and it quit working.. When checking settings somehow my imessage setting got turned off. I know it was on before as I had checked this. This was consistent with others in my group. When it "quit" working the 'imessage" setting had been turned off.. Does Disney have malware to do that through the DCL-guest wi-fi? And then the only way to turn imessage back on and connect is with Full Wi-fi.

I had the same issue. My kids have iPhone 13. They kept iMessage longer. We got the same message. “It’s an error”. It wasn’t before. Very frustrating.

 

[bigAWL]

Maybe I'm confused, is Guest services saying that iMessage is not supposed to be supported, and if it works it's because something went wrong with the DCL network? Or are they saying it is supposed to be supported, and if it doesn't work it's because something went wrong with the Apple network?

 

[DisneyokwSSR]

iMessage on iPhones worked on our cruise this week. No pictures in or out though. Word of caution - make sure you do not turn iMessage off once you have left port canaveral, as you will not be able to get it to work again until you are back at PC.

We were just on the 3/18-3/21 Dream and this happened to me. Somehow, my iMessage got turned off (I do not think I did it but who knows. I felt better blaming some covert Disney plot.) and I had no access until we returned to port, even after I turned it on again. It was confusing as my phone said it did not recognize my phone number to send/receive messages. My husband was fine the whole trip.

 

[jcarwash]

Maybe I'm confused, is Guest services saying that iMessage is not supposed to be supported, and if it works it's because something went wrong with the DCL network? Or are they saying it is supposed to be supported, and if it doesn't work it's because something went wrong with the Apple network?

From what people are reporting above, I'm gathering that DCL is saying iMessage isn't supposed to work anymore for guests, so if it does, it's a fluke based on DCL's setup.

 

[TestingH2O]

On the 3/18 Dream sailing, it stopped working for me in Nassau and then started again. I stayed on for the 3/21 sailing and, while it did stop working for a bit in Nassau, it was back again last night.

 

[markhei]

On the 3/18 Dream sailing, it stopped working for me in Nassau and then started again. I stayed on for the 3/21 sailing and, while it did stop working for a bit in Nassau, it was back again last night.

From what people are reporting above, I'm gathering that DCL is saying iMessage isn't supposed to work anymore for guests, so if it does, it's a fluke based on DCL's setup.

On Fantasy,, Guest Services on DCL Told me iMessage isn't supposed to work for guests and if it does its a fluke. What I think happens is that it works for awhile. Then, DCL guest WiFi is able to turn OFF the iMessage on your phone. (HOW I Do not know). If you then get to full Wi-fi on a port or have a WI-FI package, you can turn it back on. Once off of full Wi-Fi, it will work for a while and then DCL-Guest will turn it back OFF.. This happened to us and our party.. on the Fantasy. IT is extremely disappointing and annoying when trying to keep in touch with others at home.

 

[markhei]

We were just on the 3/18-3/21 Dream and this happened to me. Somehow, my iMessage got turned off (I do not think I did it but who knows. I felt better blaming some covert Disney plot.) and I had no access until we returned to port, even after I turned it on again. It was confusing as my phone said it did not recognize my phone number to send/receive messages. My husband was fine the whole trip.

Can totally relate.. same thing happened, and I know I did Not turn OFF the iMessage, yet it was OFF after the texting/ iMessage "quit" working right in the middle of a conversation..

 

[lilsonicfan]

On Fantasy,, Guest Services on DCL Told me iMessage isn't supposed to work for guests and if it does its a fluke. What I think happens is that it works for awhile. Then, DCL guest WiFi is able to turn OFF the iMessage on your phone. (HOW I Do not know). If you then get to full Wi-fi on a port or have a WI-FI package, you can turn it back on. Once off of full Wi-Fi, it will work for a while and then DCL-Guest will turn it back OFF.. This happened to us and our party.. on the Fantasy. IT is extremely disappointing and annoying when trying to keep in touch with others at home.

I don't think it is really a glitch considering DCL actually rolled this out and announced it as a feature, some years ago...that being said, for us it was most glitchy when we had time changes and had to manually adjust the phone for time changes. Did you have any time changes on your Fantasy trip?

 

[FigmentSpark]

I was told by Guest Services that it was a glitch in the Apple software, too. But while on land, I visited the Apple store in Orlando and mentioned it. They said its not a glitch, but that our messages are pinging off all the towers they have on the nearby shores to facilitate shipping and offshore drilling personnel. He thought we should have needed wifi for it, though. I did notice my imessages went when we were close to or on land, mind you, even though my phone never came off airplane mode. And they didn't always go. Sometimes they failed.

No airdropping without wifi, though.

 

[MarriedAtDisney]

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...apple-imessage-service-on-the-disney-fantasy/

 

[hnthomps]

On Fantasy,, Guest Services on DCL Told me iMessage isn't supposed to work for guests and if it does its a fluke. What I think happens is that it works for awhile. Then, DCL guest WiFi is able to turn OFF the iMessage on your phone. (HOW I Do not know). If you then get to full Wi-fi on a port or have a WI-FI package, you can turn it back on. Once off of full Wi-Fi, it will work for a while and then DCL-Guest will turn it back OFF.. This happened to us and our party.. on the Fantasy. IT is extremely disappointing and annoying when trying to keep in touch with others at home.

This confuses me. I was on the Fantasy last week. iMessage worked great for the 3 of us with apple devices all week, with no glitches and 3 different use cases.

Kid's ipad -- connected to DCL Guest, but no paid wifi or data plan, didn't even claim the 50 free mb.
Husband's iphone - paid ship wifi, no data paln
my iphone - AT&T @ Sea, never connected to paid ship wifi after the first 50 free mb.

We used imessage to talk to each other and friends back home without any problems or delays. My husband had significant issues with the paid wifi (he needed to work) and the help desk guy told him a few times that imessages wasn't the problem / was supported.

(The IT person we spoke to on the Fantasy was Bruno)

 

[MomOTwins]

(The IT person we spoke to on the Fantasy was Bruno)

Shhh, we don’t talk about him

 

[RebelScum]

Checking in on this thread. Will be on the Fantasy later in August. Anyone recently on the Fantasy been able to use iMessage without buying a data plan?

 

[holula]

It worked for me in June on the Fantasy, however it seems like the Fantasy is getting the internet upgrade shortly. Not sure if it works after that.

 

[orum]

Because the Disney Cruise app uses notifications, I think iMessage has to work too. It appears to be a side effect of the way apps use notifications. Just like you will probably get new notifications that you have new news items or email, but can’t actually open the item without having more connectivity.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

It worked for me in June on the Fantasy, however it seems like the Fantasy is getting the internet upgrade shortly. Not sure if it works after that.

Would you mind narrowing down 'shortly'? Are we talking in the next few weeks or sometime this year?

 

[holula]

Would you mind narrowing down 'shortly'? Are we talking in the next few weeks or sometime this year?

It’s apparently meant to be next week.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

It’s apparently meant to be next week.

Thanks! I'm scheduled to sail on the fantasy on August 13th . I need to put the new plan prices back in my budget. When the Magic transitioned to the new plans/service back in May I was hopeful the Fantasy would have the new set-up for my cruise. But as we've gotten closer to sail-date without any changes, I've been losing hope.