Sophie
24 de outubro de 2026 · 12 min de leitura
You're boarding a Mediterranean cruise or a ferry to Corsica, Sardinia or Morocco. Your plan includes Europe, so you're not worried. Then the bill arrives: a handful of texts sent from the deck were billed outside your plan, sometimes at several euros each. The reason is simple, and almost nobody knows it before paying for it: at sea, your phone is no longer connecting to a land-based operator but to the ship's antenna, linked to the world by satellite — and that network is not part of any European plan.
Updated 24 October 2026.
Why does a text sent from a boat fall outside my plan?
Because the network you are using is not located in a European Union country, but on board the ship. Cruise liners and some ferries carry a miniature GSM/4G base station whose traffic is relayed by satellite link. These networks are run by specialised maritime companies and carry fictitious country identifiers. The European roaming regulation only covers the land-based networks of member states, so it does not apply.
In practice, your French operator sees a text sent "from a network not covered by your plan". It bills it at the maritime roaming rate, one of the most expensive on the entire mobile price list — often pricier than America or Asia.
| Type of network | Where you are | Covered by EU roaming? |
|---|---|---|
| Land-based network in an EU/EEA country | Port, coast, within sight of land | Yes, texts included as in France |
| Ship's onboard network (satellite) | At sea, offshore | No, billed outside your plan |
| Land-based network outside the EU (Morocco, Turkey, United Kingdom, etc.) | At a port of call | No, "outside Europe" rate |
| Aircraft (onboard airborne network) | In flight | No, same principle as the ship |
The trap is that the switch is silent. In most cases no system message tells you "you are leaving European roaming": you simply see the network name change in the status bar.
How can I tell my phone has switched to the ship's network?
Look at the operator name displayed: if it doesn't match any operator in the country you're sailing through, you're on the ship's network.
The names most often shown on board look like this:
Maritime Communications Partner,MCP,Telenor Maritime;AT SEA,Cellular at Sea,WMS,OnBoard,Ship Network;- a raw numeric code such as
901 XX, which corresponds to the so-called "country-less" networks in the international numbering plan managed by the ITU.
Codes beginning with 901 are the most reliable signature: they are reserved for mobile networks not attached to any national territory (ships, aircraft, satellite networks). If you see this prefix in your network settings, every text you send is outside your plan.
To check on your phone:
- Android: Settings → Connections (or Network & Internet) → Mobile networks → Network operators. The active network appears at the top.
- iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Network Selection. Turn off "Automatic" to see the list of detected networks.
On board, the ship's network is often the only one picked up just a few nautical miles from the coast: your phone has no alternative and latches onto it automatically if roaming is switched on.
How much does a text from a ship really cost in 2026?
All four French operators publish these rates in their roaming price sheets, under a separate heading called "maritime networks", "ships and aircraft" or "satellite zone". These lines are always kept apart from the usual geographic zones.
What you need to remember — and what we encourage you to check on your operator's current price sheet (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile) before boarding:
- a text sent from a maritime network is billed per message, at a rate far above non-EU roaming;
- a text received remains free, as everywhere in the world (incoming texts are never billed to the recipient by French operators);
- outgoing and incoming calls are both billed, per minute and with no free allowance;
- data is by far the most dangerous item: billed per megabyte, it can account for most of an abnormal bill.
These rates are not capped by the European ceiling. The automatic cut-off at €50 excl. VAT of out-of-plan data use, provided for by European regulation, applies in principle to roaming; but maritime networks are a special case and several travellers only discover their usage when the bill arrives. Don't count on that cap as a safety net.
Key point: on a ferry running along the coast, you can switch back and forth several times between the land-based network (included) and the ship's network (outside your plan) during a single crossing. That's what explains bills where only some messages are surcharged.
Which settings should I turn off before boarding?
The safest approach is to make your phone incapable of connecting to the ship's network, while keeping Wi-Fi usable.
- Turn off data roaming: Android → Settings → Connections → Mobile networks → Data roaming (off). iPhone → Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Options → Data Roaming (off).
- Switch to Airplane mode, then re-enable Wi-Fi only. This is the most radical setting: no connection to the ship's cellular network is possible, so no billable texts or calls. We covered the effect of this mode on battery use in our article on airplane mode and battery life.
- Turn off automatic network selection if you want to keep land-based 4G at ports of call: manually pick the local operator in the port. Careful, you'll need to switch back to automatic afterwards, otherwise you won't pick up any signal at all.
- Switch off automatic app updates and photo backup (iCloud, Google Photos): these are the top two consumers of unintended data when travelling.
- Disable MMS: an MMS travels over data, not the text channel. On a maritime network, a single MMS with a photo can cost more than ten texts. We explain this in our guide on MMS not received abroad.
A multi-port USB charger for your cabin stops you from hogging the one available socket when several phones and a smartwatch all need to charge overnight — ferry cabins are rarely generous with sockets.
Can the ship's Wi-Fi send a real text message?
No, not directly. The onboard Wi-Fi gives you internet access (itself carried by satellite), and therefore WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, iMessage or RCS — but not the classic SMS, which travels over the cellular network.
Two important exceptions:
- Wi-Fi calling (VoWiFi): if your operator allows it from abroad and the connection is stable enough, your French line behaves as it does in France, with texts included in your plan. In practice, a ship's satellite latency often defeats this feature. We detailed the real-world conditions in our article on texting over Wi-Fi abroad.
- Web-based text-sending services: from the onboard Wi-Fi, you can use an online service to send a free text without touching your plan. The message leaves from the service's infrastructure, not from your line: no maritime roaming is billed.
Otherwise, the rule is simple: if the message leaves from the Messages app and the network icon shows the ship's name, you pay for it; if it leaves from an internet app over Wi-Fi, you don't.
And is the onboard Wi-Fi free?
Rarely. Cruise lines sell internet packages by the day or for the length of the trip, with highly variable speeds and often a limit on the number of devices. Short-distance ferries sometimes offer free access with a data cap. Check your line's policy before departure rather than on board, where options are sold at a premium.
What about satellite texting straight from my phone?
This is the new development that is gradually changing things, but it doesn't replace the ship's network yet. Several manufacturers offer satellite messaging from recent smartphones, with a direct view of the sky and no cellular network at all. Arcep is closely monitoring these "Direct-to-Device" services and has begun work on the frequencies needed to roll them out more widely.
The current limits, worth knowing before relying on them on a cruise:
- coverage and features depend on the phone model, its software version and the country;
- use is often restricted to emergency messages or a limited number of text messages, with no MMS or photos;
- you need to be outdoors, with a clear view of the sky: from an interior cabin, it won't work.
We regularly take stock of what actually works and what is just an announcement in our feature on satellite texts and calls in France.
For long crossings or recreational sailing, a portable satellite communicator beacon remains the only truly ship-independent solution: these devices send short messages and a GPS position over satellite constellations, without going through the ship's network or a mobile subscription.
What if the bill has already arrived?
You can't dispute a correctly applied rate: the maritime network appears in your operator's price sheet, which is contractual. But you can act on three fronts.
- Ask for an itemised breakdown of your usage. Your operator must be able to tell you, line by line, the date, time and network used for each surcharged message. That document is what lets you separate what came from the ship's network and what came from a non-EU port of call.
- Check that no alert was sent. Operators have an obligation to inform customers about roaming rates when they enter a foreign network. If you received no welcome text with pricing information when switching to the ship's network, mention it explicitly in your written complaint: it's the strongest argument for obtaining a goodwill gesture.
- Escalate if needed. If you get nowhere with customer service and then the consumer relations department, you can refer the matter free of charge to the Médiateur des communications électroniques, once you have exhausted both internal levels of complaint.
For the full dispute procedure, we set it out step by step in our article on out-of-plan charges on your mobile bill.
A travel notebook with document pockets is handy for keeping printed screenshots, onboard Wi-Fi package receipts and port-of-call dates during the crossing: if you file a complaint, these time markers are worth far more than a vague recollection.
Getting ready before you board, in five points
- Download everything before you leave: offline maps, tickets, music, series, boarding documents. A high-capacity power bank makes all the difference on decks where sockets are scarce and the days are long.
- Write numbers in international format (
+33 6 XX XX XX XXfor a French mobile, without the leading 0). This is essential from any foreign network, including the ship's: we explained it in our guide to the +33 dialling code seen from abroad. - Warn family and friends that you'll reply via internet messaging, not text, during the crossing. That avoids the worried follow-ups which do cost you money.
- Turn on usage notifications if your operator offers them in its app, and check your usage tracker at every port of call.
- Review your roaming options in your online account, not just on the phone: some plans let you block non-EU roaming outright at network level, making any nasty surprise impossible.
A universal travel plug adapter completes the kit: sockets on board sometimes follow the standard of the ship's flag state, not that of the departure port.
Frequently asked questions
Do texts received at sea cost money?
No. Receiving a text is never billed to the recipient by French operators, including on a maritime network. Incoming calls, however, are billed, and they can be expensive per minute.
Does European roaming apply on a ferry between France and Italy?
Only as long as your phone is connected to a French or Italian land-based network, so near the coast. As soon as you switch to the ship's onboard network, you fall outside the scope of the European roaming regulation.
Why does my phone show a "901" network?
Codes starting with 901 designate mobile networks not attached to any country, assigned in particular to ships, aircraft and certain satellite services. Seeing one means you are no longer on a national network: anything you send is outside your plan.
Is airplane mode enough to avoid any charges?
Yes, as long as it stays on and you only re-enable Wi-Fi within it. No text or call can leave over the cellular network in that configuration. It's the simplest solution for a crossing.
Can I send a text for free using the ship's Wi-Fi?
Yes, via an internet messaging app (WhatsApp, Signal, RCS) or a web text-sending service, since the message doesn't go through your mobile line. Only the cost of the onboard Wi-Fi package, if any, applies. You'll find the details in our article on sending free texts online.
