eSIM for travels and cruises
Above image was generated by ChatGPT
Requirement:
- Your phone must be carrier unlocked. Check with your
carrier.
- Your phone must be eSIM capable:
With data-only eSIM, you can use WhatsApp, WeChat, Rakuten Viber, fongo, Facebook Messenger, YouTube, iMessage, Facetime, Uber, Google email, Google Chat, Google Maps, etc. You can make VoIP "phone calls" with data-only:
e.g. use "Rakuten Viber Out" to call landlines/mobile phones. It costs a few cents/minute.
e.g. For Canadians, use "fongo" to make free calls to Canadian landlines/mobile and toll free numbers.
Super important setup
Settings...Cellular....
Cellular Data Options : Roaming Off
if you have more than 1 SIM profile:
Settings...Cellular...
check in the SIMs section
Primary.... Data Roaming... Off
(slider switch is grey out)
There are many eSIM providers, here is a small selected list.
At home, install the Airalo/Saily/aloSIM app (or whatever eSIM
provider app that you prefer)
Extensive global coverage
Built-in VPN included; minimal
Caribbean footprint
My impression only: aloSIM uses Tier 1 carrier at destination
Initially costs more,
unused data never expires. Able to call to PSTN.https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-esim-for-travel/
Land-based travels
A few days before travel or at the departure airport with WiFi, purchase a destination eSIM from your app (e.g. Spain, 3GB, 30 days)Open the eSIM app, tap "My eSIMS", select the eSIM you purchased,
Install the eSIM (you need WiFi or cellular data to purchase and install eSIM).
For iPhone, everything is called "activate" even if it is just "install".
After the "install" phase, your iPhone may give you a chance to stop and "activate" later.
If you choose stop, you continue to active when you arrive in Spain,
If you choose continue, your phone will continue, but due to missing Spain signal, the secondary line will show "activating" until it sees a Spain signal.
Your signal bar shows two signals.
If that looks weird, turn on another SIM profile and turn off the Spain profile. This is possible only if you already have a third profile.
If not, just leave it in the "activating" state until it sees a signal from Spain.
During activation, you will be asked these two questions:
Default Line ? tap primary
iMessage ? tap primary
You will be asked to choose which line for "Cellular Data".
If you are at home, tap Primary.
Instead of calling the eSIM "Secondary", you can give it a more meaningful name such as Saily, aloSIM, Spain, Airalo, etc.
At your destination, check 2 things:
Settings...Cellular...Cellular Data....
If it shows Primary, change it to Secondary or Saily or Airalo or aloSIM or Spain, etc
Settings...Cellular
tap the Secondary or Saily or aloSIM
Spain line
toggle Data Roaming to ON
Sometimes your eSIM will not connect or shows no Internet
connection, the following procedure will typically fix the
problem.
-Turn ON Airplane mode then turn OFF
Airplane mode (this forces the phone to reconnect
to the destination wireless environment)
Cruise-ship travels
Some cruise lines (and their frequent cruisers) include free ship-WiFi, in that case, GigSky is not for you.
GigSky eSIM is specifically designed for use on cruise ships in open water (>12 nautical miles from shore), but it can also be used on land based cellular infrastructure.
GigSky's price is lower than cruise-ship-WiFi, but higher than land only eSIM.
Click on the GigSky logo above (and scroll down) to check the ship/cruise line of your next cruise.
If you can use GigSky, download and install the GigSky app from your Apple App store or Android Play store,
Here is what the GigSky configuration looks like in open water (and also on land)
Usually on the ship's pool deck or Internet Cafe or the atrium, GigSky "cellular signal" is the strongest.
Note: with satellite communications, expect there are dead spots at sea.
Turn ON Airplane mode then turn OFF Airplane mode to force the phone to connect to a solid cellular signal.
My experience with GigSky in June 2025 was that email attachment did not work unless the file size of attachment is very small.
GigSky, despite it works with land-based cellular infrastructure, is not as robust and costs more than land-based eSIM such as Airalo or Saily or aloSIM
When the ship is at dock or when you are on land excursion, switch over to Airalo or Saily or aloSIM eSIM.
If the ship/cruise line (such as Cunard, P&O Cruises, Stena Line, Viking) of your next cruise does not have GigSky, click the "Red-Bull-Mobile" logo below to see if Red-Bull-Mobile provides mobile data on board (scroll down) .
Note:
Leave primary line in the "OFF" position to avoid accidental roaming charges.
Occasionally, e.g. in a hotel or at port, I turned the primary line to "ON" for a few minutes and let all the accumulated SMS come through and then turn primary line "OFF" again.
Note:
With fongo, you will be given a Canadian phone number during sign up, that number can receive inbound SMS sent from another cell phone.
To receive bank's verification SMS on fongo and sending SMS from fongo require an add-on subscription ($4 per month).