Going to fly to Switzerland, and see Germany, Paris etc on one of those Viking River Cruises.

Do I need to do anything so I don’t have a high cellphone bill?

they want you to sign up for "international" something or other, but I think it's only $10 US. there is still a premium, I believe, for calls, but this plan gives you unlimited texting. also, I think you could use What's App or Signal to text for free.

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Hurts like a bastid...

Just get a local SIM card when you get there and buy a month (or whatever, there are some tourist plans around) of service. You can usually get them in the airport; Google it before you leave. Phone needs to be unlocked, but most of them are these days.

Phones are locked u til paid off. I think texting is covered, everywhere on land , when not on the river

TMobile has a number of plans that include texting and data in Europe (and many other places). We're on the old-guy Magenta plan and when we went to 9 countries this summer on both a river cruise as well as an ocean cruise (doing the trips that were COVID-delayed) we'd get a text message saying welcome to where we were and that texting and data are included. The data is pretty slow. The Viking wireless on the ships is pretty good and I'd usually use it rather than data. They'll let you pay more to get faster data if you want. Phone calls are a quarter a minute; I've read that if you use one of the wifi communication options you can just avoid the phone call costs. I had to call our bank from Scotland and was on the phone from the ship for 20 minutes and didn't get a bill. I assume my iPhone defaulted to wifi calling although I didn't check on it. We didn't have any problems with anything while on the river cruise whether we were on the ship or on the land--it just worked without any additional costs. Interestingly we went on an ocean cruise in the Baltic and when the ship left port maybe a half mile out I got a text from TMobile telling me that the texting and data services weren't free on the open seas and I should turn off the data to avoid a big bill. So, I'd shut it down when the ship was about to leave a port and turned it back on when we got to the next port. I just used the ship wifi when we were on the seas. It seemed odd that they do that since it was using land-based towers and when we got out a certain distance they wouldn't work, anyway. But there it is.

Here's what TMobile says: [www.t-mobile.com]

T-Mo has German roots, so you should be OK in that area of the rivers. IIRC, they charge 25¢/min for talking back to the states; text and slow data is usually free. As noted, WhatsApp and FaceTime, etc., are your friend over there. Talk to T-Mo and tell 'em you're trippin', they'll probably unlock 'em for the trip. Good luck, enjoy.
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Just got back from Spain and Portugal with TMobile. I did nothing, used my phone everywhere, called back to the states, received a few calls and used Apple Maps to navigate, etc. About $2 in total cost. Texting is free and Wi-Fi calls are also free. All works flawlessly. In short, it’s just like you’re home.

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Asheville, NC Area

The only issue is slow data, otherwise it is great. Getting a local SIM is sometimes worth it, but then you lose your original number unless you have a dual-SIM phone. For a short trip, you do not have to do anything or maybe upgrade your plan for one month, depends on which plan you are on (I am on an ancient ONE plan and have to pay extra for slightly better service abroad, about $15/month, I think, but it is not really needed). For $50/month, you get:

while traveling in 210+ countries or destinations:
15GB of up to 4G LTE data for your mobile device.
Unlimited calling to and from your mobile device.
Unlimited messaging to and from your mobile device.
5GB of up to 4G LTE tethering.

You do not really need that if you have access to WiFi. One thing I sometimes do on longer/more complex trips is use a portable MiFi or an old phone with local SIM as a hotspot. But again, for short trips with some WiFi access, you regular T-mobile plan should be sufficient.

I just came back from a European trip and purchased data via an eSIM from Flexiroam.

It was far cheaper than what AT&T offered for fast connections via international travel.

But you do lose the ability to use your cell number when connected via the data on demand.

Was quite convenient once I had my new iPhone set up with the eSIM.

Just got back from Iceland, and currently in Argentina on the way to Antarctica with Viking Expeditions---T-Mobile is great in 220+ countries...included in most plans. Mediocre speeds, but you pay for quicker---or get a local SIM.
I think Viking includes wifi on it's river cruises.

My wife recently spent two weeks in the UK. We are on T-mobile and data was free. Calls were .25/minute but most of the time she just used Facetime. A lot easier and cheaper.

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richorlin