To those who are much more techno savvy than I, apologies if this sounds like the dumb post of the week. So be it.
We have an older smart phone and one old flip phone. Both are quad band and are set to automatically switch between CDMA and GSM. In the past, when traveling abroad, we rarely sent or received texts or voice calls and opted to just "pay as you go" and never needed a "plan". And texts were really dirt cheap. We have never used data in the Caribbean or Europe and always had the data roaming capability turned off to avoid expensive "roaming surprises" on the bill. And we could always get and send texts without any problem at all.
Now, according to Verizon, technology advances (whoopee!) in the Caribbean area and Europe now require that one must have the data roaming capability turned on if using a smart phone. If it isn't, texts can not be sent or received. That means one must have a "plan" or run the risk of having big data roaming charges due to apps constantly updating.
Interestingly enough, according to Verizon, the old flip phone will work just fine for texts without any plan at all. It seems technology is using us rather than us using it. Oh well, at least technology is good for the whiskey business as it's driving me to drink.
Just thought I'd pass along this info that I just stumbled across.