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Cellphone use on cruise


Solitarycruiser
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Check with your carrier

 

I can’t speak to all carriers but last I checked this past Fall neither AT&T or Verizon had any current agreement with Silversea or its cell phone provider. International plans only work in selected countries and only when docked or on land.

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I can’t speak to all carriers but last I checked this past Fall neither AT&T or Verizon had any current agreement with Silversea or its cell phone provider. International plans only work in selected countries and only when docked or on land.

 

 

 

Agreed. We bought an ATT passport plan which only works on land. We forgot to turn off the phone at one point and got a message from ATT saying we’d racked up $100+ in roaming charges. Be prepared.

 

 

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It depends on where the ship is; there are no cellular towers at sea. If you are close to land you may get reception but otherwise you would need to go through the ship’s system at a cost. Unless you get a (very expensive) Satelite phone.

 

 

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Will I be able to call back to the USA from the cruise once we are at sea? Do I need any special package?

 

Where are you going? Local sim cards are usually inexpensive.

 

I did a river cruise from Mandalay to Rangoon and had constant internet access for about a tenner. I only used data but could have phoned home if I wanted.

 

Tony

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It is possible to call and receive calls while at sea if you set your phone to roam and are ok with the high cost of satellite / maritime call rates. It won’t be cheap.

 

In short though everything depends on your provider.

 

Generally for Europe from the UK (and indeed any EU citizen) calls when traveling within the EU are included in your price place. Even outside, some operators give either daily rates or include for free. eg I’ve purchased a supplementary sim in the UK for the equivalent of $12 a month that gives me unlimited calls and text plus 12GB of data for use while I’m in Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong. I doubt any operator would cover roaming at sea when you are too far from the cost to get a signal.

 

You could use your internet package to use VOIP which may be fast enough to keep the call.

 

Generally though, like most of us you will be uncontactable while on the waves. Email is an option though.

 

Lots of variables including no knowledge of where you are going, but I suspect most of the above will stand firm.

 

 

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