Cell phone charges on Princess - the scoop

[mrcamp]

I am not sure why anyone (from the US that is) will use mobal at $5/min on the cruise while the US carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint) charge $2.49/min. Plus, with mobal you are using a UK number so anyone calling you from the US will be incurring a charge anyway. Tmobile is the only US carrier that does not $2.49. They charge $4.99.

[Scrapchick]

I have a BlackBerry with T-Mobile which is a GSM, worldwide use phone. Before traveling I call and ask for the international e-mail plan to be added for the duration of my trip. For $20 per month I get unlimited international e-mail useage. I turn it off when I get home.

 

While at sea, I shut my phone off to avoid all the maritime roaming charges and turn it on in each port once we arrive and my e-mails immediately download at no extra cost. When at sea, I check e-mail periodically via the internet cafes. I try to avoid any phone calls in or out while traveling because of the costs. So far, this has worked well and has cost me very little extra. I am extremely careful because of all the data that constantly downloads to my BlackBerry round the clock, if there is a signal. My bill could be high, but I am pretty disciplined about it and so far it works well.