Satellite phones

[acdnnewfy]

I will need to be in touch with home when I am cruising. I wondered if anyone had ever used a satellite phone on board and if they worked well. The fees for using our cel phone are $7.00 per minute.

[huenix]

I will need to be in touch with home when I am cruising. I wondered if anyone had ever used a satellite phone on board and if they worked well. The fees for using our cel phone are $7.00 per minute.

 

You might want to investigate the cost of the iridium/Sat phones first. I looked at one for a backcountry hiking trip and was slackjawed at the cost. I haven't actually used the new generation of satellite phones but they are still similar to when I worked with them at Motorola. I was pretty impressed with the quality given the medium.

 

Last I checked, my Verizon cellular was $2.49 per minute on board the ship. And with a global roaming package, was about $0.99/min max in ports. Beats the daylights out of a $80 per week phone rental and $1.69 per minute rates unless you are going to use a lot of minutes.

[Traveler353]

I did see someone using a sat phone on the Fantasy several times. They appeared to be on a schedule as it was the same time everyday that I noticed them. Business releated I would assume. Some people truly can not go on a real vacation and leave home and work behind. Sad.

OP: Not sure what cruise line you are going on but on Carnival (Cellular at Sea) cell phone use is only $2.49 a minute.

[okbowler]

I will need to be in touch with home when I am cruising. I wondered if anyone had ever used a satellite phone on board and if they worked well. The fees for using our cel phone are $7.00 per minute.

 

Like the poster above, we looked into a sat. phone , but not for cruising. The price we came up with was $1.99 per minute and between $65 & $90 per week. I don't know where your cruising but phone cards at each port of call would almost certainly be cheaper. Bill

[Bill S]

My firm bought and Iridium sat phone a few years ago when a couple of the partners and office manager were all on a cruise together. I used it several times while we were underway and it worked fine, but I had to be outside on the top deck for it to get a signal. While it wasn't cheap, we bought a pre-paid amount of minutes. That was before the ships had satellite-enabled cell phone capability.

[JanineM]

I used to work for a guy who had a satellite phone. He took it on a couple of cruises and complained to me that he had to hang over the edge of the deck to get reception, and even then it would cut in and out.

 

There were also problems with voice mail as you couldn't leave the phone on all of the time so you didn't know when someone left a message.

 

If I was you I would check with my cell phone provider and see about switching to a different plan where you won't pay so much for roaming calls.

 

You also don't say how much you need to be "in touch". Remember there is e-mail access, and in the event of an emergency someone can call you on the ship. It's still expensive, but probably cheaper than a sat phone if it's not going to be a three-times-a-day thing.

[BruceMuzz]

Most cruises from North America are in port nearly every day.

In nearly every one of those ports, you can use an international discount calling card to call just about anywhere for just pennies.

These calling cards can be purchased at every international airport in the world - or online.

The crew always know the best places to call and the best rates, as they do it all the time.

Jusr ask your cabin steward or your dining room waiter.

 

Unless you need to make telephone calls at very specific times, you can save a bundle of money and hassle by just calling from a telephone on the pier.

[acdnnewfy]

Thank you for the replies. I don't want to be hanging over the side of the ship making calls so I may have to look for a different solution. We are traveling on RCI and there will be a few sea days in a row where I can't make calls on land. I may have to look at emailing from the ship's computer on those days. I wonder if it's cheaper to bring your own laptop.

[BruceMuzz]

Thank you for the replies. I don't want to be hanging over the side of the ship making calls so I may have to look for a different solution. We are traveling on RCI and there will be a few sea days in a row where I can't make calls on land. I may have to look at emailing from the ship's computer on those days. I wonder if it's cheaper to bring your own laptop.

 

Internet connection is the same price per minute, no matter if you use your own computer or theirs.

If you make a regular call from the telephone in your stateroom, the price is only $4 or $5 per minute.

 

You could also have someone at home or in your company telephone you in your cabin on the ship.

[okbowler]

On the ships I have been on the price was the same. Be advised the internet on board is slow, think dial up at best. If it mustbe used I would suggest you have all messages ready to send then when you connect you can send immediatley. Bill