Cell Phones and laptops

[tnthudson]

Hello,

My DW and I are going on the Carnival Pride July 18, and the couple that we're going with asked if we knew anything about laptop or cell phone usage during the (7 day) trip...to check on their kids and family.

1. Is there any way to make a call from the ship or from any of the ports with our own cell or with another phone?

2. And I believe I had read that they have a wireless area on board and/or the ports (we're going to GT, HMC and Freeport). Do they have laptops we can use/rent, or do we need to bring our own?

thanks for any help!

[paul929207]

Cell phones will work on the ship. Cost varies by carrier, but most charge $2.95 per minute for cell calls, 50 cents for each text sent and 5 cents for each text received.

 

The ship will have an internet cafe as well as wifi. The cost is the same for either. I don't sail Carnival so I am not sure the cost, but it is not cheap. Some people use internet cafes in ports which are much cheaper than the ship, but of course this eats into your port time. If interested, ask your cabin steward or waiter. They know the good places

[CruisinMermaid]

Your cell phone will work on board but you will be using the ship's cell service provider. You'll be charged per minute and it can get pretty expensive. I usually keep my cell phone turned off during the cruise because it's so expensive to use.

 

The ship has an internet cafe and you can purchase packages by the hour. I think I remember spending $25 for an hour a couple years ago on Carnival.

[griffy116]

We've used our cellphones on every port in the Caribbean without problem. We had our cell plan changed to international and the cost was minimal...mostly minutes. Depending on what ports you stop in, there are internet cafes easily accesible. I wouldn't even think about lugging a laptop in ports. We used the internet cafe on the ship and the only problem we encountered was it's s-l-o-w so it eats up minutes quickly. Ship to shore is very expensive. Pre-arrange that you will be calling from the ports and give the emergency number for the ship to your caregivers.

[cb at sea]

Check with Carnival for the emergency number that family can call to reach YOU, in case of emergencies.

You can also wait until you get to port, buy an international calling card and call home from a pay phone...that's the cheapest way. Don't buy the card in the States...wait until you get to port.

Use the ship's e-mail to "touch base"...it's a minimal cost if you're quick.

For 1 week, the family will be fine!

[quickmatch]

just off the legend and the internet wifi prices were 4 dollar set up fee then .75 cents a min, $100 for 50 min and $200 for 100 min. now remember this is sat internet and will be slower then cable or dsl. places in ports do have free wifi and can use labtop on land. I brought my itouch and used it in port.

[FINTUCKYFARMS]

The internet is really s l o w.... That would be an advantage to taking your laptop. You can create e-mails off-line and just download them when you get online. Just an example, it took me longer to log on to my charter e-mail then it did to read and reply to over 20 messages.

Also, at least on HAL, they offered "free" minutes or "two for one" minutes during slow times or on port days. These deals were advertised in the daily bulletin.

[paul929207]

just off the legend and the internet wifi prices were 4 dollar set up fee then .75 cents a min, $100 for 50 min and $200 for 100 min. now remember this is sat internet and will be slower then cable or dsl. places in ports do have free wifi and can use labtop on land. I brought my itouch and used it in port.

I think you may have the $ and the minutes bacckward. The packages you list work out to $2 per minute.

[quickmatch]

yeah sorry paul you are right they are backwards. $50 for 100 minutes and $100 for 200 minutes.

[satxdiver]

Carnival uses CellularAtSea provided by WMS, a communications company. You will be billed through your cell provider for any time used. The charge varies some between cell providers but generally is $2.49/minute for voice calls, $.50/text message and $.05/KByte. Most cell phones will display CellularAtSea if you are using their cell tower. You are using satellite and there will be a noticeable delay in voice of a few seconds. It is not like on land.

 

AT&T and TMobile use GSM technology while Sprint and Verizon use CDM. The two are not compatible. You cannot use an AT&T cell phone on a Sprint cell tower. Most of the world uses GSM while CDM is mainly used only in the US and Canada. Therefore your CDM cell phone will not work in a lot of foreign countries. Check with your carrier for coverage and whether your cell phone will work. If you have an AT&T or TMobile cell phone, it will probably have to be four band (some are not) so check with your carrier to see if your cell phone will work and where.

 

WiFi is also via satellite. Do not expect DSL/Cable response times. There will be a delay in sending information up to the satellite. Remember the days past when we all used dialup service. Also there are a lot of dropped communications and you will have to retransmit while paying $$. Don't expect a lot.