How do you keep in contact with your home?

[taliacamp]

Hello, We cruised 2 years ago and I can't remember if our cell phones worked at the ports. I know they didn't work on the ship. We would really like to keep in contact with our family. What's the best way and most cost efficient way to do this? This may be a dumb question but does texting work while on the ship?...Thanks for any and all advice!!:confused:

[taliacamp]

Just to clarify....I don't mean calling someone else on the ship with your cell...I meant calling home...thanks!:o

[BigDfromTN]

cell phones do work on the ship now. Be aware that the charges run $2.49 per minute.(at least with ATT they do)

Depending which port you are in, the fees will vary. Check with YOUR carrier for specific costs and the possibility of adding an Intl package and then remove it when you get home.

 

We tell our kids etc. to text message us if they need something. This is the most cost effective for us.

[taliacamp]

cell phones do work on the ship now. Be aware that the charges run $2.49 per minute.(at least with ATT they do)

Depending which port you are in, the fees will vary. Check with YOUR carrier for specific costs and the possibility of adding an Intl package and then remove it when you get home.

 

We tell our kids etc. to text message us if they need something. This is the most cost effective for us.

Oh great! Thank you, I didn't know they worked on the ship now

[blindrid]

Moral of the story is at those prices, make the call quick. We turn the phones off when we leave and don't turn them on until we get back :).

[viaggi_per_mare]

We bring a laptop but they have computers on the ship and some even have laptops to use if you want to use them in your cabin. We have 6 kids and post to facebook for a quick tell all. We also have home cameras that we can access on the ship through the internet and actually with our webcam, do live calls with people at home as well. We keep the cell phones off on the ship but take them on land as we have international plans on the phone (does not include the ship, you have to be in a specific country for ATT.) Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are consider part of the USA and free if you have a nationwide plan with ATT.

[okgirl]

Most carriers charge 2.49 per minute, but texting is only .50 per text so that is the most economical.

 

Someone on another thread eluded to a place on the Carnival website where you can post messages that can be read and responded to by family back home. Does anyone know what they were talking about?

[firefly333]

I go to internet cafes in all the ports. Time costs from $1 to $6 an hour depending on the port. I pay about 40 cents a minute to call home.

[MamaParrotHead]

Some ports have "long distance calling centers". Basically big rooms with tables and a counter with a dozen portable phones behind it. YOu give them the number, they dial and it's like $0.10/minute. Ask the crew, they have all the good places scouted out well.

[tctwhite]

We are on verizon and our phones were fine on board. I turned mine off because I have a data plan and didn't want to get racked with charges. My hubby left his on just in case someone needed us in an emergency or if something happened to one of our pets. Texting is the way to go! For us, to receive is .10 and to send is .50. We had a few texts come in and it worked just like it would have if we were on land.

[bythehex]

Some ports have "long distance calling centers". Basically big rooms with tables and a counter with a dozen portable phones behind it. YOu give them the number, they dial and it's like $0.10/minute. Ask the crew, they have all the good places scouted out well.

 

That's exactly what we do, or we use internet centers in the ports that are WAY cheaper than using the internet on the ship, with faster connections.

 

Our cell phones go into the safe on day 1 of the cruise and stay there till the last day! If anyone needed to reach us in an emergency situation, they know how to contact Carnival and reach the ship.

[stewpapa]

That's exactly what we do, or we use internet centers in the ports that are WAY cheaper than using the internet on the ship, with faster connections.

 

Our cell phones go into the safe on day 1 of the cruise and stay there till the last day! If anyone needed to reach us in an emergency situation, they know how to contact Carnival and reach the ship.

 

 

 

Have fun on your cruise TOMORROW! Jealous!

[Ren1216]

I forgot to turn off my phone the last time and my son called me, not thinking, to ask a general question. I missed the call, thought it must be important when I saw that he'd tried to call, so I called him back (from the ship via my cell phone). The call went through but it dropped at least twice. Big charge for not so great service, I wouldn't do it again. Internet is better at that point, even if it IS agonizingly slow. If you must call, do as the others said and call from shore... or add an international plan to your cell before leaving home and still call from shore. You don't want your cell to use the ships tower, so get a bit of distance from the ship before you place your call.

[taliacamp]

We have Verizon Wireless...we can call them and ask for an international plan temporarily? Or maybe it will just be easier to use the internet cafe in the port...

[Earthworm Jim]

We are on verizon and our phones were fine on board. .....Texting is the way to go! For us, to receive is .10 and to send is .50.

 

Is that correct? 50 cents to send is what I have seen. But my understanding was the it was only 5 cents to receive, not 10 cents. It says 5 cents on the Verizon Wireless webpage:

 

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Cruise_Ships/index.html

 

Heck, what's the difference really? So I'll owe maybe a buck more on my phone bill if it's 10 cents. Not a biggie.

[chadsjewel]

What about posting in the carnival funville forum?

[mstravel]

Now I'm confused. I posted a similar question for our upcoming cruise and just about everyone said, it was cheaper to call from the ship after we start cruising from a port. Now, I'm confused on if I should use Cellular at sea. I will check with AT&T regarding a International plan.

[tef43]

We turn the phones off when we leave and don't turn them on until we get back.

Best advice ever. When we're gone, we're gone. We consider our vacation a giant neon DO NOT DISTURB sign.

[ChefSusan]

We also don't use our cell phones while on a cruise. Our families have the shore to ship number, and have been told to use it only in an emergency. When we were in both San Juan and St. Thomas last year, we turned our phones on only so that we could post pics and status updates to Facebook, as well as quickly call our families.

 

Otherwise, we have a great big neon sign on our cell phones that says DATA SHUT OFF - phones are in airplane mode and will stay there until we reach the US once again :)

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

If I wanted to make a call to someone before the ship set sail from Miami, would I be connecting thru the ship or ATT?

[MicksMom]

Texting worked for us on our last 2 cruises. Not everyone has the luxury of just turning off their phone. Being the only child with an ill parent. I feel the need to check in once a day. DD taught Grandma how to reply to texts with "all ok" or "call" - she now has texting down & is able to reply with real words :rolleyes:

 

We have Verizon & we did have to call ahead of time to un-block international calling.

 

Now there were several times that I couldn't get texts to send from our cabin, even from our balcony. I had no problem after going out on the Lido deck.

[evandbob]

I bring my Verizon phone and check it on port days for messages, then return it to the safe. No laptop, either. If my employees or family need me for an emergency, I'll get the message. Otherwise, I'm out of the office and on vacation. To me, vacation means no work.

[swilliams07]

You can keep in touch with a love one back home thru the Carnival.com forum. This is free of charge with your own laptop or venturing to the Internet café. In the forum you can post messages thru currently onboard & a love one can read as well as reply back .:)

[viaggi_per_mare]

Now I'm confused. I posted a similar question for our upcoming cruise and just about everyone said, it was cheaper to call from the ship after we start cruising from a port. Now, I'm confused on if I should use Cellular at sea. I will check with AT&T regarding a International plan.

 

ATT the world traveler can be put on for a month and taken off when you come home (you might cover two months due to your billing cycle) That gives you cheaper calls and texting than you would have without it. The charge is country specific - If I am in England it is this much, in France this much. Cellular at Sea is like another country with set rates. This is for telephone only, data plans (we have a Blackberry) are billed pre paid for the amount of data you use. Find out what you use per month and then buy data time from ATT for international. if you wish to use a Blackberry with the internet/data coverage or you can turn off data and just use it as a cell phone. Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands are nationwide calls and free with ATT and you do not need international to use it there. We do not use it on the ship but will use it in Europe when we travel. The ship costs were $4.00/minute when we used it and $1.29 for a text from the ship you send and 50 cents to receive one. If we got off the ship at a port, we had no trouble picking up local towers on land as the ship has to turn off it's towers when docked.

[bobbyleduck]

What's a cell phone?:D Never had one, hope to never need one.

 

Happy cruising to all!

 

Bob